When There Is No War

A/N: I will be busy for the next couple days, so I figured I would upload this one a little early.

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Jan: There will be, yes. I think around chapter 15.

Chapter 11: Uncle #4

James, Sirius, and Remus sat in the Potters' den waiting for Lily to arrive home from her day's work at Emerald Stones. Somehow, she had convinced Severus to come over, which he rarely did unless she had invited him for a Holiday dinner or something of the like. Even then, he only would come long enough for an appearance before making an excuse to leave very early. He felt out of place, and Remus couldn't blame him. No matter how much Lily tried, Sirius, James, and Severus were not going to be the best of chums.

"I tell you, James, he's trying to win her over, especially now that he has all that money from the Prince estate." Sirius was saying.

Remus rolled his eyes. "How low do you think of Lily?"

"You can woo a girl over a lot easier with money." Sirius argued.

"Padfoot, I kind of trust Lily more than that." James said. "I mean, she had the chance to be with him already. The better man won, of course."

"But now he's rich. Like filthy rich."

"Lily has everything she's ever wanted, not to say she's greedy, but there's nothing Severus can give her that she doesn't already have."

"A fifty thousand square foot manor?" Sirius suggested.

"Do you honestly think Lily would go for that?" Remus asked his boyfriend. "Think of all the cleaning she would have to do."

"House elf?"

"Can we not talk about this?" James asked sharply. "I would prefer not to think about my wife being with him, thank you."

"Just saying, Prongs." Sirius added gently.

"We've been together for over seven years, Padfoot. Lily is not interested with him in that way, she's had multiple opportunities to be with him."

"And that's that." Remus gave Sirius a stern look.

Sirius sighed. "Alright."

"Dad!" Harry came in carrying a SpeedFlyer 600. "Can you show Andrew your special move?" He asked with shining, green eyes.

Andrew stood back shyly, but he couldn't hide his own excitement at the thought of a magical trick on a broom.

James laughed. "Sure!" He took the broom from his son. "But don't attempt this. This move is for adults only, kay?"

The boys nodded, and took the seat James left free next to Sirius.

James mounted the broom in a swift, elegant move; he was born to raise Hell in the air. "Count down, will ya, boys?"

Remus and Sirius joined in on the countdown from five as James bounced on the broom, building up the anticipation.

"Zero!"

James kicked off and zoomed though the room at such a high speed, the tail of the broom was a complete blur, he flew over their heads, creating a breeze and blowing their hair in all directions. Then he did something incredible! He flipped off of the broom, catching himself by the tips of his toes. The broom sped through the air, him hanging upside down the whole time. As James flew over his audience again, he tapped the heads of the two boys with his free hands, who giggled and put their hands to his head after he had past.

And that is what Lily and Severus Flooed in on. A group of whooping, giggling males.

"James!" Lily shrieked.

"Lily!" James gasped.

CRASH!

He had rammed right into a bookshelf, the books tumbled down onto his head, him groaning as each one hit.

"Oh no!" Lily rushed to him, and everyone followed suite, Severus lingering behind.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Harry asked as him and Lily unearthed him from the pile.

James rubbed his sore head. "I think so. That was a bit painful." He winced.

"Broke your glasses again." Sirius announced, holding them out to Lily who repaired them quickly and placed them back onto her husband.

"Potter, you can't go a day without showing off, can you?" Severus drawled amusingly.

"How boring it would be if I did, wouldn't it be?" James said as Remus and Sirius helped him up. "I mean, if I didn't, I wouldn't have crashed today, and then you'd have nothing to amuse yourself tonight when you go to your empty home."

"I can I amuse myself without you meddling into my thoughts. For example," Severus' dark eyes shifted to Sirius. "How amusing to learn that Sirius' boyish past has come to bite him in the..." he glanced at the boys who were listening in on them with tender ears. "... posterior." He finished with a smirk. "Never heard of contraceptions, Black? They do work wonders."

"Shut it, Snape!" Sirius snapped.

"Yes, can we not do this in front of the children, please?" Lily asked.

"Certainly, Lily." Severus said with a glint in his eyes, still enjoying his moment of making Sirius feel uneasy.

"That's Uncle Severus." Harry told Andrew with a point. "He don't like hugs though, right, Uncle Severus?"

"That is correct." Severus said.

"Andrew will not be calling him 'Uncle Severus' either." Sirius said, crossing his arms.

"Why not?" Harry asked innocently.

"Yes, why not, Sirius?" Severus taunted, mockingly.

Sirius' jaw clenched. "Because I said so."

Harry frowned. "But he's my uncle, and so he's Andrew's uncle too."

"He is of no relation to me." Sirius said stubbornly.

"And he's not to Ronnie either, but Ronnie calls him Uncle too!" Harry pointed out.

"Ronnie calls me Uncle too." Severus chimed with a smirk.

Remus cleared his throat. "Children, perhaps now is not the moment for this topic."

Severus took a moment to take in Andrew's appearance. "He certainly has a resemblance to his father."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius demanded.

"No one ever said you were ugly, Black."

Sirius looked taken aback at the 'comment' Severus had just made.

"Oh, don't drool now, I have no feelings for you; that's what Remus is for."

"Why don't you boys go play with the new snitch Mummy got you, Harry?" James spoke up.

Harry took Andrew's hand and lead the shy boy away.

"Andrew doesn't talk much, does he?" Severus asked, being serious for the first time that evening. "Is it from the normal bashfulness that a child gets upon meeting a stranger?"

"He still doesn't talk a whole lot at home either." Remus informed as he, Sirius, and Lily sat on the couch. James and Severus remained standing.

"Lily said he has a skill for hiding?"

"He's a wizz at it. We searched for nearly two hours before discovering he was hiding in the kitchen!" Sirius grumbled.

Severus raised his eyebrows. "The kitchen?" He drawled. "Really? It took you that long?

"Top cupboard." Remus explained. "Would you expect a child to climb into the highest one of all?"

Severus thought a few moments before replying, "I've learned to expect the unexpected. Especially concerning the developing minds and abilities of people under four feet in height."

"Isn't that the truth." James scoffed. "I found Harry on the roof last week."

"I don't suppose you'll allow me to speak with him?" Severus asked Sirius.

"So you can fill his head with ridiculous reasonings to hate me?! No!"

"I was under the impression that you were seeking my help." Severus turned his back. "I shall be on my way if you're just going to waste my time."

"Wait!" Remus jumped from the couch. "Don't leave."

"What use am I?"

"Sirius, he should talk to Andrew." Lily said gently.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Only if I can be there."

"So we can play Quarrel Tag in front of your son?" Severus turned back around, his black robes swinging at the bottom. "I think not, Black, that will do no good for the boy if he truly has been traumatized."

"Well you ain't talking to him alone!"

"Remus can witness it." James suggested.

"Yeah." Lily agreed.

Sirius still looked unconvinced.

"Certainly you trust the man that you share a bed with, Black?" Severus asked with a smirk.

"It'll be alright, Paddy." Remus said reassuringly.

"Okay." Sirius said slowly. "But one insult toward me, and you're done!"

"Very well." Severus tilted his head.