Sitting On The Baby By HPOD sufferer
Date: Thursday, 14th June, 9:00PM
Rating: K+ (Scary and Supernatural themes may scare young children, includes character death), sexual implications (very minor)
Summary: Sirius bounded into the compartment, making to sink into the seat next to Lily. The seat in which a sleeping baby...well, slept. Eyes popping, James grabbed his friend's wrists, stopping him from sitting. Sirius Black was frozen in a strange, half-sitting, half-standing position. Lily grabbed the baby quickly, and James released his friend. "You know," said Lily " Baby sitting doesn't usually consist of actually sitting on the baby."
A baby has appeared. Where from? Why? Who does the baby belong to? Harry travels to Marauder Era. AS A BABY! Something went seriously wrong on that Halloween night.
Chapter 14: Hogsmeade
I'll take you on a journey, over the hills,
Past forests and lakes, to the shops with tills.
I'll show you wonders, what you've never seen,
We'll go places, on adventures you've never been.
At the end of the line I'll hold your hand close,
I'll tell you are the one that I love most.
James got up at six the next morning, which was extremely early for him. He got dressed (he tried on three sets of clothing before settling on a pair of jeans and a sweater- he didn't want to look as if he'd actually made an effort to get dressed for Lily...) to the snores of his dorm-mates, picked up a sleeping Harry and proceeded to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Breakfast hadn't even started. Obviously the house elves were used to the students waking up late on weekends.
James sat at the bare Gryffindor table, realising just how big the hall was. Nobody was there, he was all alone.
He groaned, stalking out. He couldn't stand be in there. He opened the great oak doors and walked down the stairs into the grounds. His feet were given free rein and they took him around the lake. He watched as the tentacles of the giant squid flopped about lazily in the early morning rays. Harry slept on.
James chanced a look at his watch. His eyes grew in disbelief.
9:48am
He had twelve minutes to walk around the lake!
He set off at a sprint, skidding into the Entrance wall just as they were opened by Filch the caretaker, who was checking notes. He found an annoyed looking Lily near the end of the line, and joined her. "Sorry," he gasped through his stitch. "Lost track of...time."
She ignored him, handing his and her note to Filch. The caretaker looked very forlorn when they appeared to be perfectly in order. He waved them through grumpily and they set off at a comfortable pace towards the gates.
James was surprised how easy it was to talk to Lily, considering. Sure, they mostly talked about Harry and schoolwork, but James thought he would be comfortable talking about the colour of faeces if it meant spending more time with Lily. Her beautiful red hair was out, rolling down her back, neither straight nor curly, but a sort of satisfying wavy texture. He longed to touch it. Lily took possession of Harry, since it was her turn to look after him for the day, and before they knew it, they were on the outskirts of the village of Hogsmeade.
Instantly James felt awkward. He had been so occupied with actually getting there, and fantasising (although he would never admit it, he had forgotten all about Harry and fantasised about the pair of them holed up somewhere, kissing the whole day...he is a boy, after all) that he hadn't planned what they would do when they got there.
"Erm..."
"How about Honeydukes?" Lily said brightly. James grinned. This was too easy!
They spent a good while in the sweet shop, and James found Lily loved vanilla fudge, all types of chocolate ( she actually asked him to hold her back as they walked past the gourmet chocolate section, and he could feel her resisting- he wasn't sure if she was serious or joking, but didn't think it polite to ask) and had a 'sweet' tooth for sour candy. James got his customary sugar quills, Bertie Bott's every flavour beans ( he loves the risks) and some cockroach cluster (Lily raised her eyebrows, but did not ask) and they left the shop into the sunshiny day.
"Can we please go to Zonko's?" James begged.
Lily sighed, rolled her eyes...and dragged him in. He headed for the back of the shop, disappearing behind a curtain. Lily hung back. "James?"
He popped his head through the velvet curtains. "Sorry, come on. This is the best part of the shop!"
In the back of the shop it looked sort of like a warehouse- there were work benches, boxes and shelves upon shelves of products. But on a squashy armchair sat a man.
Lily knew at once that this must be Zonko himself. He was rather jolly looking, with a rotund stomach and laugher lines all over his face. His nose what rather bulbous, but his eyes were friendly. "Oh, James!" he said. "Who's the lovely lady?"
Lily blushed as introductions were made.
"So..." said Zonko. "What'll you be needing?"
"Have you got anymore of that ink left over?" James's voice had dropped low.
Zonko frowned a bit. "Hmmm...you sure you won't tell me what it's for?"
"Ahh...but that'd be telling, wouldn't it?" said James with a good-natured smile. "A good magician never tells his secrets."
Zonko snorted and disappeared behind some shelves, ruffling about. Finally he came back, holding up a small glass bottle of black powder. "Remember the instructions?"
James nodded, taking the bottle as if it were a god-like gift. Zonko, however was not done. With a flourish that only a shop keeper of many years could produce, he whipped something from behind his back, saying, "This is just in, this morning, have a look!"
It was a blank piece of parchment. The pair looked at Zonko with scepticism. Zonko saw this. "It looks ordinary to you. But to Muggles..."
James leaned forwards eagerly. "Yes?"
"This blank piece of paper will show them what you need them to see- tickets, passes, ID, invitations, excuses, anything."
Lily leaned forwards also. "How much?" James asked excitedly.
"Ten galleons."
Two mouths dropped open. Harry stuck his fingers into Lily's open jaw, and she shut it. "Ten Galleons?"
Zonko huffed. "That's cheap! Think about it, this could save you thousands of galleons in the muggle world...you could get onto those giant metal birds-"
"Aeroplanes," Lily corrected.
"-yes, air pains, which I've heard is really expensive...and these are enchanted not to rip, they're water-proof...but they're only available for wizards who are of age- don't want some second year sauntering into muggle pubs..."
"I'll have one," James said quickly, not wanting to get Zonko in a bad mood. He pulled out his money bag and deposited the large sum into Zonko's hand. Zonko pocketed it, and smiled.
"Can I roam?- need to show this girl the ropes!" James asked, happy the business had been dealt with.
Zonko laughed, moving to the curtains. "Just don't steal anything, Potter!"
James waved him off, beckoning to Lily. " You know I would never Zonko. Come on."
Lily was amazed at what she had missed all these years. But she was also slightly preoccupied as they passed the Bill's Big Bouncing Balloons for Wild Water Wars.
You see, she had noticed Potter's money bag. A small part of her waggled it's (metaphorical) finger at her for thinking such thoughts.
He had so much money! That bag was about to burst it's seams! Add the fact that Lily got only twenty galleons spending money a year (not very much if you include Christmas shopping)...
Finally Lily bored of looking at Penny's Pillows (which were pillows which would bash people of their own accord, perfect for pillow fights) and let Harry blow a bubble in James's ear to remind him that they had actually come to go to the Three Broomsticks. They exited the shops, Zonko waving them out, and proceeded to the pub and taking a small secluded table away from the crowds, Lily making herself comfortable as James went to get Butterbeers.
Once they were all seated and content, Lily started to feel awkward and out of place. What to say?
James whistled.
"Could you stop?' Lily said tentatively. James looked at her, the tune dying away. Lily suddenly wished he would start again.
James's hands were sweating. He wiped them on his pants. "So...Harry didn't scream last night..."
"That's good."
"Yeah." James's insides squirmed.
He looked at Lily. A rare ray of sunshine shifted through the window, alighting on her face and setting the highlights in her hair off, making them shine brilliantly. James was reminded, painfully, once again, why he liked her so much. Her hand lay slack on the table next to her Butterbeer. Should he hold it? His view turned to Harry. The kid was, in a way, the person who James should be thanking- if not for Harry, James had no doubt that he and Lily would not be at this table together.
Another's child bringing them together. It was romantic, in a twisted sense of logic.
"Lily..." he exhaled. She turned her beautiful eyes to him, with an enquiring look.
His fingers gave a half-hearted twitch. Lily looked down at her hands. "I can't stop thinking about it," she said.
"It?" James echoed hopefully.
"Yeah...the light, and how...just died. I mean, I saw it in Oucirus's class but you...you saw it happen to people. It must have been horrible... I just don't know how you cope."
James's insides stopped squirming, and retreated o his spine, shivering. To be honest, he'd forgotten all about the memory. He had other things to think about. "Uh, well... you just sorta...have too, right?"
"Right," Lily mumbled. She dropped one of hands in her lap, leaving the other alone and tempting on the table between them. James wasn't sure if he dared...
He grasped it firmly in his. "Don't beat yourself up about it."
Lily squeezed his hand, looking with wonderment at their joined fingers. "I wonder what'll happen to him. He can't stay with us forever."
"Dumbledore will find the way. He always does," James said confidently. But a thought niggled at him: Dumbledore hadn't really done anything yet, except for giving tiny clues. Infuriatingly, the man was not doing what James always expected him to do.
Lily has very nice hands, James thought, as he rubbed the pad of his thumb over her knuckles.
"Um, James?"
"Hmmm?" he answered, still watching his thumb's progress.
"Why did you kiss me? You've done it twice this year, without even asking me beforehand."
"DO people usually ask before they kiss each other?"
"Well, no, but...it's not as if you had any right to do it."
"I can't help it Lily. Every time I see you I think I'm going to...explode, or something. And sometimes it just- and I can't help it... I've said it before, I-"
"-like me, I know.
"No Lily," James said as he looked up into her eyes and smiling." I love you, and no matter what you feel, think or say, I'm never going to stop." James said the next phrase as if shocked. "I love you, Lily Evans."
Lily wondered why this stray and completely irrelevant thought had to cross her mind at this moment: I love you too, chocolate bar.
A/n: Still in Scotland. The sun has come out for a couple of hours this evening (yes, evening) but I preferred to write for you all instead. I'm beating myself up because Harry action has been most absent through the past chapters, but I'm planning something for the next chapter. LILY DOES NOT THINK JAMES IS A CHOCOLATE BAR, FREAKS! I have plans for the super parchment (and yes, I got the idea off Dr Who, it's all his) and the ink, for your information is a special ink for the Marauder's Map, because James needs to…to be continued. I've just realised that I've used fourteen chapters to cover thirteen (ok, actually six have been included and written about, but still ALOT) days...
At the rate I'm going, I'll have twenty chapters to feed you when I get back! (Gosh, I hope not, that'll mean I'm nineteen chapters ahead of everyone else, since I refuse to update them all on the same day or on the day after a chapter has been uploaded...must give people time to read-and that WAS an exaggeration guys!).
I shall continue to write. I look forward to more mist tomorrow.