A/N: The Restricted Collection - prompt: No 'time hopping'
The HP Assassin Competition - prompt: 'It looked almost like a black and white photograph.' from the fic After School Conversations. (I'll add the writer's name in after the competition has finished.)
"I'm going to check out the bathroom," Lily called out, leaning on the cushioned stair railing. "Want me to wait for you?"
"No thanks," James shouted back. "I'll meet you up there in a sec."
Turning away, she headed towards the still-to-be-explored room.
I can't believe we're actually house-hunting, she thought. It sounds so grown up.
A flash of melancholy rushed through her. What it sounded like was something that her sister would do. Petunia was the interior decorator in the family. Petunia was the one who loved going along to open days for the sole purpose of getting new ideas.
Petunia was the one who was so eager to design anybody's home but couldn't even bear to discuss colour schemes with Lily.
No, Lily thought. I'm not getting caught up in that again today.
Shaking off the pain, she continued through the upper floor of the little cottage Alice had recommended to the newlyweds. While the fact that it was in a purely wizarding village would make it harder for her to spend time with her family, she had already fallen in love with the place.
And, if she knew anything about her husband, James had, too.
Reaching the final room on that storey, Lily swung open the door - and stepped into a seeming photoshoot of a bathroom. It was bold and elegant and just added to her already strong interest in the house. It looked almost like a black and white photograph. It was just that good. Standing there, Lily felt almost like she had been dropped into one of Petunia's home decor magazines.
Behind her, she could hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. She turned to greet James with a warm smile.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I like it," she said. "I'm happy to look elsewhere if you want to, but..."
"I love it. Did you see the spare room? It's close enough to the main bedroom that we could make it the nursery, but it's also big enough that the baby would be able to keep using it when he gets older. The window - "
"Good," she cut him off, knowing that he could ramble all day about what he liked about the house if she let him and not wanting the real estate agent to realise just how much they loved it in case he tried to get them to pay a higher price. "Because I kind of underestimated just how much I like it."
"And 'Godric's Hollow' does have a ring to it," he added.