James:
"I swear, James, I'm going to resign." Remus pulled him into a tight hug.
"You'd never abandon me," James chuckled as he brought Lily back under his arm.
Remus huffed but James didn't miss the smile that pulled on his lips.
"Let's go to your study and I'll fill you in on what you missed." Remus turned from the stables. "I've already ordered for some stew and warm cider to be brought up for the four of you."
James smiled at the warmth from the fireplace of his study and the smell of warm food once they'd walked in.
"Alright, Rems, Pete," James pulled out Lily's chair, "What happened in the last twenty-two hours?"
"Not a lot," Pete shrugged. "The few people in the palace that knew just spent that time panicking that their King was missing in the storm."
"I'll dine with the court tonight and take care of damage control." James felt like he was becoming far too proficient at that particular skill.
"Mostly we rescheduled all the meetings you had, so the next few days will be pretty busy." Peter handed James a paper with his new schedule listed out.
James sighed and took a long drink from his warm cider. The next few days were going to be nightmarish.
"We'll make it work, James," Lily squeezed his hand.
James felt a layer of his anxiety lift and he brought her hand to his lips to kiss her fingers, grinning at her blush.
He was about to suggest they steal a private hour when there was a knock at the door.
The door opened and Marlene gasped before running to the woman standing behind Timothy.
"Your Majesty, may I present the Lady Elspeth McKinnon, messenger from Queen Petunia of Privet."
Lily jumped up and rushed the woman at the door.
"My girls!" Lady McKinnon wrapped her arms around Marlene and Lily, and James felt jealousy pull at his heart. What he wouldn't give to have his mother back?
James blinked at how similar the older woman was to Marlene. Her hair had streaks of white through her golden curls, but she was the same height and the same build as her daughter. No one would question the relationship between these two. But James was taken aback at how Lily clung to this small woman. Lily had spoken some of spending her time with the McKinnon's, but it wasn't until he saw her with Marlene's mother did he start to really grasp what this family meant to her.
"Welcome, Lady McKinnon."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Lady McKinnon curtsied deeply when her daughters stepped back.
"Were you alright in the snow?" Lily asked.
"Oh yes, Queen Petunia sent me with an escort to carry all of your things and that came with tents and plenty of food."
"You brought my things?"
James chuckled at how Lily's face lit up in excitement.
"Everything but your tiara," she nodded, "Petunia wouldn't hear of that."
Marlene burst out laughing.
"Lily already has her tiara, Mum. I managed to translocate it here shortly after we made it to Godric's Hollow."
Elspeth chuckled and shook her head. "There's so much of your father in you it scares me some days."
"Lady McKinnon," James motioned Timothy to get a chair, "the majority of my Privy council is currently here. Would you be willing to give us a better picture of what's going on right now in Privet? Our information is scarce and unclear."
Elspeth smiled as she took a seat in the chair Timothy brought over. "Of course, your Majesty."
"We understand you're part of the resistance work against these ridiculous proclamations."
"Yes, we've been trying to show our monarchy how much magic and non-magic users have integrated together and now rely upon each other."
"Is it working?" Remus asked.
"I think we're at least getting their attention. But food is going to be scarce come Spring, and that's the main part of our plan. Privets' soil is rocky and more like clay, so magic users make a decent living tampering with the soil for farming."
"Oh no," Peter's eyes went wide, "How will anyone eat?"
Sirius, however, was grinning at Marlene, "I can see where your cleverness comes from."
"Anyway," James rolled his eyes, "Do you think the lack of food will pressure the crown enough to get them to change?"
"That's what we're going for," Elspeth nodded.
"What if it doesn't work?" Lily bit her lip. "Vernon and Petunia might just decide to take everything from the magic users and make the non-magic users get by on it."
"You can't squeeze blood from a stone," Marlene huffed. "We were already trying to keep the common magic community out of poverty."
"Come here," James interrupted. "If your plan doesn't work, come here. I'll get King Cornelius to open a passage for all of you, and King Arthur would be happy to help set up many of you as well. We can't offer the nobles titles, but we can get them and everyone else homes and a new start."
Elspeth smiled, "Thank you, your Majesty. We'll let that be known through the community."
"Why don't we get Lady McKinnon settled in some rooms," Remus looked out the window. "Then I'm ordering you four to take it easy the rest of the day."
"Take it easy?" Elspeth looked at Marlene.
Marlene sighed, "You don't want to know."
