Tuesday 18th November 1980

Godric's Hollow, 20:00

James felt like he should be doing any of the dozens of things that needed his attention but he just couldn't bring himself to do it today. Not because he was feeling low or tired or anything like that, though if he let his mind dwell on certain thoughts for too long then he would feel like that. No, he couldn't bring himself to do any sort of pressing task because he couldn't move. Not even a little bit. It wasn't even an option.

"Gah, pa, ma, pa."

"That's right, Harry," he said solemnly to the green-eyed baby gurgling away happily on his chest. "That's exactly right."

Of course, he had absolutely no clue what Harry was saying or thinking. Though, he did hope it was something along the lines of how awesome a dad he was. Because he was. He had really gotten the hang of this being a parent thing. It was pretty cool, even if it was a lot messier than he ever thought it would be. What with the spit up, the snot, the tears and not to mention Lee and poop! Merlin, could Harry pee and poop. And, unfortunately, he had excellent aim. James had lost count how many times that he'd been caught in the eye. He hadn't quite figured out how he never seemed to hit Lily when she was changing him. There was definitely some kind of magic involved there.

"Ba, da, da, ma."

"I'm not that bad at changing you," James scolded, blowing a raspberry on Harry's stomach, making him giggle with glee.

Oh, he really wasn't ever going to get tired of that sound.

"Oh, you like that do you?" He asked in a silly voice and did it again.

Harry, if it was even possible, laughed louder. James beamed. He would do whatever he could to make Harry make that sound. Even if it meant blowing raspberries on his stomach until there was no saliva left in his mouth.

Because he would do anything for Harry. Absolutely anything. Anything to make him happy. Anything to make him safe.

Which meant that he was going to let Lily make those adjustments to some of the protective charms around the house. She couldn't do anything to the wards - she wasn't a Wardsmith. But wards weren't the only things that protected homes. Sure, they were the strongest and typically did the job but they had more. Between James' job and the war and their membership in the Order they needed more.

So, there were befuddlement charms, alarms, illusions. The illusion was the main ones Lily wanted to add to. She said she could make any intruder think that they actually got hit by any attack the illusions made and react accordingly. Which was both disturbing and pretty cool. Apparently, it had been one of the things the Department of Mysteries had been having her research. Not this scenario exactly but making illusions so real that the mind was actually tricked and got convinced of whatever physical actions the illusions made. Which was originally supposed to be just physical touch but Lily managed to make even illusioned spells feel real.

Definitely weird but necessary. Anything to throw any would-be attackers off. And maybe they should go looking into more aggressive wards as well.

James looked down at his now calm but still smile son and held him closer to his chest.

Anything to keep Harry safe.


Thursday 21st November 1980

Evans Home, 14:00

"Go and tell her," Rosemary said to her youngest daughter, letting her should encouragingly before giving her a brief push towards the living room.

Of course, her parents already knew about Severus proposing. He'd done the right thing, after all, and had asked her father's permission to do so. The Evans were traditional like that and Severus had felt that it was only right that he did so. Something that Chryssie found incredibly sweet.

What wasn't sweet was the fact that she now had to work up the nerve to actually tell people that she was getting married. They had planned on telling people together as they caught them (getting everyone together all at once was getting harder and harder these day) but Lily was right here now and Harry was napping upstairs while James was in work. And suddenly Chryssie just really wanted to tell Lily all by herself. A kind of sister thing, if that made any sense. Something that they shared. Just the two of them.

But she was going to have to actually tell her for them to have that experience. Oh, it was times like these that Chryssie wished she was a Gryffindor and had courage to spare. What good were brains if all they did was make you overthink things? Especially all the ways things could go wrong.

No. It wasn't going to go wrong because she was going to tell Lily. Right now, in fact. Well, not right now, she had to be in the same room as her and all. But basically now. In the few seconds it would take her to walk down the hall and open the living room door. Literally seconds. If her feet would actually move, that was.

Which they did, after more than a little effort that involved Chryssie literally pick up her left leg and dragging kt forwards. All that had done was nearly make her fall head over heels. But it did do that job and get her moving.

"Lily?" Chryssie said hesitantly, pushing the door open to the living room but not crossing the threshold.

"Hmm?" Lily looked up from her perusal of the Radio Times.

Instead of answering, Chryssie just fidgeted, twisting her hands together. Lily frowned and put down the magazine, patting the space next to her on the sofa.

"Are you okay?"

"Pretty sure I should be asking you that," Chryssie said with a nervous chuckle.

The frown deepened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've been acting funny."

Lily shook her head. "No, I haven't."

"You have," Chryssie insisted. "You and James and Frank and Alice."

That got Lily to stiffen, confirming that there definitely was something going on.

"Lily."

"It's nothing."

Chryssie gave her big sister a look. She wasn't stupid. Did Lily really think that she was that stupid? Because she wasn't. She was actually very smart. Hello? Ravenclaw.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Chryssie asked softly.

"Yes. No. Not yet," Lily said, running a hand over her face.

That was... something at least. Something was better than nothing, right?

"But you will?" She pressed, not wanting to let Lily off the hook just yet.

"I will. We will," she amended. "I promise. We just need to sort some things out first."

"Okay."

She could love with that. For the meantime, anyway. If it took more than a fortnight then she was going to make Lily tell her no matter what. Yep, that's what she was going to do.

"So," Lily said awkwardly, trying to change the subject. "What did you want to talk to me about in the first place?"

"Oh, um," Chryssie looked around her in an effort to come up with a conversation started. Talking about Severus' proposal just didn't seem right after all that. So, she needed something g else to talk about. Anything.

She ran her hand through her hair as she thought, which was a rather stupid move.

"What's that?" Lily asked, making a grab at her hand but Chryssie pulled it away.

"On your hand," Lily craned her neck to see but Chryssie sat on her hands to prevent it. "Was that a ring?"

"No!"

"It was a ring!"

"No, it wasn't!"

This was not the way she wanted to tell Lily, not at all. And she wasn't going to tell her this way, not if she could help it. But Lily wasn't going to be deterred and was scrabbling at her arm, trying to pull her arms away from her.

"I saw something sparkly."

"What are you, a magpie?" Chryssie asked sarcastically but Lily ignored her.

"If you don't have a ring, just show me your hand," Lily finally said in exasperation, throwing herself back into the sofa.

"I don't want to."

"Then you do have a ring."

Chryssie made and extremely loud exasperated noise. Why couldn't Lily just give up already and eave her be? Was it really that hard? She eyed her older sister who looked like she would rip her arm off to get a look at her hand. Apparently, it would be very hard.

With a sigh, feeling extremely annoyed but having really no other option except for vanishing her hands or some other such nonsense, Chryssie pulled her ha down out from under her.

"A ring!" Lily said in delight and then gasped when she saw what finger it was on. "A-"

"Engagement ring, yes," Chryssie interrupted, biting her lip and feeling very awkward holding her fingers splayed open.

"An engagement ring."

"Yes."

Was she not clear when she said that? And it was pretty obvious too. Though, Lily didn't exactly look like her brain was fully functioning at the minute.

"You're getting married."

"Yes?" Chryssie replied anxiously, not sure if that was even a question.

"To Severus."

"Yes."

It wasn't like she was going out with anyone else, was she? What type of girl did Lily think she was? Was Lily just going to repeat everything Chryssie had just told her? Because that wasn't exactly the reaction she had been expecting. Granted, she didn't really know what she had been expecting but this wasn't it.

Shouting? Maybe getting told off? Happiness? Being pleased for her? Chryssie just wanted some sign of emotion from her big sister, was that too much to ask?

"My little sister is getting married," she said in amazement.

Chryssie couldn't help but give her a shy smile.

"I am."

She really was. She was getting married and she was going to be Severus' wife and they were going to have a home together. And they were going to be their own little family. She couldn't wait.

"I really want this, Lily," she added.

Because she did. She really did. That seemed to seal the deal for Lily.

"My little sister is getting married!" Lily repeated in a louder voice, a big smile spreading across her face.

"I am!" Chryssie matched her excitement, happy at finally being able to let it show.

The two of them embraced and Lily spun them around as they giggled their glee, just like they used to when they were children.

"Oh, let me see your ring!" Lily urged.

Shyly, Chryssie stretched out her hand only for Lily to get impatient with her and give her hand a yank so she could peer closely at it.

"Oh, my Gid, it's beautiful!"

Chryssie beamed at that.

"You think so?"

"It's gorgeous! It suits you."

"It's nothing like yours..."

Lily's was a Potter Family ring. With precious gemstones and Merlin knows what history behind it.

Lily gave her a stern look. "Severus chose yours and James chose mine which means our rings are perfect for us."

Huh. She had ever thought of it that way. She wriggled her fingers and smile as the light caught the three diamonds that were placed side by side. They weren't big or flashy, they were discreet and very pretty and, like Lily said, perfect for her. She sighed in delight.


Saturday 23rd November 1980

Godric's Hollow, 13:00

Sirius was looking at them in shock and disbelief; eyes wide and mouth open. He hadn't said a word since James and Lily had told him the news. Not even a gasp like Remus and Dora. Or even a strong denial like from Chryssie. Marlene was still cursing loudly at the injustice of it. Peter had squeaked his dismay and Severus also hadn't said anything but Severus didn't usually say much, instead watching and listening. It was unnatural for Sirius to be quiet.

"Padfoot?" James asked hesitantly.

But Sirius didn't give any indication that he'd heard James. He was just staring into the distance, eyes unfocused and mouth gaping so much that Lily was honestly afraid he was going to dislocate his jaw.

"Say something, Padfoot," Lily urged.

She still wasn't sure when referring to Sirius by his nickname had become semi-normal to her but here, they were.

It suited him, in a strange way. Yet, she didn't think she'd ever call Peter or Remus by theirs. She'd been friends with Remus for so long that she couldn't even think of Remus as Moony, which was weird. And, this sounded awful, but she still didn't feel that close to Peter. Not enough to substitute his name for his nickname anyway.

Sirius didn't say anything and shook his head. Lily didn't know whether that was in response to her request or an involuntary reaction to processing the news they had just given him.

"Remus?" She asked, turning to one of her best friends.

He was frowning, not in an angry way (she hoped) but in a thoughtful way.

"Are you sure?" He asked finally, staring at her.

She nodded slowly, making him sigh heavily.

"Is that what Dumbledore wanted to talk to you about?" Severus asked brusquely.

Lily knew that he wasn't trying to be blunt or rude, that was just how Severus got when he was anxious. And this was certainly something to be anxious about.

Chryssie had tears running down her face that she was furiously trying to scrub away, Severus holding one of her hands tightly in a way that said he needed that touch just as much as she did.

"No fucking way is this happening," Marlene was saying, stomping around the room like an angry, caged animal.

That was the third time she had said that. Hopefully it meant that she was running out of steam.

Remus looked lost, like he didn't know what to say except hold Dora close who looked close to tears. Which was weird enough in itself because Dora wasn't the type of person who really cried that much.

"Stupid bastard. Fucking war. Who does he think he is-?"

Lily didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Marlene's antics.

"Padfoot?" James said hesitantly.

Sirius hadn't said anything further. He just looked stunned. Which was worrying enough in itself. He shook his head wordlessly, fear, pain, anger, sorrow all flitting across his face in rapid succession. And then he kind of just shut down and his face went blank. Even Severus looked at him worriedly.

"No," Peter moaned, putting his face in his hands.

Marlene chose this moment to fling herself onto the floor by Sirius' feet. Finally tired of swearing, hopefully.

They all kind of just stood and sat there in silence - a lot of that had been happening recently - not knowing what to do or say. Lily didn't think she had anything else to say. What else could they add onto the news they'd just delivered? They hadn't told them all of the details, just that they were a target, but that would come in time. When she and James could process this whole thing a bit more. And if they were even allowed to share the details. They'd have to check with Dumbledore.

"So," Remus said tiredly, running a hand over his face. "What are we supposed to do from here?"

James and Lily looked at each other and smiled. He said "we".


Sunday 24th November 1980

Tonks Home, 11:00

"I can't believe that Chryssie and Severus are going to be getting married," Dora said, shaking her head. "I mean, they look like they belong together and everything but I didn't think it would be so soon."

Chryssie had even told her that she hadn't want to rush marriage or anything like that. She had wanted to take her time. They were young, there was no rush, despite the war, was her friend's reasoning. Tonks wondered what had changed. Maybe she was pregnant? Or maybe it was something else entirely. Had either Chryssie or Severus been in any close shaves recently? Questioning your own mortality tended to make you make snap decisions. She knew that better than anybody.

"You know, we could-"

But Dora held a finger to his lips, knowing what he was going to say.

"I'm still not ready," she said softly.

Because she wasn't ready to get married to him. Not yet. Oh, she loved him, that hadn't changed. And they worked well together, looking after Teddy like they did. And he hadn't left again. Or shut himself away. He was trying to be better and so was she. But she still wasn't ready. Not yet. She wasn't really sure why but all she knew that the idea of getting married soon didn't sit right for her. Which meant it wasn't right for her. Right now, anyway.

"You're not ready," he repeated.

Dora didn't know if he was hurt or angry or accepting of that because right now, he just sounded confused. Which was good, right?

"I do still want to marry you," she continued. "But it's just..." she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders and not j owing how to explain herself.

"You're just not ready yet," Remus finished for her, no accusation in his voice.

"Yeah."

He looked thoughtfully at her for a moment before nodding.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

She had been expecting more of a fight than that, now that basically everyone was married or going to be married. Not counting Sirius and Marlene because she didn't think they were ever going to make their relationship official like that. Kt just wasn't their way. Not yet, anyway. Which was a bit odd but it worked for them.

It wouldn't work for her and Remus, however. She did want them to be married at some point. Some day. In the near future. But, like she kept on saying, she just wasn't ready yet. But she will be. Eventually.

"Yeah. It's okay," he said with that gentle smile of his that made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"It's okay?"

Argh, now she was starting to sound like some sort of stupid parrot.

"It's okay," he repeated, still smiling though this one was more in amusement. "We don't need to get married right now or even say that we want to get married. Not yet. But we will, eventually, right?"

She nodded emphatic. "Right."

"Then I can wait."