Well here it is! Another story! I'm very fond of this one, because it is really adorable and though slightly depressing. (but in a good way! If depressing can be good…) Read it, enjoy it, and please leave a nice review at the end. (otherwise no flames, but constructive criticism is certainly welcome!) It's always exciting to post something new, but I'll let you get on with what you're here for. Ha ha!
To Be There Ever After…
The door opened with a soft creak, spilling light into the darkened bedroom. A woman peaked inside; listening to the soft whimpering of her six-month-old son, and gracefully tiptoed to the baby boy's white crib. She picked him up carefully and rocked him in her arms.
"Harry, what's wrong?" she whispered in his ear.
The boy let out a small giggle from her warm breath that blew on the back of his small neck and made her smile. It was already a quarter past ten, but Harry didn't seem to want to sleep. His mother had already had to reply to his whimpering three times; this being the fourth, and she couldn't help wondering why. James – her husband – had always said that Harry just loved her too much to stand even a night without her, but something this time seemed wrong… something seemed different.
She studied the small room. From the sunshine yellow walls to the Quidditch themed rattle lying on the floor. Harry must have thrown it again, she thought and holding her son close to her, she slowly bent down to pick it up. That's when she saw it; something skittering across the floor from underneath the crib and to a darkened corner.
"What…" she began. The red-haired woman walked over to where the mysterious creature had hid, but it was nowhere to be seen.
From downstairs she heard the doorbell ring and James called that he'd get it, but she had already decided that Harry wasn't going to be sleeping in this room for the rest of the night. There was something creeping around and as much as she felt that it, whatever it was, should be found, she had guests to accompany. So, with the thought of reminding herself to tell James later about the thing, she exited, closed and locked the door to the bedroom and headed downstairs.
"Glad that you could make it Moony. Lily's just upstair- oh, well, not anymore!" James said happily grinning at his wife. She herself gave a small smile, "It seems Peter couldn't make it, Lils."
"That's too bad. I thought tonight was your reunion," she frowned but then turned to the man in the doorway. "Remus!" after passing Harry over to James, she gave him a friendly hug and he returned it.
"Lily, it's as much as a reunion for you as it is for us," he let her go and she took his coat and put it away. "It is indeed unfortunate that Peter couldn't come. He said there was an emergency." James lifted an eyebrow, but turned and left to the living room.
"Oh, well I hope he's alright. Did you hear what had happened; I'm rather curious?"
Remus Lupin shook his head, "No. He didn't tell me, but it seemed urgent."
Lily nodded and gestured to a room right off the hall, "Sirius is already here."
"Ah, already downing fire-whisky I presume?" he said, following her.
"You know your friends too well."
They both laughed at this comment and Remus muttered cheerfully, "That I do."
Loud bursts of laughter ended their conversation and the two adults entered the room. It seemed tonight that they were the only adults left, being the only ones who hadn't had a few drinks too many. Lily rushed over to where James was bouncing Harry on his knee and picked the boy up. Her son was giggling, but who knew what a drunken man could do when his head wasn't completely clear.
"Remember how my mum used to always treat Kreecher like some sort of son?" Sirius' loud voice came at them. His face had turned red from either laughter or the whisky in his hand – Lily couldn't tell which.
James chuckled, "Son? I thought it was more like a husband. She treated him better than anyone-"
"-And once she almost refused to let him do the chores. I think she got us both confused of who she was supposed to treat with respect," he scowled. The drink didn't seem to have hit them that hard… yet.
"Yes. Sirius my house-elf and Kreecher my son," James replied in a shrill imitation of his friend's mother and explained, "I think Kreecher suited her much better. You didn't deserve a family like that."
"That's why I visited you so often Prongs-"
"-And that's why I let you."
"I think," Remus joined in, sitting on the couch next to James, "that we can all agree when I say that Harry's lucky to have Lily and James as parents."
Sirius' eyes widened, "Did you hear that, Baby Potter? You won't have to endure what I had to go through. You won't have to live with horrible people, because you have the most amazingly good parents in the world… and you have their best friends to take care of them."
Harry squirmed happily in Lily's arms, stretching his hands out to his godfather. He was used to loud noises by now. Who couldn't get used to them at the Potter's house with James and Sirius always around? Mr. Black – though he did go home – always seemed to be over. Once and awhile, James would call him and ask if he'd like to stay for dinner from the kitchen, and even though they had never heard him enter the house, there he'd be, skidding into the room and running to sit at his place at the table.
"So how's work been with you, Moony?" James asked smiling at the compliments his friends had given him.
Remus sighed, "It's hard to find a job with my condition always hovering over my head, but I manage. Dumbledore's been offering to give me work at the school, though I don't believe I'm that desperate yet."
"I could always put in a good word for you at the Ministry if you'd like," James frowned. They all understood Remus' 'condition' and the difficulties of trying to get some money when no one trusted werewolves. "Dumbledore's a great man too, so think about that position. There usually is a reason for whenever he offers something to someone, and I'd take it."
"You'd do anything to get your hands on a time turner and relive the past, James," Lily said. "Of course you'd take the job, but even I agree with you; Remus if you need any help, then we-"
Remus instantly waved his hands, "Oh no! I couldn't possibly take money from my friends. I assure you I'm doing fine."
"But if you ever need help, we'll be here for you," Sirius grinned. "We'll do anything to help a friend," he glanced around. "So where's Peter?"
"Couldn't make it," said Remus flatly. He took a glass of wine from the table beside him, next to four others. James and Sirius seemed to have decided to try out the fire-whisky instead and Lily was being the responsible one and only having water while Harry was still downstairs.
Sirius frowned and gave a disappointed sigh, "Unfortunate. I was thinking we could talk about our years at Hogwarts too."
"We can do that still. It might not feel the same, but we shouldn't brood over him not being here and try to enjoy ourselves," explained James. "One marauder is missing, but that won't last forever, will it?"
"No," his friend said on a happier note, "it won't." Sirius shuffled around on the couch and propped his feet up on a matching brown leather ottoman. "Remember the time when we had hexed a hump on Snivelly's back? Or when we were trying to go for the 'Most People with Detentions' Record?"
"Yah," said James dreamily. "I think we actually succeeded in claiming an entire file cabinet in Filch's office just for our detention slips."
Sirius took in a deep breath and finished the last of his drink, "Do you think anyone will discover the map, Prongs? I know we got it confiscated on purpose, but Filch locks up those drawers pretty tight."
"Have faith in the soon to be mischief makers," Remus grinned, "And if worse comes to worst, then we could always tell Harry where it is. I bet his friends would love it too."
"I swear; you boys still haven't grown up. I don't know if I would like my son prancing around after hours like you."
Sirius smiled warmly at Mrs. Potter, "Aw, Lily. You can't help it if your son has Marauder blood in him. In fact, you should be proud."
She sniffed jokingly and sat down on James' lap.
Her husband grinned, "And we didn't 'prance,' Lils, we strolled."
"I don't know," she ruffled his hair for him. How much she used to hate it when he did that, "You were always so thrilled to be doing something against the rules, that I could've sworn you were performing the National Ballet."
Sirius shook his head and tried to live up to his name, but couldn't hide the laughter bubbling beneath his skin, "Nah, James was never that fond of swan's."
"-Nor was he of those tight pants," Lupin took a sip from his glass, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
"You don't know how uncomfortable that was!"
"So you admit you tried it?"
"Right along with you, Padfoot. Remember? Lily jinxed us into that type of clothing in third year."
"Oh yes…"
Lily smiled, remembering the past and kissed James on his nose, "You all danced spectacularly. I have it filmed if anyone wants to see?"
"Uh… maybe later, Lils. I'm not sure Remus and Sirius would like to watch that."
"Of course we would! I think it would be a fun thing to see how we were back then."
"Back then? Moony, you're making us sound like we're old with graying hair. We're only twenty," Sirius stood up and walked to the kitchen to retrieve more whisky. "How much of us have you had recorded Lily? Not too many embarrassing moments, right?"
"You four were always embarrassing yourselves, but I have other moments too."
"Calmer?" Remus asked with a smile tugging at his lips. "Or was that just not possible?"
"Definitely not possible. At least, not when you were awake."
"You filmed us sleeping?" came the question from the kitchen.
"Her and her friends filmed everything about us," James winced at the memory of having to see those films. "You don't want to see them, belie-"
Lily objected, "I think they should. It's healthy to see what you were like when you were younger and it's fun too." She crossed her arms, and watched Sirius return to the living room with two more bottles in his hands.
James rolled his eyes, "Here we go again…"
"Sirius, don't you think you've had enough?" she pouted. "I-"
"Lily! This is a party; it's ok to have a few drinks and he isn't having all of that. One's for me isn't it Padfoot?" His friend agreed and passed Mr. Potter the fire-whisky, giving him a small wink.
"But what about Harry…" She sighed, "Yes, I guess your right. Sorry…"
"It's quite all right," Remus said and asked, "So tell us more about when we were sleeping?"
"Oh, it's hilarious! You should have seen James! He-" but she couldn't finish, because her husband had covered her mouth with the palm of his hand.
"Prongs, let her speak! We want to know," Sirius complained.
Remus laughed, "And it's rude to interrupt a lady."
It didn't matter, because Lily had already pried his palm off her and was holding both of his hands tightly, "He talks in his sleep and sleepwalks. I remember when I was there. It was so hard to burst out laughing when he kept calling out our names and having conversations with us girls, but he was fast asleep. We even poked him to check and he still didn't wake up." By the end of this the red-haired woman was overtaken by a giggle-fit and the man she was still sitting on looked like he had just lost fifty galleons on the street. His mood brightened though, when she continued, "And Sirius, you were always thrashing about and once I heard you call out Kreecher's name for help."
"I'd never need his help for anything."
"And then you went on about hygiene," James grinned for he knew what was coming, "and complained that your undergarments were too dirty." Nothing could compare to the expression on his best mate's face. It was in total terror that anything like that had ever been recorded and saved.
"How about Moony and Wormtail?" he asked in a daze, eyes glazing over.
"Oh, well Peter constantly screamed and consecutively fell out of his bed. He'd get up, but was always too groggy and tired to see us, and Remus," she tapped a finger on her chin and smiled, realizing what it was, "you were always muttering quotes and spells under you breath. Once, I remember, you picked up your wand and kept hexing Peter's blanket's off all night. Or you might have been freezing them. I haven't seen the recording in a year, so…"
Sirius asked quietly, "Did you watch us sleep often?"
"No, we weren't obsessed. I think we watched you twice in total, but only one was really funny."
"That's good…"
James grinned, "Do you guys still want to see it?"
"No!" Sirius exclaimed sharply, but Remus chuckled and nodded.
"I think it would be humorous, as long as it never left this house," he said and then gave a thoughtful, "I miss Hogwarts."
They all agreed quietly and James sadly replied, "I miss a lot of things about it. The pranks, the jokes, the classes, the professors, the students, the detentions, the challenges, the fight for Lily," this got him a playful hit on the arm from his wife, "but most of all, out of everything, I really miss Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."
"Aw, we're still here James," Sirius frowned. "Nothing will change that."
"I think he means the full moon and the reason the three of you became Animagus," Remus pointed out. Peter really shouldn't have missed this. Even for an emergency, this was becoming too important of a reunion.
James shook his head, "That's part of it, but no. It's the memory of being able to hang out with my three best friends wherever and whenever we wanted. Now we have to schedule it between work hours, between the Order meetings, and between longer distances. I just wish it were still the same as it had been three years ago."
"Like I said Prongs, we're still here and even with all that separating us, we'll be friends forever and ever after that."
The men nodded and the room fell silent for a couple of minutes. Each of them were thinking; thinking and remembering memories of their earlier life. It was so quiet that the sound of the clock on the wall echoed as if it were in a cave, but they never noticed, until slowly the saddened peace was interrupted by Lily's silent sobbing.
"Lily, don't cry. Everything is fine," Remus gave a sorrowed smile, but if anyone had looked anywhere else, they'd see all of them teary-eyed and about to cry. The only person in the room, who seemed perfectly content, was little Harry, who, curled up in his mother's arms, was sleeping soundly.
"Look at us," Sirius tried to laugh and a stream of tears rolled down his face, "crying like baby's, only that can't be right. Harry's coping with all this a lot better than we are, and he is one."
"Maybe we have had too much to drink," said James, crying too. He pulled Lily into a hug and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her before himself.
Sirius nodded, "Yah. I think your right." He didn't even bother to wipe his tears away while he took another swig of his whisky.
"I think," Remus started, trying to blink the eye-water away, "That today will be one of those memorable ones."
Lily sobbed, "Too bad Peter isn't here to enjoy it with us. I was really hoping he could make it," giving Harry to James, she stood up as gracefully as possible, wiping her tears away and rummaged through an old-fashioned-desk drawer beside the couch. It was harder for her to find what she was looking for with a blurry vision and trembling fingers, but non-the-less, after only a few seconds wait, she produced a camera from the back of it and exclaimed, "I think we should take a picture. I want to remember this day as long as our friendship lasts, and quoting what Sirius said, it will be 'forever and ever after that, right?"
"There's no need question our friendship, Lily," Lupin tried to say cheerfully, "I feel that it will never fade, no matter how far away we are from each other."
Sirius walked over to her to give her a needed hug, "And you don't want to take a picture of us like this do you? Wouldn't you rather want us to look happy instead?"
She shook her head and strolled over to give Remus a hug too, "We're crying out of pure happiness, because of our friendship, and I don't want that forgotten."
The men all grinned at her way of thinking and gathered around the fireplace. Above it, a portrait was hanging on the wall, making it the most suitable place for a picture. Especially, since the painting consisted of a scene of four animals huddled together in a field beneath the full moon's light: a dog, a rat, a stag and a werewolf. Instantly, an odd group of animals to any stranger, but to the Marauders and Lily, it wasn't. To them, it was who they were. To them, it was their home.
"Alright," Lily wiped a few more tears away with a swift movement of her hand. She charmed the camera to hover in place, and found a center spot beside James with Remus and Sirius on either side, before it took a picture. "In three then…"
James grinned and nudged for Lily to hold the resting Harry along with him, "Three."
"Two," Lily smiled, more water staining her face.
Then the others said together, "One."
Flash. It illuminated the room so brightly that even the mysterious creature from earlier couldn't possibly hide away in the shadows. None of the friends had seen it, but it was there and so, no one had ever pondered how it had gotten out of the locked bedroom. When the light died down and the woman and three men joined together in a giant hug, it silently slipped away to be forever unnoticed… by them at least. Perhaps, later on, when a skinny boy marked with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead looked through an aging photo-album, the small shadow of a rat moving behind the four people in the picture would be seen.
"You know," Sirius grinned, "I think as much as we're happy right now, we need a couple of laughs. So how about it, Lily? Where are those recordings?"
The woman's bright-emerald eyes glistened, "They're in the den."
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Remus smiled happily, "Let's go." and they all left the room, the couple exiting last.
"James?" she asked quietly.
He wrapped his arm around her waste, "Yes, Lily?"
"I love you."
He pulled her in closer to him, being careful to not crush Harry in her arms, "Ditto," He kissed her and bent down to do the same on the crown of his son's head. "And we both love you Harry."
- - -
That's the end of it, unless of course any of you wish for me to continue. Maximum it would be in length: 5 chapters
1- This one
2- Right before the Potters go into hiding
3- The night Voldemort murders Lily and James
4- Right after the murder
5- Years later with Harry and his photo-album (the one Hagrid gives him)
That would be it. It would almost turn out like a collection of one shots, only they all have something to do with one another. Of course, if you only wanted me to do one of those instead of them all, then you could tell me too. I'm always open for ideas!
And in case I don't add any more chapters, here is what they would've been called:
To be there ever after,
Awaiting a disaster,
When longing to be free,
But never it will we see…
Epilogue(I made a little poem out of. You might not think so, but I thought it was clever. Maybe I'm just in a good mood, or am a bit big in the head today. Ugh…)
If you wish you can read my other fics too. I'd suggest 'Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch.' It's coming along pretty nicely and so is 'Muggle Studies.'
Hope you read them to if you enjoyed this!
Luna
Review and tell me what you think ok? Tell me if there are any mistakes!
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