Goodbye
It was a sad morning. James and Sirius packed up their belongings in their hotel room silently, neither wanting to leave on the flight that was supposed to take off in just a few hours. The plan was to pack up and then go say goodbye to the others at the restaurant.
Sirius hadn't come back to the room until the sun had began to rise. He had spent the entirety of the night with Remus. When he had gotten back his eyes were red and puffy, his face still stained with tears. James had tried to go to Lily's apartment to talk to her and console her, but she never found the words...and James understood. The Phoenix was her life, and she didn't have it anymore.
They walked out of the hotel, bags slung over their shoulders, frowns plastered on their faces. Sirius finally broke the silence, "I can't believe we're leaving."
James nodded, "It- it almost feels wrong in a way. I feel like I'm supposed to still be here."
"I've never, not wanted to go back to England but...I just want to be here, at least for a few more days." James nodded in agreement and Sirius let out a sad, breathy laugh, "And we didn't even do the job dad sent us here to do."
James stopped dead in his tracks, a wild look suddenly forming behind his glasses.
"James? Mate?" Sirius looked at him, completely confused be the sudden change in his demeanor.
"You head to the Cafe. I'll meet you there."
"What?"
"I have to do something. I'll meet you there." James turned and took off in a sprint back to the hotel.
Sirius took his time walking to the restaurant. We wanted to spend as much time with Remus as possible before leaving, but saying goodbye, made leaving all the more real...so he walked slowly. The moment Sirius walked through the door, he was pulled into a bone crushing hug by Remus, who had flung himself at Sirius, wrapping his arms around his middle and crying silently into his shoulder. Sirius dropped his bags on the floor and wrapped his arms around Remus' neck.
"Fuck. I'll miss you so much, Remus."
They pulled away hesitantly and Sirius walked over to wish Peter goodbye. At the sound of the dropping bags and Remus sniffing, Lily came out of the backroom, looking exhausted and gave Sirius a hug. When she pulled away and looked around, she noticed James' absence.
"Where's James?" she looked at Sirius, who was holding Remus' hand.
"Uh- I- I don't know. He told me to just go ahead and that he would meet up later."
She nodded, feeling even worse than she had been. Did he not want to see her? She thought they had something, but was she just delusional? Did she really trick herself into thinking that James fancied her, when she had finally come to the terms with fancying him herself?
Tears started to well up in her eyes, and they were at risk of falling. "Excuse me." She turned and walked into the backroom once again.
"What's going to happen to her? To all of you when it's over?" Sirius asked to two boys.
Remus shrugged and Peter answered, "Don't know. We're taking everything one step at a time."
That's when James came bursting in through the front door. He was sweaty, out of breath, and looking frantic.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked, concerned, but he never answered him.
"Lily? Lily!" Everyone just looked at him like he had gone wild.
Lily came back into the dining room, having obviously been crying. She looked at him and quickly rubbed the wetness off of her cheeks, "James? What's- what's going on?" she looked around at the others, hoping they would give her some kind of guidance to the situation currently unfolding, but no one understood, except James...who stepped toward her.
His frantic expression softened as he approached her. He said nothing, but handed her a stack of papers that he had been clutching in his hands.
She took the papers from him and skimmed over them quickly, everyone watching anxiously. She took and long tired breath, "James. What is this?"
He smiled and moved into her space. Because her hands were full, he held onto her wrists. "I realized that I never told you what Sirius and I were sent here for. You see, not to brag, but my father is a very high class, successful, and well, wealthy business owner. And a month ago he sent us here to find a potential business opportunity."
As James spoke, realization of what he was saying hit Sirius like a truck. He looked up with wide eyes, suddenly feeling very emotional for a very different reason. James continued.
"The problem is...I was so distracted by how fucking lovely you, and this place is, and I'm sure Sirius feels the same, that I didn't even notice that the way to help you save this place was right in front of me this whole time."
Everyone was tense, and Lily looked back down at the papers in her shaking hands, "James? What's going on?"
"I just got off the phone with my dad. I talked to him quite frantically about you and Pete and Remus and The Phoenix and- he wants in Lils."
Lily took a deep breath and clutched the collar of her shirt.
"He faxed over the paper work, which you're holding in your hands. If you say yes, he'll buy the land and the building right now. It will be all yours, but with him backing you up, supporting you, and making you bigger. And-" he glanced over at Sirius and Remus, "he said he'll need someone to be here more often than not to help out and keep and eye on the place."
Remus clutched Sirius' hand tighter and their eyes welled up with tears. Sirius stared at James, clutching onto this possibility for dear life. James turned back to Lily, who was also crying.
"If you don't want this, then that's okay. But if you do...all you have to do is say yes and sign the papers. What do you say, Lily?"
Her bottom lip trembled, "Get Mr. Potter on the phone so I can thank him."
James let out a breath and a smile, he moved to hug Lily, but was interrupted by Peter throwing himself into a bear hug with him, sobbing 'thank yous' as he and Lily laughed.
Sirius turned to hug Remus, but Remus grabbed his face and kissed him harder than he had ever had.
When James was released from Peter's grasp, he moved to Lily. He took the papers out of her hand and showed her where to sign, talking to her softly about details of the contract. They looked over at Sirius and Remus, who were now snogging aggressively against the wall, and laughed happily.
As James dialed his dad's number and Lily read over the papers, he spoke quietly just to her, "There is uh- one condition to all of this." Lily looked at him, confused and slightly worried with an eyebrow raised, "My dad says you have to go on a date with me."
She laughed and kissed the corner of his mouth, making him blush furiously. "I think I could make that work."
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
The Phoenix Cafe, once a tiny restaurant hidden in the corner of Paris that barely got any traffic, was now doubled in size (having expanded into the neighboring building) and filled to the brim as soon as the sign said 'open' and all the way until it turned to 'closed'.
James and Sirius lived in Paris full time, working at The Phoenix. They missed London, of course they did, but Paris had two things that London didn't, Remus Lupin and Lily Evans.
James and Sirius were part owners, but also worked as waiters. Peter got three more people to help in the kitchen, and Lisa even took on a part time job as waitress for busy nights and weekends. Lily was the heart and soul of the restaurant, greeting every customer that walked in, brightening everyone's day. She had the no more debt and working with Mr. Potter's company doubled her business. She had never been happier.
Remus was helping a table of six elderly women, who flirted with him shamelessly. Sirius, who was eavesdropping a few tables away and getting a laugh out of it, walked past pinching his bum with a smirk on his face.
Remus, a few minutes later, found himself at the kitchen window with Sirius...he leaned over and did the same to him.
Sirius grinned, "Hmm, getting a bit cheeky there are we?"
"You started it."
"Did I?"
Remus leaned in close and smirked, "Alors que ce soir continue, je constate que j'ai de moins en moins de maîtrise de moi-même."
Sirius shivered. Even after a year, flirting with Remus in French still drove him mad, "Et qu'essayez-vous exactement de contrôler?"
"Essayer de garder mes mains loin de toi."
Sirius' eyes instantly darkened with lust, and his breath caught in his throat. "Avez-vous de projets pour ce soir? Parce que je suis libre." he said playfully.
"I've got a few ideas." Remus' eyes scanned over his body, mouth slightly open as if he was having a hard time breathing. If they weren't in the middle of service, Sirius would have pushed Remus up against the wall and had his way with him right then and there.
Lily walked past them smiling, "Please do try to not shag on the tables would you?"
Sirius grabbed the food he had been at the kitchen to grab, and walked past Lily on his way to deliver it, "Rich, coming from you."
She feigned innocence, "I have no idea what you're talking about." She definitely knew what he was talking about.
After closing, Peter left with Lisa and Remus pulled Sirius out of the door urgently, whispering in his ear (things Lily was probably glad she couldn't hear).
When Lily was putting way the last of things, James came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and lightly kissing the crook of her neck. She hummed contently and turned in his arms so that she was facing him. She also wrapped her arms around his waist, and kissed him.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" He caressed her cheekbones, gazing down lovingly at her.
"Very often, yes." She hummed.
"You're not tired of hearing it are you?"
She spoke softly, "Never."
He kissed the tip of her nose making her giggle and blush, something she did every time with that gesture and James heavily adored it, "Good."
He moved his arms so they draped over her shoulders, lightly playing in her beautiful hair. She tucked her head into his neck, nuzzling her nose against the underside of his jaw.
At times, it was still hard to comprehend that he had this beautiful, perfect life and was loved by such a beautiful, perfect woman. His plan was to propose on their one year, which was in a week. He knew it was early, but he didn't care because he knew that she was the one for him every time she smiled at him...which was quite often.
And all of this happened because Mr. Potter sent James and Sirius to fuck around in Paris for a month.