August 1977
Even though she's nervous, Lily smiles as she enters the Potters' yard. She nearly always smiles when she first sees him, honestly, before she can rein in her emotions and fix her expression into something neutral, or wary, even – anything but smitten. She doesn't fully trust him, yet, even though they've been spending more time together socially lately. So it just wouldn't do for him to catch her looking at him like she thinks he's adorable.
But she does think he's adorable. And today he's an adorable mess – hair wilder than usual, like perhaps he finally has gone and stuck his finger in an electrical socket, dark streaks of dirt staining his copper skin, his trainers caked with mud.
"Aguamenti!" he says clearly, and a spray of water shoots from his wand onto the patch of dirt over which he's standing. As Lily watches, he sweeps it back and forth a few times, making sure the ground is saturated, then releases the spell.
He takes a deep breath and pushes his glasses up his nose, adding another smear of mud to his face, and that's when he notices her. She gives him a little wave. But instead of the crooked smile and the all right, Evans? she's expecting, his brow furrows.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh!" she says, shrugging her shoulders in surprise. She takes a few steps towards James. "I—well, Sirius called me. You didn't answer my owl, you know, but he thought you might want some company."
James hmphs. "Told him I didn't," he says, scowling. "He knows I've got a lot to do around here."
As if to prove the point, he stalks away from her and over to a stone bench lined with flower pots full of tulip and crocus bulbs, in addition to some flowers Lily doesn't recognize but that may be native to the magical world. James picks up two potted tulip plants and turns back to the patch of dirt, then kneels and begins transferring the bulbs to the soft earth. After he carefully buries those, he returns to the bench for two more, spacing them evenly and patting the dirt over each one like he's tucking a child into bed.
Lily watches him in awe for a moment before squatting next to him. "What exactly are you doing?"
"Gardening," comes the short reply.
"I see that," she says. Her tone is patient, but her eyebrows reveal her skepticism. "Without magic?"
James, two colchicum plants in hand, pauses for a beat, his expression unreadable. "This is my dad's garden, and that's how he does it," he says finally. "He loves plants. Thinks they deserve our utmost care and attention."
"Ah. Well, it's nice of you to help out," Lily says, smiling. "I guess I just never expected to see the great James Potter engaged in manual labor."
She means it as a joke, but James frowns. "I know how to work hard, Evans. I'm not just some immature child, I can take care of things."
"Of course not, I didn't mean—I didn't say you couldn't!" Lily's a little flustered by his tone. "I just thought you preferred to do things the easy way, I guess."
James releases his breath in a huff and pats the mound of dirt one more time. "Well, like I said. This is my dad's garden, and I'll take care of it same as he would."
"Right, sorry," Lily says, fidgeting. She feels like there's some context she's missing here, but she doesn't want to ask, and he doesn't offer. She rises from her position next to James and shakes out her right knee. "It seems like a lot of work."
"It is," James says, rising as well and giving Lily a quick nod. "And I should really get back to it." He returns to the bench and picks up another potted plant.
"Oh! Sorry," Lily says again, and holds her hands up apologetically. "I didn't mean to keep you, I only came by because I wanted to congratulate you in person on making Head Boy."
She smiles and thinks, Who'd you have to bribe? and she's only half-joking. But she suspects it wouldn't go over well right now, so she just waves good-bye and begins to slowly back out of the yard.
"Oh. Thanks." James is kneeling again, but he pauses in his gardening, a bulb clenched in one fist. "I might have to give it up, anyway."
"What?" That stops Lily in her tracks. "Why?"
Lily is now frozen in place, but James resumes planting his flowers with vigor. He doesn't look at Lily as he says, "My parents. They're ill."
"Oh, no," Lily says softly. She takes two steps back towards him. "I'm so sorry."
"It's all right. They'll be all right," James says, very obviously trying to convince himself as much as her. "I'm just trying to take care of things until they're up and about."
His words snap into place like the last piece of a puzzle, and Lily nods slowly. "So you're tending your father's flowers."
"Exactly."
It's all starting make sense to Lily, except for one thing. She raises a quizzical eyebrow and asks, "I thought you had a house elf?"
James looks absolutely affronted. "Pippy's tending to my parents," he says firmly. "But we never have her do the gardening, can you imagine? Out here in the sun for hours, old and tiny as she is? And working like this, without magic? It could be the death of her." He shakes his head, still frowning, and adds, "Besides, Mum says I should never ask Pippy to do things I can do myself."
"Oh, that's very…considerate of you," Lily says, a note of wonder in her voice. Her limited experience with wealthy people had led her to assume they all treated their servants with indifference, at best. She's glad to learn the Potters aren't like that. She smiles, but James isn't looking her way.
Watching him there, so focused but clearly so worried, she has the urge to reach down and…squeeze his shoulder, or something? She's not sure. It's a strange feeling, that she should comfort James Potter. She decides to try for some lightness, instead. "Well, you should make Sirius help you, at least. He's got energy to spare."
But James just makes a non-committal sound. "I wanted to be alone," he says, shrugging. He finally glances at Lily. "And I might've told Sirius off after he said we'd deal with it later. He said it's not important right now. But Sunday is gardening day and I won't have my dad worrying about it."
A warm feeling, like she's radiating sunlight from within, spreads through Lily's chest as she realizes she's seeing a boy become a man before her eyes, the stubborn, prideful nature that has frustrated her on so, so many occasions finally being put to noble use. Her voice is unexpectedly thick as she says, "That's really sweet of you, Potter."
"Thanks." James shrugs again, a little awkwardly, and wipes his brow, leaving a fresh streak of dirt across his forehead. "But yeah, depending how things look around here, I might not go back to Hogwarts next month. I'll see if Dumbledore will let me start term late, maybe. Or I'll come back after Christmas, if they're well. But I can't—I can't leave them right now."
The thought of Hogwarts without James drains the warmth from Lily's body. It's a bit of a shock, and her first thought is, You have to come back!
But it would be incredibly selfish of her to say it. "You're a good son," she says, instead. "But I think your parents would want you to finish your education, don't you?"
A pained expression crosses James' face like a cloud passing overhead, but it clears quickly. He tries to smile, but it's not the carefree grin Lily's used to.
"I dunno," he says, his voice soft. "What good's an education if I don't have them?"
Honestly, Lily doesn't know what to say to that. They stare at each other in silence for a moment, and then she nods.
"I understand," she says. "Can I help you with the flowers?"
He hesitates, but then he smiles a real smile. "All right, Evans," he says quietly.
They work in near silence for a half-hour or so, Lily thinks. She's hyper-aware of James working next to her, and the time feels both impossibly slow and unbearably quick. She's sweating and covered in as much dirt as James is by the time they finish the flowers and move to another section of the yard, where Mr. Potter keeps a vegetable patch. There are already summer squash and small pumpkins growing on some vines, and a mostly bare patch in the corner with a few sprouts shooting up. James examines the bright green sprouts and announces that they look well.
"They'll be carrots, come Autumn," he says. "Probably huge ones, Dad's brilliant with the vegetables."
He's clearly proud of what his father has built here, and proud to be able to help. It makes Lily smile.
"I believe it. Those are beautiful," she says, gesturing in the direction of the pumpkins. It's true – they're perfectly shaped and a vibrant orange – and Lily suspects James will be pleased with the compliment.
Sure enough, he beams. "Thanks," he says. "They're my mum's favorites, she likes fresh pumpkin juice in the mornings." He walks over to inspect the plant, then points at the largest pumpkin and declares, "This one will be ready by the end of the week." He pats a smaller one gently and tells it, "And you just keep working, you'll get there, yet."
Lily has to giggle at that. "All right, so how do we care for this lot?"
"We just need to water the pumpkins and carrots. Oh! And the French beans, over there." He points to an area Lily hadn't noticed, behind the pumpkin patch. "We should pick the ones that are ready, Pippy will use them in tonight's supper."
"All right," Lily says, nodding. "I'll water the pumpkins and leave you to the beans. I've no idea what they ought to look like when they're ready to pick."
"Fair enough," James says. "So, just do a nice, even spray on those, all right? It shouldn't be a mud puddle when they're through."
"I think I can handle it, Mr. Potter," Lily teases, and James laughs for the first time since she's been there.
It's a really nice sound.
She watches him for a moment, as he wanders over to the French beans and squats down to pick a few. She's struck with the realization that she'll miss that sound – his laugh – if he really doesn't return to school.
Hmm.
She'll worry about what that might mean later.
She turns her attention to the vegetables. But just as she opens her mouth to perform the spell, she hears a yell from the direction of the house.
"Oi! Prongs!" Sirius calls, and Lily sees him strolling across the yard, a basket on one arm. "Mum wants to see you."
James scowls. "I'm almost done here, and then I've got to clean up. Tell her I'll be up in an hour."
"Nope, she wants you now," Sirius says, holding out the basket. James sighs and deposits the fresh-picked beans, which Sirius accepts with a nod. "Now, shoo. I'll keep Evans company."
"Fine," James mutters, though he looks like he wants to argue. But he stomps away, calling, "I'll be right back," over his shoulder.
As soon as he's gone, Sirius flops on the bench, now empty of flower pots. "Thanks for dropping by," he says to Lily. "It means a lot to James."
"He didn't seem pleased to see me," Lily notes, glancing at Sirius from the corners of her eyes, but Sirius just smirks.
"He didn't show you the door, did he? Nah," Sirius says, shaking his head, "he's glad you're here, even if he didn't know it himself, at first."
"Maybe," Lily concedes. "It was sort of nice working in the garden with him." She begins watering the vegetables, focusing on keeping the flow of water steady and even across all the plants. Then she cocks her head to one side and side-eyes Sirius again. "I'd been planning to take the piss out of him a bit for being made Head Boy, you know. You could've told me about his parents when you invited me."
Sirius sighs and turns one hand back and forth in a gesture of partial acknowledgment. But instead of talking about the Potters' condition immediately, he just says, "I expect I'm the only person not surprised Jamie made Head Boy."
Lily's eyebrows shoot up. "Yes, I expect you are," she agrees. "I was sure it'd be Remus."
Sirius lets his head drop back and stares at the sky for a bit. "His health won't allow it," he says, after a moment. He brings his gaze back to Lily's. "But Prongs is both the most authoritative and the best care-taker of the four of us, anyway. So I suppose it could've been Bones, from Ravenclaw, but out of the rest of our year? Jamie's the obvious choice. The only choice."
Sirius' tone is emphatic, and as sincere as Lily's ever heard it. Still, she has doubts.
"Authoritative, maybe," she says, "but I've never thought of James as a care-taker…before today." She's done watering the garden, so she sits down next to Sirius.
"He's not a self-centered git, you know," Sirius says, nudging her with his shoulder and giving her a sly grin. "That's me. But Prongs thinks the best thing anyone can do is take care of other people."
"Right," Lily says slowly, "Hence the garden…"
Sirius nods. "Precisely. Mum and Dad, they contracted something from some sort of parasite whilst on holiday. Scrofungulus, I think the Healer said. And they're elderly, you know? So it's taking them longer to recover than it should." He rises from the bench and kicks at some dirt. "The Healer says they'll be fine, but…in the meantime, James thinks it's his duty to keep the house running like they would. So they don't have to worry."
"Yeah, I've caught on to that," Lily says, her voice low. But she smiles as she looks up at Sirius. "It's sweet."
Sirius flips his hands, palms up, as if she's stating the obvious. "That's James."
"What's James?" James asks, and Lily starts in surprise.
She hadn't noticed him return, and her breath catches when she realizes he's behind her. She hops up from the bench and tries not to look guilty. He's all cleaned up, wearing a fresh shirt and no more dirt on his face and hands. His hair is wet, though it's still sticking up in all directions, and his hazel eyes are narrowed at Lily and Sirius. Lily can feel her cheeks flush.
"Oh!" she says, waving a dismissive hand. "Nothing. How're your parents?"
To her surprise, James' face breaks into a bright smile. "They're well. They look really good, actually." He turns to Sirius, and the smile becomes sheepish. "Thanks. For everything."
"No need, brother," Sirius says, shaking his head. "You should listen to me more often." James rolls his eyes, but Sirius just smirks and claps a hand on James' shoulder. He gives Lily a quick bow, then ambles back towards the house.
Lily watches him walk away, then turns to James to find he's watching her. She's worried he's going to ask again what they were talking about, and she's not sure she can bear to tell him that she thinks he's sweet. James Potter, sweet!
But he doesn't ask. "Thank you for dropping in," he says. He gives her a half smile. "Sirius was right, it was good to have some company."
"Cor!" Lily says, looking up at him, knowing her cheeks are still bright red. "You're welcome. I'm glad I did." She fidgets a little, then takes a deep breath. "I really hope your parents get well soon, and I hope you can come back to school next month. But I understand if you really feel you can't."
"Yeah, well," James says. He runs a hand through his wet hair and frowns a bit. "My parents want me to go back regardless. So. I suppose I will."
"No surprise there, though, right?" Lily says quietly, but she feels relieved. "I imagine they're pretty selfless, to raise such a thoughtful, selfless boy."
James blinks in surprise. He turns away and swallows hard, then opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. His eyes are wet when he finally nods at Lily.
The warm feeling spreads through her chest again. She offers him her gentlest, most understanding smile and says, "It's getting late. I'm sure you need to get ready for supper with your parents." She reaches out and squeezes his hand. "I know this garden means a lot to you. Thank you for letting me help with it."
"Anytime, Evans," James whispers, his voice hoarse. "Thank you again for coming. Sorry I was being an arse earlier."
"You weren't," Lily says, shaking her head. She lets go of James' hand and winks as she backs away from him. "Just don't ignore my owls anymore."
James chokes out a small laugh. "I won't," he promises.
"Good." Lily gives a satisfied nod. And it feels completely natural for her to add, before she leaves,"And if you ever need help with the garden again, or anything else, just let me know, all right, Head Boy? We're partners now."
...
AN: I just think this idea is so sweet! I hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews, keyboard smashes, emojis, distant screaming all welcomed :-) Thank you to everyone who reads! xo /p