A/N: QLFC. Captain of the Wimbourne Wasps. Round 3. Word Restricted Team Pride
I hope you're all ready for some team pride! This round is going to focus on your team - that's to say your team name is your prompt. It can be included in any way in your story but make it so your judge is aware! I have bolded what we want you to use as a prompt below.
Wasp(s). Word count chosen: 2001 - 2250. Final Word Count w/o A/N: 2,222. (Jily!Muggle!AU)
It was a bright, warm summer's day. Lily Potter smiled happily as she threw open all the windows and doors to let in the fresh air – something they'd long been denied as the summer had been a wet one.
"Mama, can I go play in the garden, please?" asked five year old Harry when Lily entered the living room.
Lily smiled at her little son. He was such a good boy; it was rare that she had to tell him off for anything. Also, his general appearance made her smile too – he was an absolute carbon copy of his father, James. With the exception of his eyes – they had the exact same shape and colour as Lily's own.
"Of course you can, darling," his mother said softly, her face creasing with a wide smile as she watched her son scamper in a hurry to get outside.
She soon heard him rummaging through the hall cupboard, looking for what Harry called his 'garden shoes' – in other words, an old pair of trainers that were on their last legs.
Lily ambled into the hall and watched her son for a minute before entering the kitchen. When she reappeared, she had a tube of cream in her hand.
"Sweetie, come here a minute. I need to put some sun block on you."
She knelt down in from of him and began rubbing the cream into his skin. She then stood up and wandered over to the cupboard, pulled the door open again, and grabbed a hat which she gently placed on Harry's messy mop of dark hair.
"Off you go then," said Lily, bending forward so she could give him a quick peck on his small nose.
She watched him run through the hall and jump out of the back door and disappear into the large rectangular garden.
A little while later, Lily was standing in the kitchen, cupping a mug of tea whilst watching Harry play through the open window. By the sounds of things, it seemed like Harry was playing a game of Superheroes. Lily smiled serenely.
She loved her life with Harry and James. They were the centre of her universe.
Her musings were cut short by a ring of the doorbell. Upon answering it, she found Molly Weasley and her youngest son Ron on the doorstep.
"Molly, Ronnie, come in, come in! It's so nice to see you both," said Lily as she opened the door wide enough for them both to enter.
"How are you, dear?" asked Molly as she gave Lily a brief hug.
"I'm fine, Molly. Ron, love, Harry's in the back garden, would you like to go and join him?" Lily had squatted down to Ron's level as she asked the question so she wouldn't tower above him.
Ron shyly nodded his head, and ran from the house. A moment later, Lily heard delighted whooping from her son.
"Come through to the kitchen, and I'll make us a fresh pot of tea."
Lily led the way through to her bright, sunny kitchen. She rinsed the tea pot and added some more tea leaves whilst she waited for the kettle to finish boiling. She also found a tube of biscuits and put a few on a plate, and placed them on the kitchen table.
Easy chatter flowed between the two women for a while as they caught up on the all family gossip.
A little while later, Lily served up some lovely thick cheese sandwiches, and apples and grapes to the two boys. They sat munching while chattering incessantly between mouthfuls. Once they were done, Lily asked them if they wanted to go back outside and play, or if they wanted to play with the toys in the living room. The two boys chose to go and play in the garden again, but not before Lily had put another layer of sun block on Harry's sensitive skin.
Molly also grabbed her son before he could make an exit, and started to smother him in sun block too. Ronnie had such fair skin; it wouldn't have been long before he burned to a crisp. All the while the lad moaned and whined; Harry kept shooting Ron small glances, a look on his face as to what he was making such a fuss about. Finally, they were free to go and play again.
Between them Lily and Molly tidied the lunch stuff away; they listen to the game the boys were playing. They only caught snippets of words when a playful breeze seemed to chuck their words towards the open kitchen window.
After a while, everything went deathly quiet. Lily moved from the kitchen table to the windows as she was alerted by the unnatural silence. She stood by the sink and peered out. They were far up the garden; Harry appeared to be lying on the grass. She guessed whatever they were doing must have been part of the game they were playing. But Lily was wrong...
A minute after Lily had sat back down at the table Ron came tearing into the kitchen.
"Missus Harry's Mum, there's something wrong with Harry," said Ron, a look of absolute panic in eyes.
"What's happened, Ron?" asked Molly sharply. "Did you accidentally hurt him?"
"No, Mum, there was a wasp! It was flying around him. It landed on his arm, Harry tried to make it go away, but I think it stung him!"
Lily was on her feet in an instant. She pelted from the kitchen and out of the back door. She was quickly getting to her son. But before she even reached him, she could see he was unconscious, and he had hives appearing on his skin. Lily knew Harry had gone into anaphylaxis. Lily checked for any swelling of the face and lips, while Molly came rushing into the garden with Ron following in her wake.
"Phone an ambulance, Molly, please," said Lily quickly while suppressing a sob.
"I already have, dear, I just came out to tell you it's on its way," said Molly soothingly as she knelt beside the younger woman. "They said to raise his feet in the air so there will be an increased amount of blood flowing to his head, or, if there are any signs of vomiting, to lay him on his side in the recovery position."
Lily gently pulled Harry until he was lying on his side, where he promptly vomited into the grass; after that, she moved him into the recovery position. It wasn't long before they heard the wail of sirens as the ambulance pulled up. Molly had already moved away in preparation as to let the paramedics in the side gate.
They were quick to get to Harry, and to check him over.
"How long's he been like this?" asked one of the paramedics.
"I don't know, maybe ten, fifteen minutes," answered Lily quickly.
"George, have you got an Epi pen in your bag?" asked the lady paramedic of her colleague.
"In the front pocket of my bag," he replied absently, intent on checking Harry's vitals and giving the small boy some oxygen.
Having found the item in question, the lady paramedic quickly gave Harry a shot of Epinephrine, along with a shot of antihistamines. They all watched and waited. Somewhat unsatisfied with Harry's progress, the paramedics felt it was prudent to take the boy to A&E where he could be observed for a while.
Lily found herself silently praying, 'Please let him be okay, please let him be okay, please let him be okay.'
As the paramedics got Harry strapped onto the body board, Lily flew back to the house to ring James' work. Once she got through, she quickly explained to the person on the other end what had happened and that they were taking the boy to the hospital; she asked if James could please join her. The lady on the other end assured her that the message would be passed on and wished her good luck. Lily thanked the lady for her kindness and hung up. She found Molly hovering by the back door.
"Okay, Lily, dear, they're just putting Harry in the ambulance now. Off you go, don't worry about closing up in here; I'll see to that, then let myself out."
Lily gave Molly a grateful hug, then sped outside to the ambulance and her son.
They arrived quickly at the A&E department of the hospital. Harry was carried through a wide corridor before being gently placed down onto a bed. Once the boy had been taken off the board, the nurses quickly went to work on hooking him up to all manners of monitors. Within minutes, a doctor appeared.
"Harry Potter?" he asked.
Lily nodded quickly at the doctor. Catching the worried look on Lily's face, the doctor smiled reassuringly.
"He's fine, Mum, we just want to keep an eye on him as he hadn't come out of the anaphylaxis as quickly as most people would. We're going to keep him on oxygen for a while longer, and make sure that all the swelling has gone down."
But what was worrying Lily more than anything was the fact that her son was still unconscious.
"Why is he still unconscious?" she asked nervously.
"There may be a chance that he hit his head as he collapsed. I shall give him a full once over now; if you could just stand back, please."
When the doctor began a full examination of Harry, Lily glanced up as she heard someone step into the cubicle; she saw James standing there. She quickly got onto her feet and moved straight into his arms.
"Oh, James, I'm so scared," Lily whimpered softly. A few tears escaped her green eyes. "He's responded well enough to the medication he was given. But he's still unconscious. They're checking him to make sure he didn't bang his head as he collapsed."
"Bloody hell," breathed James before pulling himself together. "He'll be okay, Lils, I promise. He's a tough little fighter; it won't be long before he's awake and chattering away with us both."
Lily's only response was to cling harder to her husband.
The doctor did indeed find a small lump on the left side of Harry's cranium. He ordered an X-Ray just to be on the safe side.
As they waited, Lily sat on the side of her son's bed, holding his hand. If he did wake, she wanted to be the first thing he saw. Gently, she gripped his small hand, her thumb rubbing small circles over his knuckles.
"Come on, Harry, wake up, sweetheart. It's time to wake up," Lily whispered to her son as she helplessly looked down at his small unconscious form.
An hour later, Harry was taken to X-Ray. Once it was done, they had to wait another thirty minutes for the results. The doctor found them back in the A&E department.
"Mr Potter? Mrs Potter? Good news, we didn't find a skull fracture. I should imagine he'll likely be waking up anytime soon."
"Thank you, doctor," said James as he extended a hand toward the portly, balding man in front of him.
"I'll be back in a little while to check on the boy." The doctor shook James' hand, and gave Lily a small pat on the arm, before leaving.
A little more than thirty minutes after the doctor left, Harry began to stir.
"Hey there, son," said James quietly.
"Oh, Harry! Thank goodness," cried Lily, happiness alighting her features.
"My head hurts, and my arm," Harry complained sleepily.
"I know baby, I know," said Lily soothingly.
Lily gave James a look that said 'go and find someone'. James nodded silently and left.
Harry then became fully aware of his surroundings. A look of fright entered his green eyes.
"Mama, where am I?"
"You're in the hospital, darling, you were stung by a wasp. As you fell over, you banged your head and knocked yourself out," explained Lily quietly. "But you're okay, you're safe. Okay?"
Just then, James returned with a doctor in tow.
"Harry, nice to see you awake," said the doctor as he smiled at the young boy; he also gave him a small wink.
This, in turn, made Harry giggle.
"Now, let's have a look at you."
The doctor was quick to examine the child before declaring him 'as fit as a flea.' The doctor decided to keep the boy in for a few more hours, just to make sure he didn't have a relapse.
Finally, they were free to go home. James carried his son out to the car, and gently strapped him into his car seat before slipping behind the wheel. James looked at his wife; all kinds of emotions were written on her face. But sweet relief was the main one at this point. James reached across and gave Lily's hand a small squeeze.
"It's okay, love, he's okay. Now let's get home; I don't know about you, but I'm starving," said James in the muted darkness of the car.
"I know, sweetheart, I've just never been more scared in all my life. As for food, my stomach is still in knots at the minute, though, I could kill for a cup of tea."
James grinned as he pulled out of the hospital's car park and headed home.