"Light shines brighter in the darkest of times"
James hadn't really managed to fully understand the above statement the first time it was sweetly uttered to him by the lips of lovely Lily Evans. Even though the statement meant nothing to him at that time, he still memorized the moment, the rain that was pouring down on their heads as they were running for shelter, giggling and intentionally splashing all the water in the small ponds in Hogsmeade's street all over each other's clothing. That day was the tenth of November, and James could recall because it was the first date of many dates to come with Lily Evans. It wasn't anything special, a butterbeer sweetened by several hours of long and at times passionate conversations in the Three broomsticks and a quick visit to Zonko's to enhance James' equipment of mischief. That's when the rain started and it wasn't the normal rain, the kind that starts with a few drops, no, it was raining buckets from the very first second.
That's when they had run to shield themselves under a pub's outbuilding, that's when Lily has started the conversation that led them to the current events that were slowly opening the doors of war, a war, that in James' opinion, would be long term and with several casualties. The opinionated redhead, surprisingly, hadn't participated much in the conversation which apparently ended as James' pessimistic monologue about his predictions of the oncoming war. Lily had just been looking at him with those thoughtful, emerald green eyes of hers that seemed to penetrate his head. When James was finished and turned to Lily, waiting for her agreement or disagreement, the redhead only said one thing.
"Light shines brighter in the darkest of times"
James had rolled his eyes and mocked her with his glance. He accused her of reading to much classic, muggle literature and laughed her off. This was probably one of those supposedly sophisticated quotes writers made and got worshiped by people who did not even understand their meaning. Light was the same no matter the circumstances. Lily wasn't too upset with his reaction, in fact, she smiled at him and shook her head in amusement.
Until this very day, James wasn't sure if Lily was aware of the impact those words had had on him. As destiny would have it though, after many struggles that had made him more mature and stronger, James Potter of twenty one years old had just realized the meaning of this statement in his living room, as he looked at Lily, his wife who was laughing , her face shining with bliss as she played with their newborn son in her arms. It was a normal scene, really, nothing unusual. James had been used to the sight of Lily having fun with their son since last week when they had brought their baby into their home.
The young father had just finished attending to some quite stressing responsibilities he had in the Order of the Phoenix. Merlin, it had been a long night, chasing deatheaters all around a muggle neighborhood, he had found two young children tortured and trembling on the cold pavement. It was one of the worst sights he had laid his eyes on.
He entered his house tired, expecting to be tortured with nightmares yet again, but once he saw the sight waiting for him in his living room, he stopped dead in his tracks, his mind travelling back to the first evening he had spent with Lily as a couple. Those words she had said just appeared in his head and James instantly matched them with the sight of his wife and son in front of him, sitting by the warmth of the fireplace.
At that moment he realized that he was right, but Lily was right, too. Light was the same no matter the circumstances. But it was the way people realized light that changed and that was the part in which Lily was right. A man who walks out of a tunnel can be blinded by the faintest of the sunbeams, but a man who is used to light won't even notice that small sunbeam. James right now felt blinded by the light in front of him.
Lily finally noticed him and he gave him a questioning glance.
"Everything alright, James?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
James grinned, the muscles around his mouth stretched painfully, it had been a long time since he had grinned. The man walked over to his wife and son and kissed them both on their foreheads.
"Light shines brighter in the darkest of times" he whispered, this time fully aware of the meaning of those words.