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Where is that bastard?

Sirius Black gripped the glass in his hand with chalk white fingers. It was always cold in the Hog's Head, but the air was especially chilly tonight. He drained what was left in the glass and as soon as he slammed it down onto the table again in frustration he heard the barman's voice call to him.

"Need a refill?" came the husky voice of the barkeep.

"Yeah," Sirius choked hoarsely. The grimy glass filled once again with mahogany liquid. Sirius was a patient person for the most part, but he'd been waiting for nearly an hour and a half now. It was nearly midnight, and he was freezing....

James is usually late, but this is ridiculous...

He could hear seconds ticking away in his head. At the age of twenty-four, he felt like he could have been forty. He was so exhausted...

And he was worried. Nowadays, when someone was late, it was cause to worry. The streets weren't safe. Not even for James Potter, who fancied himself indestructible.

Suddenly, he felt a cold wind whipping his back and he swished around. A very tall man wearing glasses and messy robes was jogging toward him. The man flopped down at Sirius' table, sitting opposite him.

"I'm shocked you waited for me," James gasped.

"Took you long enough to get here," Sirius muttered. "I was starting to get worried. You know what it's like out there at this time of night. I don't even want to be out right now."

"I'm sorry. Things got in the way," James huffed. He was obviously quite out of breath. "Hey, I'll take a glass of firewhiskey!" James shouted to the barman as he threw a galleon at the counter." Sirius raised his eyebrows slightly. "Feeling festive?"

"Yeah. You know you could have left if you didn't want to stay up waiting for me."

"Who said I didn't want to wait for you? I haven't seen you in a few days. That's a long time for us. Yeah, I'm dead tired, I'm bloody freezing, and I was kind of worried sick after it struck eleven and you weren't here. But I wanted to wait. The waiting was just annoying," Sirius mumbled.

"You look dead on your feet. You're going gray," James said apologetically.

"You look like you've been in a fight with an army of pixies. Your robes are torn," he noted, gesturing to the rip on James' shoulder. "What happened?"

"Uh, Lily, actually."

"Oh, she hexed you again. That's why you were so late. Why this time?"

"Not exactly," James grinned sheepishly.

Sirius narrowed his eyes in question. James ran his hand through his hair, and then pushed his unruly cowlicks back again. He started to speak, but looked away and then back down. He chugged half his glass of firewhiskey and took a deep breath, but still said nothing. Sirius bent over in an effort to make eye contact. He whispered James' name twice, but was met with no response.

"Lily was attacking me," he began slowly, "with her mouth." He looked up at Sirius, who looked more confused than ever. James sat up and inhaled very deeply once again.

"Lily's pregnant."

The moment after James said that seemed to last forever. Sirius' eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Are you fucking with me?"

"No. She really is. Sirius, I'm going to be....someone's dad. Someone's father."

"Merlin....she...I can't believe....you....pregnant?"

"Actually," James said jokingly, "she's the one that's pregnant. Not me. Sirius-"

"Yeah, mate?" he answered absently, obviously still in disbelief.

"How can I be a parent? I'm a-a- a bloody troublemaker! A Marauder!"

"Well, you see, you'll be the one that tells him how to not get caught, and Lily'll ground him when he does. And mate, CONGRATULATIONS!"

"Merlin! I'm going to be a father!"

"C'mon! Let's get out of here, we need to go tell Moony and Wormtail! This is huge, it can't wait!"

James stopped him. There was a new expression on his face. It was one that was new to Sirius. This expression was stern, and disapproving...

"I'm sorry, mate, but I can't go gallivanting around now. I've got to get home to Lily. And you should get some sleep. See you tomorrow then?" And with that, he sprinted out the door and Sirius heard a crack from out on the street that meant James had Apparated.

"Shit," Sirius whispered, "his bloody paternal sense of responsibility is kicking in. And it's only been two hours!"