a.n. Um, hi! This is a rather shabby collection of short stories about the deerly beloved James Potter and Lily Evans (or in some cases, Lily Potter). Some one part, maybe two part, it all depends. I hope you enjoy at least one of them, for there is definitely more to come!

disclaimer: JKR is everything, I don't own anything except my harboured feelings towards these two idiots (a.k.a jily) and their friends (a.k.a. the marauders) /
COVER ART BY BATCII on tumblr

reviews are v v special to me and they will keep james potter and lily evans aliVE!

"Please, please go back to sleep, mate," James whispered for the tenth time, leaning against his son's cot, rocking the crying — no, wailing — baby boy in his arms.

Another 3AM crying session (for it was the fifth consecutive time that night) was enough to make James start crying too. He was exhausted. He knew having a son would be difficult, regardless of the war raging outside the window, but he never knew he could feel like this. It was as if his body protested with every movement made, and yet James' mind was miraculously burning; alive with adoration and love, love, love for this tiny thing wrapped in his arms, despite the sleep-fog haze clouding his thoughts.

"Please?"

James stared down at the tear-stained face of Harry, his heart breaking more than he thought would be possible at the sight. Harry's howling didn't cease no matter what James tried, and James was on the brink of tears himself when Lily ('god bless her,' James thought) stumbled through the doorway.

Her red hair piled messily high in a ponytail, several tendrils escaping the hold of the hairstyle, she leaned on the door frame for a second, taking in the sight of her son and husband. Then she sighed, scratching the top of her head as she walked into the room, her arms already out and James willingly passed her Harry.

For a blissful moment, due to the momentary distraction of being passed to somebody new, Harry stopped crying. His startlingly green eyes locked with Lily's for the briefest of seconds before he continued to cry.

"He won't stop— I don't know what to do, I've tried—"

Lily just smiled tiredly, cutting him off, while James raked a sleepy hand through his hair.

"It's okay, he's just fussy at night-time, isn't he?" Lily soothed, easily manoeuvring Harry so that his chin was resting on her shoulder and she patted up and down his back gently.

"Very," James choked back a yawn, and Lily smiled a little.

"You can go back to bed, James—"

"No, no, it's fine," James said, "He's my son too, yeah?"

Lily flashed him a smile over the din Harry was making into Lily's shoulder. "With this hair? Who else would his father be?"

James let out a chuckle at that, and Harry shifted his attention from crying to James, turning to stare at his father with wide, wet, watery eyes. The 1 year old hiccuped a little, watching his father avidly, and then he stretched out his little arms for him.

James stepped closer to his son, whom Lily was now handing over, and Harry clung to James' crumpled pyjama shirt, fisting at the material before pillowing his cheek against James' chest once more. Lily moved to run her fingers through Harry's unruly hair.

When James let out a second, much louder yawn, Harry copied him, and Lily's heart sped up a little in love.

"Okay, sleepyhead, time to get to bed," Lily said, pressing a kiss to James' shoulder.

"Told you 'm not going anywhere, Lils, he's mine too," James muttered, eyes drooping behind their frames as he used his thumb to stroke Harry's back.

"No, not you. It's pointless to argue with you when you're so stubborn. Even at... 3:20AM when you can barely keep your eyes open." Lily pressed another kiss to James' shoulder, muffling her own yawn. "I meant Harry."

"Right." James looked down at his son. Lily was still threading her fingers through his hair lovingly, and Harry's eyes were beginning to slide shut.

James slowly shuffled over to Harry's cot, careful not to jostle the boy and start what would be the sixth crying session that night alone. He lowered Harry into the crib, Lily tucked him in with a blanket, then kissed his forehead. James just grinned down at him.

Harry's eyes fluttered open for a few seconds, and James bit his lip, hoping and praying that he wouldn't scream and demand to be picked up again—

But then Harry smiled, a tiny, crooked small smile that had James' heart leaping to his throat and Lily smiling so brightly and for a minute James wanted nothing more than to pick Harry up again. And then Harry closed his eyes with a tiny yawn and it took 5 seconds for him to fall asleep, his little chest rising and falling rhythmically, the occasional whimper...

Lily looked up at James, her eyes shining with happiness and she wrapped her arm around his middle before all but tugging him back to their bedroom; the two of them promptly collapsed onto their bed.

"He always calms down when you're around," James commented tiredly, habitually rumpling up his hair before moving to steal the bed covers. Lily smiled softly before easily stealing them back.

"He does. But that's only because when he's around you, you get him all worked up, what with being James Potter..." Lily giggled into her pillow, and James' heart positively soared at the sound. Lily hadn't laughed as much since the war began, but when she did, James swore the world stopped to listen.

"You know he threw up on me today?" James sighed, a grossed out smile playing on his lips. "From excitement, you reckon? Or from being so repulsed by his father figure that he just had to get sick on me—"

Lily smiled at him. "I'm certain it was from excitement, dear. Besides, you had it coming. You knew Remus had just fed him, and you also knew that the aeroplane game was practically invented for projectile vomiting."

James laughed a little at that before the sound broke off into a yawn. He quickly angled his face into his pillow to cover it, but Lily was already smirking.

"Bloody hell, who knew having a kid would floor me?" James said, removing his glasses and rubbing at his eyes. "Merlin, I've looked after Sirius for 7 years and been fine —I mean, he's practically a child— but Harry... It's like a whole other level."

Lily nodded and scooted closer to her husband, resting her head on his chest. "Get some sleep. We both know we have all this to look forward to again tomorrow night."

James audibly groaned (but not before he suppressed a smile) and Lily chuckled before closing her eyes, waiting until James' breathing evened out before letting herself slip back into sleep.

a.n. sleepy James is my weakness, as you can probably tell. please review! I love hearing from people!