Disclaimer: Yeah, I STILL don't own Harry Potter! Darn!
Under My Skin Chapter One What Used To Be
The sun was finally setting, shooting a beautiful variety of colors across the sky. Many people came home around this time; cars could be spotted pulling into their respective driveways. One house on this block, however, never followed the same way of life. Although the Muggles were oblivious to it, a family of wizards resided in the house that stood tall in the middle of the block; seemingly new white paint, perfectly manicured lawn, and even a blooming garden in this time of the year. While everyone else's grass was slowly dying and their gardens wilted away due to winter arriving in a few months, the Potter's never did. It had raised suspicions in the past, but no one really looking into it.
The Potter's were well known throughout the village of Godrics Hollow. They had befriended almost every neighbor they had within the first year or so of moving there; so a couple years later most of everyone knew them and enjoyed their company. This could have been for many reasons. Lily Potter, the wife, was very kind and polite, and it seemed that she had learned to control her anger in past years (James and Lily knew this was ironically because of James, who had usually been the source of her anger up until their 7th year in school). James acted as though he had matured a great deal in only a year or two (which was true), and he always had this tendency to make anyone in the same room as he feel a considerably large amount more happy.
Only a little over a year ago, they had had their very first baby. All of their wizarding friends had advised against it a bit after they got married. They would say things such as 'You are too young,' or 'Having a baby so early on could lead to a divorce,' and even 'Don't be as reckless as that!' The couple simply brushed off warnings. They knew that they would never leave each other's side, and Lily had always wanted to raise children, although she never said that until right before the wedding.
Inside the large, white house, a petite red-haired beauty in her 20s, probably 20 or 21 years old, stood in a rather nicely furnished sitting room, glancing towards the backdoor every so often. She held a small boy against her hip, bouncing him gently. It was obvious she was his mother; they shared identical eyes. Both a bright, cheerful green. Yet Lily's showed a bit of concern. She strode down a short hallway to the kitchen and glanced upon a small clock that hung on one the of walls. It was an unusual clock; if you wanted to know the time you would not find out from this clock. Inside the glass front, three gold objects resembling spoons (the only difference being the circular top was flat) were placed at different words where the numbers would be on a normal clock. Two, one with a picture of Lily, who smiled warmly, and one of baby Harry, who seemed to occasionally giggle in his picture, were placed under the words 'home'. The last picture, which showed James, who flashed a smile and winked every so often, was placed under 'work'.
Lily sighed and made to go towards the sink to get Harry a bottle, but stopped as she heard the familiar tink tink tink or a picture changing places on the clock. She spun around, which cause Harry to let out a giggle and cling to his mother, and watched as James' picture went from 'work' to 'traveling'. Finally after a moment, it arrived on 'home', joining the rest of his family.
Harry suddenly started squiring in his mother's arms and giggling wildly, reaching out his tiny fists to the back door, and Lily smiled down at Harry. Only a few seconds later, James walked in the door. He was a tall and gangly man, skinny yet quite strong. Raven black hair that matched Harry's perfectly, stuck up in the back, and was very unruly. He had given up trying to tame it years ago. Hazel eyes danced with happiness behind round glasses, glad to be home from work and with his family once again. He grinned and enveloped both Lily and Harry in a hug, then kissing both as well. Baby Harry reached out for his father, repeating, "Da! Da! Prong! Da!"
James' grin only grew and he took Harry from his wife and spun Harry around. Lily smiled and shook her head. "How was work?" she asked as she began preparing dinner. She took out her wand from her robes pocket and flicked it, causing fresh vegetable to spring onto the cutting board. A knife began slowly chopping them up into small pieces. A pot appeared on the stove top and water materialized in it, a fire underneath causing the liquid to slowly begin to bubble.
"Usual. Old Mad eye thought that someone had tried to break into his office while he was gone, but it ended up just being a secretary going in to collect some paperwork. He was about to question some Ministry people he thought suspicious under Vertiserum when the lady confessed. She was scared nearly senseless!" he replied, as he gently tickled Harry's sides, who in return let out more baby laughs, trying to push away from James.
Lily giggled. She respected Alastor Moody greatly, but she knew she wasn't the only person who believed that Moody was a bit too jumpy for his own good, and really everyone else's too.
"Remus and Sirius are coming, right?" she asked, placing the chopped up vegetables in the boiling water and setting a ham into the oven.
"Yeah. Sirius was going to just come over with me after work, but he said he had something for Harry he needed to get from his place..." James said casually, not looking at Lily. Lily, however, frowned and turned around to face James. James felt her piercing gaze on the back of his head.
"What? Sirius had better not try and give Harry another pack of dung bombs like last time! I swear, he-"
"He what?" Sirius asked cheekily, smirking and walking into the kitchen, dusting his shoulder free of soot. As soon as Harry spotted his beloved Godfather, he nearly jumped from and unsuspecting James' arms.
"Woah!" James exclaimed, catching hold of his fearless baby. It suddenly reminded him of a few months ago when Harry and James had been sitting at the kitchen counter before breakfast. James had been reading that day's Daily Prophet and Harry insisted on sitting on the countertop. James obliged since Lily was busy cooking and wouldn't notice for a bit. However, James had taken his protecting arms from Harry for a moment to pick up a page of the Prophet that had fallen to the floor, and Harry decided what would happen if he jumped off the counter. The child had nearly broken his leg, nothing Lily couldn't fix in a heartbeat, but James had been sleeping on the couch for a week. Harry wasn't afraid of anything.
"Pad! Pad!" Harry cried, and Sirius took him from James.
"Hey little Prongslet! Hey Lils, Jamie," he said as he resumed James' earlier ticking fight with his Godson.
"Don't call me that!" James protested, although he remained grinning.
"When's Moony coming?" Sirius asked, completely ignoring James.
"He should be here in a bit," James said. The three adults plus Harry made their way to the sitting room, and Lily carried along a tray of tea.
Harry was handed back to Lily, and she set him on her lap. James sat next to her on the loveseat, Sirius claiming his usual armchair. Harry blabbed in baby talk, the occasional 'Pad', 'Prong', 'Ma', and 'Moon' thrown in. Those were really most of the real words he knew as of know, but he was adorable chatting away as he chewed on a dog plushie that Sirius had given to him after he arrived.
Halfway through tea Remus arrived, apologizing for being late, and soon after they all ate dinner. Harry had just been starting on some solid foods, but he mostly wore his meal that night. It didn't help that he nearly fell asleep in his mashed potatoes. Lily took him upstairs to clean him up and put him to bed.
The three men settle back in the comfortable sitting room, a warm, crackling fire supplying them with warmth.
"Why couldn't Wormtail make it tonight?" asked Remus, sipping his tea quietly.
James merely shrugged. "I really don't know why. He said he had plans but he didn't really go into it much. He was acting pretty nervous when I talked to him, too." he added, more to himself then the two others. "I hope he's ok..."
"He's probably fine," Sirius reassured, rolling his eyes.
Lily walked down the steps and took her place next to James. "Harry's asleep," she said. "And before you leave, during Harry's nap today I finished that scrap book I started, way back in 7th year,"
"You had a scrapbook?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, if you don't want to see it, then fine," Lily responded simply, crossing her arms over her chest. James and Remus suppressed laughter with difficulty. With no response from Sirius, she stood and walked down the hall. A moment later she returned, grasping a large book. Sirius moved to stand behind James and lily, and Remus followed suit, so they could get a better look at it.
The first page was an old picture of the four Maraurder boys. They all looked so different, being only eleven and twelve in the photo. They all waved enthusiastically, grinning and elbowing each other.
"Right after first year, that was," Sirius mumbled, grinning. There were a few more from first year, about seven from second, ten from thirds year, twelve from forth, nine from fifth, eight from sixth, and seventh year, which held the most pictures out of all the other six years, with a total of nearly 25 photos. A dent of these were James and Lily together, others the Maraurders and Lily, and few of just the guys, and a couple of them with other class mates. James and Sirius burst out in laughter, Remus chuckling lightly, as one picture was of Snape with pink hair.
"I remember that!" James cried. Lily rounded on him for being too loud. "Shhhh!" she said, gesturing to the ceiling. Harry's room was just above the sitting room.
The rest consisted of Christmas' at the Potter's house, many family photos of James, Lily, and Harry, Sirius playing with his Godson, and also a large amount from Harry's first birthday, which had only been a couple months previous. The album was full to capacity, yet each photo was placed carefully and securely.
"Hey! Harry's first broom ride!" James exclaimed, pointing to one of the last photos. James held Harry and zoomed around their backyard on his broom, and Harry was enjoying himself more then James could have hoped. "I swear, I'll bet ANY amount of gold that he makes the Hogwarts Quidditch team first year!"
"Impossible!" Sirius retorted. "You're on! 20 Galleons!"
The two shook hands and Remus rolled his eyes. He turned and set his tea cup on the tray. "Thank you for having me over," Lily stood, smiling warmly at Lupin. "Anytime!" she laughed, hugging him. James and Sirius punched him lightly on the shoulder, laughing and joking around, and finally, Remus Flooed home. Not long after Sirius left, and James and Lily were about to relax on the couch when Harry's cries suddenly rang out. Both parents hurried upstairs. What had caused him to cry? Harry really was remarkable; he usually never cried. When he did, it was only if something was indeed wrong.
Lily swept him into her arms, shushing him and rocking him gently. James stood by her side, worry evident on both of their faces. Harry just wouldn't calm down. Lily had sung lullabies, tried feeding him a milk bottle, checked if he needed a change, and anything else that came to mind. After an hour or so he stopped wailing, but now let silent tears fall from his face, eyes round and puffy.
"I don't think he's sick...We should take him to St. Mungos anyway..." Lily pondered. They both headed downstairs to grab cloaks.
A sudden tremor shook the house, stopping them halfway down the steps. Lily clutched Harry to her tightly. Harry was completely silent, although his tears poured down even more so. James' mind was working top speed as his drew his wand. It was the wards on the house...they had been deactivated.
The front door blew open, sending fragments of wood everywhere. "Lily! It's him! Take Harry and go, get out of here!" he cried. Lily dashed back upstairs and James went the opposite direction.
A cloud of smoke had floated through the front door after the door had been blown off. In the midst of the smoke, it cleared to reveal a man wearing deep black robes, a malicious smile, and deep red pupil-less eyes, which narrowed at the sight of James in front of him.
It was Voldemort, intent of taking down James's precious son.
A/N: sorry it's so short guys! And kinda boring, believe me it will get so much better. This is just like an introductory chapter. Tell me what you think so far! You guys are what will keep me inspired to write this, y'know! Also any questions are totally welcome! Ok for future chapters, couple suggestions are welcome, but I doubt there will be a huge focus on romance in this story. Still, I want your suggestions, kk? Thanks:3 Btw please be nice in reviews ok? Constructive criticism is welcome though.