Family Matters
Chapter 4- Crying, Changes, and Crowds
Notes: Major thanks go out to all the people who have left the swanky reviews. They really keep me going and writing this story as fast as I am. Once again, constructive criticism is welcome! Thank you all. -Confuzzzed-
Linwe Amandil- aw. you make me feel so special!
Fallen Dragon- hope I am updating fast enough for you!
Lady Lightning- oh. I will.
Lei Dumbledore-bouncing around my dorm room "I got a review from Lei! I got a review from Lei!" Thank you for thinking my story is good! You are one of my favorite authors. Cannot wait for the next chapter of "Home for the Summer"!
MerlinHalliwell- I actually have not decided yet. after the next chapter I could either jump to first year or follow Sev and his son more (which would require me to outline those chapters since I have everything else outlined already).
-=-=-=- If people want to leave their opinions on whether or not I should jump or not, it might help me make a decision and/or give me some ideas. Please tell me what you think about this! I am confused! -=-=-=-
+ Potter Gardens (Potter Summer Home -Godric's Hollow-)+
June 31st 1980
The sun was beginning to rise behind the rain clouds as James levitated the marble headstone into place as the rain kept falling. Lily pulled her cloak further over her tear-stained face and reinforced the shield and heat spells on the blankets that kept baby Alex dry and warm in the cold rain. James rested a hand on her hip and his other on her shoulder. "Come-on," he said gently, "We need to take the baby in. He'll be hungry soon, and we don't have anything for him yet." Lily nodded sadly and let James lead her back to the cottage.
Lily stood in the doorway to the living room watching James and baby Alex as she dried her hair with a towel. When they had gotten back, Alexander had woken up and was fussing so James had called back to the manor and asked Simon to bring over some diapers, bottles, and baby stuff for Alex. The house-elf appeared a few minutes later with a pile of stuff. They all headed upstairs to the guest bedroom where Simon quickly set to removing the furniture and turning it into a nursery. Once everything was gone and the walls were newly painted light blue, he enlarged a crib, changing table, and a set of drawers filled with some small baby clothes that were from James' own childhood nursery. Then Simon enlarged a large squishy package of diapers, which he put under the changing table, along with a case of wipes. Lily placed Alex on the changing table and got him into a tiny diaper and blue one-piece sleeper while Simon and James went to prepare some bottles for Alex. who was getting fussier. When Lily came downstairs with Alex. James took the now wailing baby from her and told her to go take a shower. That he would feed and get Alex to sleep. She headed upstairs as James wrapped Alex up snugly in a warm blanket and snagged a warm bottle off the coffee table, and settled down to feed his nephew.
+ Living Room (Potter Summer Home -Godric's Hollow-)+
August 1st 1980
Lily and James had each managed to snag a bit of sleep between the frequent feedings during the night, and were exhausted emotionally as well as physically. Little Alex was quite a good baby though, according to Lily, who had often babysat during her summers at home. He cried very little and seemed to be good tempered. Alex had enjoyed his sponge bath that morning very much, although, Simon had to come back to the cottage and coach them through it.
James held a dozing Alexander in his arms after a feeding as he and Lily discussed what they were going to do. In hindsight, Lily's plan of pretending she was pregnant was a perfect cover. They could just pretend that Lily had a home-birth and that Alex was their son. The only problem was that, even as a newborn, Alex seemed to resemble Snape quite a bit. He even had a tiny Snape wizard mark on his small shoulder. Luckily, it looked like he had managed to get Samantha's nose, and not Severus' large one. Which had been quite nice till Sirius broke it in fourth year during a squabble in Charms. Lily had known that Alexander could not stay 'Alex' so she pulled out her wand and started to chant about 20 charms, going so fast that James could not keep-up so he settled watching Alex slowly stop looking like Snape, and look more like him. When Lily stopped, Alexander's longish (for a baby), straight, and black with red-streaks, hair had shortened, curled a bit, and become almost as messy as James' own. Even though Alex really only had very little hair to start with, the change was quite visible. The Wizard-mark had also been concealed, along with any chances for the infant's blue-grey eyes to turn anything but Evans green or Potter brown.
Sadly. Lily returned her wand to her pocket, softly murmuring, "Welcome to our family Harry James Potter." as she placed a soft kiss on the baby's head. James sighed. a little worried about what this meant for Alexan.'Harry'. Then after a sigh, he did the same, placing a soft kiss on Harry's soft forehead as Lily stood to go make lunch. The baby just snuggled against his warmth. unaware of the major changes that had occurred in just 10 minutes time.
After lunch, Lily fed Harry again while James quickly filled out some birth announcements that Simon had sent over. Knowing that the Marauders would come over as soon as they got the message, Lily took Harry upstairs, and settled down with the baby to finish his feeding, and pretend that she was tired from the birth. Once she was upstairs James sent the announcements off with their owls Regina and Roland and went to the kitchen to charm the lunch dishes clean. Sure enough. just ten minutes later Sirius and Remus fell out of the Floo into the living room. Sirius bear-hugged James and asked where the prong-ling was; wanting to see him before he had to get back to work at the ministry. Searching the living room and Kitchen while Remus gave him a short hug. still sore from the change six days ago. "Lily and the baby are resting upstairs Padfoot." James said, before racing after Sirius so he would not disturb the baby overly much. Remus followed them at a slower pace, just reaching the stairs when Peter flew out of the fireplace and landed on the coffee table, snapping it in half. Remus hid a laugh as he repaired the table with a flick of his wand while Peter stood and dusted himself off.
+ Nursery (Potter Summer Home -Godric's Hollow-)+
August 1st 1980
When he and Peter got to the nursery, Lily was just finishing burping the baby with Sirius standing behind the rocking chair making faces and cooing at the surprised infant. Remus wiggled his nose a bit at the smell of the baby powder and the dirty diapers in the trashcan. His senses were still heightened from the full moon. Peter immediately went to look at the baby as Lily passed Harry to James, who settled the safely infant in his arms, before letting Sirius and Peter have a chance. Harry seemed a little surprised at these new people. Since the only person aside from James and Lily that he had seen so far was Simon. Not that his eyesight was fully developed yet, but the voices were different from those he was used to. Remus got a quick look at the baby and went to see how Lily was. She looked sad and happy at the same time as she watched the other two men hold Harry. but he knew he had to ask why they had kept the baby a secret so long. Lily seemed to see the question in his eyes and led him over to the padded window seat that overlooked the gardens. After Remus handed over the gift that he was thoughtful enough to bring, she pulled at the wrapping paper as she just sat watching the others with Remus at her side. Eventually, a few minutes later, Sirius and Peter pulled themselves away from Harry. Sirius had to get to work and James didn't catch where Peter had to go, but he had to leave too.
James decided to see them out and passed a sleepy Harry back to Lily. She cradled the infant in one arm as she opened the box, pulling out a soft blue-plaid fleece baby blanket and a soft plush leopard. Her smile shortened when she saw the leopard, only she, Remus, and Severus knew about her half-sister's rarely used animagius form. Putting the plush toy next to her, she wrapped Harry in the soft blanket and looked up at Remus sadly. "I can see what you want to know Remus, and aside from the whole Voldemort thing, I guess we wanted to know that this one was going to make it before we announced anything." Remus took her hand and kissed the knuckles. feeling bad about bringing up their last three tries to start a family. "Why don't you hold him?" she said holding out the blanket-wrapped baby to him, wanting to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. Remus took Harry gingerly, not knowing how to hold a baby. never the less and infant. Lily smiled as she moved his arms so he was supporting Harry's head, and then went to wipe her eyes on a tissue from the box under the changing table. Remus sniffed. he smelled someone that was NOT a Potter in the room. Looking around, wary that it might be a Death Eater, he held the baby closer.. But. the smell was coming from near him. it was coming from the baby. Lily turned back in time to see Remus open the blankets and sniff at Harry. Then he slowly looked up. training his amber eyes on her.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note: I did NOT create the idea of "Wizard-marks" that honor goes to Viscountess Babbles-On. I have sent her an e-mail asking permission to use them and am waiting for a reply. Don't be worried if they are removed. the story really does not need them but I think they are a very cool idea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes: Major thanks go out to all the people who have left the swanky reviews. They really keep me going and writing this story as fast as I am. Once again, constructive criticism is welcome! Thank you all. -Confuzzzed-
Linwe Amandil- aw. you make me feel so special!
Fallen Dragon- hope I am updating fast enough for you!
Lady Lightning- oh. I will.
Lei Dumbledore-bouncing around my dorm room "I got a review from Lei! I got a review from Lei!" Thank you for thinking my story is good! You are one of my favorite authors. Cannot wait for the next chapter of "Home for the Summer"!
MerlinHalliwell- I actually have not decided yet. after the next chapter I could either jump to first year or follow Sev and his son more (which would require me to outline those chapters since I have everything else outlined already).
-=-=-=- If people want to leave their opinions on whether or not I should jump or not, it might help me make a decision and/or give me some ideas. Please tell me what you think about this! I am confused! -=-=-=-
+ Potter Gardens (Potter Summer Home -Godric's Hollow-)+
June 31st 1980
The sun was beginning to rise behind the rain clouds as James levitated the marble headstone into place as the rain kept falling. Lily pulled her cloak further over her tear-stained face and reinforced the shield and heat spells on the blankets that kept baby Alex dry and warm in the cold rain. James rested a hand on her hip and his other on her shoulder. "Come-on," he said gently, "We need to take the baby in. He'll be hungry soon, and we don't have anything for him yet." Lily nodded sadly and let James lead her back to the cottage.
Lily stood in the doorway to the living room watching James and baby Alex as she dried her hair with a towel. When they had gotten back, Alexander had woken up and was fussing so James had called back to the manor and asked Simon to bring over some diapers, bottles, and baby stuff for Alex. The house-elf appeared a few minutes later with a pile of stuff. They all headed upstairs to the guest bedroom where Simon quickly set to removing the furniture and turning it into a nursery. Once everything was gone and the walls were newly painted light blue, he enlarged a crib, changing table, and a set of drawers filled with some small baby clothes that were from James' own childhood nursery. Then Simon enlarged a large squishy package of diapers, which he put under the changing table, along with a case of wipes. Lily placed Alex on the changing table and got him into a tiny diaper and blue one-piece sleeper while Simon and James went to prepare some bottles for Alex. who was getting fussier. When Lily came downstairs with Alex. James took the now wailing baby from her and told her to go take a shower. That he would feed and get Alex to sleep. She headed upstairs as James wrapped Alex up snugly in a warm blanket and snagged a warm bottle off the coffee table, and settled down to feed his nephew.
+ Living Room (Potter Summer Home -Godric's Hollow-)+
August 1st 1980
Lily and James had each managed to snag a bit of sleep between the frequent feedings during the night, and were exhausted emotionally as well as physically. Little Alex was quite a good baby though, according to Lily, who had often babysat during her summers at home. He cried very little and seemed to be good tempered. Alex had enjoyed his sponge bath that morning very much, although, Simon had to come back to the cottage and coach them through it.
James held a dozing Alexander in his arms after a feeding as he and Lily discussed what they were going to do. In hindsight, Lily's plan of pretending she was pregnant was a perfect cover. They could just pretend that Lily had a home-birth and that Alex was their son. The only problem was that, even as a newborn, Alex seemed to resemble Snape quite a bit. He even had a tiny Snape wizard mark on his small shoulder. Luckily, it looked like he had managed to get Samantha's nose, and not Severus' large one. Which had been quite nice till Sirius broke it in fourth year during a squabble in Charms. Lily had known that Alexander could not stay 'Alex' so she pulled out her wand and started to chant about 20 charms, going so fast that James could not keep-up so he settled watching Alex slowly stop looking like Snape, and look more like him. When Lily stopped, Alexander's longish (for a baby), straight, and black with red-streaks, hair had shortened, curled a bit, and become almost as messy as James' own. Even though Alex really only had very little hair to start with, the change was quite visible. The Wizard-mark had also been concealed, along with any chances for the infant's blue-grey eyes to turn anything but Evans green or Potter brown.
Sadly. Lily returned her wand to her pocket, softly murmuring, "Welcome to our family Harry James Potter." as she placed a soft kiss on the baby's head. James sighed. a little worried about what this meant for Alexan.'Harry'. Then after a sigh, he did the same, placing a soft kiss on Harry's soft forehead as Lily stood to go make lunch. The baby just snuggled against his warmth. unaware of the major changes that had occurred in just 10 minutes time.
After lunch, Lily fed Harry again while James quickly filled out some birth announcements that Simon had sent over. Knowing that the Marauders would come over as soon as they got the message, Lily took Harry upstairs, and settled down with the baby to finish his feeding, and pretend that she was tired from the birth. Once she was upstairs James sent the announcements off with their owls Regina and Roland and went to the kitchen to charm the lunch dishes clean. Sure enough. just ten minutes later Sirius and Remus fell out of the Floo into the living room. Sirius bear-hugged James and asked where the prong-ling was; wanting to see him before he had to get back to work at the ministry. Searching the living room and Kitchen while Remus gave him a short hug. still sore from the change six days ago. "Lily and the baby are resting upstairs Padfoot." James said, before racing after Sirius so he would not disturb the baby overly much. Remus followed them at a slower pace, just reaching the stairs when Peter flew out of the fireplace and landed on the coffee table, snapping it in half. Remus hid a laugh as he repaired the table with a flick of his wand while Peter stood and dusted himself off.
+ Nursery (Potter Summer Home -Godric's Hollow-)+
August 1st 1980
When he and Peter got to the nursery, Lily was just finishing burping the baby with Sirius standing behind the rocking chair making faces and cooing at the surprised infant. Remus wiggled his nose a bit at the smell of the baby powder and the dirty diapers in the trashcan. His senses were still heightened from the full moon. Peter immediately went to look at the baby as Lily passed Harry to James, who settled the safely infant in his arms, before letting Sirius and Peter have a chance. Harry seemed a little surprised at these new people. Since the only person aside from James and Lily that he had seen so far was Simon. Not that his eyesight was fully developed yet, but the voices were different from those he was used to. Remus got a quick look at the baby and went to see how Lily was. She looked sad and happy at the same time as she watched the other two men hold Harry. but he knew he had to ask why they had kept the baby a secret so long. Lily seemed to see the question in his eyes and led him over to the padded window seat that overlooked the gardens. After Remus handed over the gift that he was thoughtful enough to bring, she pulled at the wrapping paper as she just sat watching the others with Remus at her side. Eventually, a few minutes later, Sirius and Peter pulled themselves away from Harry. Sirius had to get to work and James didn't catch where Peter had to go, but he had to leave too.
James decided to see them out and passed a sleepy Harry back to Lily. She cradled the infant in one arm as she opened the box, pulling out a soft blue-plaid fleece baby blanket and a soft plush leopard. Her smile shortened when she saw the leopard, only she, Remus, and Severus knew about her half-sister's rarely used animagius form. Putting the plush toy next to her, she wrapped Harry in the soft blanket and looked up at Remus sadly. "I can see what you want to know Remus, and aside from the whole Voldemort thing, I guess we wanted to know that this one was going to make it before we announced anything." Remus took her hand and kissed the knuckles. feeling bad about bringing up their last three tries to start a family. "Why don't you hold him?" she said holding out the blanket-wrapped baby to him, wanting to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. Remus took Harry gingerly, not knowing how to hold a baby. never the less and infant. Lily smiled as she moved his arms so he was supporting Harry's head, and then went to wipe her eyes on a tissue from the box under the changing table. Remus sniffed. he smelled someone that was NOT a Potter in the room. Looking around, wary that it might be a Death Eater, he held the baby closer.. But. the smell was coming from near him. it was coming from the baby. Lily turned back in time to see Remus open the blankets and sniff at Harry. Then he slowly looked up. training his amber eyes on her.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note: I did NOT create the idea of "Wizard-marks" that honor goes to Viscountess Babbles-On. I have sent her an e-mail asking permission to use them and am waiting for a reply. Don't be worried if they are removed. the story really does not need them but I think they are a very cool idea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------