Lily and James laid in the bed for a while longer until there was another knock at the door.
"I need to check him to see if he's fit to be—what are you doing here, Lily?" asked the nurse who came in.
"Hello, Nurse Jones, I'd like you to meet my husband, James," Lily replied.
Lily got up from the bed and lowered herself into one of the chairs that were meant for visitors.
"I'm going to need you to leave while I perform his check-up, Mrs. Potter," the nurse said with a smile.
Lily listened and headed back out to the waiting room to get Remus and Sirius. They'd be able to catch up with him now. She walked in and they both rushed to see what she had to say.
"How is he?" they both asked immediately.
"He's fine. I think he's going to be just fine. He saw a lot. I think he's scared, but he'll be up to pulling pranks with you two again in no time. Yes, I know you three still are up to no good."
"To hell with the rules, we're both going to see him!" Sirius shouted.
Lily shook her head, "I think I'm going to take off for a while. I'll be back tonight to take him home."
The nurse left after checking his range of motion, and whether he was still bleeding. He was fine though. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
He wished that Lily hadn't had to leave. After he had seen their little girl, he had had this overwhelming sense of guilt. He wished that he had been more supportive of Lily, like a real husband should be. What was wrong with him? It wasn't like he didn't love her. He was infatuated with her. She consumed almost every thought that he had, and yet, he hadn't been there for her when she was hurting the most. No wonder she kicked him out.
But, she wanted him back now. She wanted to give them another chance. She thought that maybe it could work between them. He wasn't going to screw it up this time. They were going to renew their vows, and make a family. They were going to have a wonderful large family—if that's what Lily wanted. He wasn't going to make her do anything she didn't want to do, of course.
He was still lost in thought when the door opened again. Maybe Lily was coming back to talk to him some more. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed to see that it was just Remus and Sirius.
"Hey guys." he said.
"Well that lacked enthusiasm. Here, our best friend has been gone for an entire year. You'd think he'd be a little more excited to see us!" Sirius replied, hurt.
"Sirius, don't say that. I thin he was expecting Lily again. Don't be like that, he's been through a lot," Remus scolded his friend.
"Sorry guys, but I was hoping it'd be Lily again. I'm glad to see you though. Don't think for a minute that I'm not happy to see you!" he said, pulling himself into a sitting position. As he got up, the scent of Lily's perfume wafted up. He smiled. "Anyways, it's really been a year? An entire year? What's gone on since I left?"
His friends looked at each other, "Well, for starters, the Ministry has pronounced you dead. There was a huge memorial service and everything. Everyone thinks you're dead."
"But...if everyone thought I was dead, then how is it that I was able to come back? There was a part to the spell that said if everyone thought I was dead, I'd then die. As long as people thought I was still alive I could come back."
"Lily believed you were still alive, James. Lily and Lily only. Even we thought you were dead. We weren't speaking to her for the longest time because it hurt so much listening to her ideas as to where you were when the chances of your surviving were so little," Remus whispered.
"You didn't believe I'd make it?"
"Dumbledore said that it'd be unlikely that you were going to come back. Dumbledore doesn't lie. He wouldn't give us false hope." Remus explained.
"I'm really glad you're back though. We can go prank the school, or head out to the bar, or something. Let's get out of this morbid place," Sirius said. He had remained quiet until that point.
"I'm not really up for that quite yet. I want to get things straightened out with Lily first. I want to make sure that she's ok, that my coming back is ok. She wants me to live with her again. I don't want to mess it up. I was always gone before, and I'm not going to make that mistake again. I want to make things right."
"How about making things right with us, James? We're your best friends. We've always been there for you and then you decided that because of some girl, you were going to go leave everyone because your life wasn't good enough anymore. We've been here for you since day one, and we weren't as good for you as Lily. You decided that in the heat of an argument when she kicked you out and probably didn't even mean it, that you were going to go on some mission that was likely to get you killed. You didn't even say goodbye to us. You didn't even stop to consider that we might be able to help you with Lily. She's always liked Remus, maybe he could've patched things up between you two, but you decided you had to leave. You didn't even SAY GOODBYE!" Sirius shouted, and left the room.
James was left sitting on the bed staring at Remus. He felt a lump in his throat as he tried to speak, "He hates me, doesn't he?"
Remus shook his head, "I don't know what's gotten into him, honestly. He was so excited when we were in the waiting room. I think he's in denial that you're back. He's had a really tough time since the memorial. He really had given up hope, he was depressed, he stopped talking to anyone who mentioned you, he stayed in bed for days, he cried, Sirius cried. In all the years I've known him, I've never seen him cry."
James sighed, "You know, they should just lock me up, shouldn't they? I shouldn't be allowed to be around people because I just hurt them. I'm a hazard to society."
Remus laughed. "They'll be fine, James. Just give it a little time. Everything will go back to normal. I know that Sirius is really glad that you're back. He just needs to get used to the idea first. He was just starting to get back to normal."
"So what've things been like, lately?" James asked. He wanted a full briefing on what had gone on so he wouldn't be totally clueless.
"Well...Fudge took office a while ago. The government has been ok, Dumbledore does everything for him though, but no one is supposed to know that. Sirius is still a womanizer. He settled down with one girl for a while, meaning a couple of months, but then she left him for another guy. It was terrible, I thought he was finally going to get it together and be responsible, but she went and dumped him. Lily is a month or so away from becoming a healer, though now that you're back I think she might quit. She did it just to earn some money when they froze your account. She was completely broke for a while, almost lost the house and everything in it, but she's doing fine now. Let's see...oh Dumbledore had your account unfrozen. He checked you out while you were still unconscious. He also says that we're going to keep it quiet that you're back. You can go about your life like you normally did though. I don't think that your death was widely publicized, they didn't want to have to go into detail with how you died, and Lily wasn't going to let them lie. Peter hasn't really talked to us since the memorial, but I'm sure he's lurking about somewhere. Oh! I've been a lot better. In her research, Lily and some other students came up with a potion for werewolves. I'm not cured or anything, but now I can just curl up like a tame wolf instead of having the violent self-mutilating transformations. That's really about it, though."
James had fallen asleep while listening and Remus pulled the covers up. James must have had a really hard time to be so exhausted. With one glance back he left to go find Sirius.
Lily returned to the hospital. She had made a quick run to the store before everything was sold out. She had decided that they would go to the Order's Thanksgiving meal after all, now she had a lot to be thankful for, with James being back.
She had called Molly to let her know, since she'd be doing all the cooking, and asked if there was anything she could help with. There hadn't been anything, but she decided she was going to make a pie anyway; it was what she was best at.
Lily entered James' room to find him sleeping. She hated to wake him up, but decided that he'd probably rather have the comforts of home than spending his Thanksgiving in a sterile atmosphere.
"Hey, wake up," she said quietly as she gently shook his shoulder. He jumped up and twisted her arm., she screamed.
"Lily! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to!" he stuttered a bit. Lily shook her arm out.
"It's fine. No big deal, I'm sure it was just a reflex. You must have had some pretty tough times. It's time to go home now, if you want to." she replied.
"Lily...are you sure you want me back? I completely understand if you don't. I don't want you to feel obligated to house me because I'm back. I can find a place of my own, no problem."
"You're coming home, end of discussion, James. I love you and I want to be with you."
James smiled and let her help him out of the bed. He had changed earlier so they were ready to go within a few minutes. Soon enough they were back at home.
"You should probably get to bed, James. You've had a tough time." Lily suggested.
"Um...where am I sleeping?" he asked. He didn't want to assume anything.
"In our bed, James. Everything is going to be like a normal couple from now on," she said quite matter of factly.
James nodded and went up to their bedroom, surprised that nothing had really changed at all. It was comforting. He was just drifting off when he heard Lily moving things around in the kitchen. Pots and pans banging were that last things he heard.
The next morning he woke up, surprised to find Lily lying in his arms. He quickly withdrew them, hoping that she wouldn't wake up. What was wrong with him? It's what she wanted, wasn't it? She said she wanted to be like a normal couple from now on. He decided to get up and take a shower. He got out from underneath the blankets and realized it was freezing.
Next he looked out the window. There was a layer of fresh snow on the ground, with more falling from the sky. The trees were completely bare. What day was it? That was the first thing he wanted to find out when Lily woke up, which, judging by her snoring, wasn't going to be anytime soon.
When he came out of the shower, Lily was already awake, and out of the room. The bed was made, and the room had been vacuumed and picked up. James was impressed with how quietly she had gone about picking up, or how completely oblivious he had been to the noise.
He got dressed, finding that his clothes were still in the same drawers they had always been in. She had kept everything the same as it had been. After making sure he looked ready, and presentable for the day, he headed downstairs to see Lily.
She was in the kitchen pulling something out of the oven. He could smell whatever it was, and the scent was amazing. He couldn't place it though.
"What are you making?" he asked.
"Well good morning to you too, James," Lily replied with a huge smile. "I'm making pumpkin pie, today is Thanksgiving after all."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked.
"No, I'm just making the pie, we're going over to the Order Headquarters for dinner. Molly is making it. We're supposed to be there later tonight.
"Oh." James said. He went to the island in the kitchen and sat down on his favorite stool to have a cup of coffee.
"That is, if you're up to it. We don't have to go. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. Of course you don't want to go, you just got back yesterday. I'll just run to the store to get—"
"Lily, it's fine. We'll go, I'm completely up to it. I was just a little surprised is all, I didn't think the Order would be doing a Thanksgiving together."
Lily smiled and put the pie in the fridge for it to cool. Pumpkin pie was always better cold.
They sat in silence as Lily went about cleaning he traditional Muggle way. James sat, reading the paper and drinking his coffee.
"I see you guys have been having a short time of peace. What do you think Voldemort is up to?" he asked.
Lily shook her head. "They don't really let me know a lot about what's going on, I've been so busy at the hospital that I haven't really had much to do in the Order, not that they'd really let me do anything anyway because they thought that I was in a vulnerable state of mind thinking that you were still alive. They thought that I was in some state of severe denial that it wouldn't be safe to let me do anything."
"How is the hospital? I didn't know that you were into healing." James said. He had forgotten that his wife was working now.
"It's fine. I like it, but I'd rather be an Auror. They wouldn't let me do that either, though. Healing is fun, but anybody can say a few charms and make people better, not everyone can catch and destroy the worst wizard of all time and all of his followers. However, I am way ahead of the rest of the people who started when I did. I've been working extra shifts at all hours of the day and I've learned a lot more than they have. The healers favor me and I get more complicated cases. I wasn't supposed to become an actual healer until almost a year from now, but with all of the time I've put in, I'll be made one next month!"
She sounded excited at the promotion. James knew that she could be way more than a healer though, she should be an Auror; it was another thing that he had ruined for her, if he had been there they would've let her join the force.
"That's great, but now that I'm back, do you think they'd let you become an Auror? I hate that there's another thing that I've gone and ruined for you."
"James, I'm fine where I'm at right now, and there are other reasons that I don't want to go into training to be an Auror, maybe in the future sometime, but not now. I want to be a healer for a while. I'm going to have plenty of time to be an Auror later."
James let the subject go. He'd hate to push her and get into an argument his first day back at home. He decided to change the subject.
"Lily, where exactly are we at?" he asked.
"I'm pretty sure we're on top of the hill at Godric's Hollow," she said, with a twinkle in her eye.
"Seriously though, I don't want to mess things up again."
She sighed and put down the sponge that she had been using to clean the flour and sugar off of the stovetop.
"I guess I don't really know. I'll let you decide, but now I have to go get dressed and ready for tonight." she replied, heading upstairs.
Normally James would follow her and try to get her into bed, but it just didn't seem right so soon. She said he could decide, but that'd be asking a bit much after an entire year away. That wasn't a clue that he should follow her, was it?
Lily sat up in their room on her bed. She had kind of hoped that James would follow her up and...well obviously he didn't want her. Had she grown ugly in the past year? Was there something wrong with her?
She put on a very tight black turtleneck sweater and a longer dark brown skirt that was clinging to her hips. Last of all, she put on a pair of knee high boots. She had to admit, she did look really good, although, maybe she'd put on a little weight, but nothing that noticeable, or was it? James wasn't like that though. He'd always loved her. A pound or two wasn't going to make that much of a difference.
She put her hair up in a bun on the top of her head. A few tendrils fell down in the back, a bit curly. The overall effect was beautiful.
She headed back downstairs with her cloak on and told James that it was time to go. James had taken the time to put some nicer clothes on and he had been running his fingers through his hair because it stood up even more than usual.
She smiled, trying not to look too disappointed with the fact that he hadn't come up with her, and grabbed the pie.
"You remember the address, right?" she asked. He nodded and the both Disapparated.
Within a moment or two they were just outside the headquarters, and they quickly walked up to what looked like an old decrepit house that even a slight wind would tip over.
Lily turned to James before they entered. "I'm not sure who knows you're back yet, but hopefully they've been warned. I don't want you to be too surprised though if they're shocked."
James nodded and knocked on the door. It was opened a few seconds later by Sirius.
"Oh, it's you." he said quietly, "I didn't know you were coming."
Lily glared at him. How could he be acting this way towards James? They were best friends. James looked heartbroken. She'd remember to ask him about it later.
"Are you going to let us in, or are we going to have to stand here in the cold for the night?" Lily asked. Sirius opened the storm door and let them in.
The Potters walked into the kitchen to give Molly the pie that Lily had made. When they entered, silence fell over the entire room.
"James?" Molly asked.
He nodded. "I'm back," he said quietly.
Molly ran up to him and gave him a huge hug. "It's so good to see you. Everyone thought you were dead!"
Soon afterwards, others were saying things quite similar and James was on the receiving end of a lot of other hugs and kisses. Lily set the pie on one of the counters and started to set the dining room table.
At the dinner, everyone was talking to James, asking him how he was, what went on, and all sorts of other questions. He hadn't even sat by Lily. He was sitting between Molly's brothers, telling them all about what the underworld was like.
She sat and picked at her food, not eating much. Dumbledore had decided to call a meeting afterwards, to catch James up on what was going on in the world today.
While everyone else went to the meeting, Lily helped Molly clear the table and wash the dishes.
"You must be glad to have James back," she said quietly.
Lily nodded and didn't say anything.
"I can't even imagine if Arthur had been away for a year, leaving me with all these kids. Did I tell you we're expecting our sixth now? I just found out a couple weeks ago."
"Congratulations, Molly!" Lily said. She loved all of the Weasely's kids. They were all so adorable. She hoped that someday she and James could have a family as nice as theirs.
"How about you two? Are you planning to have any kids?" she asked. Molly was a more traditional type and thought that since they'd been married for a while now, they should most definitely have kids, or some on the way.
"We would've had a little girl by now. I miscarried though. I don't know, especially now since James doesn't seem to want too much to do with me, that there are going to be any kids in the future. I hope so, I just don't know."
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up such a painful subject. What do you mean by James not wanting anything to do with you? He couldn't stop looking at you. It's just too bad my brothers couldn't leave him alone for two seconds. They get so into missions though. They're so strong. I don't know what I'd ever do without them around. Anyways, I wouldn't give up on James, he loves you."
They finished the rest of the dishes talking about whether Molly was going to have another boy or not. She was sure that this one was going to be a girl, and that she wasn't going to stop until she had one. Lily laughed at the thought that there could be a couple dozen children before that happened.
The meeting was over now because there were loud voices in the hallway outside of the kitchen. Lily picked up one of the screaming children and tried to calm him down. It was one of the twins, and his cries had made the other one cry as well. They were so adorable with their red hair. For a minute she thought of her little girl that she had never gotten the chance to know. Molly was so lucky to have her large family. She would always be loved.
She yawned, the turkey was affecting her already it seemed. She should probably go and find James so they could leave. They didn't want to try and Disapparate if they were too tired. It'd be risky.
She rocked the baby until he stopped crying, but then James walked in the door.
"You made a friend," he said with a laugh.
"It seems to me, you might have lost one," Lily replied, referring to Sirius' previously cold behavior towards him.
Other members and their families started to leave and the Potters decided they would as well. Everyone reminded James how glad they were to see him again. They were just headed out the door when Dumbledore stopped them.
"How are you two doing?"
"We're fine. Tired, but fine." Lily said.
"Lily, I was hoping that maybe since James is back, we could get you into doing some more work for us. I know that you're busy with the hospital and all, but we could really use you."
"I'm just the same as when James was gone. I don't see how I could be any more useful now than I was a month ago, but thank you."
"I'm sorry. It was for James's safety. I thought that doing more work would make you think that he's dead. I thought maybe that if I pushed you away a little bit, you'd keeping believing that James was alive. He needed you to believe that he was alive in order for him to come back. It was for his protection."
Lily shook her head. "Well that was fairly clever. Mean, but clever. I think that James and I really need to get going now, but I will get in contact with you later and I'll do whatever the Order needs."
Dumbledore smiled, "I'm glad that you understand, Mrs. Potter. I wish the both of you a very happy Thanksgiving."
With that, all three of them went their separate ways and returned home.
"I'm quite thankful that you're back, James," Lily said, while putting on her pajamas. He was in the bathroom brushing his teeth.
He spit out the toothpaste and rinsed his toothbrush, "I'm thankful that you're taking me back."
They both crawled into bed. Lily was reading a book, and James was reading the rest of the paper.
"So what happened with Sirius?" she asked.
James didn't answer for a minute. He took a deep breath and began, "Sirius is mad at me. Actually, he hates me, I think. At the hospital, he yelled at me for not saying goodbye. He's mad that I didn't say goodbye when I left. I think he's more mad about the fact that I left without him. That he didn't get to come with, and now he was getting over my being gone and I just show up again. I don't really know what's wrong. Remus kind of hinted that Sirius is just really broken up about the fact that I was gone and now I just popped up out of nowhere. That he thinks it's going to be harder if I were to die for real on a mission and I hadn't said goodbye. I don't really know what to do. My best friend hates me, and Lily...you've seemed quite cold towards me all evening. Did I do something to you too?"
Lily put down her book. "No James. I was just hoping for a little bit more from you to start out with. But you're back and that's what really matters. I'll wait."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Lily smiled and reached behind his head. She pulled it closer towards her and started to kiss him. He pulled away immediately though.
"You see what I mean? You wouldn't even talk to me earlier, let alone touch me. I'm your wife. I want to be able to hug you, kiss you, and more, and you wouldn't even talk to me. Is there something wrong with me?"
"No! I love you, Lily. I didn't know what you wanted from me. I didn't want to assume the wrong thing and end up making you hate me. I didn't want to try and sleep with you right away. I kind of figured that you were just being nice to me because I've been gone, and that you were going to kick me out again. I want so badly to be with you. I love you, Lily, and I just didn't want to mess things up the day I got back."
Lily pulled him into a kiss again, and this time he didn't pull away. Lily was running her fingers through his hair and he started to kiss her neck, while pulling her closer to him. James had been surprised at first at how quickly Lily wanted to move forward, but he realized that he did too. He wanted it, but she seemed to need it.
A while later Lily lay in his arms. Her chest moved up and down with each breath, her cheeks were flushed, hair askew. The large comforter was just barely covering her, but she was content. All she needed was to be in his arms. James loved watching her. She was so beautiful.
With one last kiss, they both fell asleep.
Author's Note: I hope all of you have had a happy Thanksgiving. I felt like writing another chapter this week, so here it is. I'm hoping that maybe I could get twenty reviews for this chapter to bring to 300 reviews, it'd be VERY nice. I'd also like to thank all of the new readers that have reviewed, I love that! I'd like to hear from some of my old readers too, it's been a while!