AN: So I wrote this and realised that even when I write fluff, it takes place at a funeral. There's something wrong with me.
Anyway, this idea just walked into my head one day fully formed, so I thought I'd scribble it down and see what you guys think :)
As always, anyone or anything you recognise belongs to JKR and not, sadly, to me.
James was still sitting in the front row of the little church, his head bowed. I had decided to give him a little while to compose himself, but this was getting ridiculous. Everyone else had migrated back to the house for the wake, his relatives were asking anxiously where he was, and I was beginning to worry that Sirius was getting bored. True, the stupid mutt was on his best behaviour for the day, and I don't think he would have messed up his best friend's parents' funeral, but I would never have put anything past him. Anyway, Peter was getting on my nerves, sniffing around the buffet like that was the only reason he'd come.
I had left Remus keeping an eye on them both and slunk back into Godric Hollow's tiny chapel. I was doing my best to deal with James' family (such as it was – there were two maiden aunts and his paternal grandfather, all of whom looked as though they were five minutes away from their own coffins) but they weren't really interested in me. James was the darling of the family and I was the silly little harlot who had charmed him away.
I'm sure that wasn't really what they were thinking, but a funeral is never the best occasion to meet your in-laws for the first time, I was scared half to death and James was understandably in no mood to be particularly supportive.
It was understandable, yes. But there was a limit, and that was why I was walking back up the aisle towards him.
He didn't look up as I sat down, staring fixedly at a spot on the floor about six feet in front of us. I glanced at the floor tile that was holding his attention, though Merlin knows what I was expecting to see in it. Unsurprisingly, it was just a floor tile.
"James?" I laid a hand very carefully on my husband's shoulder. "You still with me, darling?"
He made a tiny noise in the back of his throat. I took this as permission to keep my hand there, and gave him a little squeeze.
"Your aunts are worried that you'll be cold," I told him, and he snorted derisively. "It's not that cold."
The church was bloody freezing, and I told him so. "It's the middle of December, after all," I pointed out reasonably, and ran my hand down his arm to grasp his fingers. Sure enough, they were stone cold.
"James, please come up to the house?"
I knew it was a big ask. James had been living with Sirius in his London flat ever since his parents had been taken to St Mungo's. At first it had been because it was easier to visit his parents, and then when – well – visiting them had no longer been possible, I had come to suspect it was because he couldn't bear to return to the house in Godric's Hollow. Which was a little unreasonable, I thought, since he had a wife living there still and sooner or later would have children there too.
Sooner rather than later, actually, although he didn't know that yet.
"You'll have to face it sooner or later," I told him firmly. "It's our home, after all."
He squeezed my fingers back. The affection was sudden and slightly unexpected. "I'm sorry, Lil."
"It's okay," I told him at once.
"It's not, though, not really. We've only been married six months and I've spent the last four weeks in London."
"You had to."
"The first two I did. I should have come back straight away."
There wasn't much I could say to that, because yes, he should have done, really. But I knew how hard it would be for him to come back up to the house he had lived in all his life with his parents and suddenly have to live there without them. Even if that meant starting up a new life with me, which I hoped was something he was still excited about.
Of course I didn't say any of this. I just laid my head on his shoulder, hoping that would be enough. It seemed to do the trick; he suddenly let go of my hand, wrapped his arm around me, and held me tight.
"Is Aunt Griselda still carrying around that bloody crup?" he asked after a moment, and I stifled a laugh.
"Yeah. I nearly stood on its tail. Thought she was going to hex me."
"She wouldn't dare."
"You didn't see the way her eyes flashed…"
He dropped a kiss on the top of my head. "She knows I'd rip her apart."
"She's not so bad. Her sister, on the other hand…"
"Olive? I was always terrified of her."
"She asked me which love potion I'd been using to trick you into marrying me."
He drew away slightly, looking furious. "I told her I'd just flashed you in fifth year and that had done the trick," I finished lightly, and to my relief, he laughed. "You didn't!"
"Oh yes."
"That's us out of the will, then."
"Does it matter?"
"Not at all. Completely worth it." He pulled me to him and kissed him. "I love you, Lily Potter."
"Well, thank Merlin for that," I said, trying to sound breezy, but somewhere in the last few moments he had become serious again. "No, Lily, I mean it." He pulled my face up so that I was looking him dead in the eye. "I'm sorry I've been such a terrible husband."
"You haven't…" I began, but he pressed a finger to my lips and I obediently shut up. "I have, the last two weeks. Yes, I just lost my parents, and yes I'm going to miss them horribly. But that doesn't change the fact that I have all the family I need right here."
"If only you knew," I said, without thinking.
His eyes narrowed. "What?"
"I… nothing." Now was not the time. Today was not the day. Never mind that I'd known since the day before his parents died.
"Don't give me that," he said firmly, still holding my jaw between his thumb and forefinger. His grip was incredibly gentle, but I had no power whatsoever to pull away. "What did you mean?"
"We should really get back to…"
"Evans!"
I gulped. I always knew, when he reverted to my maiden name, that he wasn't going to be taking no for an answer. It was, after all, the name he had called me for all the years he'd been trying to get me to go out with him.
"I… well. The thing is. You remember Hallowe'en?"
Even today, even in the church where we had just said goodbye to his mum and dad, he couldn't help but grin. Still so immature. "Do I?"
"Well, you see… Um…"
Thank Merlin, he twigged before I had to say it out loud. "Lily!" His hand slid to my belly and I couldn't help laughing. "You won't be able to feel anything yet, you pillock."
"I can," he insisted, running his fingers over my abdomen. "I can feel him right now."
"Sure you can," I said, rolling my eyes. "And who says it's a boy?"
"It is," said James confidently. "It's a bouncing little boy, and I'm going to teach him to play Quidditch, and to play tricks on people, and…"
"And to generally be a little horror?" I teased. "I don't think he'll need teaching that… being your son, it's genetic."
"Oi!" He gave my shoulder a little shove, but instantly pulled me back into a tight embrace. "Thank you, Lily. Thank you so much."
"Well, it took two of us," I said awkwardly, patting his back. "James?"
"Yes?"
"Maybe we should go back up to the house now?"
"Yes!" He bounded up, suddenly pulling me by the hand. "We have to tell Sirius and Remus and Peter and…"
"You will remember this is supposed to be a funeral though, won't you?" I said anxiously. Obviously I was relieved that he was so excited, but there's a time and a place for everything.
James surveyed me closely before squeezing me close again. "The thing about funerals," he said slowly, "Is that they're the end of something. But this one can be the beginning of something too." He gave me one last squeeze and pulled back to look me in the eye. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love you, Lily Potter."
"I love you too," I told him honestly, and before we could get lost in each other in that stupid little church a moment longer, I began to pull him outside, to where I knew people were waiting for us. They won't know what hit them, I thought, and permitted myself a little smile as James bounded happily along behind me.