James and Lily lay next to one another on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, an inch of space between them. James's breath was still a bit raggedy and his heart was going fast as could be - from both the, erm, cardio workout as well as the stress of wondering what in Merlin's name was going through Lily's mind about now. He turned his head to look at the profile of her face, her little nose and the blinking lashes of her eyes, silhouetted by moonlight coming in the window. He swallowed back the anxiety and turned to face forward, returning his gaze to the ceiling.
Beside him, Lily turned to look at him, too. She had the sheets pulled up to her collarbone and tucked under her arms, and her hands were folded across her stomach, but now, looking at him, she dropped her arms to her sides, like he was doing, and slowly inched her fingers across the mattress to his fingers, touching them softly.
James looked at her and their eyes met and Lily smiled a little smile, biting her lower lip.
"Alright, Evans?" James asked.
Lily nodded.
"Yeah?" he asked, curious, wanting to ask questions but not quite daring to. He wanted to ask if he'd done alright, if she'd enjoyed it as much as he had, if she thought he was maybe even good at it? But he couldn't muster the words for such questions.
Lily's fingers squeezed his. "Yeah," she said, then, "Bit more than alright, I s'pose." She giggled.
James felt his spirits soar. "Yeah???" he asked, eager.
Lily laughed at the tone of his voice. "Yeah," she said.
"You reckon we did good, then?" James asked.
Lily nodded, "For a first go, I'd reckon we must've done well..."
"Did I get an 'E' then?"
Lily laughed, "You've earned your OWL for certain."
James grinned.
"Official results will be sent to you via post."
"I'll be watching the skies."
They were quiet again, just laying there holding hands, staring at each other. James suddenly rolled onto his side, reaching over to push a bit of her hair back, and he stroked her face. "I'm so glad that of everyone in the entire world I'm laying here with you, Evans. I know this sounds quite lame, but -- I'm glad that it was you that I've done it my first time with... and I, er, hope that we could maybe... do it again sometime."
Lily snort-laughed at this.
"What?"
"You! I hope we could maybe do it again sometime." Lily shook her head, smiling, "You bleedin' idiot."
"Whaaat?" James drawled, and he wrapped his arm over her, snuggling closer, and resting his cheek next to hers on the pillow so that their noses touched for a moment before she turned her head to look at the ceiling and he kissed her cheek softly. "What am I a bleedin' idiot for now?"
"I s'pose it comes naturally to you, Potter," Lily teased. Then, "I intend to do it again with you quite often."
"Is that so?"
"Yes," Lily answered.
James grinned. "Well, as previously discussed, I am quite a busy person, so you'll have to book an appointment... Have your people call my people."
Lily replied, "Gods alive, James... If Remus even mentioned it to Sirius -- first off, he'd turn about as red as the Queen of Hearts, and secondly they'd get quite distracted and you'd never get the message from your people."
"Sirius would be Queen."
"What?"
"You said Remus would be as red as the Queen of Hearts, but I reckon he'd be the King of Hearts. Sirius is most definitely the Queen."
"True," Lily giggled, "Sirius is such a bloody queen."
"SUCH a queen," James laughed.
Lily was laughing more, "Also, James, can we talk about how that queenliness clearly runs in the blood?"
"I KNOW -- Regulus... Merlin's beard..." James was in tears laughing at this within a moment, and Lily followed suit so that they lay there laughing rather hysterically over the dramatics of the Blacks.
"Their mum, too," Lily said, "I knew it had to be her because of how bleedin' dramatic she was..."
"You know Bellatrix Lestrange is related to him, too?" James said. "And I mean... she's downright evil, but..."
"Bloody hell, nobody is as dramatic as that bitch," Lily snorted.
"I KNOW," James said.
"We shouldn't be laughing about this," Lily gasped.
"But who could possibly help it?" James asked, wheezing, "I mean, they're all the bloody same person. Get'em going and it's a twenty minute monologue..."
Lily was grinning, and she looked over at James after a beat and said, "I love you."
"I love you, too," James answered.
"I love that we're laying here in bed, talking about this, just hours after everything we've been through tonight and... it's just as though you're an extension of me, as though you just... you get it, you get me..." She stopped, and suddenly she was very serious.
James said, "Puzzle pieces."
Lily nodded, "Puzzle pieces. Oh James. You save my life in so many ways, everyday."
"You save mine, too," James replied, and he pulled her fingers up and gently kissed them between the first and second knuckles. He took a deep breath and leaned back into the pillow again, closing his eyes. Lily rolled to put her head on his bare chest and sighed contentedly as she breathed him in. James's lips twitched as she did, and he gently ran his hand down her side, just feeling her there. "Wouldn't it be nice if every single day we went to bed just like this, and woke up in the morning and the first thing that I saw... every day... was you."
Lily smiled up at him, admiring the curve of his chin and nose... "Maybe someday."
James smiled without opening his eyes, "I'd like that Evans," he mumbled, falling asleep. With a big yawn he added, "Have your people call my people... and ...we'll... set it... up..."
His breathing deepened and Lily chuckled and closed her eyes too, listening to his heart beat until she, too, fell asleep.
"CRUCIO!" Regulus lay on the floor, his body stiff and sweat-coated as Voldemort's anger coursed through him. Silent tears streaked his face. Voldemort was shouting, "How could you? YOU LET THEM GET AWAY!"
"I didn't, he bested me, I --" Regulus sobbed, "I'm weak, my Lord, I'm weak... I'm not as strong as you, please. Have mercy, please."
Walburga's tears flowed as well, and she dropped to her feet before Voldemort. "My Lord, please. He is just a boy - only in his fifth year at Hogwarts. Him, against a reportedly gifted seventh year!"
Voldemort was seething, breathless from the energy he was pouring into the cruciatus curse. "And how do I know that you have not deceived me, Regulus Black? How do I know that you didn't let them escape on purpose?"
"Because you are a mighty legilimens, my Lord! You know my mind as well as I do!" Regulus replied. "Perhaps even better."
Pausing to receive his praises, Voldemort mused to himself... Regulus stayed cowering, laying on the floor before the Dark Lord, waiting for his mind to be made up. He didn't dare to move.
Voldemort hovered over him for what seemed an eternity, and finally he breathed, "I am feeling most generous... for now." He lowered his wand from where he'd taken aim at Regulus's chest once more. "But you will find me that locket and you will bring it to me, or I will kill you."
Regulus felt sick. "Yes, my Lord."
Voldemort turned and left the room with out any further adieu. Walburga and Regulus stayed still, waiting, until they heard the sound of the front door closing... and moments later a great CRACK as Voldemort disapparated away. The moment he was gone, both Regulus and Walburga breathed in relief, releasing breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding. Walburga ran to Regulus's side then, kneeling beside him as he struggled to sit up, sore and shaky.
"Regulus, darling, are you alright?" Walburga asked, and she helped him to sitting up as he nodded. "You're sure?"
"Yes, mum, I'm sure," Regulus answered as she enveloped him in a crushing hug. He stared over her shoulder as she clutched him, squeezing him in her arms as she stroked his hair in the back. He closed his eyes after a moment, hoping beyond hope that James and Lily were alright, that they understood what he'd done, that they weren't angry with him... and he wondered what he was ever going to do. One thing he knew for sure was that Voldemort could threaten him all he liked, but in the end Regulus would never allow the locket to fall into Voldemort's hands -- even if it meant he would have to die to see to it.
James sat up in bed. The sun was out and it had cut across his face in exactly the way the sun had done from the one small crack in the cell he'd laid in, waking him with a panicked start. He felt dizzy, and was struggling to catch his breath as something deep in his chest seemed to constrict and tighten...
"James?" Lily's palm touched his back squarely against his spine and the tightness in his chest loosed at the sound of her voice.
"Evans," he said and he turned to her, wrapping his arms around her.
"Hey, shh," she whispered in his ear, his breath ragged. "It's alright, James... it's alright. I'm here." She held him as he recovered from his panic, patiently running her fingers though the hair at the back of his neck. It took quite some time before James's breathing had sorted out and his body relaxed in her grasp. His head against her chest, she kissed his forehead at the edge of his messy hair. He drew back, looking sheepish. Lily reached over and nudged a bit of hair off his forehead, her eyes searching his. "Alright, Potter?" she asked, trying to lighten the thickness in the air by echoing him.
James nodded.
Lily hesitated. "I didn't know you were still having the nightmares."
James nodded again, biting his lips, and Lily could see what looked like... not shame? Could it be? And when his eyes moved up to meet hers -- yes, there it was. James Potter was ashamed and his eyes were begging her not to judge him, not to think less of him.
"You are so strong, James Potter," Lily said admirably.
James murmured, "Having nightmares like a little kid?"
"Even Dumbledore himself would have nightmares after what you've been through!" Lily exclaimed. "You're not just giving up, though. Some people, they go through a terrible time and they let it define who they are, they let all that stress and anxiety inside of them bottle up and keep them from being anything except a victim who went through something awful... But you're a miracle, James Potter, because there isn't a thing about you that is defined by what you went through. And if the most awful scar that you bear as a result of it is some nightmares... Well, the last thing you are is weak," she concluded.
James wiped the tears that had fallen over his cheeks as she spoke. "Yeah?" he asked.
Lily nodded, "Yeah." She smiled at him as he looked up and she ran a hand under his chin, gently kissing his lips. "The bravest man in the entire world."
James smiled back, his nightmares near to forgotten, and he thought again just how nice it would be to wake up everyday and find Lily Evans at his side.
Charlus Potter woke with the rising of the sun, glanced at his wife in the bed beside him, slid out from the covers. Tiptoeing carefully so not to wake her up, he nearly knocked over a large book of cleaning spells Dora had dogeared and sitting on the dresser by the door, but caught it at the last moment before sneaking out the door. He trotted down the hall in as quiet a run as he could manage, and down the stairs to the kitchen, where he let in the owl from the Prophet, paid for his paper, and sat at the table, shaking out the news and waiting, listening...
It was impossibly early yet, but sure enough, he heard James's bedroom door open at last, and creaks on the hallway floor, then the stairs. He listened to hushed whispered voices in the living room, and the clink of the little jar that held the floo powder on the mantel. Whispered goodbyes and promises to see one another later, the soft smack of a couple kisses... There was a rush of the flames from the floo, and a soft, but clear command of address, and a puff of departure.
Charlus lowered his paper, folded it, and laid it down on the table, waiting...
James was pink-faced and smiling as he came 'round the corner, about to head up the stairs again. He caught onto the end of the banister and was about to start on his climb when Charlus cleared his throat.
James stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look slowly.
Charlus waved with the tips of his fingers, a smirking grin upon his face.
James's pink was replaced by a very deep flush of red. "Dad, I can explain."
Charlus said, "Oh so now you're going to tell me about the birds and the bees, are you? How do you think you came into this world? Think we mixed you up with a cauldron and an incantation, do you?"
James stepped hesitantly into the kitchen, even redder than before, "I really would rather not think about you and mum and cauldrons and incantations, dad."
Charlus grinned. "It was a bloody nice cauldron, let me tell you..."
"Please stop," James begged, "Before I spontaneously combust."
"Another option that might explain your existence, if you wish to discard the cauldron one so lightly."
James didn't look amused.
Charlus certainly did, though. He patted the space next to him at the table, "In all seriousness... c'mere and let's talk a moment, alright?"
James drew a deep breath and let it out quite heavily, settling into the chair with reluctance. He stared at the table top, and Charlus studied him a long moment, trying to decide how best to say what it was he wanted to say. James spoke before Charlus could. "Please don't ruin this for me, Dad."
"Ruin it for you?" Charlus asked.
James nodded, "I - I really like Lily and... Well, everything that happened last night, it wasn't just some careless thing, it wasn't out of haste or anything like that. It -- well, Dad, I think Lily might be... you know. The one."
Charlus stared at his son in silence.
"I take it back," James said quickly. "Actually I know she is."
Charlus nodded. "Well," he said. "That pretty much covers everything that I intended to inquire about, really."
James looked surprised. "What? No lecture? No bellowing?"
"You're of age," Charlus replied, shrugging. Then, "And, bleeding hell, what a hypocrite I'd be if I were to lecture and bellow! By the time we were your age, your mum and I had --"
"STOPPPPPPP!" James interrupted, covering his ears as Charlus's mouth split into a wide, amused grin.