Hey!
Once again, this chapter really isn't very different; there are new cut off points but that is pretty much it. The third chapter is where things will get very different and I'll start introducing more characters and other things. Please review! :)
The streets were still wet from the storm that had rocked the city two days before when James Potter next ventured into public. The scene that greeted him at Diagon Alley was unlike any he had seen in the last year, when the war had gotten so bad that people were too afraid to leave their homes, but now there were people everywhere. Women bustling their children from shop to shop collecting the supplies they hadn't been brave enough to venture out for, men marching steadily towards Gringotts and then to which ever store caught their fancy, children and teenagers running down the cobbled street towards Zonko's.
James smiled, he was after all happy that he could walk down this street again without being reminded of ghost stories and haunted towns devoid of life; but without Lily it all seemed rather empty. He didn't know where to go, Lily had always been the one to figure out shopping and all that, he didn't have a clue; should he go to Madame Malkins for baby clothes? Or Gladrags in Hogsmeade? An assortment of small clothing caught his eye, the window for a shop call Twilfitt and Tattings had children's clothes.
James sighed, it wasn't baby clothes, but it was closer than anything he'd seen so far. Pushing the thin door inwards, he stepped into the warm, inviting space. Unlike Madame Malkins, which was the only place he had ever shopped before, the shop was very open with circular racks of clothing evenly spaced around and comfortable looking stools sitting before a row of curtains; changing rooms no doubt. Pedestals held animated models of different sizes modelling outfits. Almost everything in sight, as far as James could see, was for girls.
A cheerful young witch with blonde hair pulled into tight pigtails bounced up to him, pale blue skirt fluttering and the Twilfitt and Tattings logo on her breast let him know that she worked there.
"Hi! My name is Kristy, is there anything I can do for you today?" Her smile never wavered, though he thought for sure that it would. Surely men didn't come in here very often? If at all.
"Uh, I hope so. I am looking for a place that sells baby clothes? My wife usually did all the shopping, and I don't know where to get him more things, most of our house was destroyed a few days ago; including his nursery." He must have looked pathetic, he thought; a grown man not knowing where to buy clothes for his own child. The girl surprised him though by beaming at him.
"We have a very extensive range of children's clothes, sir, ranging from infants all the way to teenagers. What sort of things were you looking for? We keep them in the other room." She began leading him towards a door that was rather cleverly concealed behind a display of ball gowns; he had not even seen it.
The sight that greeted him in the next room was shocking. He had never seen so many clothes before. More circular racks of glittering dresses, shorts, trousers and shirts were everywhere; shelves with neatly folded underpants, blouses and shoes that were in colours he didn't even know shoes came in.
"Uh, I didn't really have anything in mind for him. He just needs a bit of everything I guess." Kristy smiled again, pity in her eyes.
"She really did everything huh?"
"Well I helped change him and everything, so I'm not completely helpless. But anything that had to do with buying things for him, yeah, she did." She must have been able to tell that it was a difficult subject for him; whether because of his watery eyes or just intuition, he was glad when she started asking questions and bustling about the space.
"So how old is he? Height and weight?"
"He's just over one year; uh he's up to my knee maybe? I have no idea about weight, I'm sorry, I'm not much of a help." He had never felt quite so silly before. Here he was, blundering about how tall his own son was. He sighed, once again glancing around the place. There were smaller pedestals, with smaller models, but there were still ball gowns.
"That's okay, most of our clothing comes with automatic resizing, though even the ones that don't can have that added for a little extra." While she was talking she was walking around the racks and picking out pieces of clothing. "So, for his height and age, I'll get size 3, and if they don't fit then they will resize; though they should fit just fine. What is his colouring?"
James jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the question directed at him. "He has black hair like mine, and he has green eyes." He had to start paying more attention to his surroundings, he was an ex-auror, and he had better training than this!
"He sounds adorable! Well, according to that I think he would look nice in reds, blues and greens, and black." She had collected a heap of clothes in those, and a few other colours, and was now heading back into the other room. "Shall I ring these up for you?"
"Oh, yes please. Thank you." She smiled. It was as though she were used to stumbling men who had no idea what they were doing or where they were going.
"It will be rather expensive, we use only the best materials here and the charms aren't cheap either. That won't be a problem I trust?" She was smiling as she said it, and he knew that she knew he wouldn't mind the cost. His clothes were clearly of the expensive variety, so she had assumed he'd be fine with spending a lot.
"Yes, that's fine. Price is no object for my son." Perhaps it was a slightly snobbish thing to say, but the girl didn't seem to notice it, and truly, James didn't mind sounding snobbish when what he was saying was true. He would give everything for his son, he would give everything to his son; but he would ensure he didn't turn out spoiled.
The cost of the clothes was expensive, almost 400 galleons, but James merely smiled at the girl and handed her his Gringotts card. Now slightly wide eyed, as only the truly wealthy had gold Gringotts cards, she swiped it and handed it back to him.
"Have a lovely day Lord Potter. I hope you will return for things for your son." She smiled as he left. Obviously he shouldn't be surprised that she had figured it out; everyone else was happy at the war ending, and yet he was moping about his deceased wife. Not to mention his card had his name on it.
Apparating back to Potter Manor, where he had taken Harry after waking up two nights ago.
Flashback
He came slowly back into waking world; the explosion of magic that Lily created had blown him backwards and through the wall. The house was practically in ruins. He ran inside.
"Lily! Harry!"
His screams were answered by Harry; screams of his own echoing through the destroyed house.
"Da! Mama gone!" James went cold. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be! She said that everything would be alright, she said she would live. He raced into the house, ducking under the fallen beams that had kept the roof up just a few hours ago; he entered the living room that he knew Lily and Harry had been.
The sight before him brought tears to his eyes. Harry, his wonderful son, hair wild, eyes glowing and the Sowilo rune still visible on his forehead, was leaning over the body of his beautiful wife. Her hair was splayed around her like a copper halo, her chest still in death. Harry was sobbing, his tears falling onto her cheeks and soaking into her hair; James' heart broke as he heard the words his tiny son was whispering.
"No, mama, come back. Bad man gone."
James reached out to him gently.
"Come on son, she's gone." It broke his heart all over again to say the words, and even more to pull him away. Harry screamed, kicking and scratching to stay with her, clutched against her breasts.
"No! Mama! COME BACK!"
James pulled him into his arms and flung himself backwards, away from the body. Cradling Harry in his arms he whispered to him;
"It's alright Harry, mummy loved you. She'll never be gone; not really, she'll be with you for as long as you need her to be, and even when you don't. Daddy is here, I'll protect you." He had then stood up, told the aurors already appearing that if they needed him he would be at Potter Manor. Then he left.
Flashback end
James sighed. It got no easier to think about. Cries from upstairs caught his attention. He hurried up the steps towards the nursery. He had left his family elf, Selwa, with Harry, she had watched him when he was a child, and he trusted her. But his son needed him.
Harry was in Selwa's arms; crying and asking for Mama.
"Hey buddy, mama isn't coming home." He tried to be gentle, he tried to make him understand; but how do you make a one year old understand death? He didn't know. For now, all he could do was hold him, and comfort him as much as he could.
Light flooded her eyes as she opened them. Confused, she blinked and glanced around, drinking in her surroundings, or what she could see of them. Everything she could see was white, and everything she couldn't see was white. How she could tell what was something and what wasn't she didn't know. She was sitting on a hard surface; perhaps stone? She could see a house in the distance below her; it seemed very familiar to her. With a jolt her memories came flooding back to her.
A man; dark hair and laughing eyes hidden by glasses.
A wedding; wearing a beautiful dress and kissing her new husband.
A child; just like his father, but with her eyes.
A monster; threatening her happiness.
A spell; her only chance to save the best thing she had ever given the world: Harry.
Lily's eyes watered as she thought of her family. That house, it was hers, it was theirs. It was destroyed.
"No... It should have worked, why is there so much destruction?" Lily shuddered "Maybe it didn't work…" a light began to form in the centre of the place she was, whiter than the others it drew her eyes. Within it she saw something that brought a smile to her lips; James, and Harry.
