"I knew we shouldn't have left her alone," Mrs. Potter whispered under her breath.
Lily saw Layla cast her a sympathetic look out of the corner of her eye before rising to her feet. "Anna, is something wrong?"
"Oh, Layla! Have you seen a girl around here?" she asked quickly. "We got caught up talking and in the mess she seems to have… lost us."
Lily sighed tiredly at the underlying distrust that had been revealed by the last few sentences and deflated a little. She had prepared herself for the fact that she wouldn't be liked, but that didn't mean it hurt any less, especially seeing as she had only been in the house for a sum total of twenty minutes.
"Sorry. Mrs. Potter, I was just… Well I was just—" Lily didn't know how to explain so she just stood up.
At first, all Lily could see was a suspicious scowl and flashing eyes as Mrs. Potter took note of Lily's position on the stairs. Suddenly, the expression melted and she showed her first sign of worry, a natural reaction, when she saw the blood leaking out of the large cut on Lily's head
Noticing the direction of her gaze Lily figured she should at least try to explain, "There was just a bit of an accident," she said grasping the banister as soon as she gained her feet to stop herself from falling again.
"Lily?" Layla asked, worriedly reaching out to steady her.
"I'm fine," Lily mumbled and when she regained her equilibrium Mrs. Potter suddenly seemed to be stood in front of them. Lily had no idea how she had managed to move so fast, but she wasn't too concerned as her mind swam.
"I'm fine, honestly," she croaked again, shaking her head in an attempt to throw off the fog clouding her mind.
"Don't be silly," Mrs Potter sharply said as she tugged her towards a chair set back in a small alcove. She brushed Lily's hair away from her face so she could see the extent of the damage. Lily expected it to hurt, but Mrs. Potter was infinitely gentle. Lily couldn't help, but frown at the discrepancies in behaviour, but she was distracted and let out a gasp when one of the light touches caused the cut to pull.
Just as the sound passed her lips she found James kneeling before her. "What the hell did you do?" he asked, frowning as he grabbed her hand and held it tightly, automatically glowering when Mrs. Potter's examination made her flinch again.
"I fell," she admitted flushing. "It's really not a big deal," she continued in a small voice when she noticed that everyone except Sirius had come to see what was going on.
"It was a big deal!" Layla interrupted. "She fell trying to stop this little monster from cracking her head open like a nut," she jostled the offending person who was watching all the drama from her spot on her mother's hip. "You know you are not supposed to go down the stairs on your own!" she reprimanded, turning worried eyes onto her child. "You wait till your father hears about this!"
"Do we have to tell?" a little voice asked.
"We don't have to do anything," Layla said eyeing her daughter meaningfully.
Laughing gently at the discussion between mother and daughter, but still feeling uncomfortable, Lily stared into James's eyes even as Mrs Potter continued to prod, not just because she felt better now that he was here but also because she didn't want to have to look at anyone else - she felt a bit foolish now that she was surrounded by people. At least James knew she wasn't normally this clumsy.
Sensing that, James took his Mum's wrist gently and quietly said, "I'll do it."
"Don't be silly, James," his mother said, trying to shake off his grasp, giving him an impatient look when he didn't release her right away.
"I said I'll do it," he repeated calmly, but firmly.
All eyes seemed to focus on him for a moment, his mother looked beyond shocked, but relented with a speculative look and the others backed away, giving the two of them a little more space.
Yet they didn't leave completely, although that might have been best considering the topic of conversation, but Lily figured that they thought she was too shocked to really be listening or she hoped that's what they thought anyway.
"What was she doing on the stairs anyway?" Mrs. Potter sharply whispered to Layla, obviously stung by James's behaviour.
"Anna," Mr. Potter warningly rumbled, sending a discreet look at James who didn't seem to have heard any of the conversation so far.
"She had no reason to be there!"
"Don't jump to conclusions, Anna," Mr. Potter warned again as he wrapped a calming arm around his wife's shoulder.
Just as Mrs. Potter was about to reply Lily saw Layla frown, and was relieved to know at least someone was on her side. "Anna, she was just looking at the foyer."
Mrs. Potter sent Layla a significant look, "Convenient."
"This foyer took my breath away the first time I came here too." Layla interjected. "And I don't think it was convenient at all that my daughter decided to take a flying leap… Merlin… if Lily hadn't been here!" Layla shuddered.
Suddenly, Lily felt a pain in her head as it healed, funny how James' touch hadn't hurt at all, drawing her attention away from the suspicious Mrs. Potter, instinctively looking up at the wand that had healed her. That was when she realized James was listening to their discussion as well. She smiled at him in reassurance, but it came out more as a grimace. He gently stroked a hand against her cheek. " I'm sorry," he mouthed.
She couldn't help, but cover his hand with her own as she shook her head, dismissing the subject. "You like me and that's all that really matters," she whispered, low enough not to be heard by the others.
James's eyes hardened and he threw a disgusted look over his shoulder, which attracted his father's attention. James didn't notice though, he simply looked back at her, his eyes burning and before she could figure out what it was he intended he leant forward and kissed her lips. He lingered for only a moment before his lips moved to press against the red mark that had only moments before been an open cut.
Lily wrapped her free hand around his neck and held him there for a moment, his touch making her feel much better than any healing spell. Seeming to understand James pulled her up out of the chair and into his arms where he spent a moment just hugging her.
"I'm so sorry. I won't leave you again," he whispered fervently in to her ear.
Lily couldn't help, but laugh. "Don't be ridiculous, James, I don't want you to have to babysit me. I fell down, and I'm up again now. I want you to enjoy this time with your family. It's not just about us."
He chuckled, but it trailed off when the external conversation floated back in to range.
"I don't blame her! You lot can be quite intimidating when you're all together," Layla fervently said and it suddenly became clear that even if Mrs. Potter hadn't quite warmed to her yet Lily had definitely made herself an ally the moment she saved Layla's daughter from her fall.
"And what lead her up the stairs towards the offices?" Mrs. Potter sarcastically scoffed.
Lily felt James try to pull away, inhaling a breath to say something, but Lily tightened her grip and stopped him. "Please," she whispered against his ear.
"But she's not even being quiet about it!" he said, half in shock and half in disgust, turning his face back towards Lily and ending up almost nose to nose. Yet he still stopped, just as she'd asked. "She's really not like this," he said, trying to convey to Lily with his eyes that he didn't know what was going on. "I knew she would be difficult, but this…" he trailed off.
Luckily, Mr. Potter spoke up. "Don't be ridiculous Anna, she's been here ten minutes – how would she even know what's up there? She saw Treacle running toward the stairs and tried to stop her. Don't go into this thinking the worst, you'll end up with more hassle than you want."
James seemed to calm for a moment, but he stiffened uncomfortably with the next few words.
"I'm telling you, James won't stand for it. Look at the way he is with her. If you make a fight of this I wouldn't be so certain that he'd take your side. You better give her a chance."
Lily carefully met James's eyes, certain that he would pull away from her now. There was no way he could feel that way; this was all a ruse as far as he was concerned she reminded herself sternly. But she was shocked when it became obvious that he was unashamed, unembarrassed, and in total agreement with his father.
"James," she whispered through her suddenly tight throat, but she was stopped from speaking when she felt a large warm palm touch her shoulder, the action mimicked on James. "Come on you two," Mr. Potter said, "let's go sit down and rest a while. All this excitement has made me hungry."
---
After a rather tense dinner James and Lily finally found a few moments alone and Lily was so tired, both mentally and physically, that she couldn't help, but curl up into James on one of the sofas.
"How are you?" he quietly asked, absently stroking a hand through her hair.
"Fine," she automatically answered, leaning in to his touch.
Despite her reassurance James ran one of his fingers gently over her forehead, where the cut had been, frowning.
She stopped his movements and brought his hand down to her lap. "I'm fine, it doesn't hurt at all," she repeated, smiling at him fondly.
James sighed, but he stopped looking so worried and adjusted her even closer to his body.
They sat in silence for a minute, James now running his fingers absently up and down her arm. Lily closed her eyes and said: "You and your parents seem really close. Sirius, too."
She felt his body tense and she reassuringly squeezed his hand. "That's a really great thing."
James nodded relieved, "We are," he answered, "most of the time," he added with a humourless chuckle.
"Don't be too hard on them, James, I can see why they might be suspicious."
James grunted, but didn't agree.
"Please," she said tightening her hold on him. "I really don't want to cause trouble."
"It's been one hell of a day, hasn't it?" he asked, leaning his head back against the sofa.
"Yeah", she said turning her face in to his neck to say, "but it wasn't too bad."
"Well, you didn't run screaming from the house, at any rate," he said, seriously. "Although, after dinner I wouldn't have blamed you."
"That's been your main fear?!" she laughed. "Idiot! I'm not going to ditch you!" she said, prodding him in the stomach in reproach.
James released a huff of air before tightening his hold. "It could have gone better," he sighed, regretfully.
"It could have gone a lot worse," Lily retorted. "So what if my reception was a little frosty? It wasn't anything unexpected."
He scoffed, "You're right, a couple more bangs on that thick head of yours and we might even have ended up in St Mungo's!"
"Why you little bugger—" Lily cut her sentence short as a small person flounced into the room and right onto James's lap.
Lily was shocked, but James didn't even hesitate. "Hello, Treacle," he greeted warmly without breaking eye contact with Lily, his thumb rubbing affectionately on her shoulder.
The little body in his lap didn't answer, but just started to squirm trying to find a comfortable position and James released Lily long enough to settle the wriggling mass in his lap. The moment she was situated comfortably his arm went back around Lily and his thumb resumed its movements.
Lily closed her eyes and leaned her head against James's shoulder. He was so comfortable; she couldn't blame Treacle for wanting to sit on his lap.
Suddenly, an innocent voice interrupted her peace and James's eyes widened to the size of saucers and Lily felt her stomach flip over.
"Do you love her?
James couldn't help the flush that spread across his cheeks. He uncomfortably cleared his throat before finally managing to say: "Why would you ask that, sweetheart?"
"You're always touching like Mummy and Daddy, and I heard auntie Anna and uncle Will talking."
Lily flushed and met James's eyes, but found that neither of them could hold the contact.
"Anna seemed upset, but I think you love her, just not quite as much as you love Melody, right?"
Melody again? Lily wondered as she tensed and James instantly felt it. His arm tightened around her even as he smiled broadly.
"I love Melody very much," James responded truthfully, "I always have."
James felt Lily turn her face away from him, hiding the look in her eyes and his heart started to pound at the implications. He tried to ignore it though, he didn't want to read too much into Lily's response, he didn't think he could bare the let down if he was wrong.
James felt Lily start to pull away so she could get up. He couldn't allow that, so he put his hand on her chin as he tried to coax her into looking at him. She evaded him for a few second, but, eventually, she relented.
James kept eye contact with her even as he leant down to kiss the tiny curly haired head now resting sleepily on his shoulder. "Time to put my love to bed," he smiled. "Right, Melody?"
Lily frowned at him, shocked that he would joke with her right now. After all of their time together, could he really not tell that she was upset?! Then, though, a sleepy little voice intruded into her anger by saying: "A few more minutes?"
"Melody Truce, you know what will happen if your mum catches you staying up late with me instead of putting on your PJ's. We'll both be in for it."
The child sighed sadly before brightening. "Can I stay here and you read me a story?"
"I think we'll have to ask, but if Layla says it okay, I don't mind reading." Melody was out of his lap and calling for her Mum before James had even finished his sentence.
Lily watched the small body leave the room the same way she'd entered it before saying in confusion "Melody?" but then, suddenly it all clicked into place. "Oh…" she mumbled sheepishly.
"Yeah, oh." James couldn't help, but goad. "Jealous, Lily?" he was so ecstatic to have been able to make her jealous that he almost couldn't keep the grin from his face and he found it even harder when he heard his Dad and Sirius chuckle from nearby. Lily whipped around to look at them in surprise not having realized they'd come into the room at the same time as Melody.
Lily smiled shyly, when James started to chuckle she shoved at his shoulder, blushing. "Idiot," she breathed.
---
A/N
I hope you enjoyed the chap! I don't think I'll post again before Christmas so..... MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!