The Origin Of Love

It was upon the Hogsmeade shopping trip that the friends discovered James Potter's guiltiest vice yet: he loved buying things for Lily. To the point that had he not come from the unbelievably wealthy Potter family, he would have depleted his Gringotts account in purchasing things for his fiancée and their wedding.

Sirius was quick to point this out, and, of course, took the opportunity to tease his best friend mercilessly. "Oh, Jamie," he crooned in a falsetto voice, "will you buy me this? And this? Andoooh, I can't live without this!" He flung himself against the Gladrags window, pointing to what happened to be a Mattie Merlin designer evening gown.

"No offense, Sirius, but I don't think you'd look that good in an evening gown. Cross-dressing doesn't suit you," Peter laughed, as James and Lily glared good-naturedly at their friend.

"Oh, I don't know, I think Sirius would make a lovely woman. With a little surgery, of course," Remus teased quickly.

"Never! What if something went wrong? I'd be left with an angry inch, that's what." Sirius punctuated his statement with a heartfelt shudder. "I'd have to kill myself then."

"Unless I do it first," James muttered, and stopped walking to face Sirius. "Here, if you want something, you can carry these packages." And before Sirius could protest or make another joke, James had heaped his armful of bags and packages onto his startled friend, as Remus and Peter enjoyed a laugh at Sirius's expense.

"Oh, fine," Sirius grumbled playfully. "I suffer because my best friend is a Lily-flower's Sugar Daddy."

"Hmm..." Lily mused. "A Sugar Daddy...I could get used to that."

"You're in trouble now, James," Remus remarked in a low voice, but James only shrugged and smiled broadly at his fiancée.

"What do you want, baby? Name it and it's yours," he said, wrapping his arm around Lily's waist and kissing her freckled cheek.

"Well..." Lily looked around, grinning coyly and pondering the opportunities for a moment. "For our new home, we'll need plenty of things...we'll lay out fine china on the linen..."

"Oh, come on, baby, what do you want?" Jmes pressed, as Remus and Peter sniggered and Sirius struggled to see around his armful of packages.

"What do I want?" Lily repeated with an innocent note in her voice but a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Well, baby, bring me the Versace blue jeans, and black designer underwear," she instructed flirtatiously, pointing into the Gladrags window. As she glanced around the street, she searched for further items to request from her Sugar Daddy. "Whiskey and French cigarettes..."

"A motorbike, with high-speed jets!" Sirius interjected.

"Shut up, Sirius, don't give her any ideas," Peter hissed.

"Besides, that's what you want," Remus pointed out.

Lily, meanwhile, was still naming items. "A Waterpik, and a Cuisinart, and--ooh, a dog, can we have a dog?"

"Um, sure, if it gets along with Remus when he comes to visit..." James stammered, becoming overwhelmed with Lily's growing list. Remus snorted indignantly at the stipulation.

"Why is she doing this?" Peter whispered to Sirius and Remus, confused and slightly afraid.

"Because it's the thrill of control, Pete," Sirius replied, a warning in his voice. "Beware. To women, it's like the rush of Rock & Roll." Lily, meanwhile, was on a roll.

"James, darling, I want all the luxuries of the modern age - yes, every item on every page in the Modern Witchery catalogue!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her arms around James's neck and smiling brightly.

James, meanwhile, had gotten a rather glassy look in his eyes, and appeared slightly taken aback at his lady's requests. "Er...alright, Lily..." he said slowly. His friends could see the calculations adding up in his head.

But then Lily laughed, and gave James a squeeze. "Listen, darling, I was just kidding. You don't have to buy me anything, because I already have everything I want: you."

As the lovestruck couple kissed sweetly on the sidewalk, the other three Marauders could almost hear James breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, a muffled voice from behind the armful of packages broke the moment.

"Although I'm sure you wouldn't object to buying her that black designer underwear, what about me, Jamie?" Sirius cooed sweetly, as the other boys snickered.

"Sorry, Sirius, but you're just not as convincing as Lily. It must be a woman thing," James mused, never taking his eyes away from hers.

"OH!" Sirius exclaimed, sounding offended. "So you think only a woman can truly love a man?" Shoving the packages into Peter's arms, Sirius took James by the shoulders and whirled him around to face him. "Well, you buy me the dress, Prongs, and I'll be more woman than a man like you can stand."

James laughed as Sirius sauntered around him, batting eyelashes that would have put Narcissa Erickson to shame. "Sirius, I can only be one person's Sugar Daddy at a time."

"Alright, James, alright, go back to your Lily-flower. But if you've got some sugar for me - well, Sugar Daddy, bring it home." Sirius winked, and Remus nearly collapsed in laughter. Lily, grinning at Sirius's campy antics, took her man by the hands and held onto him rather tightly.

Then she caught sight of the sale in Fabulous Footwear next door. "Oooh! James, darling, look in there!" Dragging James by the hand, she took off, like the shopping aficionado that she was at heart.

Remus and Sirius shared a meaningful glance. "Sugar Daddy," they chorused at the same time, and followed their friends across the street.

"Guys?" Peter asked hesitantly, but received no reply. "Hey, does someone want to help me carry these?"