Bittersweet Symphony

Celestia0909

*** Prompts displayed at the end of story to avoid giving out spoilers ***

James struggled to keep his son still long enough for him to put his blasted undies and shorts on him. Every time he would get close to buttoning up the damned thing, Harry would thrash around on the changing table and start laughing when he grunted in frustration. Lost for ideas, James pulled his wand out of his back pocket – something that Mad Eye scolded him for everyday of his auror training – and muttered the spell that would immobilise his son.

He apologised with a grin at his frozen son and muttered the counter-spell, Harry now freshly powdered with his undies, shorts, socks, and shoes on. James glanced at his battered old watch and groaned as the little golden sun twitched closer to the middle of the circle. They were completely late.

'Alright Harry, mum's not going to be happy, we're already so late...' he spoke softly to him and smiled as he lifted his son onto his hip and walked out of the house with a quick pat on Hamlet's head - their fat, flat-faced tabby cat. The cat swiped at his owner and skulked off towards the kitchen as James shut the door and locked up behind him.

He placed his son on his shoulders, to his delighted scream, and both of them set off towards the town square. The streets of Godric's Hollow were quiet, but then again, it was Saturday and a lot of the magical folk were probably at the local quidditch match the next town over, the few muggles in the village would most likely be sleeping in.

Lily had been the one who was adamant about moving to this wizarding village when they'd first started looking for their own house; living with his parents afforded them the luxury of not worrying about bills and money, but after they died neither of them could stand the stuffiness in the Potter mansion. Photos upon photos of his parents followed him around as he walked around the halls and they had picked the first house they had seen in the small wizarding village.

Five years they had lived here and James couldn't imagine living anywhere else. This village was their home, and nothing could make them move.

'Ouch Harry!' James moaned as two pudgy, and rather sticky, fingers yanked on a few strands of his hair rather violently. The little boy only laughed and kept pulling despite his complaint and James cast a numbing spell on his scalp so that at the very least he wouldn't be able to feel anything. Although, if he found himself suddenly bald later, he could blame it on the little tyke.

'Dad you're funny,' James smiled at the sound of his son's voice and tickled his chubby thigh that rested against his shoulders. 'Dad tickling Harry! Feels funny!' and his son's twinkling laughter followed; the world's most beautiful symphony to James' ears.

There were a lot of things in James' life that he was incredibly proud of; marrying Lily, being a dad, Harry and Lily, his friends, being quidditch captain, winning the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup while also being Head Boy, and being an Auror – exactly in that order too.

It was during times alone with his son that James fully appreciated the little boy that was half of him and half of Lily. The little boy that they had both fought so hard to protect and had succeeded in doing so. The little boy that neither of them had planned for but loved with all their hearts. James pulled his son so that he sat against his hip and as he looked at his eyes, the exact same shade as Lily's, James acknowledged that he'd walk through hell for him.

Harry giggled as James tickled his stomach and both of them looked up as the muggle elderly choir started singing a song in the church hall. It was one that James actually recognised and thought of how fitting it was that they decided to sing this particular hymn as he passed through the creaky iron gate and underneath the old oak tree. Harry was quiet and clung onto James' shirt as they walked along the grass, wreaths and bouquets of flowers lining their path.

'Mama's here dad.'

James stopped in front of a white marble stone sticking up from the ground and smiled as he let Harry down and conjured a large bouquet of white peonies, baby's breath and white daisies at the foot of the marble that was engraved with brilliant gold:

Lily Potter

Born January 30 1960

Died October 31 1981

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

'Hey Lil,' he sat down on the grassy patch in front of the stone and placed a hand on it, brushing the dirt and dust off his wife's name as Harry waddled over and sat himself down in James' lap. 'Say hi to mum Harry,' his son waved at the stone and leaned his head against James' chest, all the while staring at the bouquet and stone.

'Hope you're alright…wherever you are. Oh Hamlet isn't a he, she's expecting kittens soon; explains why she's been so moody these past few weeks. I've got a few scars to show too,' James ruffled a hand through his hair and wrapped his arms around his son. 'Sirius says he'll try to visit next week; I suppose it's been tough trying to hunt down Peter. Remus says he saw the lying git hanging out with Greyback, but he isn't sure. I'd have killed him had it been me…'

He and Lily had trusted Peter with being their secret keeper, a ploy that Sirius had suggested to throw Voldemort off their scent. Had James known what would happen afterwards, he'd have killed the rat before he could cause anyone any pain.

It was because of Peter that James didn't have a wife anymore; Peter took Harry's mum away from him; Peter had sold out the Longbottoms' to the Lestranges; Peter had returned to the Potter's house after Voldemort killed his wife and apparated his severely weakened master out as James burst through his front door, but not without shooting the killing curse at him, and missing.

Lily's sacrifice had weakened Voldemort, but kill him it did not. James had come home from buying his wife ice cream to find half their cottage ruined, his wife's pregnant form dead, and his son crying with a gaping scar on his forehead.

A soft breeze filtered through his hair and a waft of lavender from nearby bushes filled his senses and reminded him of Lily's perfume. James' heart clenched painfully and his stomach churned as he thought of the love of his life. The way she would visit the graveyard when she could to lay wreaths down on the gravestones without flowers; the way she would run her hands through his hair as they took their evening baths; and feel of her lips and hands on him.

'Dad are you crying?'

James smiled as his son's hands grabbed either side of his face and Harry inspected his face with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes that reminded him so much of Lily. Everyone commented on how much Harry looked like James, but his son was all Lily and he was glad for it.

'No mate, just a bit of water…' Harry shot him a look of disbelief that a three-year-old shouldn't be able to do and again James thought of Lily. Thankfully, he was only three which meant that his attention span was remarkably short and the boy shrugged before sitting back down on his lap and pulling out a small picture book that he read quietly to himself.

After a few minutes of doing that, Harry was bored and restless and asked if he could play with the cemetery's resident labrador, Bonnie, to which James assented to for a few minutes' silence to himself. He stared at the white headstone and pulled at the weeds around it as he spoke with a soft shaky voice.

'I miss you everyday Lil...' a tear slipped behind his glasses. 'Not a day goes by that I don't think of you. Everyone said that all I needed was a bit of time, but all the time in the world is worthless without you here,' James glanced around the cemetery and saw his son chasing the black labrador, weaving through the headstones clumsily. 'Harry asked about you last night, and its shite that he won't get to know his mum, because you were an amazing mum and deserved more time with him. You were always better at parenting and getting him to settle down, you should be here with him Lil, not me…'

James sobbed silently and rested his face in his hands as he thought of the injustice of it all. Lily was born to be a mother and she had barely any time to be one.

'I'd give anything to have you back…It was supposed to be me and you until the very end Lil, you were supposed to teach the little tyke about muggle stuff and I would teach him quidditch. He misses you, I know he misses his mum, his wonderful, beautiful mum…' Harry shrieked in delight as the dog licked his hands, face and hair – making his already messy hair stick up even more. 'I wish you could see him, he's perfect, I can't believe we made that…well actually it makes perfect sense that he's so perfect now, he's every good thing about you Lil. He's so smart, and he's going to be a far better person than his dad because he's so much like you.'

Harry was puffing as he ran up to James and grabbed his hand. Dirt and grass stains were all over his shorts and cheeks and James dreaded having to do the washing tomorrow, but then again, he was a wizard after all and that's what magic was for.

'Dad, I want ice-cream,' James smirked at his son and ruffled his hair playfully.

'Alright, go wait with Bonnie, I need to say bye to mum,' Harry nodded, waved and said goodbye to his mum and waited by the dog near the gate. 'That's entirely your fault you know, I swear his teeth are going to fall out with the amount of sweets he eats every day…' James stood up with a groan as his knees cracked and he bent low and placed his palm against the cool stone. 'I love you Lily, we'll be back next Saturday love.'

Eighty years later Harry smiled at the polished new black marble headstone sitting alongside a stark white stone with vines creeping along its sides. He placed his hands on both stones and smiled as he conjured a wreath of red and blue roses and placed it between the them.

'See you next Saturday mum…dad,' Harry turned and caught up with the rest of his family, eager for a scoop of the local ice-cream shop's butterbeer flavoured gelato. Behind him a leaf fluttered past both stones and was reflected in the shining black marble's engraving:

James Potter

Born March 27, 1960

Died October 31, 2063

UNTIL THE VERY END

Hope you all enjoyed it!

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AU Prompt - Lily dies and James lives

Words: 1,863

*** Updated on 8/03/18 because the previous date of death on James' headstone was 1981 instead of 2063, lol ***

Love, Andy