#established bambibelle

[siriusblack-the-third]

Sweatshirt

Sirius wants to die.

Or lick James' abs. Either one works.

James stands across the common room, a slight grin on his face and a tumbler of Firewhiskey in his hands, talking to Marlene, the other Beater on the team. Gryffindor just won the match against Slytherin; the party is in full swing, and James, as the captain of the team, came dressed to impress. Low rise black jeans that belong to Sirius hug his thick thighs like a second skin, and the diamond studs in his ears were a gift from Sirius for his seventeenth birthday. The hair is surprisingly kind of tamed today, and the kajal lines his eyes as it always does. The pièce de résistance, however, is the sweatshirt.

It is a Quidditch sweatshirt, bright crimson with glittering gold lettering on both the front and the back.

04 BLACK.

The red thing hangs a little loose on James' tall, lean frame because it belongs to Sirius and despite their similar height, Sirius is a lot bulkier than James is, courtesy of whacking at heavy iron bludgers with a metal bat for hours on end. It slides down James' shoulder to show off a protruding collarbone, and Sirius suddenly wants to bite down there, to stake his claim, to let the world know that James is his. Has been his since the day they met on the King's Cross platform, and will be his till and beyond death.

That, however, is not the most important aspect of the sweatshirt.

No, the most important aspect, is that James cropped the sweatshirt.

The red cloth ends right above James' lowest rib, hugging his waist snugly and showing off his slim hips and the abs that he usually hides under pressed shirts and comfortable knit sweaters. It also shows off James' belly button piercing.

Sirius needs to get his brain back to rights.

It was bad enough when James stumbled in through the dorm door three nights ago, giggly and flushed with excitement about his new piercing, but now he is showing it off. He is swinging his trim hips left and right, making the green jewel sparkle in the warm golden light of the common room against his tanned skin, attracting the attention of literally everyone in the Gryffindor tower. No one can take their eyes off of James despite the raging party, and Sirius is no better than the rest of them.

It does not escape his notice that almost everything James is wearing is his. His jeans, the earrings gifted by him, his sweatshirt with his name and number.

Sirius is pushing off the wall and halfway across the common room towards James before he realises what he is doing, but it is too late to change his trajectory, and he slides into the little space next to his boyfriend. When he presses a hand to James' lower back, the skin there is hot to the touch, and the tip of his thumb brushes against the soft fabric of James' sweatshirt.

His sweatshirt.

"Jamie," he says slowly, like he's trying not to spook a cowering animal, except if anyone is about to lose their mind it is Sirius himself. "Mon beau, what are you wearing?"

James ducks his head and looks up at him through long eyelashes, the wide, kajal lined hazel eyes and impossibly cute shy smile completely at odds with the rest of him.

Fuck. Sirius wants to die.

No, he thinks suddenly. What Sirius wants, is to mark James up. He wants James to wear his clothes, show off his gifts, wear piercings he gifted him. He wants to sink his teeth into James' neck, collarbones, abs, hips, thighs and he wants James to show those off too.

He wants to tell the world that James is his.

"Your sweatshirt," James says blithely, and Sirius has to grapple with his own mind for a second to remember what question he had asked. "Don't you like it?"

Is that even a question?

Sirius stares at James, eyes slowly sliding up from his red converse to the stretch of black denim over his thighs to the low waistline hugging his hips and accentuating his V to the emerald piercing in the centre of defined abs to the gold 04 BLACK to the peeking collarbone. When he locks eyes with James, both of them have flushes high on their cheeks.

"Oui," Sirius whispers hoarsely after he finds his voice. He clears his throat, and tries to remember his English. "Oui, je– yes, I like it."

.

.

.

Inspired by this

Tag list:

@padfootastic @in-flvx @narcissa-black-supermacy @xxmysticrose18 @gracelesslady23 @ghostie-06 @ad1thi

[imaginejamesandsirius]

Sirius was 16 when Regulus was born, and ran away when Regulus was only a couple of months old. He and James are happily married and have a son together, Harry (who was born 1980, like canon).

One day Sirius is visited by a Wizard Solicitor with a Will telling him that he’s inherited half of the Black fortune, and is now also has custody of his younger brother, who is a about 8 at this point.

Sirius assumed that his brother had been the perfect child for his parents, he expects a blood-purist spoiled brat — instead he’s got a child who’s abuse makes his own (which was already severe) seem like nothing.

Just Sirius feeling guilt for abandoning Regulus, feeling responsible for his abuse, and he and James trying to give him the best life possible — and Harry being adorable, and Regulus and him becoming the best brothers, which makes Sirius feel complicated feelings.

((A/N: Mentions of child abuse))

Anger and discomfort. That's what Sirius felt when his father pushed a week-old baby into his arms and said, "Hold him until your mother gets back."

The new baby, his new brother, sixteen years younger than him, Regulus, whimpers pathetically. He tries to rearrange his arms so the baby won't start screaming, but does he know anything about babies? He's never really been around one before. This is maybe the second time he's held one, and he would've been happier if it had stayed at one.

"Why can't you bloody hold him?" Sirius asks as Orion backs away. "He's your stupid son."

"As are you," Orion replies dryly, a familiar angry glint in his eye. "So do as I say and hold your sodding brother while I get a drink." He leaves, long strides taking him from the room far faster than Sirius can chase after him. He doesn't like the fact that he has a sibling now or that he's supposed to wait here until Walburga gets in-- whenever that's supposed to be-- but he doesn't want to bash the baby's head into the door, so he has to stop following their father and wait in the room as requested.

He sighs, gives the door an impotent kick, then gingerly makes his way to a chair. It's easier to hold a baby while sitting, right? He's heard that somewhere. Maybe, if he's lucky, Regulus will stay asleep. Or is he awake and just not crying? It's hard to tell which when his face is so scrunched up. Sirius isn't sure. As long as he's quiet though, he doesn't care.

He knows what a new sibling means. His parents didn't say it in as many words, but they didn't need to; he knows that he's a disappointment to them. He's said a hundred times (to James), that if they could replace him, they would. And now they have.

His parents don't like each other. They don't have sex for fun. They purposefully conceived Regulus so that, once Sirius is gone, they'll have a new heir. Sirius knows that he won't be here much longer. It's a toss up whether he runs or they throw him out. He thinks he's going to run; he'll be able to pack all of his things that way.

He glances down at the (thankfully) still quiet baby in his arms and hates him, just a little bit. Right now, he's fine. He's a baby. He doesn't have personality, he's trying to figure out going to sleep and eating when he's hungry. But when he grows up? Sirius turned out alright, in spite of their parents. Regulus probably won't turn out the same. Andromeda noted to him once, in the corner of one of their family gatherings, "It's fifty-fifty if one of us isn't utter shite. It's like, you and I turned out good, so Bellatrix and Narcissa have to be piss." Sirius laughed, knowing the truth in her words; Uncle Alphard, present but apart from the others like they were, was a clear sign. They could turn out good, but it wasn't a guarantee.

If Sirius is fine, then what does that mean for the future of this newborn baby? He'll grow up under Walburga and Orion's watchful eyes and the 'benefit' of hindsight that raising Sirius will have given them.

Sirius will grow to hate him. That stir of anger, to that future, to their parents, is still there. "Sorry, mate," he whispers. Angry or not, he pities him.

*

There's a knock on the door, and James answers. "Hullo. Erm, can I help you?"

"I'm a solicitor, my name is Joe Byrne." He holds a business card out. It's a deep green, almost black but its colour is visible from the sunlight shining on the doorstep. "I'm here to speak to Sirius Potter."

James takes the card and glances down at it. The sigil stamped to the background and the skate of magic underlining his information like an errant drop of water mean he's old money-- which means he's likely connected to the Black family. "I don't know what business you could have with him."

"I presume you're his husband, James Potter?"

"That's correct."

"Mr. Potter, are you aware that his mother recently passed?"

"Yes-" it was in The Prophet "-but she disowned him. I know children are usually in the will even if they're estranged, but this isn't a usual situation."

Mr. Byrne doesn't appear bothered by this. "The will has been read. What Walburga Black may or may not have done to disown your husband in a social manner wasn't reflected legally, so I need to speak with him."

James knows he's being overprotective by thinking anyone connected with the Black's-- even professionally-- is bad for Sirius. So he swallows it down, tucks the card in his pocket, and says, "Okay. Please, come in. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Please. Thank you."

James waves his wand to get things started in the kitchen and leads Mr. Byrne to an armchair. They're both quiet as he sits. Another wave of his wand brings the teapot out, the tray and cups trailing behind it. He can't remember if it's polite to pour for him or not; it's been so long since he tried to be proper, and that was occasionally, not all the time. Bloody hell, he shouldn't care about this, and he doesn't, really, but he's nervous. Sirius's parents are an old scar, but they are a scar. What's the point in putting pressure on that scar again? For a single galleon that his mother left, just to spite him? "Go ahead," he says, motioning to the tea service, "and I'll go get Sirius."

Mr. Byrne thanks him, so even if it was a mistake, it's a small one.

James isn't looking forward to this. To any part of this. He didn't even want to let the solicitor in, but now he has to tell Sirius that he's here, and he likes that less. He heads to the backyard, where they were soaking in the sun for a few hours while Harry's at the Longbottom's.

Sirius glances over when he walks out, then frowns. "You alright?"

"There's a solicitor here for you. From Walburga."

"I don't imagine we'd have anything to discuss."

"I said the same to him, but he claims you're in the will." James holds out a hand to him and tries to smile. "Best to get it over with."

Sirius sighs but agrees, taking his hand and joining him inside.

Mr. Byrne introduces himself to Sirius before opening his briefcase and removing a sizeable folder. "I apologize for coming to your home to discuss this, but my letters didn't receive any response and certain matters need to be taken care of quickly."

"We received quite a bit of post after her death," James says by way of apology. None of the letters were welcome; they'd burned the lot of it without sifting through to check senders.

"I understand," he replies, accepting. Then he looks to Sirius. "In summary, you are now the Head of the Black family. There's quite a bit of details to get through in relation to that, but we can schedule an appointment for that if you prefer. The most urgent matter is that of your younger brother, one Regulus Black. Since your mother's death, he's been staying with a member of S.U.B.S., but the hope is to transfer him into your custody as quickly as possible. There are a few forms I need your signature on, and then you'll be his legal guardians." Mr. Byrne is very efficient about the whole matter. As he's speaking, he retrieves a quill and inkwell from his briefcase. By the time he's done, the inkwell is unstoppered, and the corresponding forms are facing Sirius and James.

Two minutes ago, they had a three year old and struggled with that. Now they're being told they have to raise another kid, one who's older and they've never met.

Sod everything.

*

Sirius and James have a certain idea what Regulus will be like. Sirius was raised in that house, he knows what life was like before he went to Hogwarts, and Regulus is eight. He was snooty and cold and unused to anything like James and Sirius as they are now; Regulus will be the same, possibly worse.

The first glimpse they get of Regulus makes them rethink that assumption.

The first conversation they try to have with him crushes that assumption beneath a harsh hammer and grinds it up afterwards. At first, Regulus is too loud, too aggressive. Then, he's quiet, almost not daring to breathe, and he shrinks away like he expects pain. When none comes, he flees to the loo with a murmured excuse.

"That's not normal," Sirius whispers to James. They need to talk about it, but he doesn't want Regulus to overhear. And, given what just happened, he doesn't want to go too far from him.

"Definitely not," James whispers back. "D'you think they hurt him?"

"That's what it looked like, but it doesn't make any sense. They wanted to make him the perfect son to replace me." He shakes his head. "This doesn't follow."

"Maybe he's skittish from losing his parents and living with strangers," James says, but he doesn't sound like he believes it.

Sirius doesn't believe it either, but he says, "Yeah. Maybe."

*

"Are you going to lock me in the basement?" Regulus asks one day over lunch.

Sirius wishes Harry weren't here for this, and James wishes that there was a warning before someone asked something so horrible like that.

"There's no basement," Harry informs him. "Uncle Peter's house has a basement, but he says I can't go in." He's too young to understand the horrible implications in Regulus’s question. To him, it's a question on the same level as 'can I go in Dad's potion lab' or 'can we have dinner early today'.

James tries to smile. "Right. Like Harry said, no basement. I don't know why we'd do something like that to you anyways."

"The full moon is tomorrow night."

His stomach sinks, because that didn't sound like a different topic, and he doesn't want to ask, but he has to. Sirius braces himself and asks, "Why is that important?"

"They put me in the basement for my transformations."

He blinks. "Transformations?"

"When I become a wolf." Regulus said it as if this was information they already knew.

Sirius and James both force themselves not to react; there's no point in making him think it's a bad reaction. "Right. You don't have to do that anymore, we have something else worked out." They'll have to figure it out tonight. It'll be easy, since they can both transform and keep him company, but finding a suitable location will be a bit of a challenge-- and finding someone to mind Harry while they were both gone, helping Regulus, won't be easy because of the short notice. 

*

"I should've taken Regulus with me when I ran away from my parents," Sirius says, staring up at the ceiling and hating himself for something eight years past. From the corner of his eye, he can see James pause.

"You're not blaming yourself, are you?"

He says nothing.

James sighs, a quiet, sad thing, and pads over to the bed. He sits and places a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "We were sixteen. We couldn't have raised a kid."

"We would've figured it out," Sirius says stubbornly. He's convinced that it's true. They had Harry a little earlier than was wise, but they had each other, so they were able to get through it. It would've been the same with Regulus; they would've been scared and stressed with juggling everything, but they would've managed it.

James lays down. He throws one leg over Sirius's and curves his arm to smush between them so he can hold his hand. He should probably look up at the ceiling with him, but instead he stares at Sirius. His jaw is set, eyes tight, and he's glaring at the red paint like it's done him wrong. "I know you feel bad for him. I do too, but there's nothing we could have done-"

"We could've helped," Sirius cuts in, voice hard.

Mm. He isn't going to make this easy, is he? James keeps himself from sighing again, knowing it'll only make Sirius more defensive. "Okay. Humour me. You're sixteen, and you show up at my house with a baby in your arms. My parents let you and Regulus both live there. We-"

"I know that it wouldn't have been easy with Hogwarts, but-"

James is the one to cut him off this time. "I wasn't talking about Hogwarts, I was talking about Walburga and Orion. If you'd brought him with you, that would be kidnapping. Do you really think they'd let that slide? The law would've been on their side, and they would've wanted him back."

"They treated him like rubbish!" Sirius says, turning his head to glare at James instead of the ceiling. "He's a werewolf; they wouldn't have raised a finger."

"He wasn't a werewolf back then."

A retort is on the tip of his tongue, but he hesitates when that penetrates his fog of guilt and self-recrimination. James is right; Regulus wasn't a werewolf. He doesn't know when he was bitten, but it had to be after he left. "I still think I should've been able to do something," he eventually says, feeling helpless and hating it.

"You didn't know. And it doesn't seem like anyone else knows; they kept it locked down. All we can do is focus on how much better parents we're going to be to him," James says with a grin.

Sirius snickers. "Yeah. Doesn't sound like it'll be hard."

"We'll blow them out of the water."

*

Harry thinks it's fun to have Regulus around. Where James and Sirius are sometimes too busy to play with him exactly the way he wants, Regulus is always free-- and, importantly, always willing. Regulus and Harry both are enjoying the novelty of living with someone close to them in age. Hell, Regulus is enjoying playing. So much of it, he seems to be experiencing for the first time (like he's never had a playmate), but sometimes he does act the five years older than Harry that he is, knowing what Harry wants before he says a word.

It's pretty damn cute no matter which way he's acting. He talks more now, which is a marked improvement on when he first moved in. He doesn't fully trust Sirius and James yet, but they've got plenty of time to build off that, and he does trust them a little. He doesn't expect for them to berate him over nothing; he doesn't expect for them to lock him away on full moons or when he gets 'too annoying'. James gets frustrated with the slow pace sometimes, hating that Sirius has to remind him that baby steps are the only way they'll make progress. Raising Harry is, by comparison, easy. He's known them his whole life, never had reason to doubt that they'll be there for him or keep him safe. Dealing with raising both of them at the same time, with these differing viewpoints, isn't easy, but they're surviving.

Regulus and Harry wore themselves out playing. Sirius, as Padfoot, joined the fun, and he's feeling lethargic as they head inside. When he curls up to take a nap, Harry joins him automatically, pillowing his head on thick fur. When Regulus sees the way Sirius doesn't shake him off, he joins them, arm over Harry and head resting on Padfoot's gently moving chest.

James comes home, takes a photograph before any of them can wake, then tiptoes around the house, wanting them to have as much peace as they can. It's not an easy family, not one he ever thought they'd have, but it's good. Regulus fits in, taking on the role of Harry's brother, with Sirius more like a father.

[padfootastic]

Hello I have come to you with another Prongsfoot thought: James absolutely losing his mind when he comes home one day (or comes back to the dorm one day) to find Sirius wearing his jersey (and perhaps nothing else hehehe.)

oh but i’ve got just the thing for you, miss imp 😉 this is a headcanon i’ve had for the longest time, because james is absolutely the kind of person who loses his mind when his partner wears his name on them. and we already know anything sirius does is maddening for him sooooooo this is. a deadly combination.

(i’ve posted this before but it’s gotten lost in the Great Tumblr Archival System so i’m reposting it hehehehe)

“Alright, James, this can’t go on anymore,” Sirius said, voice firm, arms crossed across his chest. James blinked, eyes dragging up from where they’d been fixed on his collarbones, unusually exposed in the large jersey, to focus on furrowed brows and suspicious grey eyes.

“What can’t go on anymore?”

“This—whatever’s going on with you!” Sirius threw one arm out in emphasis. “You’ve been acting off the entire day, do you realise?”

James tilted his head in question, silently asking for him to elaborate. He knew he’s been…a little distracted, but it couldn’t have been so much as to call for this intervention, surely?

“James!” Sirius says, exasperated and really, that’s one too many times he’s called him by his full name. He can’t even remember the last time Sirius did that. “You crashed into a wall twice, tripped over Mrs. Norris’ tail and had to hide inside a suit of armor to avoid her claws—then you fell over in the damn thing and got a bump the size of an ostrich egg on your head. Five seconds ago, you almost plummeted off the staircase to your death and now you’ve been somewhere Not Here the entire time I’ve been talking. Seriously, what gives?”

Okay, maybe, put it that way, it sounded quite bad but James didn’t intend to be so scatter brained! He was having a perfectly decent time, had his head screwed on straight and then Sirius had to go and mess all that up! He was not prepared for the sight of him walking out of the shower, a cloud of steam escaping behind him. His hair was half wet and pulled back, cheeks flushed red from the heat and most importantly, he was wearing James’ Quidditch Jersey.

The one that was at least two sizes bigger than Sirius usual clothes. And the one that, when his best mate turned around, had POTTER emblazoned in huge letters across the shoulders. James had just stood there, jaw slack and fingers clenched around his tie, taking in the sight. He knew what his jersey looked like, had worn it hundreds of times, but he never knew it could be like this.

And that had just been the beginning. It seemed like with every passing hour, Sirius looked better in the damn thing than before which—shouldn’t be possible considering how extremely good he looked in the first place. Seriously, if James wasn’t as…confident as he was, he would’ve definitely gotten a complex by now. As it was, Wormtail always looked a bit peaky around Sirius. Just before their first class, Sirius’ had dried into his usual perfect curls, loose strands framing his face. By the time second rolled around, the jersey had slipped off one shoulder, exposing sharp collarbones. James didn’t even know bones could look so- so obscene but here he was, proven wrong. Right after lunch, Sirius had gotten frustrated with how much the fabric was flapping and had casually used his hair tie to knot it in the back.

This led to two things. First, his hair was now free to tumble around his face, leaving James with the strongest urge to run his hands through it, or perhaps even tick strands behind one ear. He only avoided doing so by utilising pressing his fingers into his palms to the point of pain. The second, more maddening, one was that now, it wasn’t just his unnervingly attractive shoulder but also his waist that was on tantalising display. Every time he stretched, or raised his hand in class, or ran a hand through his hair—the jersey would ride up until Sirius’ pale skin peeked through and honestly, was it really a wonder that James almost walked off the moving staircases the first time he got a glimpse of that happening?

The entire day was an exercise in making him lose his mind, he was certain. Somewhere, he had pissed off a deity and they wanted him to suffer because there was no other explanation for this. James had never been one to feel possessive. In fact, he loved sharing everything he had with the people around him. Their joy was his joy and all that. Hell, Sirius and him had been wearing each other’s clothes since first year when Sirius hadn’t had anything except uncomfortably formal robes for Christmas morning, which was an atrocity because everyone knew you wore ugly sweaters on the day so he’d given his to Sirius and DIY’d one for himself. Of course, as James started playing Quidditch and bulked up harder and faster than anyone could’ve predicted, it had decreased until the only things they really shared were robes and ties.

But seeing his name on Sirius? Plastered across his body, marking him as James’? He just knew, right there and then, that he could never go back. Now that he’d felt what it was like, that burning heat deep in his gut, the dizzying feeling of seeing Sirius look so…delicate—there was no way he couldn’t crave more of it. In his head, James had already started making plans for now he could, inconspicuously, get Sirius’ in his jersey more often. Because it absolutely has to happen again, James hasn’t had nowhere near enough of the sight.

“Jamie? James!” A hand waved in front of him, ripping him away from his pleasant daydreams of seeing Sirius in nothing but his jersey. His face flamed red, not even realising the direction his thoughts had travelled in until he blinked and saw Sirius standing in front of him, looking bemused and dressed perfectly respectably (James was trying very hard to ignore the skin visible just above his waistband.

“Er—sorry,” James said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Went away for a second there.”

“That’s exactly what I mean! You’ve been drifting away quite a bit today.”

“It’s not—Seriously, nothing’s wrong—“

“I never said it was,” Sirius said, shrewdly, making James immediately choke on his words as he tried to backtrack.

“No—That’s not…I mean—“ James’ teeth snapped shut with an incriminating ‘clack’ as Sirius steps closer to him, toed shoes touching at the tips. Close enough that they were breathing the same air, for James to see the shades of grey in Sirius’ eyes. Close enough that he could feel the movement of Sirius’ chest as he breathed deeply.

“Si?” he croaks, throat too dry all of a sudden.

“Won’t you tell me what happened, James?” Sirius’ voice was soft, pitched low and James had to strain his ears to hear him properly. He gulped unsteadily, eyes tracking the way Sirius tongue slipped out to wet his bottom lip, leaving a maddening shine behind.

“Si,” he said, again, tone matching Sirius’. One of his hands had, without his permission, travelled to the waist he’d been eyeing for the better part of the day. It was featherlight, barely even a touch, really, but the way Sirius shuddered when his hand made contact with warm skin was entirely too much for James’ already fraying self control. His fingers twitched, hard, in an attempt to stop but in the next second, they’d wrapped themselves entirely around the body in his arms. James’ forearm was pressed tight against Sirius’ back, their noses were mere inches away, and Sirius’ eyes were more than halfway shut.

James took a deep breath himself and let his hand press imprints into the curve of Sirius’ waist. The only response he got was the feeling of Sirius’ forehead pressing into his shoulder, arms wrapping around him in return.

It was then that James let his own shoulders unclench, let himself relax like he hadn’t the whole day. A soft smile lifted his lips as he thought about where to go from here

“You’ll wear this for me again, won’t you, darling?” he asked, pressing the question into Sirius’ dark curls with a kiss. He didn’t get a reply but he didn’t need one. Sirius’ hitched breath was enough of an answer for him.

[soup-of-the-daisies]

Prongsfoot Week

Day 1: When and Why did you begin to Ship Prongsfoot?  What makes you Ship it?

It was this weird little moment where I just… realised it, I guess.

Jily was my first ship (I truly didn’t care about any golden trio-era ships, considering I identified strongly with Harry and Hermione and didn’t have any interest in relationships myself), but even back when I was focused on Jily, Sirius & James’ friendship brought me great delight. I liked Sirius regardless (favourite character and all) and having him there in Jily fics, as comedic relief or James’ best friend, was always lovely. When I returned to the fandom after a break, I got curious about ships with Sirius that was anything other than Wolfstar and then I remembered Prongsfoot.

I just think it’s such a natural thing for James and Sirius to fall into. Jily is canonically established, so we know they’re going to get along eventually. But with James and Sirius, it’s already there, you know? They already love each other so deeply. We hear so much about James in the books because Sirius (bless him) is there for Harry to talk about James, and it’s obvious that he genuinely enjoys talking about James, both the good and the bad stuff. Even during the conversation after SWM, when Harry’s upset, Sirius is just… okay with talking about James’ bad traits with Harry. He doesn’t shy away from them, and I like to think that James would’ve been the same way had their roles been reversed.

There’s a whole lot of talk about allowing men in fiction to have meaningful friendships without it having to turn into a ship, and there’s truth in that, but — and I cannot stress this enough — good friendships are the best foundation to build a romantic relationship upon. James and Sirius seem so intertwined that their romantic relationship very rarely feels different from their (if well-written) friendship: it usually gets a bit blurry and odd when there’s sexual intimacy involved, but it makes sense for them to wade through that eventually because they work so well together as partners, platonic or no.

For me, Prongsfoot/Bambibelle is simply a very, very fun ship that feels comfortable and chill. They’re complete equals first and foremost, they don’t need to apologise to one another for existing incorrectly. It’s telling that when Sirius ran away from home, he went to James and his parents: the Potters represent comfort and safety to him, and that’s just really important in a relationship. Them kissing and being sickeningly domestic is just a cherry on top :)

[siriusblack-the-third]

Pretty Eyes

Sirius absolutely loathes James' eyes.

Look, don't get him wrong: James has pretty eyes. Like, really fucking pretty eyes. They're all chocolate brown and smiling and doe-like— the perfect picture of innocence.

The perfect picture of innocence, that is, up until he pulls shit like this.

Sirius pinches the bridge of his nose and breathes out a sigh. "James Euphemia Potter."

His boyfriend just blinks his large brown eyes— great Mother Magic help Sirius, why does he look so fucking cute— and makes a small, inquisitive sound in the back of his throat. "Yes, sitara?"

That little shit.

James knows exactly what he does to Sirius when he uses Marathi, Hindi or Urdu terms of endearment. Sirius finds it very unfair that his (annoyingly adorable) boyfriend can reduce him to a sticky puddle of happy goo with just a few words.

Then again, he knows just how hot James thinks he is when he speaks French, so he supposes it's a win-win.

"Get off my bed, Potter."

James scrunches up his nose, then deliberately snuggles deeper into Sirius' covers. "I was promised cuddles," he grumbles, eyes narrowed, "and I will get them, or so help me, Sirius Orion— I will make you sleep on the common room couch."

Sirius grins and raises an eyebrow, sticking his thumbs into his belt loops. "But then who'd give you cuddles, mon soleil?"

James glares at him, but he looks so sleepy and warm and comfortable in Sirius' bed that it just looks like a pouting kitten. And that's without the pleased flush that spreads across his cheekbones at the French term of endearment. He is just... so fucking adorable. Sirius cannot handle it. "Sirius, get on the bed. Cuddles, now."

Sirius sighs again. He has an Astronomy assignment to complete that he has to turn in less than twelve hours from now. But then again, he muses, he did promise James cuddles.

"Fine," he murmurs in fond exasperation, and dumps his schoolbag next to the bed before kicking off his shoes and stripping off his outer robes. He collapses onto the bed, loosens his tie, unbuttons the cuffs of his sleeves, and opens his arms. James makes a happy little noise and turns around, and Sirius wraps his arms around his waist from behind to pull him back against his chest. He buries his nose in the crazy mass of black curls, breathing in the faint mogra smell of James' shampoo.

"You are too fucking cute for your own damn good, Potter," he mutters, but clutches James closer, letting out a silent, satisfied sigh.

James snickers, and it's the last thing either of them remember before falling asleep.

[imaginejamesandsirius]

I was hoping you can write one with tooth rotting fluff. Maybe about Sirius being insecure because of his messed up home life and James making it his mission to shower him with hugs and praises 🥰

"You're the best person in the world," James says, very seriously, drink in one hand and the other gripping Sirius's shoulder. "You're- blimey, you're the best. Like, out of the entire population on this planet, if one person had to be picked as the best, it would be you."

"I'm not sure you have all the information to properly make that claim," he laughs, causing James to frown.

"No, I'm right."

"Sure about that, are you?" 

"Yes, because I've met you! You're awesome. You're so smart, everything you say should be written down for posperi- postert- we should write it all down so we can remember it because it's all right. And you-"

Lily tunes him out as he extols Sirius's virtues and turns to Peter and Remus-- both of whom, she notes, don't look like they've been listening to this from the start. "Is James always like this when he's drunk? Going on and on about how wonderful he thinks Sirius is?"

"Yes," they both say.

"Though, hang on a second," Remus adds. He shifts in his chair to turn towards her. "'When he's drunk' makes it sound like Prongs only does this when he's drunk."

"Mm, yeah, not true. He does this a lot," Peter says.

"Any time he's tired."

"Any time he's in a really good mood."

"Any time Sirius frowns for more than two seconds."

"Okay," Lily interjects when it looks like they'll continue, "I get the picture." Bloody hell. Peter and Remus had to be exaggerating at least a little bit-- otherwise she would've noticed sooner-- but for them to so easily complain about James talking about it, it had to be a more regular occurrence than she originally thought. She wants to pay attention to the drinking game some sixth years are playing like she was doing before James caught her attention, but when she turns to the group, her eyes drift back towards the pair.

James has been talking the entire time-- topic unchanged-- and he's now got an arm around Sirius instead of facing him. The hand holding his drink is curled into Sirius's chest as well, like he needs the extra point of contact to drive his point home.

Sirius is listening with an indulgent smile on his face. This strikes Lily as egotistical, and she frowns.

Remus catches her expression and guesses (incorrectly) what it's over. "If you're waiting for James to be done so you can talk to him, you're going to be waiting a long time."

"Ha, yeah."

*

James rests his chin on Sirius's shoulder and slips his arms around him at the same time. "You want to talk about it?" he asks quietly, aware of their dormmates on the other side of the room.

"Nothing to talk about," Sirius mutters-- a blatant lie.

"Mhm."

He's still glaring at the wall like it's done him wrong.

"You have me, you know that?" James whispers. "No matter what happens or what you do, you're stuck with me." He turns his face into Sirius's hair and inhales deeply. "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried."

"I figured, what with you acting like a bloody barnacle." He doesn't look happy but the glare is gone. Mission accomplished.

*

"Sirius!" James calls, barreling into his friend. He's so happy to see him that he lifts him off his feet, making Sirius laugh. "I missed you so much."

"It's been two hours," Lily says, rolling her eyes.

"Two hours too long, don't you know that, Evans?" Sirius says as he's set back down. "These sodding meetings of yours are killing our friendship."

James gasps theatrically, turning to Lily with wide eyes. "Maybe we can take him with us next time."

"No."

"But I need him! He keeps my brain working."

Sirius nods in agreement, but Lily rolls her eyes. She knows by now that it's useless to argue or try to find any logical reason why that's a bad idea, so she just says, "No," again as she walks up the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

*

"I know I joke a lot, but you know that I think you're great, yeah?" James asks.

Sirius glances over at him, but James's eyes are trained at the sky stretching out above them. They're laying on the Quidditch Pitch, looking at the stars. Ostensibly they came out here to drink; there's a bottle of firewhiskey beside them, but neither have reached for it. They haven't said much of importance tonight, which makes the question feel sudden.

"Like, I make a big production of it and shout it to the world like I'm teasing you, but it's the truth." James rolls his head to the side and meets Sirius's eyes. His hazel eyes are warm, flecked with bits of brown, and Sirius could drown in them, he's sure. He moves his hand, sliding his palm against Sirius's and squeezing. "I'd rather be with you than anyone else."

It feels ridiculous, sometimes, when James talks like this. He means it. He means it in a way Sirius can't wrap his head around. Every good thing he says about Sirius, he believes like it's a fact of life.

This time, Sirius smiles at him and says, "I know." Then, grin widening, he adds, "And I mean it what I say about you, too. Best bloke the world has ever seen."

James laughs. It curls his body a little, and he rolls onto his side to move with it. His hand is still holding Sirius's, and he uses the other to cup his cheek. "Imagine what our wedding vows will sound like."

"Everyone will leave the room before you're done talking about why you want to marry me."

"They can try," James says, his eyes glinting. "I'll ward the doors. No one leaves without my say-so."

[padfootastic]

Day 2 - Posture

written for @prongsfoot-microfic

“Keep slouching like that, and you’ll end up stuck in that position before you hit thirty.” Professor McGonagall’s stern voice was accompanied by an intensely disapproving glare at Sirius’ sitting—no, slouching posture. He was currently half laid out on a couch, legs thrown over one arm of it and neck hanging off the other side. It was a very comfortable position and even McGonagall’s threats weren’t enough to make him budge.

“S’not like I can be any more bent, let’s be honest,” he muttered under his breath, smirking when Remus and James let out matching snorts of laughter, unable to contain their reactions.

“Mr. Black!” McGonagall gasped, scandalised. He leaned back further to send her a quick wink before slowly moving into a better position.

“Apologies, Professor, I didn’t mean to say that,” he said, utterly insincerely. He wasn’t fooling anyone, of course, but it was the principle of the matter.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” she replied, though a tiny little glint in her eye told Sirius exactly how much she enjoyed their little back-and-forths. She could pretend to be stern and stuffy all she wanted, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

She looked at all three of them for a moment, looking like butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths, before letting out an almost-audible sigh. Almost. “Well, I knew it would be futile but I had to try. At least sitting up straight would make it easier for Mr. Potter to carry out his heart’s desire, so there’s that. Do remember there’s young children around, boys.” And with that parting shot, she left, leaving them sitting there in varying stages of disbelief (Sirius), embarrassment (James) and hysterical laughter (Remus, the fucker).

“Did she just—?” James managed to get out before burying his face in his hands. Sirius could see the tips of his extremely red ears peeking out the sides.

“I think it was a fever dream,” Sirius replied mechanically, still trying to make sense of what just happened. How quickly the tables turned on them.

“Oh no, not at all,” Remus finally deigned to join, ceasing his cackles just enough to get his two cents in. “She really did just imply that James wanted to devour you, and that it would be much more effective to do it sitting up.”

“Remus—“ Sirius growled, lifting out of his seat to seal his friend’s mouth shut; he was having entirely too much fun.

“Of course, I agree with her, seeing as there’s no—how did you put it, James?—‘tantalising display of skin torturing you’ now.”

“Oh my god,” James removed his hands from his face, making it clear the blush had travelled violently down his face, over his neck. Sirius could see it had even spread across his chest from the little V of his button-up. He gulped, quickly turning away lest it trigger another kind of heat in him. “Remus, you utter piece of goblin-shite.”

“Thanks ever so much, honey.” Remus blew a kiss, once at each of them, and left without a look back, fully aware of the shit he’d just stirred.

“So…” James was staring at the wall in front of him with a laser focus, resolutely not looking at Sirius.

“So?”

“Wanna go see if you really can’t get any more bent?”

x

Neither of them were seen in the castle for the rest of the day. Remus got at least twenty three galleons and fifteen sickles from the student body, and an additional ten from McGonagall. They made good partners, if he did say so himself.

[imaginejamesandsirius]

Doting, Uncle Moneybags Regulus?

Sirius being annoyed at Regulus for spoiling Harry too much and rendering any discipline he and James attempt useless. Every time they try and say no to Harry he just rubs to Regulus who always gives in to his only nephew, every time they take a toy away as punishment Regulus buys a new one and sneaks it to him, etc.

Just some fluffy stuff about Asexual Regulus spoiling Harry because he’s the closest thing he has to a son, and he’s making up for Harry’s lack of grandparents and also making sure Harry doesn’t have the childhood he and Sirius had? Dunno, sorry it’s all a confusing mess of an ask :P

((A/N: This starts with angst but ends with fluff, fyi))

James grits his teeth when he sees Harry's candy-sticky face, but he pulls up a smile for his son when he runs up to him, because it's not his fault. Kids like candy. They'll eat so much of it that it makes them sick and not learn the lesson to eat less candy, they'll just think they randomly got sick that day and do it again in the morning. It's not Harry's fault; he's not going to be upset with him.

He will however have to talk to Sirius about this, because it's a weekly occurrence that isn't seeing an end.

James knows that he's short over dinner. He tries not to be, but the situation is infuriating.

Harry goes down to bed-- not easily, but he does-- and Sirius turns to James. "What's wrong?"

He takes a deep breath. "I know that you love your brother and it's not easy to talk to him about shit, but this is getting ridiculous. Actually, we've passed ridiculous and we're into the territory of me wanting to throttle him."

"What happened?"

"As far as I can tell? He gave Harry unfettered access to a bag of candy."

"Again?" Sirius groans.

"Again. You saw how little he ate at dinner, it sodding ruined his appetite, and he's going to wake up starving."

Sirius sighs, rubbing at his temples. "I'll talk to him."

"Do you want me to come?"

"No, he'll just get defensive." He sounds exhausted. He was in a good mood before this and was hoping for a little 'adult time' for him and James, but he isn't going to get that and also get through to Regulus. He gives James a quick kiss and then heads upstairs.

Regulus can't live alone but likes his space. Two stories feels a ridiculous indulgence to Sirius, but it's a good compromise to the living situation with the four of them. Harry, James, and Sirius all have their bedrooms downstairs, with Regulus's on the second floor. There's no further separation of rooms after that, but what the future will bring as Harry grows is anyone's guess. For now, it works, and that's good enough for them.

Regulus opted to not eat dinner with them tonight, so Sirius hasn't seen him since he left for work this morning. He knocks on his door and hopes that he answers it, because if he has to put this conversation off for tomorrow, he's going to be in a sour mood. Luckily, Regulus does call for him to enter, so that's one part easily taken care of.

"Oh, Sirius." He's sitting atop his duvet with a book in hand, and when he sees his brother, he sticks a bookmark in the open page.

"Hey. You got a minute?"

Regulus nods and sets his book to the side.

"I'm tired, so I can't really think of a better way to say this, but you've got to stop giving Harry so many fucking sweets."

Regulus blinks at him. "Why?"

"It's ruining his appetite, for one. He didn't eat all of his dinner. He's either going to wake up in the middle of the night because he's so hungry, or he's going to be starving when he gets up at his normal time."

"You don't know that for sure; you're guessing."

"I'm bloody not, actually. This isn't the first time it's happened, Regulus. It's happened so many times I can't fucking count them all, and I never said anything to you before because I didn't want you to make it into something it's not, but you've got to stop. Why do you do it, anyways? You're not an idiot; surely you know that a kid can't survive on candy alone."

"I thought he'd eat both," Regulus says, shrugging one shoulder. He looks a little troubled about the situation, which helps. "Can't I give him less? I don't feel right about him going without any at all."

"We're not starving him of all desserts," Sirius replies, rolling his eyes. He wants to be nice and understanding about this, but right now, he's just frustrated. "I don't know why your mind went there."

"It's what our parents did."

Sirius's mouth twists. "Do you think I'm like them? Really? Or James?"

"No." Regulus sighs, knees drawing up. "Our parents were so... conditional."

It's obvious he needs a second to think, so Sirius stays quiet. He feels a little bad about it, but he's not in the mood for a heart to heart. He's sure he'll be happy for this come morning, and even sad that he's not giving this due attention.

"I don't want Harry to feel anything like we did, you know? I remember wanting so much. And it's- I don't even mean like, wanting a new toy every week or wanting to go to a friend's and they wouldn't let me, but sometimes I look back and it feels like I never got anything I wanted."

"Yeah."

"Like I was always yearning for something and asking for it and never got anything. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah." Sirius has thought similar things, like he was always desperate for something that his parents withheld when they could've given it. It doesn't come up very often for him though. Now, he has James and Harry and Regulus as his family, so it's nothing like growing up was-- and Regulus as an adult is nothing like he was as a teenager or kid, so being around him doesn't feel the same as back then. He takes a deep breath and says, "I get it. Really, I do. When Harry asks for a biscuit right before dinner, I want to give it to him because I know he'll smile at me and be happy. But we're adults, Regulus. We know that you can't give a kid every single thing they want. The way our parents went about it was shit, but there has to be a happy medium in there, and that's what we're trying to do with Harry."

"Makes sense," Regulus says glumly, leaning his head into one hand. "I suppose I went a bit overboard with it anyways. You know, no grandparents, only me for an uncle, no aunts, no cousins and no chance for cousins, either. I'm the only extended family he has. I wanted to make up for it as much as I could."

"I don't mind you spoiling him. It's your duty as his uncle," Sirius says with a smirk, "but for now, no sweets. If you think you can learn to tone it down, maybe we can bring that back on Saturday's or summat. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Good." Sirius gives him a quick hug and bids him goodnight.

James is wary when he gets to their room, clearly not sure how well their conversation went.

"All sorted," Sirius tells him, following it with a lingering kiss.

James smiles but puts a pin in that for the moment because he needs to clarify 'all sorted' in this case. "He's going to stop giving Harry sweets?"

"Aye, he promised. I told him he can spoil him in other ways."

He bites back a groan at that. "Your brother has a tendency to go overboard. What're we going to do when the next thing gets out of control?"

"Talk to him, probably," Sirius says, a touch dryly. He's tired. He wanted to get laid tonight, but he's really not sure it's going to happen. He moves to change into sleep clothes.

James senses his change in mood immediately and follows after him, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind when he stops by their dresser. "Ignore me," he mutters, kissing Sirius's neck. "You're right, I know you're right." He kisses him again. "Thank you."

Sirius leans into him. "I don't need to be told I'm right about everything, you know."

"You do when you are," James counters.

He snickers. "Well, I do like how it sounds, so feel free to keep saying it."

*

"I think this can really work for us," James says later, after they've had a nice time in bed and Sirius told him exactly what him and Regulus talked about.

"How do you mean?"

"Regulus wants to be a little more involved-- make up for Harry only having one person as extended family. Why not ask him to babysit every now and then so we can have a date night?"

"Huh. There's an idea." They never considered asking him to babysit for them. Sirius had always assumed that Regulus wouldn't want to, but James has a point.

*

Regulus is happy to babysit for them "-but only once a month."

That's more often than Sirius or James thought to hope for, and they happily agree.

Harry owns more toys than any toddler rightly should after a few months of the new understanding, but so far, there's no real problems with him over it. There's wonder in Sirius's voice as he says this to James.

James laughs and replies, "I guess we'll see how long this will work in our favour."

"I think a while longer."

"Mm, for sure." He grabs Sirius and pulls him in for a kiss. They both love Harry more than anything, but ever since they reached this agreement with Regulus, they've had more time for each other. Less stress overall. It's wonderful.

*

Harry sniffles and looks up at Regulus. He doesn't say a word; he knows by now that he doesn't have to. Smart one, their son. He doesn't push when he knows he's won, and looking at Uncle Regulus with those big eyes of his is a win.

Regulus folds immediately and pats his nephew's head with a quiet-- so as to not be overheard by the parents-- promise to buy him a new toy to replace this one.

James and Sirius don't need to overhear the promise to know that it's happening, however. It's a commonplace exchange between uncle and nephew these days. Sirius thinks it's sweet; James agrees, but the novelty has worn off, leaving him to roll his eyes when he sees Harry with another addition to his army of stuffies-- really, if he took the care to count, he's sure there would be a battalion's worth.

"Should we start worrying yet?" Sirius asks James in an undertone as Regulus and Harry hug-- their son burying his face into his uncle's shoulder.

James glances over, then shakes his head. "I think we're still good."

"Good," he replies, sneaking a kiss.

[imaginejamesandsirius]

Hi, could you write a fic about Chubby!Harry coming home from school in a bad mood and not really eating any of his dinner (he normally wolfs it down then has seconds, so this worried James and Sirius) and then his dads ask him what’s wrong and it turns out people have been bullying him at school and the teachers have been ignoring it, and now some of them are getting involved too?

Lots of body-positive, hurt/comfort fluff, with protective Sirius and James going and giving the school a piece of their mind?

((A/N: Warning for mentions of bullying fat people and fatphobia.))

When Harry gets off the train and isn't bursting with happiness at seeing them again, Sirius tries not to take it personally. Harry is a teenager now, and it makes sense if he's more sad to leave his friends behind-- nothing compares to staying in the same dormitory as the best mates, he knows-- than happy to see his parents again.

He shares a look with James as they leave the station, and they agree that he'll shake it off soon enough.

Except he doesn't. His mood gets worse and worse. James practically drags him to the dinner table that night, and Harry only pokes at his food with a clenched jaw instead of eating it.

"Haz?" Sirius ventures.

Harry looks up from his plate, meeting his eyes dully.

"Is everything okay?"

"Fine."

"Are you sure?" James asks, unconvinced.

"Yes."

"It's just, you're not eating. I thought you liked Shepherd's pie," Sirius says. He would be worried that it didn't turn out except his piece is fine-- rather tasty, actually, since he has plenty of experience making it.

"I don't have an appetite is all."

"Did you eat a lot on the train?"

Harry's looks askance and gives a small shrug. He's lying, but as much as Sirius wants to get to the bottom of the matter, cornering Harry isn't going to help anything.

"It's alright. I'll set some aside so you can have it before you go to bed tonight," Sirius says, trying his best to smile like he doesn't suspect anything amiss.

"No, it's... it's fine," Harry tries. "I'll just eat a bit now."

While James and Sirius finish eating, Harry manages all of two bites.

"Alright Harry, that's enough," James says, pushing his empty plate away from himself so he can put his folded arms on the table. "What's wrong?"

Harry's expression turns pained. "Do I eat too much?"

"No, not at all," Sirius says, as James shakes his head. He isn't sure there is such a thing as eating too much, unless it makes one sick-- and Harry has never eaten so much that he puked. "Why would you think that?"

"Some people at school said..." Harry trails off, but it's not from a lack of words, it's from shame. His cheeks colour a self-conscious red.

"What did they say?" James asks sharply.

"I dunno," Harry mumbles. It's an obvious lie, and he continues on, almost as if he didn't say it at all. "That I'm... pigging out. That I'd lose weight if I ate less."

Sirius feels like his stomach drops to the floor.

"Who said that to you?" James asks.

Harry's shoulder shrink in on himself like he wants to disappear, but he answers the question without further prodding. "Everyone says it. Even the professors."

Sirius forces his voice to come out calmly. The last thing he wants is to sound angry and make Harry regret telling them. "Which professors?"

"Pa, I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

Both of his parents have to hold back the response that it is a big deal, because that's not going to help Harry feel better. A shared look between the two of them confirms that the professors will be hearing about it, but they're not sure how to handle the conversation right in front of them. Sirius tilts one corner of his mouth down-- he can't think of anything to say.

James clears his throat uncomfortably and looks back to Harry. Harry's gaze is trained on his barely touched meal, missing the quick interaction his fathers had. "You should be happy," James says, and it feels so simple and James to Sirius that he can't help but smile. "We're here to help you be happy. It's not a big deal to talk to your professors about something they shouldn't be doing or letting happen in the first place. One of the Defense professors in our day had it out for Pa, and your grandparents stepped in for him."

"I asked them not to, and I was embarrassed about it at the time, but it helped," Sirius adds softly. His heart aches looking at the warring emotions on their child's face. He recognises it from his own tumultuous teenage years; he hoped that Harry would never have to deal with anything that made him feel this way, but maybe growing up would always include something horrible.

Harry shifts uncomfortably. Then, so quietly they can barely hear, he lists the names of two professors. "Nobody says anything around the other professors, but they're..."

"We'll take care of it," James promises.

Sirius can't let his son sit there and look so sad, not when he can do something about it. He gets out of his seat and rounds the table to hug Harry from behind.

"Pa," Harry says, embarrassed, but in the usual way he is with his parents' antics, rather than personal shame.

"You're perfect, pup, you know that?"

"I'm not a pup anymore," Harry argues.

"You'll always be my pup."

"I'm glad to see you didn't deny the perfect part," James says, looking at them with a smile growing on his face.

Sirius keeps on hugging him because Harry isn't trying to get rid of him.

James's eyes flicker to Harry's plate once more. "Haz, Lily was heavy too." They don't talk about Lily much. She hadn't wanted to be involved after he was born, but then she died shortly after. It feels worse to not mention her role in Harry's existence, so they try to walk the line. Harry shares her genetics, and right now, that is worth talking about. "She was healthy, just like you are. There's nothing wrong with being fat."

Sirius loosens his arms and stands up enough to press a kiss to the top of Harry's head. He didn't want to let go, but he gets the feeling that he should anyways. He gives him a parting squeeze and rounds the table to give James a hug because his husband, at least, will always hug him back. With James's hand coming up to touch his arm, he feels grounded enough to offer, "Do you want me to find you something else to eat?"

"No, this- this is fine. Thanks." Harry takes a small bite, and they go from there.

*

In private-- and with a silencing spell to ensure Harry can't overhear-- they rage. They both need to rant and curse anyone who would treat Harry this way, and when it's just the two of them, they can do it. 

It's not only the two professors, it's the Gryffindor prefects too. Harry made a point of pretending like it wasn't that big of a deal the whole time, even though it was obvious he was hurting. He didn't tell them the names of all the students, just the ones with a bit more power. Prefects in the various Houses, a few upperclassmen. He even stressed that his friends told off anyone that said it, but they had their own studies and it's not like he needs them to look after him anyways. He tried so hard to downplay it while still answering their questions. It was understandable, but infuriating.

After they get the first wave of it out of their systems, it's time to plan. Professor Dumbledore is the Headmaster so he'll have to be involved in some fashion, but he's not the one who will be dealing with the situation-- that'll be Professor McGonagall. She's the Head of House for Gryffindor, and much more hands on than Dumbledore could ever be. She should be looking after Harry now that the prefects can't be trusted to do a bloody thing except add to it.

When they manage to get McGonagall on the floo, she is gratifyingly concerned. When they mention that the Gryffindor prefects are part of the problem, she looks incensed.

"I wanted it to feel better," James says, after they're done talking to her and she's gone from their fireplace.

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to feel good after we took care of it. Maybe... I dunno, happy? Happy that Harry won't have to deal with it anymore, but I don't. I just feel angry, same as I did before."

"I know what you mean," Sirius says, taking James's hand in both of his own. "Maybe it'll feel good once he goes back to school and doesn't have to deal with it anymore. Right now, he's still with us. It's like nothing's changed yet."

"Yeah, maybe," James says noncommittally.

Sirius waits for him to finish whatever thought is in his head that's giving him so much trouble and isn't disappointed.

"I'm mad that it happened at all."

"Me too," Sirius agrees softly.

"I thought making sure it won't happen again would make that go away, but it didn't. I'm still angry."

Sirius squeezes his hand. He is too. He's not sure anything's going to make it disappear. "As long as it gets better, we'll move on."

"Right." James smiles at him. "Of course, you're right."

[imaginejamesandsirius]

Can you do one where Sirius gets insecure because Harry spends more time with Lily (who was the prongsfoot surrogate) than he does with him, and believes harry doesn't see him as his dad, but turns out they're actually planning a surprise for sirius. Thanksssss

((A/N: This is a modern no magic AU with nonbinary Harry))

Sirius would like to think that he was an extremely open-minded individual. After someone had lived the life he did, he figured it was required. First he ran away from an abusive home/got thrown out, and then he was taken in by the wonderful family of his at-the-time boyfriend (later husband). He'd lived in poverty for a couple years after moving out and graduating, then gone through a surrogate who was an ex-girlfriend of his husband's so they could have a kid. He learned that Harry was nonbinary and did his best to take it in stride, looking up every bit of information he could to make things better for his child. When Harry wanted to spend time with Lily, not just as a friend to the family but as the person who carried them to term and birthed them, Sirius didn't have a problem with it, and he felt like most people would have.

So yes, he felt like he was pretty open-minded.

It meant that at first, he didn't have a problem when Harry decided to spend more time with Lily than they usually did. Why would he? They spent time with her every month, a day set aside specifically for the two of them. And Sirius could appreciate, at first, how Harry could want a more feminine point of view in their life. James and Sirius weren't particularly feminine, and most of their mates were men. Sirius could easily see that Harry would want a more varied worldview than that, especially with their gender.

But then it kept happening, and it wasn't both of their parents they were ducking out on, it was just Sirius.

Now, Sirius wasn't a kid anymore. He didn't see that Harry was avoiding him a little and assume the worst. Harry was fourteen, this is when teenage rebellion started to really come in swing. For god's sake, the mood swings alone were taking Sirius for a ride, he didn't even want to think of what was to come.

So Sirius tried not to take it personally, even when he noticed that Harry was avoiding him to spend time with Lily.

The change happened when Harry threw a bag over their shoulder and said, "Bye Pads." Not 'Pop' like they'd been doing ever since they learned how to speak: Pads. Pads, like he was nothing more than a favoured uncle in Harry's life. Not a father. He knew that Lily wasn't the one that had given Harry the idea, but someone else must have, because they'd never had a problem with it until now. 

He couldn't even pretend to be fine when James walked in from the kitchen.

"Harry's at Lily's," Sirius reported dully.

" Again?"

Sirius nodded. He could feel himself unraveling at the edges, and he knew that James could see it, that he'd try to comfort Sirius, but how the hell did he fix this with words alone? James was incredible, but even he couldn't manage that.

James sat next to him at the table. Both of Sirius's hands were in his lap, so James out a hand on his thigh. Good ol' James, always trying to make him feel better; it wouldn't be enough this time.

"Why does it bother you so much?" he asked softly. "I admit, I'm not thrilled they're spending all their time with her instead of us, but it seems to be getting to you more than me." 

"They called me Pads before they left. Not Pop, just Pads. You really think that's nothing?"

James looked just as heartbroken by that as Sirius had felt. He swallowed, then said, "I'll talk to them about it."

"Don't," Sirius said immediately. "it's just how they feel. I'm sure the last thing Harry needs right now is for you to hunt them down and make them feel guilty. They just... finally see me how everyone else sees me."

"What are you talking about?" James asked, honestly, innocently confused by what anyone else would consider to be obvious. 

"Everyone thinks that you and Lily were together and then you got with me. I was grandfathered in as Harry's parent because I married you, not because that's what we started with the entire time." Sirius shook his head. "I guess it had to happen sometime, I just hoped it wouldn't," he muttered. He pushed himself up. "I'll start on dinner."

"Do you want help?" James asked, and what it meant was 'do you want to be alone'.

"No thanks." Sirius loved James but sometimes he needed a little time to process his emotions. This was definitely one of those times.

*

"Lils not to pry, but what the hell is going on with you and Harry? They've been ignoring Sirius for weeks, and now he's convinced Harry doesn't think of him like a father."

Lily's eyes went wide, taken aback first by his unannounced presence, then by what he said. She blinked a few times, trying to process the news he'd just dropped on her. "What? Sirius thinks that? No, that's not- no! Gods, we've been working on a surprise for him. We didn't tell you because you can't keep a secret from him if your life depended on it."

That effectively soothed his worries, but now he was left in the position of trying to figure out how the hell they fixed this. "Right. Okay, makes sense," he said, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "I hope this surprise is really important. What is it?"

"They wanted to paint him a picture of your first house," Lily explained, wringing her hands. James felt sorry for making her feel bad, but it was nothing compared to the way Sirius was hurting right now. "Harry needed help with it, so they came to me, but they didn't want me to just do all the drawing for them. They wanted to do it all themself, so it took a bit longer. We're not even done yet. Another day or two though, and it should be finished."

"If I let this go on for another day or two, Sirius is going to start thinking- I dunno, that he should move out of the house or something else horrid."

"Harry's been working so hard to keep this a secret. Please don't tell him. I mean, I know you can't really keep a secret from Sirius, but surely you can hold out for another couple days."

James sighed and shook his head. "I have to tell him that the two of you have been planning a surprise gift for him, but I'll try to keep the details of it to myself." It was the best he could do, because no way in hell was he going to let Sirius continue to believe that their kid didn't like him anymore.

"I'll take what I can get. Thank you. And I'm sure Harry will be grateful too."

"I'm going to talk to them once this is all over," James said. Gods, he could already feel the headache that conversation would bring, trying to tell Harry to not do it again but not wanting to make them feel guilty, either. "For now, I'm going to leave you in peace so I can tell Sirius to stop worrying."

"You sure you don't want to stay for a cuppa? Since you came all this way."

"Not this time, but thanks, Lils."

"Anytime. And sorry again about the misunderstanding," she said with a wince as she walked James back to the front door. "I'll know better than to try something like this again."

"It won't seem as bad a year from now, I just..."

"Want to protect Sirius. I get it. See you 'round."

James nodded goodbye, then started to head home. Bloody hell. Haz and Lily were well-intentioned, but he wished this could've happened some other way. It was a nice idea, and he could see why Harry would want to keep it a secret until it was done, but he couldn't help but want this to have ended sooner, before Sirius had a chance to feel bad about it.

And it was a very sweet idea. Sirius had loved that first house and hated when they had to move. They still had a picture of it out-- their three-person family posed in front of the facade after Harry's first birthday. It was a kind, thoughtful gift, but James wished that Harry hadn't put such a rush on it. If they'd taken their time and spread out working on it over a year, then there wouldn't have been a misunderstanding.

James sighed at himself. Here he was blaming a teenager for not thinking ahead. It was a teaching moment, not anything to be frustrated about. Once he apprised Sirius of the situation, they could put the entire experience behind them-- at least, he hoped it would be that simple. He never really knew what to expect when Sirius got insecure like this. His times like that were few and far between, and James didn't know how to handle it because in his mind, it didn't make any sense. No matter how much he tried to understand, he couldn't.

So he would handle this conversation as well as he could and then just be there for him, because it was the best he could do.

*

"I feel a little silly for worrying about it so much," Sirius said that night as they laid in bed. His eyes were on the ceiling, but he wasn't truly looking at it.

"I don't think it's silly."

Sirius laughed and reached for James's hand, threading their fingers together. "That's one of the many reasons I love you. I mean, I can still see why I started to worry. It felt like they were pulling away, but my mind jumped to that conclusion instead of asking them about it. Hell, I could've asked Lily when I first started to notice, and she would've told me it was nothing."

James didn't know what to say to reassure him, so he rolled onto his side to press a kiss to Sirius's bare shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah sweet-talker, I hear you," Sirius fake-grumbled with a smile. He turned to face James and kissed him, slow and comfortable. "Our kid's pretty great."

"A bit misguided at times, but their heart's in the right place," James replied.