Author's note: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.
Warnings: NA
Dressed Up For Tea
When he saw Lily stumble down the stairs wearing her favourite sundress, James couldn't help but smile. The dress was a cheerful and summery yellow with a skirt that flared when Lily jumped or spun or walked. Its sleeves exposed the freckles across her shoulders and down her arms, and the colour contrasted both with her dark red hair and pale complexion.
"Ma-ma," Harry garbled.
"That's right, sweet boy," Lily said with a smile as she waltzed into the kitchen. Her ballerina flats clapped against the floorboards and the bracelets at her wrist jingled as she reached up to take Harry's tiny hand. "Mama's back. Did you have a good nap, angel?"
"He slept like a champ," James reported. He readjusted Harry in his arms. "And you, love, look beautiful. I didn't know we were getting all dressed up for tea."
"Well, we don't have to," Lily said. "It would just seem a shame not to. It's a special occasion."
"That it is," James said. "It's not every day someone turns a whole year old, is it little mate?"
The baby mumbled something in agreement. Lily leaned back against the kitchen counter and smiled.
"I can't believe he's a year old," she said, shaking her head.
"It feels like we've always had him," James said. "What was life even like, without a 7:00 p.m bedtime and a feeding schedule and a real knack for playing peek-a-boo? I mean, we must have had so much free time, but what on earth did we do with it?"
"You used to like this thing called Quidditch," she said with a smile.
"Never heard of it," James said, shaking his head and kissing Harry's disastrously unkempt hair again as Lily laughed.
"A whole year," she said. "I wish… I wish we got to have a bigger celebration for him. A real birthday party—with all his uncles, and a trip to the park so he could swing on the swings like he loves..."
She chewed her lip and James sensed the burgeoning of a new worry or anxiety. He crossed the kitchen to her and wrapped his free arm around her, pulling her close so he could kiss the top of her head.
"Tea is going to be lovely," James said. "Harry looks so very handsome for his first tea party, that cake in the fridge is frosted to absolute perfection, and the solarium is beautifully decorated."
Lily nodded. Harry's windmilling arms grabbed a strand of her hair and she let him play and tug at it, running the back of her hand up and down their son's back. James gave her a second of quietness before kissing her hair.
"Here, can you take Harry for a second?" James said. "I think my slacks are clean, and I must still have that button-down my mother made me wear to church. I'll go get dressed."
"You don't have to," Lily said again. "Really, I was just doing it so that I'd feel better about this…"
"But I want to," James said. "That way I'll match the two of you and when Harry looks back at these pictures in ten years, we'll all look good. Besides, Mrs. Bagshot always dresses up for tea too. I need to keep making a good impression too, if I want her to keep bringing those chocolate tartlets."
Lily smiled at him and made faces at Harry as the baby was transferred to her arms. She propped Harry on her hip, and James grabbed a soft toy from the kitchen table to pass on to him. Harry accepted it with his clumsy little hands and immediately proceeded to chew on the toy. He looked up at James with the same emerald green eyes as his mother.
James kissed Lily's hair and wrapped an arm around her, pulling him towards him.
"You're a good mum," he promised. "The absolute best—on his birthday and on every other day. I was honoured to be your friend, thrilled to be your boyfriend, ecstatic about being your husband, but I have no words to describe how blessed I am that you're the mother of my child."
Lily smiled at him, tears in the corners of her eyes.
"It's just… hard, sometimes," she said. "We're doing so many exceptional things for Harry because of the Prophecy, and I just worry about whether or not I'm doing all the little things right for him every day."
"I think we're doing alright by him," James said. "You know, for people who have only done this for a year."
Lily smiled.
"Alright," Lily said. "Go get dressed, that way you can help me set the table."
Shipping Wars
Ship (Team): James Potter/Lily Evans
List (Prompt): Spring Medium 2 (Tea)
Stacked with: MC4A; Shipping Wars; Chimera Creator; Hogwarts
Individual Challenge(s): NA
Word Count: 777