Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

Author's Note: So, yet another Lily Lives AU inspired by Magi Silverwolf's Keys series, because honestly, who doesn't love Celestial Petals? Also, I now know things about squirrels and goats that I will never be able to un-know, and all for such a brief appearance of the cottage pets. So I hope y'all enjoy the softness of this fic.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: MC4A; House Competition (Term 4)
House: Hufflepuff
Role: Player (7th Year)
Category: Pre-Round Challenge
Prompt: Crissie (Era)
Representation(s): Celestial Petals; Cultural Sensitivities; Pushing Personal Limits; Magic; Harry Potter; Fluffy Fluff; Triad; Marauders; Lily Evans
Bonus Challenges: Sneeze Weasel; Secondary Verse (Nontraditional; Mouth of Babes; Found Family; Wabi Sabi; Middle Name; Nightingale; Unwanted Advice; Some Beach; Unicorn; Three's Company; Lost Llama; Not Mozart; Uncivil Obedience; Creature Feature; Machismo - Weak; Lovely Coconuts; Under the Bridge)
Secondary Bonus Challenges: SHoE (Terse; Onus)
Word Count: 730 words

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The Need for Quiet
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Harry had woken up tired. That happened sometimes, and he knew he was supposed to tell someone when it did, but his class was going to Cardiff that day. He had been looking forward to it since the teacher had announced the trip a month ago. That was even before considering how busy his parents were. Mama was at a potions conference, presenting her research for incorporating Muggle pharmaceuticals into healing potions. Paddy was still away on his last mission. Also, it was the first Wednesday of the month, which meant that Moony had the big shipment at the library and couldn't really leave it in anyone else's hands.

So Harry forced himself to ignore how Moony seemed to watch him the entire walk to school, and then he forced himself to not flinch too much when the other kids were loud or when something smelled weird. He did accept the stress ball that one of the docents at the museum they were visiting pressed into his hands.

It was such an interesting shade of purple and the tight knit of the outside felt nice on his palms.

By the time Harry had gotten to the library that afternoon, he had moved beyond tired to exhausted. He dragged his feet on the entire walk home. He barely had the energy to respond to Moony's soft greetings with something more than a grunt. When they opened the door to the cottage to the sound of Paddy's off-key singing, Harry had finally reached the end of what he could endure.

With a sharp gesture, he signed a refusal and immediately retreated to the playroom in the opposite direction. Harry loved his godfather, but Paddy was louder than he could handle without breaking down into tears right then. Thankfully, Moony didn't say anything or try to stop him.

As Harry opened the door to the playroom, he heard Paddy's singing stop with a startled shriek.

Moony must have gone to the kitchen to let Paddy know that they had gotten home safely.

Harry didn't bother to close the door, trusting the wards on the room to hold without the extra engagement from doing so. His mother had a way with wards, same as she had with potions, and she had been meticulous about the array she had used on the playroom to create a one-way barrier around it. Considering that Mama's wards had even trapped the Dark wizard that had killed Harry's father, when no one had thought it possible, Harry had no reason to doubt her work.

Mama was just awesome, and he could see why Paddy and Moony loved her just as much as Dad had when he was alive. Harry himself would have been willing to marry her, too, if that wouldn't have been super icky, because even as awesome as Mama was, parents are just icky.

And if he hadn't been eight, and therefore too young to marry anyone.

He plopped face down onto the plush covered bean bag tucked into the shallow pit in the far corner. With a wiggle and a twist, Harry managed to kick off his shoes and maneuver himself closer to the center of the cushion. The move put him within reach of the throws kept on a low shelf. He tugged his favorite purple one down but lacked the energy to unfold it. So he just buried his face in it instead.

Harry sighed at the immediate relief to his senses. Then he sighed again when he felt the beanbag shift with Fred's clumsy movements as she joined him, settling as a warm weight against his back. Hooves just weren't meant for soft surfaces. By contrast, Murder's approach was positively graceful, for all that she stomped up to his front side like she was angry about something. She still determinedly squirmed between Harry's chest and the blanket. Her stubby tail beat against his hip as she licked at the underside of his chin. Not to be outdone, Mayhem settled himself in the dip between Harry and Murder, purring far louder than his tiny body should have been able to achieve.

Huddled between the three animals, Harry could finally let go of the tension that had been growing all day.

Moony would make sure he was up in time for tea.

For right now, Harry could just be, and that was all he wanted.