Oh, not again.
Here goes...
Bloody hell.
I chuckled bitterly as my one year old son, Harry, flung another teaspoon of baby food across the kitchen. He was quite the little tyke, if you ask me.
My little tyke, that is. And I loved every fibre of his being.
Harry tilted his head and looked up at me with his innocent emerald eyes. Lily's eyes. The eyes I loved so much. The eyes that made the stars look like dull little orbs.
"Now, Harry," I said soothingly, patting his small arm. "I need you to eat some of this food, okay? I need you to open your mouth... yes, that's right, and... oh, Merlin."
Another teaspoon fled past me and clattered through the closed window. I sighed, smiling warmly at Harry, who was giggling and smiling right back at me.
"Reparo," I muttered and watched as the broken glass started fixing itself. Sighing, I sat down next to Harry, giving up all hope of getting any food into his mouth.
"Da," he murmured softly, "Unka Pahfood."
"Uncle Padfoot isn't here, Harry," I muttered, softly stroking his jet-black hair. I tried to ignore the pang of pain that surged through my body. Sirius was risking torture, even death, just so he could protect us. Me. Lily.
Harry.
"Unka Pahfood," Harry insisted, pulling gently on my long jacket sleeve. "Marauduhs."
Another surge of pain coursed through me. Gently, I picked my little tyke up and smiled as he nuzzled against my shoulder, sighing contentedly.
Then my heart constricted painfully in my chest as Harry yawned. Someone wanted to hurt him. Someone wanted to murder my little tyke. How could anyone want to hurt this?
No, I thought to myself. No. I won't let him - Voldemort - hurt my little tyke. I won't let him. I can't. Harry is my duty, Lily is my duty. Sirius, prtending to be my secret-keeper. Peter, hiding away to keep the truth.
Harry fell asleep silently in my arms. I watched sadly as he subconsciously twisted over, gripping my neck tightly.
And suddenly, tears streamed down my face. What was the point of stopping them? Harry, Lily and the Marauders were all I ever had, and their lives were on the line now. I felt so... empty.
I heard Lily returning from shopping for groceries, quietly entering the house and kissing my damp cheek. She smiled reassuringly at me. She knew exactly how I felt; exactly why I was crying.
After all, tears were streaming down her face too.
A warm feeling washed over me, engulfing the sadness earlier. I was not alone. I was never, ever alone. Everyone was here, everyone was doing all they can do. And a new realization dawned on me, filling up the emptiness I once had.
I wish I could tell you what exactly what that realization was, but then again, it's just one of life's complex mysteries. Hopefully, I helped in your own realizations, your own troubles. But for now, you've got to realize these on your own.
On your own? No. Not exactly.
-oOo-
Yeah, I know, it was a little weird, the tone might have been too topsy turvy, dark and light, maybe too deep? No.
Eh, just tell me what you think in the reviews.