A/N: Okay, so this is the first fic I've written in a few years….so forgive me if I'm a little out of touch. This just sort of came to me while I was at work earlier, and I couldn't help but write it down. Lily happens upon a quiet moment between James and baby Harry. Enjoy.
Lily Potter turned a key in the lock of the front door of her little cottage. Hearing the lock click, she turned the knob and pushed the door open awkwardly, trying hard not to drop the two paper bags of groceries she held in her left arm.
Sighing, she dropped her keys on the kitchen table before setting down the groceries. A feeling of calm enveloped her, as it always did upon her safe return home. As she took her purchases out of their bags and put them away in the kitchen cupboards, she thought gratefully of her current situation in life. She was happily married to the greatest man in the world, James Potter, and she-
Hang on a moment…speaking of James, where was he? The cottage was completely silent, except for the racket she was making with the groceries.
Fear rushed at her from all sides, her heart constricted. James hadn't been planning on going out, had he been called away by Dumbledore? Had something gone wrong? – No, she shook her head, and refused to allow herself to think such thoughts.
Setting the last of the groceries down on the shelf within a cupboard, Lily left the kitchen and wandered through her empty home, starting with the living room, followed by the dining room, their bedroom. She even checked the cellar. Nowhere was there any sign of James.
As she stood uncertainly in the hallway, wondering where on earth that man could be, she heard a slight gurgling noise coming from her left, and realized that there was one room she hadn't yet checked. The nursery.
Lily peeked into the yellow room, and relief flooded through her as she saw the love of her life sitting in an old wooden rocking chair, their son sitting on his lap grabbing at the book James held.
"…This one, Harry?" James asked of his son. "Are you sure?" Harry gurgled happily at his father. James cleared his throat and began to read in his best storytelling voice.
"A long time ago, in a far-off land, there lived a foolish king who decided that he alone should have the power of magic…"
Lily leaned against the door frame and watched as James read the story to Harry, who was completely enthralled by his father's voice. A smile played across the redheaded woman's face as she watched her two boys together, and she tucked this moment into her memory.
"…and no witch or wizard was ever persecuted in the kingdom again," James concluded triumphantly, switching his gaze from the pages of the book to his son's face. A light chuckle escaped his lips as he noticed that Harry had fallen asleep. "Didn't even hear the end, did you?" he whispered, before kissing his son's forehead.
Standing up, James carried baby Harry over to his crib and laid him down, covering him with a thin blanket. He stroked his son's wispy black hair, then straightened up.
A pair of arms encircled his waist, and James grinned, turning around to find his wife of one year smiling at him. Sometimes he still had trouble believing that she was finally his, that her smile was meant for him. He pulled her into a tight embrace, never wanting to let go.
"Hey," he murmured softly into her hair. "How long have you been home?"
"Since you started reading him that nonsense. What was that?" A mischievous smile touched her lips as she teased her pureblood husband. "You're teaching that to our impressionable young son?"
"Hey!" James began, prepared to fully defend his favourite story from his own childhood. "Babbitty Rabbitty is not nonsense! It is a perfectly respectable story-"
Lily interrupted him, pressing her lips to his gently. James grinned against her mouth, realizing that she had only been teasing. He pulled her closer and kissed her, pouring everything he felt for her into that one kiss. They pulled away slowly at exactly the same moment.
And as they stood there, arms wrapped tightly around each other, watching their beautiful son sleeping peacefully in his crib, all thoughts of the world outside their cottage walls and the turmoil it contained were forgotten, lost in that perfect moment.
A/N: So? What'd you think? I quite like it, although it's just a bit of fluff, really, I think it's sweet. Also, a quick Disclaimer! I regretfully do not own James, Lily, or Harry, or in fact the story James read to baby Harry, which is Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump, from JKR's new book The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in case you were wondering.
And finally, I'd really appreciate it if you could just press that convenient little button at the bottom of your screen….you know, the one that says, "review"? It's a great little button, really, and I'm sure that if you click it, you will discover the wonders of reviewing. Thanks!