House: Slytherin

Category: Drabble

Prompt: James and Lily's final night [Prompt]

Word Count (excluding A/N): 425

A/N: This story begged to be written when I was helping The fanster brainstorm. So here it is :)

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James silently entered the room. His wife stood there in the starlight, her long hair blood red in the darkness. As he watched, she shivered and pulled her quilt tighter around her, then smiled tenderly down at their son. "Lily?" he murmured, laying an arm around her shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

Lily leant into his touch, wrapping an arm around his midriff before answering, "I wanted to see Harry."

James chuckled. "I know. It's hard to believe that little tyke is going to defeat Voldemort."

"But he will," Lily whispered, pushing back a lock of unruly black hair to reveal a smooth, unblemished forehead. The stars twinkled down upon the small family as they stood there in the dark night.

James nodded slowly, his eyes on the child sleeping so peacefully in the crib. "He must."

"It is his destiny," agreed Lily with a slight frown. She rested her head on his shoulder, her deep red hair falling over him. "I just worry for him. I— I want to make sure he's happy." She fell silent, simply standing there in the darkness with her husband and her child, all of them so small and fragile against the encroaching night. Finally, she whispered, "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight…"

Her voice trailed off, and after an immeasurable silence, James pressed her hand and murmured, "What was that, Lily?"

"An old muggle saying," she replied quietly. "If you wish upon the first star you see, your wish will come true."

"Then let's do it," James replied, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Harry needs love."

Lily sighed. "I know— it's just— I wished for years that Petunia would love me, and it never happened."

"It can't hurt to try." Careful not to wake Harry, James guided his wife to the window and drew open the curtains. "Now, how did it go again? Star light, star bright…"

"...first star I see tonight," Lily whispered. "I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight."

"Let Harry be loved," James murmured. "Let him grow up happy."

The two stood there in the window, staring silently into the starry night sky.

. . . . . . . . . .

The stars shone above them, careless and cold and cruel. They would watch the children trick-or-treat the next night. They would watch Voldemort enter the Potter home to murder its inhabitants. And they would watch Albus Dumbledore take little Harry, the only survivor, and leave him on his aunt's doorstep.

They would watch, and yet they would do nothing.