Chapter six - Bonding
The cold, stone walls of the dormitory lit up slowly and peacefully as the glaring sun crept stealthily across the early morning sky. The heavy maroon curtains that hung around the ornate four-posters shut out the harsh light from all but one of the beds, where a sleepy black-haired boy opened one eye to glare at the brightness. Reaching out blearily for his wand, he found instead his glasses, which he shoved carelessly onto his face with all the grace that he could muster at this unholy hour. A small, giggling shape came into focus in the crib next to his bed, dressed in blue pyjamas and eager to grab everything that his fat little fists could reach. James groaned. What business does such a tiny thing have being up at this time of day, he wondered silently as he scooped up the baby rather awkwardly, and, stretching, made his way carefully down the narrow spiral staircase to see if the house elves had brought him some more food during the night. As the brilliant pink light shone through the high windows, James suddenly found himself incredulous at more than the time of day. Somehow, in the presence of the amazing sunrise that was clearly stretching over the whole expanse of the grounds below them, the situation seemed to get just a little bit less bizarre. Just a little. He sighed, and snapped himself out of it as Harry grabbed his glasses rather roughly, grizzling slightly due to his demanding stomach.
Thankfully the house elves had left more baby food, as well as other useful looking supplies. He cast a nervous eye over the small table, recognising only a few items such as nappies and a small toy pumpkin that was seemingly filled with rice. It was this crudely sown rattle toy that the tired boy thrust at Harry while he busied himself with breakfast, his tiredness clinging relentlessly on as he tried to ignore the hungry rumblings of his own stomach for the time being. As students began to filter down from the dormitories in various states of alertness, it was the sight of Lily that kept his eyes glued to the door leading up to the girls dormitory, scanning the crowd in between keeping Harry vaguely amused, and occasionally stopping him from crawling off remarkably quickly towards the startled group of fourth years who sat closest to them. Remus and Peter both emerged before long, dressed and neat looking, and both came over to him for a quick good morning and the promise of bringing him up some breakfast if they could find the time, before hurrying downstairs again with the swelling crowd of hungry students making their way through the portrait hole. Sirius followed not long after, hair carelessly disheveled and sleeves pushed up casually, looking for all the world he had been primping all morning - a far cry from his actual morning routine of sleeping too late, rolling out of bed and into clothes and rushing down to breakfast as late as possible. Alice gave him a quick smile as she passed, before rushing off to join Frank by the fire where he sat with a small group of friends. One by one the familiar faces drifted away, eventually leaving James in the once again empty common room with only the now incredibly awake and alert baby for company. There was no sign of Lily.
"Prongs?" James spun around at the sound of his name, leaving Harry to teeter dangerously on his unsteady feet as he clutched at the side of an easy chair. Remus stood in the doorway, holding a small tray laden with food - adult food, for once. James leapt up with a yell of delight and grabbed the tray from his chuckling friend, who followed him to the corner of the room where he had been sitting with Harry.
"God I thought you'd all forgotten about me!" he exclaimed with a mouthful of sandwiches, waving one in the air as he spoke. "You know, I don't know how people do it. I've had nobody to talk to for almost-" he checked his watch- "four and a half hours!" he gulped down a mouthful of pumpkin juice from a flask balanced on the tray, and leant back with a sigh. "Just this little one. Who, don't get me wrong, is great at the whole pointing and laughing at things, but not so good with the conversation." Harry, as if on cue, crawled over to where Lupin had sat down on the floor leaning against one of the chairs and began to grab curiously at his shoes. Remus laughed and picked him up gently. Taking out his wand, he thought for a moment, and then pointed it deliberately at the now empty plate that the sandwiches had sat on, muttering under his breath. In seconds, the plate was transformed into a small plush snake, shining white with the same delicate blue pattern running along its side as the matching teacup on the tray. This he handed to the baby, who, delighted with his new toy, immediately grabbed it by the neck and chewed on its soft, felt head.
"I've got the rest of the afternoon off, so I figured I may as well come help you with him" he replied with a smile, keeping his tone light and airy. It was clear to James that he wanted to try and keep everything feeling as normal as possible. He grinned and jumped up, brushing crumbs from his lap as he did so.
"Come on then moony, let's get out of here. I'm sick of looking at this bloody room."
They made their way down across the sprawling grounds, pausing slightly only to struggle baby Harry into a thick cloak that Remus had obligingly shrunk down to approximate baby size. It wasn't perfect, but it certainly did the job against the cold wind that blew their heavy cloaks around their ankles. The snow from the day before still lay thinly on the ground, dusting everything in sight a frosty white. They wandered the grounds aimlessly for a while, Lupin chatting away lightly about his day, and his various duties as the newly appointed prefect of the 5th years. Everyone had expected it except Lupin himself, and he was still quietly delighted with his role in the house. James was glad for the snow for once, as it pretty much guaranteed that the grounds would be deserted until it either cleared up or got deep enough for the first – and seventh- years to play out in. He wasn't in the mood to be stared at right now.
After a while of drifting around by the forest, they made their way down towards the lake, their strange little group seeming more natural by the minute. As they paused for breath under a large and amazingly old oak tree, a now laughing James handed Harry over to his friend while he adjusted his long red and gold scarf that was beginning to trail on the floor, due to the child's insistence on tugging on it every moment he was in James' arms. Well, if it's that or the glasses, James thought to himself, I think I'll take the scarf. He was only half listening to Remus as he turned, brushing his untidy hair out of his eyes as he did so. Something had caught his eye down by the lake.
"Hey, will you keep him for a minute?" he called over his shoulder as he made his way down to the edge of the lake, moving quicker as he began to see more clearly what it was that was sitting beneath the white tree at the water's edge. He paused for a moment when he reached the tree, then took off his cloak and held it out tentatively. Lily turned slowly and heavily, barely registering him there. Her hair was dusted with snow, seemingly fallen from the branches of the tree that spread out above her. James gently spread out the cloak over her frozen shoulders – she had on only her thin uniform shirt, and didn't seem to notice – or care - that she was visibly shuddering in the cold air. She continued to stare out at the soft ripples of the dark lake as she sat, completely impassive to her surroundings. James sunk down beside her on the bank.
"Lily, what are you doing?" He found himself facing the same stony silence, and sighed. "What's going on? I looked for you this morning, I thought we were going to try and do this together- maybe?" She trembled slightly, but made no effort to speak. James found his temper rising against his will.
"Would you look at me!" he yelled, startling Lupin who was now leaning against the trunk of a nearby birch tree, looking concerned but determined to stay out of it. "Why should I have to do this on my own? You were the one he 'appeared' to or whatever, I wouldn't have had any part in this if you hadn't asked for me when you passed ou-" he cut himself off abruptly. That had got her attention, and she turned, eyes blazing with tears.
"I don't remember asking for you, because I was, as I'm sure you remember, pretty much UNCONCIOUS!" Lily began, but seemed to run out of steam as quickly as she started. She sighed, and pulled the borrowed cloak around herself tightly.
"I didn't ask for any of this, and just I don't know how you can be so okay with it. That- baby- is nothing to me, James. And he's nothing to you either, he appeared out of thin air and suddenly everyone's okay with it."
James sighed, and reached out to brush her long hair away from her shoulders, where it was dripping water into her lap as the snow melted. "You honestly think I'm okay with this?" he chuckled, startling her into looking at him. "I'm just trying to make the best of all of this. I know it's incredible and I know, I'm not exactly the best person to be doing this with you, but, well, I'm going to try." He stood up, and looked down at her sadly. "I'm going inside now. Please come in, Evans." She looked after him as he walked steadily back up Lupin and took Harry from him, cradling him gently in the crook of one arm. He shot a grin back over his shoulder at her as they left, calling back to her with a laugh in his voice.
"You can keep the cloak by the way. I stole it from Sirius anyways."
Mr Potter and Miss Evans,
I regret to tell you that I have been called away on travels, which I assure you are related to the situation at hand. I hope to return within the next ten days, and I will contact you when I do. Please do not hesitate to see Madam Rosmerta if you wish to discuss anything, but I will not be able to be contacted directly.
Regards,
Professor Albus Dumbledore,
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
James threw down the letter that the rather haughty looking owl had just dropped in his lap as it swept in through the single open window of the common room, exactly the same time that Lily had crept through the portrait hole, looking slightly sheepish and a little more alert. Why did things keep going from bad to worse, he thought miserably, as he passed the letter to the confused looking girl, and buried his face in his hands.
Hey there! This chapter is a bit bleak but I tried to make it fairly long and I really enjoyed writing it for some reason xD R&R please if you forgive me for my erratic updates… I am, as always, sorry and I promise to try harder ^_^ hope you're all still enjoying.