Lion Heart³ | James Potter

nineteen

6th of January, Tuesday, 1981

(It's A Hard Life//Queen)

Every single one of the Marauders wished they could say that things got better as the New Year finally arrived.

But that wouldn't be true.

"I thought the '80s were supposed to be this glowing symbol of peace," Andrea grumbled, starting to change Harry's diaper.

Sirius snorted. "Maybe for Muggles. Certainly not for wizards." Andrea turned to him with a concerned look. "How's Moony holding up?" she asked, not wanting the others in the family room to overhear them. Sirius shrugged, letting out a heavy sigh.

"I don't know, New York. He says he's fine, and he seems fine, most of the time. But I know he's struggling. He's been throwing himself into Order business since Christmas, trying to see if he can find a trace of who did it."

Andrea looked down as Harry started babbling, sticking the toy Snitch into his mouth. "I'm not so sure knowing who killed your parent is better," she sighed.

Sirius nodded in understanding, stretching his legs out from his sitting position on the edge of the bathtub.

"I hear that, but I think his mindset right now is he'd rather know than be in the dark. I know it crushed him, coming back to his house and seeing that Dark Mark above it."

"I know. It's cruel..." Andrea started carefully. "But I can't stop thinking that I wish Lyall had been home so Remus wouldn't have had to find his mother all on his own."

Sirius nodded just as Andrea finished putting the clean diaper on Harry.

Seeing as the dirty work was over, Sirius happily accepted the newly changed Harry from Andrea. "Thanks, London," she smiled, glad for the helping hands. Sirius nodded, a weight still on him as he started fidgeting with Harry.

"At least we got to give Harry as perfect a Christmas as we could manage," Andrea tried to brighten his spirits, nudging his arm.

Sirius snorted loudly. "You burned the turkey and James didn't know how to carve so we ended up chewing endless goo."

Andrea smiled, swallowing the lump in her throat. She had seen the look on James' face as he stood to carve.

It had always been Marco's job to roast the turkey, Monty's to carve. The last few years, Mia had roasted, but Monty was still their carver.

Now that none of them were here anymore, the kids tried desperately to make it a normal Christmas even with the key parts missing. 

Still, it turned out to be a day where they all felt normal, for the first time in a long time. Marly and Harry had ended up throwing mash at each other from their high chairs and Dorcas had finally let Kingsley be in the same room with her without trying to rip his head off.

Slowly, progress was coming.

The two headed back to the family room, Remus and Peter in deep discussion about where they thought You-Know-Who and his follower's hideout could be.

Andrea looked around but couldn't spot her husband.

"Where's James?'' she asked the two, Sirius settling down with Harry next to Remus on the couch, bouncing him on his knee until he laughed.

Remus nodded at the door to the hallway. "Kitchen."

Andrea left Sirius with Harry's bottle and headed off to find James.

She slowed down considerably as she reached the archway into the kitchen. He stood, bracing his hands on the counter, an unopened packet of tea clutched tightly in his hand.