Mischief Managed

38: Love is Our Hope

Sometimes I just let the beauty envelope me, and I can forget for a little. 

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I picked at my food self-consciously, chasing bits of mushroom around one of Lily and James' glass blue dinner plates while ducking my head to avoid conversation. Not that one was happening anyway.

James, Lily, Sirius, and I ate our dinner in stoic silence. My mind was racing with everything that I, that we, had done in the past few months. I couldn't comprehend the people I'd hurt, the people I saved, because Death Eater or Muggle, they were all people. Until they were dead. Maybe then they became whispers, a trace, an echo of what they once stood for.

I wrung my head. If I thought about these things too much...I would lose my mind.

"Could this discussion get any livelier?" joked James. James and Lily both seemed happier, less burdened than Sirius and I did, but I hadn't noticed the small smiles on each of their faces until now.

James sneaked a grin at Lily, and her entire face brightened as she angled her body closer to him.

"Something you want to tell us?" I prompted.

Lily's eyes flickered to James and he gave her a slight nod. Lily broke into a grin, her face shining with more happiness than I had seen in months. James was fiddling with his fingers, a smile still on his face.

"I...James and I are going to have a baby!" she exclaimed.

Sirius and I didn't even look at each before shouting exclamations of "That's brilliant" and "Congratulations!" Sirius rose from his seat to hug James and I smiled at Lily.

Lily smiled back and continued, "And that's not all. We want the two of you to be the baby's godparents."

My jaw dropped and suddenly, despite so many months of gloom, I couldn't stop grinning. "Us?" I stuttered. "You want us to be the godparents?"

"Yes!" reaffirmed Lily, her voice excited but steely. "James and I couldn't think of anyone better."

I glanced at Sirius. His face was alight with happiness, his eyes shone with joy, and he couldn't stop smiling for a single second. I'd never seen him more handsome.

A warm, happy feeling was rising in my stomach and suddenly all thoughts of the war around us were gone. In this moment, all I could feel was love and hope; I could see our future, the four of us. Years from now, when the war was over, we would have dozens of nights just like this- gathered around the dinner table, sharing memories and igniting laughter. James and Lily's baby would go to Hogwarts, and would maybe be followed by a child of Sirius's and I's. They would be friends, of course, and we could watch them grow up. Together. The thought made me happier than I'd been in ages.

"Of course we will! Sirius and I are so happy for you both," I answered.

Lily smiled again, then looked at James. Her love for him was etched on every feature of her face and James hugged her, burying his head in red hair while Lily laughed into his shoulder.

"Aw, would you look at that," I said slyly, looking over at Sirius.

Sirius' eyes had gone unfocused, so I poked his arm.

His head lifted, his hair falling in front of his eyes, and the way he looked at me made me feel like I was asking too much from the world- that all I needed to be happy was for him to keep looking at me like that.

Before I could open my mouth again, Sirius threw himself around me, his arms enveloping me so strongly I stumbled back a step.

"I love you," he whispered.