James Potter was lucky. He had always been lucky. He was lucky when at 9 he had decided to fly his broom but it had malfunctioned and threw him through the open French windows across the piano room and into the antique wooden table. Luckily, he had come away with just bruises and scrapes, though his mother had banned him from flying for almost 7 months. He had been lucky when at 11 shopping for his Hogwarts essentials, he had been overenthusiastic and run away from his parents and unknowingly into Knockturn Alley the one who found him was an auror on patrol who knew his parents and not a hag or werewolf. He had been lucky at 12 when he had stumbled across the passage that stated an animagi could spend time with a werewolf and not be turned and he had found the solution to help Remus. He had been lucky at 15 when he had figured out what Sirius had done and had been in time to save two of his friends' lives. He had been lucky at 17 when Lily had finally decided to date him, he had been lucky when she married him and he had been lucky at 21 when she had blessed him with Harry. And he was most definitely lucky that he came out almost unscathed from Voldemort's attack on his family and Bellatrix's assault.
His luck, it seemed, had spread to his family and had saved his family from certain death even though he had been sure he had died, as had Lily. He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and was fully prepared to take full advantage of his second chance.
Lily on the other hand seemed to have gone in a complete 180 degree to him, she spent any spare moment from her husband and son learning a new way to fight, some new demon to vanquish to protect her husband and son, some other obscure piece of magic to research, a lost knowledge to find, deadlier spells to learn, spells to cut and burn and eviscerate . If it had been before, neither of them would have even considered it, both horrified by the lengths Lily was going to, yet now it was necessary, and vital and she felt vindicated that the next time anyone wanted to harm her family, they would lose at least a limb if not their life to her. Any time she didn't spend with her husband and child, had been days filled with passion and vengeance and the feeling of not being enough, she wasn't enough, she hadn't been enough, but she would be, she was determined to turn and warp herself into someone who could protect her husband and her son.
Sirius had decided that if he had to protect the people he loved from monsters, then he had to turn into a bigger monster himself. Seeing James's body and the ruined house had shaken his beliefs to the core and now every time he saw him struggle to walk, the fire within him burned just a bit more, taunting him that it was just a miracle that had kept his family alive, just a miracle that Harry wasn't an orphan, just a miracle that he himself hadn't ended up in Azkaban. he had always believed in good and bad, he believed that his blood family was bad and his chosen family was good, yet in his insistence to be 'good' he had almost lost them, in his insistence that the light would always prevail over dark, he had believed a man who had wanted to put him in Azkaban thinking he had betrayed the only people who mattered to him. This instance had well and truly opened his eyes, he needed strength, and power to protect them from everyone. He had gone back to the Black House, not to Grimmauld Place, but to his paternal Grandfather's house on the outskirts. After a few heated discussions, they were reaching tentative peace, it was still fragile enough that it could break any time but they were working on it, the house would be neither light nor dark. Sirius would get access to all the forbidden Black magic, but he would need to bring the house back to its former glory without being extremely pro-light.
Remus upon hearing everything had found a quite steel in him which had always been buried underneath anxiety, he was the one who helped stop James's anxiety attacks, he was the one who held Lily back from crossing a line which he knew would revolt her once woke up from her haze, he was the one who had calmed Sirius's explosive temper and was helping him structure negotiations with the House of Black. He had become their anchor, holding his precious pack together, and in doing so he shed his naturally shy nature, instead he began radiating a quiet authority, one which kept them functioning. Yet, even he wouldn't be around Harry without his inner wolf at the forefront, his eyes glowing amber and ready to tear apart anyone who looked at the child in the wrong way.
Months passed in the same way. While his family was alive and well, Harry could see that a part of them was dying slowly, the part that made them, them. The part of them that had died in Sirius and Remus, after spending 12 years in azkaban and losing all his pack, respectively.
Harry couldn't stand that, he wouldn't stand for that. He hadn't come back just to watch the people he loved lose themselves, he had come to prevent exactly that, even for-his breath caught for a minute as his past self warred with his present one- even for Tom Riddle, or Voldemort, but if and only if, he could see that he would moderate himself and work on his old goals, not his new ones. And so he plotted, and planned and waited. After all, he wasn't the son of a marauder for nothing.
He began enacting his plan on 26 January 1982, 4 days before his mom's birthday. Harry waited until after breakfast, as that is when usually his mom would leave for an hour or two of research in the library leaving him and his dad alone.
Harry watched from his highchair as Lily pressed a kiss to both his and his father's foreheads before leaving the dining room. Harry watched his father's besotted look as Jame's eyes followed Lily until she disappeared from his view. To any kid, watching the obvious affection between their parents might be gross and exasperating, yet to a kid who had been desperate for any memory of his parents, and had once doubted the affection between them, it was absolutely joyful to see how they lit up at the sight of each other.
"Dada." Harry said with all the solemnity of a child of barely 2 could muster.
"Yes, Harry?" James asked as he mussed up the tiny tuft of hair on Harry's head, soft hazel eyes looking at Harry with all the love in the world. Harry's pudgy face screwed up in an approximation of frown, all it did was make him look all the more adorable, and James couldn't resist lifting Harry from his highchair into his arms and burrowing his nose in Harry's hair.
Merlin, the feeling of holding his son so close would never cease to amaze him.
"Dada!" Harry whined. He whined! He could never ever remember whining to an adult before, certainly if he had, then the Dursleys would have taken *measures* to make sure he didn't do it again, yet this was his dad, he knew he could whine, throw a tantrum, do anything and his parents would never tire of him or hurt him.
"Alright alright prongslet, what is it?" James asked his toddler seriously, even though a soft smile still persisted on his lips.
"Mama."
"What about mama love?"
"Mama birth-bir'day." His words slurred, frustrating Harry much more. He knew the words! He was, at least mentally, 19 years old give or take! He hated that he didn't have more motor control over himself. James's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out the words before it cleared in understanding.
"Mama's birthday?" Harry nodded empathically. Yes! He was halfway there.
"Your right prongslet, mama's birthday is coming up soon." James said, still a bit confused as to where his adorable son was going with this, furthermore, how he even knew about it. He was sure neither he, Lily nor any of the others who they regularly spent time with, few that they were hadn't mentioned it either.
God his dad could be obtuse at times, Harry thought fondly. Unfortunately he didn't yet possess enough control over his mouth to form the necessary words required to explain his intention. He found out the hard way that just because his brain was already developed didn't mean his physical body had. He was quite simply still a baby, and not a miniature adult who could do everything his previous body could. To be frank, it was extremely annoying to have to depend on others for everything. Well, at least thankfully he wasn't with the Dursleys again. He was quite sure he would have murdered them within a day.
Who was he kidding? He would murder them in an hour if he found himself back there. Probably Dumbledore too if the professor decided on leaving him there again.
Green eyes stared back at his dad, hoping that if he kept staring at his dad he would get the hint. James frowned back at his son, very much confused and yet entertained by the direction of his conversation.
Green eyes narrowed in an imitation of Lily's glare, yet it fell short by a huge chasm. Helplessly charmed by his son, James pressed another kiss to Harry's forehead, so deliriously happy that they had survived and were alive.
"Mama sad!" Harry declared, after mumbling for a while and unable to form other words necessary to convey what he wanted to tell his dad.
James' expression cleared, understanding his son finally. "Mama is sad, so we should do something to make her happy on her birthday?" He said finally slowly.
Harry nodded relieved.
A slow smile spread across James's face. Merlin, Harry was so smart and kind, just like Lily! He's gonna grow up to be an amazing human being and one of the best wizards ever, he just knew it.
"Don't worry, prongslet, we're gonna make sure your mama is extremely happy on her birthday alright?"