The Bachelorette

Sirius and James are both cast as contestants on the Bachelorette. Although their stated goal was to woo Lily and capture her heart, they don’t quite manage it. They fall for each other instead.

Notes:

An AU based on the show The Bachelorette!
Full disclosure I’ve only seen one season of the Bachelor and it was years ago so I’m a little short on details about how it works. I think I understand it just enough for these purposes but I apologize for any errors.
POVs alternate between Sirius and James, except for one bonus POV in the middle.
This is my first prongsfoot/bambibelle that's more than a drabble, and I hope you like it!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Sirius

Sirius Black had been chosen to be a contestant on the Bachelorette, to the surprise of absolutely no one who knew him. He’d knocked his audition out of the park. He’d been charming and funny, and had had all of the interviewers swooning. Even the straight male producers had been taken with him, that was how charismatic he could be.

The first day of filming, he showed up to the large, imposing house to find a crowd of men.

Large houses did not impress him. His family’s estate was much more majestic than this place. That helped. Nothing about this setup was intimidating to him.

He was already confident that he could win over whatever girl they had picked for the competition. It wouldn’t even be a fair fight; there was no way any of the other contestants would be half as appealing as he was.

He threw a hand through his flowing locks as he exited the convertible to a throng of cameras. He made sure to put on the most devil may care smile he could manage, and walked in with his shoulders back and head held high. Confidence was sexy, as he knew well.

There were only a few of the gentlemen present so far. Most of them were preening for the cameras, not talking to anyone but just trying to appear as appealing as they could to win screentime.

Two seemed to be jostling for the attention of one camera in particular, and Sirius had to bite back a laugh.

Only one of the young men had a remotely genuine expression on his face. The smile that crossed his face at the sight of Sirius was nothing short of charming, and lit the room up. To hell with the preening, what could it hurt to go over and say hi? Sirius didn’t need to make himself seem sexier, he already had that in the bag.

As he walked towards that smile, he took in the rest of the man. He had wild, disorganized wavy black hair. Sirius would never let his own hair get that chaotic, but somehow it worked. He had on large round glasses that emphasized his eyes, in a way that was entirely flattering. It was a good look on him. He was also wearing the requisite suit, and it was tailored immaculately to his frame, emphasizing that underneath a sculpted athletic body must be hiding.

Sirius wondered if there was a pool and they’d ever be in bathing suits. He was curious what was hiding underneath, so sue him.

As he got closer, the man’s deep brown eyes twinkled in the lights.

“I’m Sirius,” Sirius said without preamble when he’d come to a stop, “Sirius Black.”

“James,” the man - James - said with a grin, “James Potter.”

Sirius glanced towards the door, where the next young man was walking in. That one was strutting like he was a teenage prince walking into a throne room. Sirius found it absolutely comical, though the cameras were eating it up.

“Some of these gents seem like real tossers,” James whispered in a low voice to Sirius.

Sirius nodded and chanced another glance at James.

“They have no chance in hell,” Sirius said back, equally quietly, “we’ve got this in the bag.”

It struck him as ridiculous that he’d acted like they could both win, him and this stranger, but he already felt like they could be allies, at least early on. Perhaps he’d make a friend for the duration of the show, or for at least as long as James lasted before he got the boot.

Sirius glanced again around the room and took everyone in.

James was much more attractive than anyone else - except Sirius himself, obviously - so he might make it to the finals too. That might be nice, to have some interesting competition.

Still, Sirius’ ego was firm enough that he was still confident that he’d win.

He couldn’t help but enjoy his conversation with James as they kept up a steady stream of commentary on each young man who walked in.

“Look at his teeth,” Sirius muttered about one.

“That suit is so blocky it borders on being a mumu. No way he survives the first round wearing that,” James said about another.

Sirius actually lost his composure laughing, and when the cameras found him he had a big grin on his face.

Twenty minutes later, when the room had started to get closer to full, a pair of young men walked up to Sirius and James.

“You look like you’re having more fun than anyone else here,” one of them said with a sardonic eyebrow, “thought we’d come over and spice up our afternoon.”

Sirius nodded. The newcomers looked nice enough. The one who had spoken was tall - though not as tall as Sirius - with nicely styled mousy brown hair. He was cute in a boyish sort of way, though a couple of visible scars across his face aged him a bit. Still, he was attractive enough that in a different lifetime Sirius might have offered to buy him a drink.

The other young man was blond and short, with a pointed nose. He looked distinctly uncomfortable in his body when he moved, but his smile was soft and open and he seemed genuine. A guy like that could be disarming to a young woman. Sirius wondered if he would be a dark horse in the competition.

“Well we were just sizing up the competition,” James said, gesturing around the room, “lot of gents for us to judge.”

“I think they’re for the bachelorette to judge,” the blonde said unhelpfully.

“Yes, obviously,” Sirius said, somewhat short with him, “but we got first dibs on being judgmental.”

James laughed.

“I’m James,” he offered, “and this is Sirius.”

The other two shook his hand.

“I’m Remus,” the taller guy said.

“And I’m Peter,” the blonde said. “Nice to meet you.”

Before they could get further into conversation, the room was called to order.

The producers started to give instructions, but they went on so long that Sirius found himself yawning.

“Don’t let them see you like that,” James muttered, “if they hate you early they’ll give you a bad edit and less time with her.”

Sirius grinned at him. “I don’t need extra time, whatever they give me will be enough.”

James raised an eyebrow, and spoke quietly as they ignored the producer who was still droning on.

“Oh yeah? You think you’re seductive enough you can win her before me?”

His eyes glistened in the light, and Sirius found himself staring.

“I’m not worried at all about you,” Sirius said, without an ounce of a lie in his mind, “you will not be the reason I lose.”

James patted Sirius’ hand lightly with his own.

“We’ll see about that.”

Sirius found himself just slightly shell shocked when James winked at him, but then he removed his hand and looked away.

Maybe Sirius did have to worry about James’ capability of seduction.

James

James was blown away when the bachelorette walked out. She was absolutely breathtaking. Curvy in all the right places, with fiery red hair and the most startling green eyes. She had a smattering of freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose that were endearing.

James could imagine falling in love with her for a lot longer than this competition.

He barely heard the words that the producers were saying as they introduced her, other than her name: Lily. It was the perfect name.

After a short introduction, Lily was freed to walk around the room so that the young men could introduce themselves.

James and the group of young men surrounding him weren’t the first group she approached, but they were close to it. They hadn’t bothered her until she was ready for them, but once she came over they each offered her their best, most handsome expressions.

“Lovely to meet you,” James said, taking her hand and giving it a delicate kiss.

Sirius coughed to hide a laugh, and James had to resist the urge to punch him in the arm. As it was, he couldn’t quite resist rolling his eyes at him, which made Sirius grin smugly and steal James’ moment by introducing himself.

“Sirius,” he said, “enchanted to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Lily said, with a certain air of patience and a twinkle in her eye. She turned to Remus. “And you? What’s your name?”

Remus blushed, and toed at the floor slightly.

“Remus,” he said, “I’m never going to be the most suave one here, but I really do want to get to know you.” His smile was soft, and his eyes glistened with earnestness.

Lily was positively beaming. James could kick himself inwardly, he hadn’t picked up on the fact that that sort of thing would appeal to her.

After introducing herself to Peter, she stayed in their little circle for a few more minutes. James made an ass of himself a couple more times, but Lily seemed to find it endearing. Sirius found his stride with flirting, though it still didn’t seem to be entirely Lily’s style. Peter stammered and blushed a bit more than would be called sexy. And Remus, Remus clearly won the conversation. He had Lily captivated so much that she had to be told to move on by a producer.

When she left, it was with a delicate, “Bye Remus,” and a soft expression, before she nodded to the rest of them.

James punched Remus on the shoulder good naturedly once she was gone. “Remus, you dog! Who would have seen that coming!”

Sirius laughed at James’ ridiculousness.

“Remus the secret god of flirting!” Sirius added. James and Peter joined him in laughing. Remus only blushed, but he did it with a pleased look on his face.

Lily chanced a glance back at them, and smiled a private smile just for Remus before talking to the group the producers had walked her over to.

“Competition over, I think we have our winner,” James said with a smile, throwing an arm around Remus’ shoulder and squeezing.

“Might as well go home then,” Sirius agreed.

Peter looked slightly affronted, but didn’t actually say anything.

James considered Sirius’ words.

“Well, might not want to go home just yet, would be a dead giveaway we’d lost. Should probably find some private island to laze about on for a few weeks.”

Sirius nodded sagely. “But of course.”

“Pete, you coming?” James asked, removing his arm from Remus’ shoulders to turn to Peter.

“No!” Peter said emphatically, “I can still win this!”

James just chuckled.

“Me and you, then, Sirius?” he asked.

Sirius ginned back and raised an eyebrow with a devillish look in his eye.

“You’re buying the first round, then, Potter.” He thought for a moment. “James?”

James shrugged. “Either works.”

Sirius nodded, but seemed unsatisfied.

“I should have a nickname for you. I’ll work on it.”

Peter looked aghast.

“Nicknames! But we’re only going to be together for a few days!”

James shook his head eagerly.

“Oh, but Pete, you have underestimated how close we’re going to be by the end of this. I reckon we’ll be the final four and we’ll be devastated when the first of us has to be sent home.”

Peter nodded. He seemed placated by the suggestion that he’d still be present in the final four.

“And then afterwards we’re all getting blitzed in the Maldives, of course,” Sirius said.

James nodded. “Obviously. All of us except Remus of course, he’ll be off on his winner’s honeymoon.”

Sirius nodded. James chanced a glance at Remus, who seemed like his plan was just to roll his eyes until they stopped talking.

Fat chance of that, though. James never stopped talking, and it seemed Sirius didn’t either.

Sirius

Sirius had seen the show before, but it had somehow never occurred to him just how much downtime there was. He didn’t even see Lily again for four hours after their initial conversation.

Sirius thought she was pretty, though she wasn’t really his type.

Still, he thought it would be nice enough to spend enough time with her to win.

The next time that they all saw her, the thirty contestants were lined up in two long rows, staggered to allow perfect visibility for the cameras.

Sirius glanced down the row. James was on the opposite end of the line, which was unfortunate. He didn’t have anyone to talk to during this round of instructions.

James, for his part, was immediately behind Peter and not far down from Remus. Sirius could see James say something in Peter’s ear, and he was positively burning with envy. He wanted to be the one chatting with James, not Peter.

It wouldn’t have even mattered, but everything in this show took forever. If they had only been lined up for the few minutes it looked like on television, then it wouldn’t have mattered much. But they’d been in this position for thirty minutes before Lily had walked back in, and had been standing with her here for another fifteen minutes beyond that.

It was very dull, being this far away from James.

Sirius would have to complain about it to him after.

Well, that was assuming that they both survived the looming first round of cuts. Sirius wasn’t exactly scared for himself, but he was very aware now that he had not made the best first impression - that had very obviously been Remus.

Sure enough, when it came time for Lily to hand out her vibrant red roses with little golden threads woven around each stem, Sirius called Remus’ name first.

When he reached her, she resisted passing off the flower for a brief moment, and just held on while their fingers lingered together.

Remus, smooth as he was, curled his fingers around hers and smiled warmly.

“Is that for me?” he asked slowly, drawing the words out.

Lily was very obviously captivated.

“Yes,” she said rather breathlessly, “it’s for you.”

She let go, leaving Remus to pull it into his chest.

“Thank you,” he said, before walking out through the side door where everyone who was safe was directed to go. Lily’s eyes stayed on him until he had left the room and was no longer visible.

It took fifteen more contestants before Peter was selected, and Sirius offered him a smile when he was. She was only handing out twenty roses, so it really was getting down to the wire.

Immediately following him, Lily called on James.

His walk across the room to meet her was graceful, and Sirius admired that the way he held himself had all of the elegance of real royalty.

After he’d taken the rose from Lily, he walked towards the exit. Before he’d made it out of the room, his eyes found Sirius’ and he winked. It wasn’t an expression of triumph over Sirius, more one of mirth that he was waiting for Sirius to join in on.

Next up was Sirius, and he felt himself release a breath inwardly.

It wasn’t that he’d been afraid that he was about to get cut - he hadn't been - but it did seem as though she’d left the best for the end, since there were only a few more roses left after the one she handed to Sirius.

Sirius was funneled out into the back patio, and James found him immediately.

Before Sirius could even say anything, James had slapped him on the back and cheered.

“Good to see you here too, mate! She left us for the end to keep things interesting, I bet.”

Sirius laughed, though it was a little hollow. It had been a bit of a hit to his ego to see Remus go first, and then to see himself not called until much later.

“Interesting, indeed,” Sirius said. “Where are loverboy and Pete?”

“Over here,” James said, indicating the far wall, where Remus and Peter were sitting.

He kept his hand on Sirius’ back and led him over towards where their friends were waiting. Sirius was all too aware of that hand on his back, and it was as though he could feel that touch everywhere. It felt nice.

When they got closer to Remus and Peter, Peter smiled tightly at them.

“You made it too,” he said to Sirius, and Sirius got the distinct impression that he wasn’t pleased with that fact.

James cut in smoothly before Sirius could say anything rude about how surprising it was that Peter had made the cut. He also removed his hand from Sirius’ back in favor of gesturing, and Sirius missed the touch immediately.

“Yes he did, we all did, must be the most charming of the groups here then.”

Sirius couldn’t help but agree. Most of the competitors had started to stick close to certain other people, and while they all may not have been friends, they certainly had preferences on acquaintances.

It must be hard to lose the people you were closest with, Sirius thought, and he was just glad he didn’t have to know yet. He didn’t want to think about this game without James or Remus.

Remus nodded, but his thoughts had evidently taken a turn that was different than the direction Sirius’ had gone.

“We have our first dates with her starting in a couple of days. I wonder what they’ll be like.”

James scrunched up his face and looked like he was thinking hard. Sirius held back a laugh. It was a dorky expression, but kind of cute.

“Well,” he said, “First we have the group activities, tomorrow and the next day. Not really as interesting as dates though, I suppose. But to your point, she has already cut ten of us, which leaves behind twenty now. I think they said there are ten solo dates and five pair dates, so we could end up one on one or lose that chance.”

Remus nodded. “Does she get to decide, or do the producers?”

Sirius didn’t hold back his laugh this time; Remus was just so earnest.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get your chance to be alone with her, loverboy.”

“Don’t call me that,” Remus said darkly.

James shook his head and clapped Remus on the shoulder.

“You know it’s a compliment. Everyone’s already jealous of you.”

Sirius nodded. “Consensus is she liked you best yesterday.”

“I hope so,” Remus said quietly, a faint smile playing at his lips.

Peter looked uncomfortable.

“I mean we must have all made good impressions, right? We’re still here, that says something about her thoughts on all of us.”

“Sure, Pete,” James said kindly, “we all still have a shot.”

Sirius privately thought that Peter wouldn’t win even if everyone else disqualified themselves, that Lily would just decide to go home alone, but he didn’t say it. He didn’t think James would like that.

The rest of the day was a lot of nothing.

After a long time lounging together waiting for any sort of direction, they were each sent out separately to film confessionals.

Sirius said all of the right things - or he thought so anyway - about how wonderful and beautiful Lily was, and about how unworthy some of the other contestants were.

He only made one snide remark, and that was about the man with the long hair that was so oily it looked like it would leave grease stains everywhere.

“Good riddance, honestly,” he said, “all he did was scowl at anyone within view. I can’t imagine how he thought he would win anyone over like that. Really, no one in their right mind would put up with someone like that, let alone fall in love with him. Glad he’s gone.”

When the confessional was over, he fell back into his pattern with his friends.

When James left for his own interview, Sirius sat back and didn’t say much. Remus and Peter were locked in a quiet conversation discussing what the round of dates might entail, but Sirius didn’t focus on it.

They didn’t get a chance to see Lily again for the rest of the day.

The following morning, James and Sirius were a part of the group that was set to have a picnic with Lily in the valley.

Unfortunately for them, this wasn’t really what anyone would call a “date.” Ten young men and one young woman together drinking wine across a multitude of picnic blankets was much more like a party.

Sirius didn’t get more than a few minutes’ face time with Lily, but he couldn’t really complain. The wine was good, the charcuterie boards were better, and the air was perfect.

He spent most of the time just laying on his back across a blanket with James next to him, alternatively sipping their wine and watching the clouds.

The only really meaningful time either of them got with Lily was when she plopped down on James’ right side and laid next to them to join them in looking up.

“So what are we looking at, gents?” she asked brightly. When Sirius glanced over at her, her cheeks were bright. If he had to guess, she’d been imbibing in the wine too.

“Well,” James said, “I’m pretty sure that cloud over there resembles Simba, you know, from the Lion King.”

“Oh!” Lily said in surprise, “you’re looking for pictures in the clouds!”

“Yes,” James said, “Simba is right there.” He pointed in that direction. Sirius could follow his train of thought and could see the image just as clearly.

“Okay, I’ll try,” Lily said. “Hmmm.” She thought for a moment. “I suppose that over there looks like a dolphin!”

James chuckled in agreement.

Sirius arched his head to see where she was pointing, to try to pick up on what she’d seen.

“Where?” he asked.

“Right there,” James said. He raised his own hand towards the clouds, and Sirius followed his motion and looked along the line of his arm in the direction he was pointing until he spotted it. It was dolphin-esque enough that he understood. There wasn’t a dorsal fin, but the curve was clear enough.

“Sure does,” Sirius said, to giggles from Lily.

“Now you!” she said to Sirius, raising her head to look over James at him.

Sirius grinned and looked back towards the sky.

“I see…” he thought for a moment “well that there looks like a broomstick!”

He pointed, and both Lily and James picked up on it immediately.

“Yes!” Lily said, “and it even looks like it’s about to sweep up whatever’s next to it, those little wispy bits!”

They settled in looking up at the clouds until a producer came over to encourage Lily to move on.

“That was fun then, guys,” she said to them warmly just as she was leaving, “I’m really glad we got to do this together.”

Sirius and James both sat up too.

“Yeah,” Sirius said, “this was nice.”

James nodded too, with the most pleased of smiles on his face.

James

The next day James didn’t see Lily at all. He found that regrettable, but couldn’t quite find it in him to be too broken up about it.

Lily was off with a group of guys going to a football match as their activity for the day, which left James back at the mansion to spend his time as he pleased. Remus and Peter had been sent out on the excursion, which left Sirius as James’ only remaining friend on property.

It was hardly a hardship.

They were among a group of seven guys who spent part of their morning laying out on lounge chairs by the pool to get some sun. A couple of cameramen stuck around to record them for a few minutes, but they left once they’d gotten their shots.

By 11:00, Sirius and James had both gotten bored of lying down for so long, so they hopped in the pool together.

They swam around and splashed each other so much they made a bit of a mess of the surrounding area.

James didn’t notice when it happened, but by the time he looked around to where the other guys had been sitting, they were all gone.

But that suited him just fine, none of them had been very interesting. They’d only enjoyed sitting by the pool while the pool had remained empty. Who left a pool because there was a risk of getting wet?

Not James, that was for sure. And not Sirius either, he thought happily, as Sirius jumped on top of him to dunk him under.

They wrestled back and forth, hands, legs, and bodies going this way and that trying to dunk each other under.

James could hardly stop laughing long enough to take a deep breath each time he went under, but somehow he managed it.

“Mercy!” Sirius finally called out when he’d had enough. “You win.”

James laughed and slapped water in his face.

“Doesn’t count if you concede, that’s no fun.”

“James,” Sirius said fondly, “we’ve been evenly matched for an hour, I think we can say neither of us is going to truly beat the other.”

James chuckled and let his back fall back against the side of the pool. He arched his back over the edge so that his head was facing up towards the warm sunlight.

“‘Suppose this is nice too.”

James couldn’t see Sirius’ reaction, but he did hear him walk over until he was next to James at the edge of the pool. He hoisted himself up until he was sitting on the side of the pool, then laid back down and let his legs drape down back into the water.

James matched him; it looked comfortable.

They laid like that for a while.

They talked back and forth in quiet tones for some of the time, about the competition, or their friends back home, and for the rest of the time they just laid down in companionable silence.

By the time they were called for lunch, James felt more relaxed than he had in ages.

“I’m so glad I came here,” he said as he stood up and offered Sirius a hand to help him up too. “This is the most zen I’ve ever felt.”

Sirius nodded before laughing. He let James pull him up.

“I suppose this isn’t meant to be what we’re focusing on then, relaxation, but still feels worth it.”

James shook his head.

“What else are we supposed to be doing today? Not like we even have a chance to speak with Lily, might as well make the most of being at a glorified resort.”

Sirius arched one eyebrow.

“If you think this is a resort, you have to let me take you to my family’s villa in the French Riviera.”

James laughed and slapped Sirius’ arm.

“I didn’t say that it was the nicest resort, just that it was one. But yes, I will be taking you up on that offer, no backsies.”

“No backsies,” Sirius echoed condescendingly. “Haven’t heard that since the nineties.”

“Either way, you will be taking me there.”

One corner of Sirius’ mouth turned up in a sardonic smile.

“Oh, I will, will I? And you get to decide this for me, now?”

“Yes, obviously,” James said without missing a beat, “Remus is taking Lily home, so you’re going to be taking me home.”

Sirius scoffed, but gave in and laughed.

It was probably the first time either of them had actually admitted out loud that they weren’t winning this competition. Sirius kicked at the edge of the pool where they were still standing.

“Fine then, but you’ll be taking me on holiday too, then, wherever your family summers.”

James nodded.

“Depends which view you’d prefer, beach in Santorini or Eiffel Tower in Paris. I can offer you both options.”

Sirius scoffed. “As if I would choose, you will be showing me both of course.”

James laughed. “Gotta have everything then.”

“Yes, I-” Sirius began in a haughty voice, but James pushed him right back into the pool before he could finish.

Sirius looked wild when he came up for air, and whipped his hair around to get it out of his face.

“James Potter!” he reached for James as though to try to pull him in, but James was one step ahead of him and cannon balled over his head.

By the time he surfaced they were both laughing too hard to remember that they had been meaning to go to lunch.

They just stayed in the water instead.

Sirius

The producers hadn’t seemed bothered by James and Sirius’ pool escapades, but they did see annoyed by the cut Sirius ended up with on his forehead. It hadn’t bled much, but just enough that the cameras filmed it and acted as though it were an emergency medical situation.

(When James had seen it, he’d offered to kiss it to make it better, and Sirius had flipped him off.)

Afterwards, the makeup artists descended like a plague of locusts to make it magically disappear.

The next morning, the process was going to be repeated, and Sirius was already tired of it.

They would be due to start filming again at 11:00, so there were a couple of hours between breakfast and filming.

Sirius pulled James aside.

“I can’t handle them putting makeup on this stupid thing for thirty minutes again. You think we can cover it and they’ll forget?”

James’ eyes lit up immediately.

“Sure, I’ll go in and steal some concealer off the cart.”

Sirius grinned immediately. He had known he could count on James.

“Cheers, mate.”

James disappeared and was back within five minutes. Sirius didn’t know how he’d managed it, but maybe he’d charmed some assistant, because he had a bottle of what looked to be the right shade of concealer right away. He also had more of the disinfectant.

“Thanks,” Sirius said, holding out a hand for the bottles.

James shook his head and pointed to a chair.

“No way you can do this on your own, I’ll do it for you.”

In Sirius’ opinion that didn’t seem necessary, strictly speaking, but he allowed himself to be led into the chair and sat as he’d been directed.

James kept up a steady stream of chatter while he applied the makeup, but Sirius found himself a little bit distracted. James’ left hand was cradling Sirius’ face, and his right hand was gently brushing the liquid disinfectant over the cut.

Sirius shivered a little bit and lost track of the conversation.

It felt nice to be held, even if he wasn’t really being held. Still, James usually was a bit of a bull in a china shop and here he was being downright delicate in his treatment of Sirius. His fingertips were light in their touches.

He switched from the disinfectant to the concealer, and then there was only another minute before he was done.

Sirius was still a little lost in the moment.

“Sirius?” James asked. “Sirius?” Sirius didn’t register it for a moment until he shook himself out of his stupor and nodded at James.

“Well go look then,” James said, pointing to the mirror on the wall, “tell me what you think.”

Sirius went over and nodded at himself in the mirror.

“Wouldn’t even know there was a cut,” he said triumphantly. He turned back to James and tried for sincerity. “Thank you, James.”

“No problem, Sirius,” James said with the same sincerity in his voice.

Sure enough, James’ quick work with the concealer was enough to please the makeup artists. Instead of sitting for ages with them, they nodded at the way he looked and just touched up other areas as needed.

Mercifully, that was over quickly and Sirius made it back to the main common area where all of the contestants were gathering for their next stint filming. The producers would be assigning the first round of solo or double dates, and so far they had everyone lounging or standing throughout the room in various spots.

Sirius privately hoped for something that wasn’t too sappy; he didn’t know if he could handle his date with Lily being a chick flick.

Sirius made his way over to the spot the producers told him to take. It was really very far from all of his friends. Sirius pulled a face to each of them to express his regret at being separated.

Remus rolled his eyes and Peter’s expression was just on the edge of being a glare. James alone acted amused, and he nodded in frustration.

Sirius and James attempted to keep up a conversation across the room just through their eyes and facial expressions, and that was entertaining enough.

Once the producers had everything sorted, one of them stood up to speak. She was a rather severe older woman with glasses perched on her nose. Sirius always thought she looked like she would belong anywhere else other than here, because she really didn’t seem to enjoy it at all. She never smiled, and didn’t seem to think anything about this ought to be fun.

Still, she was sharp and quick witted, and never shied from calling out whatever needed to be called out. The production probably wouldn’t be half so efficient without her direction.

That woman - Minerva, Sirius remembered she was called - cleared her throat and tapped her clipboard.

“Today we will have the first round of dates. Many of you will get one on ones, some of you will be paired up. We don’t have time for twenty individual dates, so we have assigned some to go in pairs.”

Sirius nodded along with everyone else. This much he knew.

“The first date we have is for a pair of contestants,” Minerva went on, “You will be going horseriding with Lily at the beach in-”

“I volunteer for that one,” James called out, “Me and Sirius.”

Murmurs went up around the room. Sirius found himself grinning. He liked horse riding.

“Mr. Potter,” Minerva said tightly, “we are not taking volunteers at this time, we have already chosen-”

“I volunteer too,” Sirius threw in, “I bet the other gents here would prefer to have the one on ones if we give up ours.”

More whispers went around the room, and this time a huddle of producers all stood together discussing the interruption together.

When they quieted down, it was once again Minerva who spoke.

“Alright, if you are offering to cede your one on one time, then we will allow you to-”

James nodded vigorously. “Great, yep, we accept.”

“That we do,” Sirius added, cheered.

Sirius thought this sounded like an excellent alternative to whatever awkward chick flick style date Lily might have planned.

A number of people around the room were still looking at them with raised eyebrows, but Sirius couldn’t help but grin at James.

He figured they’d gotten the best pick of all.

James

James, Sirius, and Lily rode in a convertible all the way to the beach where they were supposed to be riding horses.

Since the top was down they had to be mic’d up to be sure that the camera crew could record their audio. Cameras were strategically positioned throughout the car too, and James was sure that no angle would go unrecorded.

James was sitting in the middle seat in the back, with his arms spread wide. Sirius had opted to drive, and offered Lily the passenger seat. James hadn’t had any complaints about that.

It would have felt like it was just a car ride with friends, if there hadn't been a van full of show staff beside them, and another behind them.

James was sure that they were sending texts with directions to his phone, but he kept that firmly in his pocket and ignored it in favor of enjoying time with Lily and Sirius.

Lily wasn’t turning around often, so James didn’t get a chance to catch her eye much, but he’d caught Sirius’ eye in the rearview mirror, and that was fun in a different way. Sirius always seemed to be raising an eyebrow or grinning at him. James couldn’t help but grin back.

When the wind got too loud to continue conversation once they reached the highway, James threw his head back and yelled into the wind. It was freeing.

When he looked forward again, his eyes went directly to meet Sirius’ in the rearview mirror. It took a moment, but then he realized that Lily had turned to face him too, a big grin on her face. She was laughing along with him.

Before she could say anything, James decided to dare her.

“Your turn, Lils,” he said, gesturing for her to copy him.

Lily laughed again.

“I am not going to yell out loud!” she declared immediately.

“Aww c’mon Lily,” Sirius said, “do it for James.”

Lily gasped.

“I won’t! You wouldn’t.”

Sirius shook his head.

“I beg to differ, madam.”

And with that, he leaned his head back a little and yelled into the wind too. He kept one eye on the road, but otherwise he did give it his all.

Lily gave in and joined him, and then James couldn’t help but add in a howl of his own.

By the end they were all cracking up.

“I feel so alive!” Lily yelled once they’d calmed down. She shook out her hands as though releasing tension.

Sirius grabbed his phone and plugged it into the aux cord.

“What shall we listen to, my friends?” he asked.

“Do you have any K-Pop?” Lily asked eagerly.

Sirius laughed, but there wasn’t anything rude about it.

“No I do not, that isn’t my thing. Anything else you’d like, m’lady?”

“What about ‘80s rock?” James asked, “everybody likes that, right?”

Sirius’ eyes got bright.

“I have a lot of that!”

“Oh really?” James asked eagerly, “Who’ve you got, who’s your favorite?”

Sirius nodded towards his phone.

“I’ve got it all, but I’m gonna start us off with Bon Jovi and let it shuffle from there.”

“Yes, they really are the best,” James agreed.

Their eyes met in the rearview mirror, and James felt a deep agreement settling over them.

“That okay with you, Lils?” James asked, when it occurred to him that she hadn’t said anything about that choice.

“Sure, sounds perfect,” Lily said. James thought she sounded a little distant, but it may have been the wind covering up her voice. “But start with You Give Love a Bad Name.”

Sirius grinned.

“Can do, pretty lady.”

He turned it on immediately and jacked the music up loudly.

None of them resisted singing along, and before long they had belted out Bon Jovi, Bowie, Queen, and a whole lot more of James’ favorites.

When they got to the pasture, there were three beautiful horses in front of them.

They were each provided with gear and assisted onto a horse, and then allowed to go wherever they pleased. They were mic’d up and surrounded by cameras, but it still felt freeing to be surrounded by nothing but fresh air.

They headed straight for the beach.

They took a leisurely stroll along the beach for a while, idly chatting while they plodded along. The horses seemed happy to oblige.

James and Sirius took turns asking Lily questions about her life outside of the competition, and for the first time James learned more about her: she had a sister, who she said pushed her buttons but at the end of the day they both loved each other; she had two best friends, Mary and Marlene, who she’d gone to college with; her favorite pastime was painting, and her favorite subject was landscapes; she was allergic to shellfish, but was devastated by that because she really wanted to know what they tasted like.

Lily posed many of the same questions to James and Sirius, and James learned just as much about Sirius: he had a younger brother, who was his best friend in childhood but they’d grown apart; he had gone to a boarding school and grown more socially liberal which his parents had hated; he, like Lily, enjoyed art, but his medium was photography; he had once gone parasailing, and had deeply loved the feeling of flying.

James absolutely loved his description of parasailing, and was immediately dying to try it. Flying sounded amazing and he was sure he would love it too. He was also pretty sure he’d seen videos of two people parasailing together, so maybe he and Sirius could do that together someday.

After James had had his turn, he threw in one final thought.

“I’m pretty fast on a horse, too. I bet I could beat you both at a race down the beach.”

Sirius grinned immediately.

“You’re on.”

James nodded, glad he’d taken the challenge.

“Lily?”

Lily nodded too.

“Of course, let’s do it.”

They counted down from three and they each raced forward.

Almost immediately, James could hear the frustration of the camera crews. Only one of them was on horseback, and the rest had no chance of keeping up. The drones probably could, but James was sure production would object to them going so off script.

But he couldn’t focus on that, because he had a race to win.

James didn’t look over, but he could hear another horse flying next to him, and he cheered into the wind. Sirius howled with laughter.

James chanced a glance at him, and he had a look of immense concentration on his face. His cheeks were red from the wind, and his hair was flying behind him. He looked like a model from the cover of a romance novel. James didn’t want to look away.

Sirius’ face relaxed.

“James, let’s call it!” he called out.

“And let you win?” James asked, “Never!”

“We don’t have a finish line!” Sirius answered, “there isn’t any winning!”

At that James laughed, and slowed his horse down.

Sirius copied him, and soon they were back to a trot.

“A draw then?” Sirius asked.

“Yes,” James said, “a draw.”

They shook on it. Sirius' hand seemed to linger, and James didn’t move to cut off contact for a moment.

Sirius squeezed once before letting go.

“Where’s Lily?” James asked, when he had the sudden realization that three people had started the race, but only two people had finished it.

Sirius shrugged mildly and turned his horse around.

“Oh, back there a ways. I suppose we should head back.”

James nodded.

“Yeah. Slower this time though, I don’t want to tire this poor girl out any more than we already have.”

“Alright then.”

They slowly made their way back towards Lily, who was headed in their direction equally slowly. She was ambling and appeared unhurried, so James imagined that he and Sirius could take their time too.

They chatted a little bit more as they made their way back.

Lily was stopped by a cameraman.

“Confessional time, I suppose,” Sirius said, pointing towards Lily.

James nodded. “Well I suppose we should stay here for a moment, let her have her moment with the camera.”

“It’ll be nice lighting with the shot they’re getting,” Sirius said thoughtfully, looking out over the water at the sunset.

James looked out in the direction of the pink-hued sky and agreed. “Oh yeah, this sunset is beautiful. Let me snap a picture of you with that background.”

Sirius nodded, and smiled for the camera. When it was his turn to return the favor, he played with the settings a little bit more and got some pretty spectacular photos of James.

“That’ll be my profile picture then,” James said with a laugh, “it’ll beat my old one by a mile.”

Sirius just looked at him for a moment.

“What’s the current one? I bet it’s still good.”

“Oh, it’s me and my mum. I’m a bit of a momma’s boy. I mean I love her obviously, but it’s not this good a picture of me.”

Sirius looked away towards the sunset.

“Sounds nice to have that kind of relationship with your mom. I bet she loves that too.”

“Yeah,” James said, “I know she does.”

“Take a selfie,” Sirius said, “let’s get one together.”

“You take it,” James offered, "you’re a thousand times better at this than I am.”

Sirius obliged, and they rearranged their horses to accommodate the camera.

Although they’d said that they were going to take “a” selfie together, Sirius took a couple dozen.

After he was satisfied, he let James look through them. They were leaning towards each other in each one, and James was blown away by how good they looked together.

“That one can be my profile picture then,” Sirius said when they stopped at a particularly good one.”

“No way, I want that one for mine,” James countered.

“We’ll both have to take it then, we can just match,” Sirius said, not budging at all. James didn’t mind, in fact he rather liked the idea.

“Of course we can match. It’d be fitting after all of this is over.”

Sirius nodded.

They both looked towards the sunset once more.

James had the distinct urge to put his arm around Sirius’ shoulders, but from their positions he couldn’t exactly do that. He settled for putting his hand on Sirius’ shoulder and squeezing for a moment, and then leaving it there.

Sirius didn’t look over, but he did have a faint smile on his face.

One of the camera men finally collected them and led them over towards Lily.

James had entirely lost track of her once they’d left her to her confessional. He hoped she hadn’t been done and waiting for too long.

When they reached Lily, Sirius took a selfie of all three of them together. Lily sat up straight, smiling broadly, but not leaning towards either of them. James and Sirius angled towards each other again. When James saw the picture, he thought it was perfect. It really captured how happy they were to be there.

“I think we’ve been out here long enough,” Lily finally said, “we should probably head back to let the horses go.”

James was taken aback. They’d hardly spent any time with her.

“What?” he asked, “Really?”

Lily nodded.

“We can stay on the beach for a while, I think that was part of the deal.”

“Okay sure,” Sirius said diplomatically, “I brought a frisbee too. We can throw it around.”

Lily raised an eyebrow.

“You brought a frisbee with you?”

Sirius just laughed.

“Nah, they offered us a whole bunch of beach toys, and we picked this one.”

Lily smiled.

“Cheers, frisbee then.”

They returned their horses to the stable hands, and walked back towards the beach.

They made a little triangle to throw together. James and Sirius took off their shoes and stood with their ankles in the water, but Lily stayed above the water line to stay dry.

They threw together for a while, alternating between companionable silences and relaxed conversation as the light dimmed.

Eventually Lily got cold, and decided to head in.

“But you guys can keep playing if you want,” she offered, “I can just wait over there. The rocks will probably shelter me from the wind.”

James and Sirius looked at each other hesitantly. James knew immediately that they were on the same page: It sounded fun and they were both tempted, but it wouldn’t be very fair to Lily.

“Of course not,” James said when he’d broken eye contact with Sirius, “If you’re cold, we can head back. Wouldn’t want you shivering. We can drive back with the top up for you.”

“Why thank you,” Lily said with a smile.

“I can drive us back,” Sirius offered, “I already know the way.”

“I appreciate it,” Lily replied.

“Can I lend you my shirt?” Sirius asked Lily, “to warm you up? It might protect you from the wind better than the one you have on.”

Lily laughed. “No thank you. We’ll be back in the car in a couple of minutes, I think I can manage until then.”

James found his mind stuck on that idea for a moment. Sirius would have been shirtless, and James thought it might have been a little bit fun to see Sirius without a shirt on again. It had been nice the first time, when they’d been at the pool together, but he hadn’t spent enough time appreciating the chance then.

Perhaps next time he would pay more attention. He enjoyed looking at beautiful things, after all.

Sirius

A few days later Lily had the first of her solo dates, and she’d chosen Remus to go first, to the surprise of absolutely no one. There were grumbles of discontent from a handful of other contestants, but Sirius just felt happy for him. If someone was going to win who wasn’t Sirius, he was glad it was someone who deserved her.

Remus left with a dreamy smile on his face, which James and Sirius teased him for.

Once he’d left, Sirius couldn’t help but laugh.

“He’s already acting like he’s in love. Show off.”

James shrugged.

“Well to be fair, so is she. We’ve got our work cut out for us, mate.”

Sirius held up a hand.

“‘Mate’” he echoed, “that reminds me. I’ve got your nicknames picked out.”

Peter looked at him closely.

“Nicknames?” he asked. He sounded skeptical about whether or not he would like them. That was fair, Sirius thought, since Sirius sometimes found him annoying and he didn’t work very hard to hide that fact.

“Yeah,” Sirius said cheerfully, “I said I was going to do one for each of us.”

James grinned eagerly.

“Let’s hear it then.”

“Well Remus is Moony, obviously. He’s already mooning over her every second of the day.”

James nodded in agreement.

“I like it. Moony it is then. I’ve decided on one for you too.”

“Oh?” Sirius asked. He hadn’t really been expecting that yet. “This ought to be good.”

“Padfoot,” James replied confidently, “You’re very graceful and light on your feet.”

“I like it,” Sirius said. And then, as though he had final say, he nodded confidently.

“I’ll take it.”

“And for me?” James asked. He did a drumroll against his legs.

“You’re Prongs.”

James looked taken aback.

“Prongs?”

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Because you kept stabbing me with your fork at dinner last night to get my attention. Across poor Pete here, if I may add.”

“It was annoying,” Peter muttered.

James just laughed.

“Well I stopped once you’d switched seats and you were next to me.”

Sirius privately grinned at the memory of Peter’s angry reaction to James asking, but he hadn’t actually resisted the request, and he’d swapped over right away.

“And I appreciated it, but it doesn’t change the fact that you stabbed me no less than sixteen times.”

James seemed to accept that.

“Well it’s a fun memory, so I don’t mind thinking of it. Hardly as complimentary as mine for you though.”

“Well I thought of mine first, so that’s on you for picking that one.”

James laughed

“Oh hush. What’s your nickname for Pete then?”

“Wormtail,” Sirius said immediately.

“Wormtail??” Peter asked sharply. He looked offended.

Sirius privately had chosen it because he thought Peter looked like a rat and they had gross tails, but he already had an explanation prepared.

“Yeah. Because you’re small and unsuspecting, but you might just surprise us all by being right where you need to be.”

Peter nodded, but the expression on his face looked as though he were trying to figure out whether or not he should be offended. He seemed to decide not to be.

When Peter didn’t complain, James clapped him on the shoulder.

“Okay then, Wormy it is.”

Peter glared at him.

“He said Wormtail not Wormy.”

James laughed again.

“Yeah but isn’t it fun having a nickname for your nickname?” He turned to Sirius. “You’ll be Pads then, I reckon.”

Sirius considered that, but only for a moment.

“Okay. Only to you though, everyone else can call me Padfoot.”

Peter pulled a face but didn’t say anything.

James beamed at Sirius.

“I’m honored.”

James

The next day was the next round of cuts. All four of the friends made the next round. Remus wasn’t the first to get a rose this time, but James and Sirius agreed that it was probably a decision by the producers to pretend there was more intrigue than there was.

Afterwards, the entire cast of remaining suitors had an evening all together with Lily. There was a large buffet of food and they were all allowed to mill about and do as they pleased in the common areas or outside.

There were cameras poised everywhere, but since they were already mounted it felt less obtrusive than having a cameraman a few feet away.

Within a minute or so of being released to do as they pleased, Lily approached James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus to ask if they wanted to eat with her.

They all eagerly said yes, though James was almost certain that she didn’t need all of them to say yes, she only cared about Remus’ answer.

All five of them loaded up plates and started eating.

James could appreciate that although some of the people in the room ate the dry side salad as their main course, Lily had served herself a generous helping of the pasta. He wouldn’t have wanted her to go hungry for the sake of keeping up appearances.

Their conversation was lively and energetic. Even Peter was cracking jokes, though Sirius and James were still loudest of all, as always.

Remus was a bit quieter, but James could see that he was holding Lily’s hand under the table. He already planned to tease Remus about that later.

Peter looked like he found that detail less pleasant. He looked like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to tease or to be jealous. James hoped he would eventually settle on being happy for Remus. They’d all put up a good showing in the competition after all, there was no shame in losing now that they’d made the final sixteen.

After their dinner, Lily left them to walk around.

James looked around. The energy in the room outside of their table was rather dull, but there was a whole beautiful yard outside that they were welcome to explore.

“Let’s go outside in the evening air then? I saw a fire pit outside.”

Peter’s eyes went wide.

“But Lily’s still in here…” he said, trailing off.

Sirius nodded at James.

“Not going to join us outside then, mate?” he asked Peter.

Remus’ eyes darted between each of them.

“I’ll stay too. Just in case she wants to chat again.”

Remus was faintly blushing as he said it, and Sirius called him on it immediately.

“Really earning your Moony name, aren’t you then?”

Remus pursed his lips. He hadn’t argued against the name, but he’d never seemed to love it either.

“Shut up.”

James grinned.

“Mooning over her, stay inside and win her over then.”

Sirius laughed, but neither Peter nor Remus did.

“Whatever, you tossers,” Remus said, rolling his eyes, “Honestly, you’d think you don’t even care about her.”

Sirius clapped him on the shoulder once.

“Oh, but we do. It’s just that we’ve just had some face time and I’m sure the cameras want variety.”

James nodded. “Still, I’m sure she wouldn’t say no to you staying in there a little longer with her.”

Peter looked affronted, and James rephrased quickly.

“Both of you. Go on then, loverboys.”

James and Sirius laughed together. Peter and Remus left them, leaving James and Sirius to head outside.

Once they reached the terrace, James looked to Sirius, whose eyes were already on him. Once the doors had closed, the sounds of the party faded and they were left in the quiet.

“Just us then,” Sirius said into the silence.

James nodded, and spoke equally quietly.

“Yeah, just us. Looks like the fire pit’s deserted, let’s go over.”

They walked over, so close together that their shoulders occasionally brushed.

The firepit was large, and had a number of wooden benches surrounding it, making a full circle.

They sat down next to each other on one of the benches. Despite not really meaning to, James found that they were really very close together.

There was no one else around, so it felt like the most privacy they’d had so far. All of the cameras and mics were inside, so for once it was just them.

When they talked, it was quiet, barely above a whisper.

James looked towards the dancing flames.

“She really does seem taken with Remus.”

Sirius nodded, his eyes watching the fire just as intently as James’ were.

“Yeah, this show has already been decided.”

They were both leaning forward just a little bit towards the fire. The silence stretched as the light flickered.

James felt like the silence surrounding them was intense, though he couldn’t tell why.

“Still,” he said, “it’s been fun. Glad I came here for sure.”

He turned and smiled warmly at Sirius, who knocked his shoulder.

Even after they could - or perhaps should - have pulled apart, somehow their shoulders just stayed together. It felt right.

The quiet fell around them again for a long moment.

Slowly, carefully, Sirius’ hand slipped over and landed on James’ knee.

James struggled not to draw a sharp breath. It felt very right.

They both stared at Sirius’ hand for a moment before he pulled it back.

When James spoke, it was almost too quiet to hear.

“No, that was fine,” he assured Sirius. “I didn’t mind.”

Sirius spoke on a breath, as though handling the words carefully and trying not to shatter the quiet surrounding them.

“You didn’t?”

James laughed shakily.

“No, I definitely didn’t. You can put it back if you want.”

Sirius laughed awkwardly. He wasn’t joining in with James, he sounded uncomfortable.

“Nah, doesn’t seem right. We’re competitors, after all.”

James straightened up a bit. He hated that Sirius had phrased it that way, as though that could possibly be all that they were to each other. He wasn’t entirely sure what they would be otherwise, but competitors felt so wrong. They were so much more than that.

“Right, yeah, competitors,” he said, hearing the bitterness in his own words.

He leaned back against the back of the bench, breaking all contact with Sirius. He threw an arm across the back of the bench out of habit, pointedly looking away from Sirius.

“Well, if you wanted to go back in to fight for her then, be my guest.”

Sirius looked a little hurt.

“No, like I said it’s Remus’ time now. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just…” he paused, and it was heavy in the air, “sit here with you.”

He leaned back against the back of the bench, and once again leaned in towards James. This time it felt intentional. James’ arm came around him just a little bit, tentatively, but Sirius didn’t fight it off. Instead, Sirius tucked into James and allowed James to hold him just a little bit.

They fell into silence, but this time it wasn’t so uncomfortable. They curled into each other a little bit more, alone in the darkness, away from the other people and the cameras.

And it just felt right.

Lily

They could have called off the competition an hour in. Lily had known from the first day that she was going to end up picking Remus, and every day since had further solidified that fact. She loved every moment she spent with him, and always regretted when she had to spend time with anyone else.

He’d made those friends early on, Peter, James, and Sirius, who all seemed varying levels of ridiculous.

But she was keeping them in the competition because they seemed to make Remus happy, and she wanted to do whatever made him happy. They spent so much time apart, and she wanted that time to be as pleasant as possible for him.

But his friends really were some of the silliest contestants of all.

There was Peter, who seemed to treat the whole show more like a competition than anything romantic. Everything that he said and did felt studied and practiced, and often felt like he was copying James specifically, right down to kissing her hand each time they interacted. James had only done it the first time, but Peter now did it every time. It was cute, Lily thought, though not very effective.

And then there were James and Sirius.

She knew that she shouldn’t lump them together, but she couldn’t help it.

They were always together, and shared the deepest, most knowing looks with each other. She’d never seen either of them direct anything like that to anyone else, and definitely not to her. They were supposed to be here to win her heart, but they were just so focused on each other.

Sometimes she’d caught them staring so deeply into each other’s eyes it was as though they were getting lost in a private little world together.

And then there was that date.

It had been like they’d been there alone together, but she hadn’t really begrudged them that. She’d heard from the producers that they’d even volunteered to go together, which was unprecedented. Contestants always considered one on one time to be the highest honor, but they’d chosen to go together.

And yet she couldn’t really be surprised.

So in addition to keeping them around for Remus’ sake, she couldn’t help but wonder if keeping them together could end up being good entertainment for her, too.

Sirius

Things between James and Sirius fell into a pattern over the course of the next few days. They didn’t acknowledge what had happened at the fire pit, but Sirius could tell that things were becoming a little bit different.

For one thing, they touched a lot more than they had before. For another, they sometimes fell into moments of long, drawn out eye contact, and Sirius lost himself entirely. More than once Remus or Peter cleared their throat awkwardly to catch their attention.

Several rounds of cuts later, Sirius miraculously found himself still present in the competition, and part of the final four.

He wasn’t entirely sure how that was possible; he’d never been on a one on one date with Lily, and she’d never seemed particularly taken with him. But maybe it had been even less so with the contestants who’d been kicked out, and he just hadn’t noticed. He’d been very focused on spending time with his friends after all.

The day after they’d been awarded the roses for the final four, Lily was brought into a room to meet up with all four of them.

She smiled warmly at Remus first, but then her eyes turned to James. Her expression was bright and friendly, and James matched it.

Sirius felt a pang of jealousy; he suddenly wanted Lily to look at him like that.

“James,” she said warmly, her lips wrapping around his name, “I want to invite you on a very special date. I want to introduce you to my two best friends, and take you to visit my favorite park from the town where I grew up. I spent so many hours there reading or painting, and it’s the most dear place to me. I want to share it with someone special, and I’m hoping you will join me.”

James grinned broadly.

“I would be honored.”

As hurt as Sirius felt that Lily hadn’t wanted to share it with him, it was nothing compared to the expression of pain on Remus’ face. He looked devastated, to put it mildly.

He hadn’t had a date yet this round. Not only had she not picked him first this time, but she hadn’t chosen him to show her dearest place.

James, oblivious to what was going on behind him, beamed at Lily.

Lily took his hand, and without sparing a look for any of the rest of them - including Remus - she turned to leave.

Although Lily hadn’t turned back, James did. He grinned at Sirius as though expecting a grin in return, but Sirius could feel that his expression was tight.

This all felt wrong.

James turned away with a mildly disappointed look on his face, but he allowed himself to be led out. He only took one more backwards glance before leaving the room.

Sirius wouldn’t necessarily have expected that Lily would have chosen him for this honor, but why hadn’t she picked Remus? Wouldn’t he be her special someone?

It wasn't as though James had been her favorite before. Sirius found himself wondering if he was now. Had that happened without Sirius noticing? Had Lily fallen in love with James, after weeks of her seemingly preferring Remus? Sirius couldn’t really blame her if she had; James was a lovable sort of person.

But Sirius was pretty sure he had been there for all of their interactions, so he couldn’t figure out how he could have missed it.

He could recognize that he was jealous, which was a petty and childish sort of emotion, but he couldn’t shake it.

He’d never been jealous of Remus before, at any point during the competition. Why would he be jealous of James now? It felt so wrong.

James had left without a word for any of them, and Sirius was gutted to have been left behind.

Once they were left in silence and even the producers had abandoned them to go along with James and Lily, Sirius found himself feeling empty.

He laughed hollowly.

“Maybe it’s James who will end up as loverboy and win her over now,” he said.

No one said anything in response. They all just stared at the door everyone had left through.

They all moped around for a while. Remus paced, Peter sat at the table with his head in his hands, and Sirius lounged on the couch trying to act like he was unbothered. He hadn’t been without James in a long time, but he felt very alone now.

“I...didn't think they were close,” Remus said, when he stopped pacing long enough to sit in an armchair next to Sirius.

Peter walked over to join them, falling into another one of the armchairs.

“Me neither,” he said morosely.

Sirius shrugged, and tried to seem like he didn’t care.

“Maybe she sees how special he is. Because he is, you know?”

Remus and Peter shared a look, but it was Peter who spoke first.

“Of course he is. We know you think that.”

Remus nodded.

Sirius was offended at that on James’ behalf.

“Oy, what's that supposed to mean? You think he isn't?”

Peter and Remus both looked at him with matching expressions of frustration.

“No, it's not that,” Remus finally said. “We just know he's...extra special...to you.”

Sirius looked back and forth between them, taken aback. He couldn’t understand what they were getting at. “Well yeah, he's my best friend here.” He didn’t think they’d be offended at that. He thought it was pretty obvious.

Peter cringed.

“Best friend? Is that really all it is?”

Sirius glared at him, annoyed.

“What do you mean? Just spit it out, Wormy.”

Remus frowned.

“Don't take it out on him. We just noticed that neither you nor James were all that interested in the competition anymore. That you were much more interested in each other.”

Sirius laughed dryly. “Hard to be too into it when you're gonna win, Moony......or...I don't know, maybe James has a shot now too.” He looked down at his hands in frustration.

Peter’s voice broke the tense silence.

“And are you...jealous?”

Sirius looked back up at him sharply.

“Well of course I am. He's got a shot and I don't.”

Remus replied quickly, before Peter could say anything.

“Not of James. Of Lily.”

Sirius just looked back and forth between them. They were still operating as a unified front.

“What?” he asked.

Remus ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath.

Peter spoke up gently.

“It doesn't seem all that much like you're jealous of James. We thought maybe you were jealous of Lily........because you wanted to be the one to show James your somewhere special, to be your person for-”

“Enough, I get it,” Sirius said quickly. He finally understood their point. It was a lot to think about.

He looked back and forth between them, and he could see how much they believed this. It started to make him realize that perhaps he should take it seriously too.

“Padfoot.....” Remus said carefully, drawing it out.

Sirius held up a hand.

“Just let me think for a second, okay? Because I hadn't really thought about it that way and I need to get my head around this.”

Peter cocked his head in confusion.

“That you like him? You hadn’t considered that?”

Sirius shook his head helplessly, though the more he thought through the last several weeks, the more he picked up on the things he hadn’t noticed: how much he liked when James touched him, how much more he liked alone time with James than anyone else, that he could get lost staring into James’ eyes, that he couldn’t imagine a life without him in it after this was all over.

“This wasn't how I planned this competition to go,” he finally said, “I have to get my head sorted.”

Remus nodded.

“Alright. Do you want us to go?”

Sirius shook his head once he was finished processing.

“No, no, it's good. I'm good now.”

Remus and Peter both watched him carefully.

“Do you want to talk about it more?” Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged, certain he didn’t need that.

“Nope, I've got it squared, I'm going to tell him. We can move on with the conversation now.”

“Okaaaaay,” Peter said slowly.

Both he and Remus gave Sirius weird looks, but they agreed to the subject change.

Once Sirius had decided on something, there was no turning back. He would definitely be telling James how he felt now that he knew, and he could only hope that James would reciprocate his feelings.

He just had to figure out what to say and how to admit to it. He had to work out something perfect. James deserved at least that much.

James

James never would have expected to be chosen for a date at one of Lily’s favorite places, but he was thrilled by it.

They went to her favorite ice cream place, where she introduced him to her two best friends, Mary and Marlene. They both seemed nice, and James liked them immediately. Mary was funny and Marlene knew everything there was to know about the Premier League football teams, which was one of James’ favorite topics of conversation.

After they’d finished their ice cream and said goodbye to Lily’s friends, Lily and James left for the park. There was a large, picturesque pond with a walking path around it, and they followed the path. James felt sure that Lily had painted images of it before, though he didn’t need to ask.

They fell into silence for a while, just listening to the rustling of the leaves and the sounds of children playing nearby.

After a while, Lily knocked James’ shoulder.

“You're quiet, James, what's on your mind?”

James looked at her and offered her a smile.

“Oh, just thinking about what I would do if I were to introduce someone to my hometown, who I'd take them to meet and where we'd go.”

Lily nodded.

“And what have you come up with?”

“Well the most important people to me are my parents, so I'd want that person to meet them obviously.”

“And where would you go with...that person?” Lily asked.

“Probably to the pitch where my friends and I used to play football. I spent so many hours there, I'd want to kick a ball around there again.”

After a pause, Lily spoke tentatively.

“And who are you imagining there with you?”

“Well you, of course,” James replied without missing a beat. He put on his most charming smile.

Lily nodded, but she wasn’t smiling back. The expression on her face was thoughtful.

“I don't know if I'd be...the best person suited to go there with you. I think you might be imagining someone else.”

James was taken aback.

“I wasn't really thinking of anyone in particular,” he said. That was partially true. He’d been imagining introducing Sirius to his little world, but it really could have been anyone. It didn’t have to be Sirius.

“That really sounds like something you and Sirius would enjoy together, I think,” Lily said, somehow reading his mind. James had no idea how she could have done that.

James chuckled awkwardly.

“Oh well yeah, I suppose, he is one of my best mates now after all. The competition really brought us together.”

Lily smiled faintly, looking off into the distance.

“Love is in the air.”

James grinned.

“Well yeah, I'd hope so. I-”

Lily paused and put a hand on James’ arm delicately.

“James, I didn't mean me and you.”

James’ face fell. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“Oh, you and Sirius then?” he asked. “You keep bringing him up.”

Lily sighed wearily.

“Not me and Sirius.”

James couldn’t quite catch her meaning, but he tried his best to parse it.

“...you and Remus then?” he asked.

Lily shook her head.

“Well I hope so, but no, that wasn't what I was talking about.”

James shrugged helplessly.

“Then what were you talking about?”

“James,” Lily said softly, “And I say this I'm the nicest way possible. But you are obsessed with Sirius. He's all you think about all the time. It's okay if you'd rather be with him than me.”

James just stared at her, confused.

“Well I mean he's my best friend so of course I want to spend time with-” And then suddenly, out of nowhere, he understood what she was getting at. “Oh. You think I like him. Romantically.”

Lily smiled, clearly glad that she’d finally gotten through to him.

“Well I can’t speak for you,” she began, but James was too caught up in his thoughts to wait for more.

“No, I think that was right. I think you're right. I like him. So, so much. Yesterday I was thinking that I would die if I had to go back to a life without him. I should have realized then.”

Lily smiled warmly.

“You should tell him.”

James blinked at her once.

“I should tell him? But what about the game show? I know he wants to win and I don't know if this would be shocking for him to hear…” He trailed off, uncertain.

“Again,” Lily said with a somewhat patronizing expression, “I say this in the nicest way possible: he is at least as obsessed with you as you are with him. I think he’d love to hear it.”

James could feel a smile bloom across his face.

“You think?”

“Yeah, I think.”

James nodded eagerly.

“That'd be amazing actually.”

“I'm glad,” Lily replied.

James had the wherewithal to feel embarrassed that somehow she had realized this before he had.

“I think I would have put it together even if you hadn't said anything,” he said eventually.

Lily looked at him with a question in her eyes, but didn’t actually voice it. Still, James knew exactly how to answer.

“I mean I was just picturing introducing him to my parents, and showing him all around where I grew up. That was starting to clue me in. How much it seemed like he'd fit.”

Lily nodded.

“I know he would. Do you want to head back?”

“Sure,” James said with a grin, “You're the best, Lils.”

“I know,” Lily said confidently, and flipped her hair as she turned back.

James couldn’t help but laugh at the over the top motion.

When they were on their way, he turned the conversation back to her.

“So what's your date with Remus going to be, since I already know it's gotta top this one.”

Lily had a smug expression on her face.

“We're going to fly to Scotland and spend a night together at an old castle.”

James nodded.

“Sounds romantic,” he said, without a trace of jealousy. He was happy for them to have that time together.

“Yeah, I hope so. It’s been my top bucket list item for years, and I made it a condition when I signed on that this would be a getaway with the person I had fallen for.”

James looked up at the sky with a smile.

“Then it’s definitely romantic. I’m happy for you, Lils.”

Lily bumped his shoulder.

“I’m happy for you, too, James.”

James chuckled.

“Don’t count my chickens before they’ve hatched, and all that.”

Lily just shook her head.

“Maybe you don’t see the way he looks at you, but I do. You’re gonna get your happy ending. We both are.”

James threw an arm around her and squeezed her close for a moment before letting go.

“That sounds so nice.”

“Mhmm,” Lily said, “Like I said: Love is in the air.”

Sirius

Once Sirius stopped being so upset about James’ date with Lily and was able to name why he was so upset, he couldn’t wait for James to come back.

He still hadn’t figured out what exactly to say to James, but he was dying to see him again so that he could say something. He couldn’t wait, and the hours that the date dragged on felt brutal.

When the crew finally let them know that James and Lily were heading back, Sirius found that it was his turn to be the one pacing the length of the room.

Eventually, one eternity later, one of the producers addressed Sirius specifically. As it happened, it was Minerva, and she looked rather serious as she did so.

“Mr. Black, we need you to come out into the foyer. Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans have almost returned to the premises.

“What?” Sirius asked, somewhat taken aback. “Just me?” She hadn’t given the same instructions to Remus and Peter, who were watching from the seating area they’d claimed.

“Mr. Black, please just do as you’re told, for once.”

Remus coughed, but Sirius had the distinct expression that he was trying to hide a laugh. Peter was hiding his face behind his hand, and Sirius could only guess that he’d liked hearing Sirius get called out.

Sirius still couldn’t imagine why he was being separated so unceremoniously, but he was. Once he’d been isolated once again, he was given a flurry of instructions: change into one of his suits. Rearrange his hair as stylishly as possible, sit still for a light coating of makeup to be applied.

Sirius was more confused by each instruction than the last, but he couldn’t help but feel pleased with it; this could be his perfect chance to tell James how he felt, and look good doing it.

He still couldn’t imagine what the actual reason for all of this to do was, and no one explained it to him no matter how many times he asked.

Eventually, he was brought out into the front garden and instructed to wait on the bench among the flowers. His eyes found the fountain nearby, in order to avoid staring directly into any of the three cameras poised around the garden.

Sirius blew out a breath in annoyance at being kept so in the dark, but his annoyance disappeared entirely when James appeared.

There was no sign of Lily, only James. He, too, had been dressed back up in his best suit. Everything about him was perfection, except for his hair that was as wild as always. But that was still perfect in a different way: it was perfectly James. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.

James smiled warmly at Sirius, and Sirius felt all of his frustration evaporate.

“What's going on?” Sirius asked, looking around. The cameras were all on and the entire crew’s eyes were on them, but no one spoke. Even James was silent, though he did take a few steps closer. Sirius stood up as he approached.

Sirius’ impatience started to get to him. “No matter,” he said into the silence, “I have something to tell you. Can we find somewhere more private?”

James just shook his head.

“First I have something to tell you too, and mine can't wait.”

Sirius glanced around curiously at the cameras, and then gestured for James to go on. He obviously had something to say that was meant to be caught on camera.

“I like you so much, Pads,” he said. “I might even love you. I think I've liked you since the first day I saw you. You came over to me the first minute you walked in, when everyone else was just sitting alone in silence, and I haven't stopped looking at your smile since. I can’t imagine going home without you. I like you so much I can’t even think clearly anymore. I know you came here to woo Lily, but you have truly stolen my heart instead.”

A grin formed slowly but surely across Sirius’ face as he listened to James’ little speech.

“Well there was quite a bit of overlap there with what I was planning to say, as it happens,” he said.

“Yeah?” James asked, looking euphoric. It was the most genuine expression Sirius had ever seen on anyone, and he found it extremely endearing. Sirius had the sudden almost irresistible urge to kiss him. But he imagined that he should express his own feelings more clearly first, for James’ sake.

“Yeah. Might have added on something about how fit you are and how you have made losing this competition so much more than bearable, because I was just so glad to spend every second of it with you. And I wouldn't have even worried about getting sent home, except that I didn't want to lose my chance to be here with you.”

James smiled and took Sirius’ hand.

“Right back atcha.”

He took one more step closer, so that they were only a foot or so apart.

“So I suppose we should bow out now, shouldn't we?” Sirius asked, feigning a casual tone.

James shrugged, affecting the same carelessness.

“We made the final four. Really seems far enough for me. Don’t need to go any farther than that.”

Sirius took a step closer too.

“I think I want this more than I ever could have wanted anyone else.”

He brought his hand to James’ face and caressed his cheek for a moment before closing the distance between them.

James’ arms came around Sirius' back, and then they were kissing, and everything came together perfectly.

Sirius suddenly marveled at how much he’d been right about enjoying being held by James. It was perfect. He never wanted him to let go. In the circle of his arms, he felt like he belonged.

Sirius’ own hands found themselves on James’ lower back and tangled up in his hair.

He lost himself in the kiss for a short moment, and when he was brought back to reality it was to James laughing against his mouth.

Once Sirius keyed back into the world, he understood why. The camera crew was cheering for them, obviously happy for them. Even Lily, Remus, and Peter were standing nearby. Lily actually whistled.

Sirius pulled back ever so slightly and mimed bowing, before falling back into the circle of James’ arms once more and leaning his head down to rest on James’ shoulder. Sirius was the taller of the two, but he still felt like it was perfect to be held. Maybe he’d want to be the little spoon, if they ever felt like lying beside each other.

Sirius laughed out loud at the absurdity of that thought, and finally pulled away.

James didn’t seem bothered to be separated, but he didn’t let Sirius get too far.

He held Sirius’ hand or tucked his arm around Sirius’ shoulders for the entirety of the time they did interviews and confessionals.

It was only when they were interviewed separately that James let go, and even so it was only after he’d kissed Sirius one more time.

It was heaven.

It was everything Sirius could have hoped for, and then some.

Like James had said, maybe it was even love.

And then it was all over very quickly.

They were jointly eliminated by a smiling Lily, who hugged each of them as she dismissed them, and offered them congratulations.

Peter and Remus stayed behind with Lily as James and Sirius left, hand in hand.

A couple of days later Remus was crowned the winner. James and Sirius weren’t there to see it, but they were happy for them. He and Lily were obviously perfect for each other.

Sirius no longer had any reservations about losing at all.

After all, the day after the competition ended he was at his family’s villa in the French Riviera downing fine wine and eating Michellin starred food with his immaculately dressed brand-new-boyfriend.

They toasted to the competition that had brought them together.

“To losing,” James said, raising his glass.

“In style,” Sirius added, clinking their glasses together.

James grinned in response.

“Yes, to losing in style.”

Sirius smiled warmly at him.

“The best way to lose.”

Epilogue

James

Their season of the Bachelorette didn’t air for months.

Once the competitiveness had relaxed, Remus and Peter decided that they would love to keep hanging around with James and Sirius, and they really did grow as friends. And since Remus was around, Lily often was too. They had fallen so hard for each other so fast, and James was so, so happy for them.

By the time the show started airing, they were all so close that they got together for watch parties.

Lily brought along Mary and Marlene, as well as all of her family members who wanted to join. (Her sister declined. James still hadn’t met her.) Peter brought along his sister, and even Sirius’ brother came. He was quiet and a bit standoffish, but James could tell that he was trying to be there for Sirius, in his way.

It was a blast. A lot of the show was absurd, especially in the beginning. There was so much posturing and preening that James and Sirius couldn’t help but snicker at half of the cast.

But by the midpoint of the show, it was James and Sirius who were the butt of the teasing jokes. It wasn’t malicious, and they took it in stride, but the contents of the show were not what any of them had expected.

The cameras had caught so much more of James and Sirius’ time together than they had realized. The mics and cameras had obviously been on at all times, and they really had been everywhere.

Even moments that had felt like seclusion and privacy had been caught.

James and Sirius’ romance was presented as a secondary romance arc, almost as though it had always been there. They were shown together playing at the pool, riding horses slowly through the surf together, curled up together by the fire, and leaning into each other as they ate. The cameras had even caught the moments when James had stabbed Sirius with the prongs of his fork, and then had made him switch seats with Peter so that they could sit together.

Neither of them had had a clue that the cameras had gotten all of it.

James actually thought it felt amazing to see so many of their beautiful first moments played back in front of their eyes. He hadn’t known they’d have that chance. He’d honestly thought that their elimination would be shown, and that would be that.

Everyone ate it up, but no one more than Sirius. When their confession and first kiss were shown, he cheered loudest of all.

But to be fair, he was also the loudest voice cheering for Lily and Remus’ first kiss. He just seemed so happy with the edits that all of them had gotten, and James was happy to see him happy.

Even Peter had gotten a spectacular edit. The cameras had shown him as charming, and the rival to Remus, since he’d made the final two. Peter seemed to love his edit; bashful and sweet love interest with a good sense of humor, who just happened to lose, but stayed desirable the whole time. James felt confident it would help his game with women in the future. Production had done him a solid.

Remus, of course, looked so happy he could just melt into the couch. He’d gotten everything he’d ever wanted, and had been presented as Prince Charming every step of the way. He’d be a legend for all time among the community of Bachelor and Bachelorette fans, James was sure of it. But Remus really only cared about Lily, which was beautiful to see. It was what the show was meant to be about.

In the end, there hadn’t been any lasting drama or jealousy.

Their friendships and love stories were going to outlast the game by decades, James was already certain of that.

As they watched the finale, James squeezed Sirius closer to him, and kissed the side of his head where he was tucked into James.

He was confident now that he loved Sirius, and would for all time.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed!
This is my first bambibelle/prongsfoot fic on here! I've done a handful of microfics on tumblr, but hadn't attempted anything else of this length yet. Please find me there and be my bff: @myprongsfootera . I love love love this ship already and I would die for them.
Please let me know all of your thoughts........kudos brighten my mornings and comments fuel my soul and stay with me for days afterwards. <3

Actions

Kudos

orphan_accountt, RoxyStone, NopeWhyyy, Ell100, grimchasers, Bookslover19, sirioly, wxccxwgfddfg, AsynjaMercy, starchaser_312, RemusLikeTheMyth, Permanent_rose, VanityAndVices, deprabe, MuXiu1333, nirvanasirius, Metalmagic, siriusblackdefender, ils_0110, sleepberries, Taegiseokwrites, delfinestria, cjr, The_Antagonist, bubblystream, novembrain, plaidfoot, gattmary, angeldaydreams, paasrin, uesless, Stringsofstars, naol, Sylvir, bog_ghostie, whosafraidofthearcher, emsval, Ryu_Sch, Starlight908, count_dykecula, siriuslystupid_n, RM_Shah, Neloska, hananrose, starryheaven, LovelyMasks, avrija, Danilil, ViridianStyre, 3473_warrior, and 56 more users as well as 36 guests left kudos on this work!

Archive of Our Own

Actions

Work Header