Chapter 2 – The weeks that followed
In the weeks that followed the death of James Potter, the wizarding world was in celebration mode. The villain was gone, and people were safe once again. There had been investigations into what exactly happened the night Voldemort entered the Potter house and it had been decided that it was in fact James' sacrifice that saved Lily and Lily's sacrifice that saved Harry. Both Harry and Lily bore scars from where the killing curse hit them, Harry's being on his head and Lily's on her upper chest near her shoulder.
It was a new kind of magic that no one had really heard of before and people travelled from all corners of the world in an attempt to see the woman-and-boy-who-lived.
For Lily, it was the most incredibly heartbreaking time of her life. While all she wanted to do was cry and wallow in her grief, she had to pick herself up and be responsible for her son. She travelled to St Mungos, the day after the event, to have both herself and Harry checked on. It was there, after a lot of wand waving, potions and 'ums' and 'uhs', that she was told the identical scars she and her son had would never go away. They were cursed scars and would be a constant reminder that her husband gave his life for hers.
Apart from the scar, it was remarkable that Harry was completely healthy for a 15-month-old. Lily was also healthy and 16 weeks pregnant at the time of the attack. Due to the nature of the times, she and James had been putting off telling anybody, but now the secret was out, and everybody was thrilled for Lily. Sirius had promised to take care of Lily, Harry and the baby for as long as Lily needed, and Remus had spent days with them, offering support as much as he possibly could.
For Lily, she was grateful for the help, but no amount of offers of support would bring James back to her. The funeral was one of the worst days of her life, saying goodbye to the love of her life, surrounded by people who she had never met and were just there for the notoriety was incredibly frustrating for her.
People from the ministry of magic attended and even the minister himself. Lily was granted a significant amount of money for helping to defeat the darkest wizard of all time and to help set her up in a new house when the time came. Sirius almost threw the minister into the nearest bush in the cemetery for his lack of tact in handing over a cheque to Lily, moments after they had just buried her husband.
The wake was a sombre event as well, with people sharing stories of James from their Hogwarts days, however, she hadn't seen any of these people in the years since school finished. The only people Lily could truly count on were Sirius and Remus who were the most supportive of anyone else and Hagrid, who had come to check on Lily and Harry as soon as he heard. Dumbledore had been helpful initially, however Lily felt that he was distant somehow, and when she would ask him something about what happened, about his thoughts on their survival, he was quick to change the subject.
Now, 6 weeks after the attack, Lily Potter lay in the queen-sized bed in the spare room of Sirius' house with her sleeping toddler in her arms, silently crying to herself, wondering how she was going to live on without her husband.
She was yet to find a place for her and Harry to live and it was partially because she couldn't fathom the idea of being alone. Sirius had been amazing to them, opening his home to her and Harry but she knew that pretty soon, the place would be too small for them all.
She slid out from the bed, careful not to wake her son and headed into the kitchen where Sirius was busy reading the daily prophet.
"Morning" she said softly.
"Good morning Lily, I've made some eggs if you're interested" said Sirius. He had gone out of his way to make sure she ate and kept herself healthy, as she had had a habit of locking herself away, neglecting to feed herself.
"Thank you, Sirius" she said, pouring herself some pumpkin juice and getting a plate for some eggs.
"Do you and Harry have any plans for today? I thought we could all go to the new muggle zoo that is opening in town?" he said, more cheerfully than he ought to.
"I actually wanted to talk to you about something" she said.
Sirius looked worried, closed the paper and eyed her thoughtfully.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Well, I'm half way through my pregnancy now and pretty soon, there will be three of us. Harry needs his own room and the baby will needs space too. I think I should start looking at moving out" she said.
"Well, if you think so, but you're all welcome here for as long as you need. Where were you thinking of looking?" he asked.
"Well, all this attention over the last few weeks has been horrible. I'd like to take Harry to live in a muggle town somewhere. Away from prying eyes and magical intervention. I want both the children to grow up away from all of that" she said sadly.
"Away from magic altogether?" asked Sirius, worried that Lily was going to give up her magic.
"No, of course not. I just feel like… the magical world has torn my family apart. I need …. distance" she said.
"Sure, that's completely reasonable" he said, unsure of how to support her through this decision.
"So, did you want to come with me to see some muggle real estate agents?" she asked.
"You want me to help?" he asked.
"Well, if you want to. I mean, I value your input Sirius" she said. "Unless you would rather go to the zoo, but I think Harry and I would love to come once we've got a place of our own" she said.
"Sure thing Lil, I'll come with you" he said, placing a hand on her shoulder as he headed to the bathroom to shower.
x-x
Later that day, with Harry in a stroller, Lily and Sirius entered their forth muggle real estate agency, feeling as though they would never find what they were looking for. Picking up the sales magazine, Lily flicked through the pages, the same as she had done in the last three places.
"Can I help you?" came a friendly voice.
"Yes, hello, I'm looking to buy a house" Lily said, feeling like that was probably obvious.
"Well, you've come to the right place" the lady said with a smile. "I'm Penelope and I will do my very best to find what you're looking for. Do you have any ideas about what you want?" she asked.
"Something with four bedrooms, nice and light, small town, nice schools" Lily began.
"The works, hey?" Penelope asked.
"Seems like it. Sorry, it's a bit much to ask. I just recently lost my home to an explosion and am expecting a baby in a few months, so I'm in a bit of a hurry" she said.
"Hence the extra room… Well, you've come to the right place. I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your home, it must have been awful for you both" she said, looking from Lily to Sirius.
"Oh, this is… I mean, we're not… My husband, he… he's…" Lily stammered.
"Oh, gosh, I am so sorry. I just assumed. Come… sit down. I have something that is only recent. Not even on the market yet, but I think it might be perfect for you. Give me one minute" she said, hurrying out of the room.
"That was mortifying" Lily said as Sirius sat beside her, rubbing her arm comfortingly.
"Can't really blame her though. It's going to happen if we're together in places where no one knows us" he said.
"So, this is a bit pricey, but it is perfect for what you are after. Single level house, five-bedroom, three-bathroom, huge fireplace, country views in small village outside of London, schools just down the street… What do you think?" she said, heading back into the room, showing Lily some photos of what looked to be an amazing cottage on a large block of land.
"The land, does it belong to the property?" she asked.
"Not currently, but the owners of the farm might be looking to sub divide and you could make an offer on the land adjacent to the house if you liked" Penelope said.
"This seems too good to be true. What's the catch?" Lily asked.
"No catch. The owners spoke to me last week and the house was to go on the market this week, but if you're interested and can make an offer, I will hold off advertising. That will save a lot of costs too, mind" she said.
"Can I have a look?" Lily asked.
"Absolutely. It's a bit of a drive, but definitely worth it" said Penelope.
x-x
By 5pm the following day, Lily was signing contracts to purchase not only the property, but a large portion of private land that the house sat beside. The owner of the farm was all too happy to sell as his land hadn't been producing as it should in recent years.
The house had been perfect. They had passed a school, a shopping village and best of all, the people they saw in the street looked completely normal. Lily was certain she could give Harry and his little brother or sister a good life there. The land would be good to ensure privacy, with a large front yard, a sturdy fence and high trees forming a barricade between the house and the street.
Lily knew that James would definitely approve of the house. They had always spoken of getting a house and some land to raise some animals and teach their children about nature. As Lily left the agent that afternoon, she looked to the sky and smiled, knowing that in some way, this was James' doing.
x-x
It was a month before Lily could gain access to the house, with the current occupants needing the time to move out. When they did, Lily was pleased to see that the place had been scrubbed spotless and the old carpets had all been taken out. Within a week, the carpets had been replaced, the walls freshly painted, and a few modifications had been done to ensure it was perfect to move into. It took till just after New Years on 1982 before they moved in, but it was well worth the wait.
They hired a truck and Lily allowed Harry to ride up front as Sirius drove it to the house. With the nature of the privacy, it wasn't long before Sirius, Lily and Remus had magically moved all the furniture into the house and arranged it perfectly.
"I love being a witch sometimes" Lily said as she said with a hand on her belly, watching Harry play with toy trucks nearby.
"It would have taken all day to do this by hand" said Remus.
"It would have taken me a month to do it on my own. Thank you both" she said to her husband's friends.
"We're family Lil, please think of us as such" Remus said.
"Oh of course I do, I suppose it's just difficult, given who I have as family. I don't have much to go off" Lily said.
"Well, anything you need… We're here. Isn't that right Moony?" said Sirius.
"Indubitably" he said, getting a giggle from both Lily and Sirius for his use of language.
The small group finished setting up the rather large house, packing away kitchen utensils and such, well into the afternoon. Sirius had built Harry's crib in his room while Harry himself tried his best to help. In the end, Sirius waved his wand at the flat pack set and the crib assembled itself. Harry's books levitated themselves into the bookshelf and his toys neatly arranged themselves in a rather large toybox. Harry was in heaven and Sirius left him to see what Lily and Remus were doing.
Remus had been in the guest bedroom making the bed and putting various objects in the wardrobe and Lily was alone in her bedroom, sitting on her bed, sobbing.
"Hey, it's all going to be ok you know" Sirius said.
"How can it be? James is gone Sirius! He will never come back. I know I have you both and that's great, but I am all alone. At the end of the day when everyone goes home, I am here by myself" she sobbed.
"I will stay here until you tell me to leave" he said. "You're not alone. You'll never be alone. I can't be everything that James was for you, but I will be here for you, for Harry and for this baby, until you order me away" he said, taking her hand in his.
At this, Remus entered the room.
"Me too Lilly, both of us will be here for you no matter what. Until you tell us not to be" he said, sitting on the other side of Lily who was clutching a pillow that James had used.
x-x
AN- I hope everyone is enjoying this new fan fiction. I have no plans other than a vague idea of where this needs to end up, so hold tight and please review! The more reviews i get, the quicker i can write. It fills me with enthusiasm. Even a happy/sad face will do when you reach the end of this chapter. Just so i know its being read.
Cheers! Next chapter underway.