seven - fear
James sings as he lays the table for dinner, and Lily bursts into fits of giggles.
She covers her mouth and leans in close to their baby, whispering conspiratorially to Harry. "Daddy's finally cracked," she says, and he gives her a toothy grin. Lily looks up at her husband and raises an eyebrow. "You do realise you're bonkers, sweetheart?"
He nods, raising a pan off the cooker and draining the veg in the sink. "You are too, though, Lil." She gasps in mock outrage and rises from her seat to strap Harry into his high chair. "I'm quite thankful for it, really," James comments as he dishes up the food and Lily pours them all water, "because Merlin knows how I'd have got you to marry me otherwise."
He places the plates on the table and leans over to her with a crooked grin. Lily gives him a kiss and tells him to sit down, complaining loudly to Harry about her misfortune.
(She feels like the luckiest girl in the world when she's with James.)
After they've finished eating and she's put Harry to bed and read him a story and James has charmed the Snitches to light up and float around Harry's room they lie together on the sofa, and James twirls her hair around his fingers. Lily scratches absent-minded patterns on his shirt and he presses a kiss to her temple.
"Love you," she whispers, and the words echo in the darkness.
(He'll never tire of hearing her say that.)
James tilts her chin towards him and kisses her, once, twice. She winds her hands around his neck and plays with his collar and the hair at the nape of his neck, and his fingers stroke her cheek and neck and collarbone, dancing around the top of her breasts. His touch is gentle, so gentle.
"Love you too," James murmurs against her lips, and she hums contentedly.
Then suddenly there's a crash from outside and they jump apart, hands already reaching for wands. He swears when he realises his is on the coffee table, the panic in his eyes mirrored by the fear in hers. James leans over her to get it and runs a hand over his jaw. Lily presses a finger to her lips and creeps to the window, turning off the light with a whispered Nox and pulling the curtain back mere inches to peer outside.
She searches for a moment before finding the source of the noise - an overturned dustbin and a creature poking its nose into the rubbish bag. "Just a fox," she breathes, as she wills her heart-rate to return to normal.
(It doesn't.)
James forces a grin and walks over to the window, looking out too.
"I'll just double check the wards, yeah?" he asks, but he does it before waiting for her reply.
Lily glances at him - he's jumpy and so unlike the James she used to know - and goes to the kitchen. She points her wand at the kettle and puts two teabags in two mugs, sliding into the chair she'd sat at earlier. James comes into the kitchen too and sits next to her, dragging the seat round to be at her side.
He runs a hand through his hair and asks, "Alright?"
(She closes her eyes for a moment, thanking God for the familiarity of the gesture.)
"Yeah," she nods, gathering his hand in hers and pressing her knuckles to her lips.
Lily avoids his eyes and keeps him close to her. The silence is broken only by the ticking of the clock and the kettle whistling on the stove.