Jily AU week, day three. Prompt: History fic
There is slight smut in here, but it's probably shit, as I've never written it before. Please try not to judge that too harshly. I will be looking for someone to write them more explicitly (hence the M rating) so please feel free to volunteer.
Nazi Germany.
When Lily was twelve years old, her father came home from work looking particularly stressed. He and her mother talked in quiet, urgent tones in the kitchen, while Lily did her homework in the living room, occasionally glancing up at them.
A week later, her father came home again with the same expression. This time, after her father and mother talked, her mother began to cry.
Two days later, Lily had packed a small suitcase, and her father drove her mother, her sister, and herself to a large house out in the country.
When her father knocked on the door, a tall man with greying hair answered the door, and rushed them inside.
Her father, mother, and the tall man all talked in hushed voices for a minute, and her mother began to cry again.
Lily's father put his hands on her shoulders, and explained that she was going to have to stay with this tall man and his family for a while. He said he didn't know how long it would be, but that it was safe for her here, and that he and her mother loved her very much.
Lily's mother hugged her, too tightly, still crying. And then her entire family drove away from her, leaving her in this strange house, with this strange man who she didn't even know.
FOUR YEARS LATER
James Potter is quite a happy young man considering. He has lots of friends, does well in school, and has money. The only problem James Potter has with his life is the redheaded girl that lived in his attic.
Well, not attic, really. It's more of a third floor.
But she's still a problem.
James has always been an only child, and is thus used to being the center of attention. But when he was twelve years old, a girl he had never met before came into his home, and his mother said that she was going to live with them, but under no circumstances was he to ever tell anyone she was there. She'd said this with such a serious expression that he couldn't help but feel frightened. So he'd promised, and stared at the little girl in his home who looked as though the entire world had been pulled out from under her feet.
Four years later, James is sixteen, and understands quite a lot more than he had when he was twelve. He knows Lily's family is Jewish, and that the government is moving Jews to internment camps. He understands that the Second World War is currently tearing up Europe. And he understands, more than ever, that he can't tell a soul about the intriguing girl hiding away in his home. Which is part of what makes her presence so annoying.
James falls back against the wet grass behind his house. Remus, Sirius, and Peter hadn't been able to come over today, so he'd gone outside to collect his thoughts. Sighing at the thought of the mud that was undoubtedly coating his back, James sits up, and begins walking toward his house.
"James, honey, do your homework!" his mother calls from the living room as he enters.
Sighing, James trudges up the stairs and into his room.
His bag is gone.
Frowning, he calls down the stairs to his mother- "MUM! HAVE YOU SEEN MY BOOKS?!"
James faintly hears his mother tell him that, no, she has not seen them, and would he please refrain from bellowing across the entire household.
After looking everywhere he thought the bag could be, a sudden idea came to James' mind.
He runs up another flight of stairs, taking them two at a time, then throws open the door to Lily's bedroom.
The redheaded girl on the bed lets out a small yelp of surprise.
"Hey!" He says indignantly, seeing the books on her lap. "Those are mine!"
She immediately turns bright red.
"I'm-I'm sorry James. It's just… I haven't been to school in four years, and I just want to not feel so behind in school, and it's not like there's anyone around who can teach me…"
She looks at him as if she's afraid he's going to explode.
Instead, he shifts uncomfortably. "Um, well, do you understand any of it?" Lily looks down at the book, appearing ashamed.
"No, not really. I've never had it explained to me, so I don't understand a lot of the stuff it says."
James clears his throat a couple times, then hesitantly asks, "Would you-would you like me to show you?"
Her head snaps up. "Really? You'd do that?"
Her large green eyes are glowing with happiness, and for some reason, he feels like he wants to see her smile like that again.
"Sure," he says, flopping down on the bed. "So this part here is a poem written by some American bloke. Absolutely mad, he is, but…"
And one thing leads to another, and soon James is showing Lily the things he learns almost every day, and he discovers how brilliant she actually is. They begin having conversations, about anything and everything.
"What do you want to do after the war's over?" James asks her one day.
She smiled a bit sadly. "Well, it depends on who wins, doesn't it?"
"The Allies will win, obviously," James says stoutly. "The good side always wins." He's really just trying to make her feel better, and they both know it, but she seems happy nonetheless.
"I'm going to go back to school." She states firmly. "And I'm going to go into politics."
"Why?" James asks, frowning. "I mean, all things considered, that doesn't really seem like the kind of thing you'd be interested in."
"I want to make sure something like this never happens again."
And there is something in the way that she says that, that just fills James with awe and appreciation. Later, as he looks back to that moment, her eyes shining with conviction and determination, he will believe that that is the moment when he first starts falling for her.
Months pass by, and James and Lily grow closer. He begins eating dinner with her in her room most nights, and they spend long hours into the night talking. He begins to think more and more about her smile, her laugh, and the way she moves her hands when she's passionate about what they're discussing.
"You know, you once asked me what I wanted to do with my life after the war was over. What do you want to do with yours?"
James pauses, taking a bite out of the sandwich he's eating.
"I'm not sure," James says truthfully. "I mean, I'll obviously do something. But I have no idea what it will be. Maybe I'll just take up loafing about the house all day. I can certainly afford to do so."
"Sure you can, rich boy," Lily says, but her eyes are merry, and he knows she's just teasing.
Sirius talks him into going on a double date with him the next week. The girl is pretty enough, with blonde hair and blue eyes, but as she talks about gossip, and this person and that person, he can't help but see the color green, and think about how beautiful it is.
Lily seems quiet the next day.
"What's wrong?" He asks, terrified that he'd done or said something.
"Nothing," she says, then hesitates. "How did your date go the other night?"
"It was shit," he says bluntly. "She wouldn't stop talking about her sister marrying some rich prat from Berlin."
She smiles at that, and everything is normal again.
Weeks later, James finally starts to realise that he may have feelings for the adorable ginger who has so suddenly become a complete fixture in his life.
It happens when she laughs one day, her whole body leaning back as she sits cross-legged on her bed.
He'd just reenacted a ridiculous scene from one of his classes that day, imitating the professor perfectly. The sun is shining brightly through the windows, and they are both utterly happy.
This close to her, he takes the opportunity to really observe her. He'd always acknowledged the fact that Lily was pretty, but looking at her now, he'd never realized how absolutely exquisite she really is.
He realizes that he wants to kiss her. And so he does.
She doesn't respond at first, and he assumes that she was probably just nervous, because a minute later, she slowly begins kissing him back, and her lips are warm and soft against his. Teasingly, he tugs her bottom lip between his teeth.
Pulling back, she smiles at him, a full-fledged, absolutely beautiful smile, and he can feel his heart split with happiness.
Trying to cover his nerves and slight embarrassment with his normal collected faҫade, he teases, "Well I wasn't that bad, was I? I've always thought I'd be a rather good snog."
Lily shakes her head, still laughing. "No, it's just… I've been wanting you to do that for ages."
He grins at that, and then a thought occurs to him. "Lily… you've been here since you were twelve. Was that your first kiss?"
She turns bright red. "Yes."
James smiles at her, trying to ease her nerves. "Well, then, I guess we should try to make the memory even better then, hmm?"
She lets out a shriek of laughter as he tackles her onto the bed.
James is almost certain that his parents know, with the knowing glances that they shoot at him. But he doesn't care, too wrapped up in his own happiness to even try to hide it. He and Lily are together, and he desperately wants to shout to the entire world that he, James Potter, was dating the most spectacular girl he's ever met.
But he can't. Because as much as he likes to deny it, they were still in a war, and Lily is still in hiding.
His friends begin to notice a change in him, lightly commenting on how much happier he looks. He denies all accusations and questions, saying they were simply imagining things. He knows he should try to hide it better, but he's so wrapped up in LilyLilyLily that he can't bring himself to pretend.
And then one night Sirius shows up on his front porch step, drenched from the pouring rain.
"I ran away," he explains. "I just... I couldn't stay there anymore."
Everyone knows that Sirius' parents are enthusiastic supporters of both Hitler, and the attempted eradication of the Jews. And everyone knows that he believes the complete opposite.
So naturally James immediately takes Sirius inside, tells his mother what's happening, and firmly states that Sirius will be staying with them for a while. She immediately agrees, and begins to fuss over him.
James quietly slips upstairs later to tell Lily that they are having someone over, and it's going to be a lot harder to spend time with her.
But as he greets her, her eyes widen, and she looks over his shoulder.
He spins around to see Sirius standing there, equally wide-eyed.
"Holy shit," he breathes. "James, you have a girl in your house."
James grabs his shoulders. "Sirius you cannot tell a soul. No one."
Sirius looks back at Lily. "You're Jewish aren't you?"
Still looking terrified, she nods.
"That's alright," Sirius says, looking back at James. Of course I won't tell anyone."
And just like that, Lily and Sirius are friends.
With Sirius around all the time, it's a lot harder to get alone time with Lily, but they manage.
The day that Remus and Peter find Lily in her room is a cold, wet, and rainy one.
They said that they'd heard a thump coming from above them, and went to go see what it was.
James begs them to keep the secret, and as his best friends, they readily agree.
And before anyone realizes it, it's the five of them, all the time, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily.
It's Christmas when Lily and James go farther than they ever have before.
They've kissed obviously, but James never seems to be able to summon up the courage to do anything but touch more than her naked waist.
But she removes her lips from his, and before he can even protest, she's pulled her shirt over her head.
He gawps at her for a moment and she blushes.
"Well, I didn't think you were ever going to get around to it. Now kiss me."
And so he does.
And they're lying on her bed, and she's topless, and holy shit she's beautiful. Leaning down, he begins pressing kisses on her chest.
A gasp makes him look up. "Is this all right?" He asks, suddenly unsure.
She nods. "Keep going." And they do. Ten minutes later, Lily's pants are on the floor, and he really has no idea what to do, beyond what Sirius has told him, but clearly he's doing something right, because Lily is gasping and grabbing at the bed sheets, and then her back arches, and a shudder runs through her body.
She smiles up at him from her position on the bed, and that is when he is absolutely certain that he's in love with her.
"Lily?"
"Hmm?"
"Why don't you ever talk about your family?"
She looks up at that, and he's terrified that she's going to yell at him, but instead she just looks thoughtful.
"I don't know. I've been here for over four years, James. And really, those years are the most important parts of a person's life. Don't get me wrong, I miss my parents and sister terribly, but I was twelve when we separated. I don't have many big memories."
"I'd like to hear about them," James insists, and she smiles.
"My sister loved looking pretty. She's two years older than me, so she was fourteen the last time I saw her. She would spend hours doing her hair and makeup, and try on five different outfits before choosing one."
"Were you like that?" James asks. Somehow, he doubts it.
She laughs. "No, not at all! I spent my time playing outside with my schoolmates. I would come home covered in dirt and grass with tears all over my clothes. But then, I was twelve, not fourteen. I suppose a lot can change during those two years."
"But you're seventeen now," James points out. "Do you think you'd be like her if you had makeup and nice clothes?"
"No," Lily says thoughtfully. "But being in hiding has changed my life so much. If I had never gone into hiding, if this war had never happened, then maybe I would be like that. I looked up to my sister. I wanted to be just like her."
James can hear the sadness in her voice. "Well, I like you the way you are now. You don't need all those things. You're Lily."
It works, she smiles, and he desperately wants to say those three little words, I love you, but he's terrified of what they mean.
They go all the way on his birthday. He doesn't know why it happened on his birthday, he doubts that she planned it on purpose. It's a bit awkward at first, as neither of them know what they're doing.
But it's still beautiful, and she's beautiful, and James has honestly never been so happy in his life.
Afterwards, he finally gains the courage to tell her.
I love you.
The weeks keep passing by, and James' father says he thinks that the war might end soon.
James is ecstatic, as is Lily.
But they do both have worries. James is terrified that what he and Lily have will be over. She'll go to school, like she's always dreamed of doing, and he'll be stuck here. Lily is scared that her family will be strangers to her.
They talk about it late into the night in quiet voices, and comfort each other.
Then there's the day, what is probably the worst day of his life. He and Lily are in her room, and he's reading Shakespeare out loud, doing ridiculous voices for all the different characters.
Lily stops him suddenly, and says she needs to tell him something. She looks more nervous than he's ever seen her.
"James… I'm pregnant."
In what feels like seconds later, he hears shouts downstairs, and there is someone pounding down the hallway.
A policeman bursts into the room, several more behind him.
James doesn't know what exactly is going on, but he does know that they're going to take Lily away from him, so he fights and shouts, but the policemen grab him as well.
James and his family are sent to prison, for hiding a Jewish girl in their home. James doesn't know why sentence isn't more severe, but he supposes it's because the Germans know they're going to lose the war. He doesn't care. All he cares about is LilyLilyLily and he runs over her last words to him over, and over, and over. James, I'm pregnant.
Pregnant. He and Lily were going to have a baby. Only now he's in jail, and she is undoubtedly in an internment camp, and God only knows whether she or the baby will survive that.That thought tortures him, and he can't think of anything else, and his nights are fraught with nightmares.
It feels like an eternity until the war is over, and James' family is released, but really, it's only been six months.
He immediately does everything he can to find Lily, and it happens quicker than it does for most people. He suspects his father slipped money under the table, but he doesn't care, because it's LilyLilyLily, and they're going to have a baby.
It's another month before he sees her, and when she meets him at the train station, he cries. Her stomach is ridiculously rounded, but she still pushes herself as close to him as she can, and sobs into his shoulder.
They find out that it was Peter who reported the Potters and Lily to the police, and that he died trying to escape the country.
James says he doesn't care, but deep down he aches over the betrayal and loss of one of his longest friends.
Baby Harry comes into the world a month later and the entire family is thrilled. After Lily and James bring Harry home, they watch him sleep in his crib.
"He looks so innocent," Lily says softly. "I'm so happy he won't have to grow up with a war around him."
James presses his lips to her head in silent agreement.
And slowly, life returns to what it had been, with less fear. Lily does go back to school, and does go into politics. James takes over his father's company, and they make Remus and Sirius come live with them.
And they all know that now, it really is over, and they no longer need a reason to be happy. Now happiness is free.