Sunday 27th April 1981
Godric's Hollow, 15:30
"Our days are getting awfully repetitive, aren't they?" Lily said with a sigh.
She sat on the sofa and James automatically scooted himself along it so they were right beside each other. Yes, even after all this time in hiding (and it was starting to feel like an age), they hadn't got sick of each other's company. Yet. And James good they never would.
"They are," James said, a frown marring his face.
He didn't do well with constant repetition. He liked life to have a bit of excitement. A bit of spontaneity. Especially when he was responsible for both of those things.
"It's annoying."
"It's boring," he corrected but that just got him a glare. "It can be both," he amended.
Though, the says were definitely a lot more boring than they were annoying. Nothing happened. Nothing could happen. And he couldn't make something happen. Well, nothing exciting because he couldn't go out of the house! And, you know what? He needed something to happen. Anything. Something. Just one little, itty-bitty thing. Something that was different from the norm, you know? And even that had to have the caveat of being something safe.
Surely, he could think of something fun or exciting that they hadn't done already? He didn't want to repeat something, he wanted something new! Something fun and exciting. Something he could do with Lily. Because they were a team. A married couple. They had to do things together. They barely had had time to do normal married couple things before they had gone into hiding. Between the war and both of their works, some things just happened. Or didn't happen. And, at the time, James had been okay with that. Life happened; you know? There was no rush and they would always her round to doing those things.
Except they hadn't and now they couldn't. And they were all that James wanted to do. Was that weird? He knew that he couldn't do something which should have been more than enough but it wasn't. He still found himself craving to do those forbidden things even though it was unlikely that he and Lily would have been able to do them even before they went into hiding.
But surely, they could do something fun and exciting? Something that didn't involve reading or watching TV or even experimenting with spells, though that was more Lily's thing - she was getting back into her Department of Mysteries work. Either way, he wanted to do something more than those things. Anything, really. But what?
James' face brightened and he carefully didn't look at his wife. He just had an excellent idea. She couldn't help but lean back and give him a suspicious look. His "excellent" ideas ways had the possibility of not being such a good idea. Esp3cially when they couldn't go through Remus first. He would be the first to admit that. It didn't make them any less fun, however.
"Do I need to get Remus?" She asked, only half-joking.
He didn't even bother answer her, instead choosing to grab her hand and get to his feet, making her do the same.
"James!" She said with a giggle as he pulled her into the centre of the room. "Oh, don't be silly!"
"I'm always silly," James joked.
"Well, this is ridiculous!"
"And, why is that?"
"Because!" She spluttered.
"Not a reason," he said in a singsong voice, bringing her closer to him.
She gently kissed his cheek and the pulled away slightly.
"What are you even doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She gave him a look. "We're dancing!"
"There's no music!" She said almost triumphantly.
"I can fix that."
With a wave of his wand, the record player started playing.
"See?" He said, giving her a hopeful look.
She shook her head. "You are ridiculous. You know that?"
But she was already moving closer to him and holding her hadn't out. James wasted no time and grabbed it, using it to pull her close.
He started a simple waltz, something that would let them be close and sway. That's all he wanted to do with her, be close and have a bit of fun. Thankfully, Lily seemed to want to do that as well because she didn't argue any further and actually joined in.
Or, rather, she tried to. It turned out that neither of them actually knew how to do a proper waltz. Oh, James had been taught ballroom dancing when he was very young, like all young proper pureblood men were. But that had been very basic and he had never really done much dancing so he appeared to have forgotten what little he had known.
So, it wasn't really waltzing as opposed to spinning around the room, wobbling in an attempt to avoid furniture.
Lily let out a burst of laughter as the both collided with an armchair and fell into it.
And now they were both laughing uncontrollably, a tangle of limbs. James wasn't sure where he ended and Lily began.
[xxxxxx]
Monday 28th April 1981
Tonks' Home, 13:00
Remus had escaped to the bathroom. And he felt awful for doing it but he just needed a minute. One minute. That was all he needed, yeah. One minute.
So, he went in, locked the door behind him and then leaned against the door itself.
Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths to try and steady himself. Everything had just got too much today and he needed to escape. Yes, it was awful that he had tondo this. Especially since nothing big had happened. Teddy wasn't crying or screaming. He and Dora weren't arguing. It was just a load of little things that had pulled and piled on top of each other until suddenly he felt overwhelmed and he couldn't breathe. Hence the deep breaths now.
This was all so stupid, wasn't it? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Normal life shouldn't be so hard to do!
He had only been gone for a few weeks but so much had happened. Everything had happened. How had he managed to miss so much? Before he left, it took more than a few weeks for something big to happen but as soon as he left, everything seemed to happen at once! Friends were in hiding. The War had somehow gotten worse and everyone was seemingly doing something different. He hadn't even seen Severus yet!
And Teddy had gotten so big now! He was really starting to look more like a toddler rather than a baby now. Of course, the whole walking thing helped in that case. Because babies wiggled while toddlers walked. Which made Teddy a toddler now, Remus supposed. Though, it wasn't exactly a proper walk, more like a wobble. Which was hilarious to watch, as long as he didn't fall. That was never fun because Teddy always gave this piercing cry. And it wasn't even because he was hurt. It was more because of the shock and the want of attention. Which, of course, Dora and Remus gladly gave him.
It was all so strange and wonderful and overwhelming and Remus couldn't help but feel somewhat out of place.
'Knock, knock'
"Remus?" Came Dora's voice on the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"
Headed over and pulled the handle of the toilet to flush it.
"I'm fine!" He called back. "Give me a minute?"
There was a pause and he was pretty sure that she was trying to determine if she should be concerned or not. Which would probably result in her breaking down the door or something. But thankfully, it didn't quite come to that.
"Sure thing, sorry!"
"No problem!"
He waited for a moment and listened to her footsteps fade away, going back downstairs again.
He just needed a minute.
[xxxxxx]
Thursday 1st May 1981
Godric's Hollow, 12:00
Harry made a gurgling noise and reached for him. Peter couldn't help but shrink back. Babies were cool and cute and sweet and all but they still freaked him out a bit. Okay, more than a bit. They freaked him out, okay? They were so breakable and sticky and they cried for what seemed to be no good reason. And they changed things, okay? They changed things. And maybe those things weren't always fir the better.
Case in point, Lily and James were so consumed by him and he was basically all they could talk about sometimes. Especially when he learned something new. Which seemed like it was all the time. Babies didn't really learn that fast, did they? They were babies!
"He's not going to bite, Wormtail," James said in amusement.
"Actually, he might " Lily corrected. "He's teething."
"That doesn't mean he has teeth yet."
"Actually, has got a tiny little point poking through his gum."
"Really?"
James jumped up from his seat and rushed over to Lily and Harry, feeling around gently in Harry's mouth. Which was just gross, by the way. All that drool and snot.
"Oh, you do!" James said in amazement. "Oh, well done, Harry!"
"He's getting so big now, isn't he?" Lily cooed, pressing kisses all over Harry's head.
Peter just watched all of this with a frown. Did they even remember that they'd been asking him something?
[xxxxxx]
Saturday 3rd May 1981
Longbottom Manor, 14:00
Alice walked through the greenhouses and sighed happily. This was the one place where she felt complete peace. She didn't have to worry about the state of the War here. There was no talking about nonsensical things as you tried to fill the silence. There wasn't even any Neville and his babbling and drooling (he was starting to cut a tooth at the moment). There was just peace and quiet and the faint rustle of leaves and flowers. Oh, and that smell, that lovely earthy smell mixed with something she could only describe as green. You know, that smell you got when you rubbed stems or crushed leaves. That smell. She loved that smell.
So, it made sense that she loved it in the greenhouses. She wasn't too good at growing things - her mother had always chided her if she got "overly filthy", whatever that meant - but she was fairly competent. She didn't automatically kill plants without trying or anything else. That had to be something, right?
But still, greenhouses were her favourite place to be and, at the minute, the only place she felt like she had some breathing room and the walls weren't closing in. Which was ridiculous because she lived in a Manor. Longbottom Manor at that. One of the bigger ones in the country. But that didn't stop that closed in feeling. At least the greenhouses fixed it.
She took a deep breath, revelling in the smell of the damp soil. Oh, that definitely fixed it.
[xxxxxx]
Tuesday 6th May 1981
Godric's Hollow, 16:00
Lily turned on the tap only for a stream of bubbles to come out of it! Big ones, too. Jumping back in shock, she pulled out her wand and then frowned. She... she didn't know how to get rid of them.
"James!" She called.
He soon came skidding in with a frantic look on his face.
"Shh! I just got Harry down for a nap!" He said frantically.
She lowered her voice immediately. No matter how annoyed or angry she was she would never, ever risk Harry's naps. He'd been going through a phase where he no longer slept that much at all so any sort of sleep was a blessing and not something to be disturbed.
She gestured at James for him to come into the kitchen, which he did, closing the door carefully behind him. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. Did he not see the bubbles?
"Care to explain this?" She hissed, jabbing her wand at the sink.
James looked over and a sheepish look immediately appeared on his face.
"Um... not really?"
"James."
He flinched at the tone. Good. Maybe she would actually get a straight answer out of him.
"Well, you know how Harry really likes bubbles?" He asked rubbing the back of his head.
"Yes," Lily said impatiently, crossing her arms.
That wasn't exactly a secret. Harry loved it when James made bubbles appeared f5om his wand. His eyes lit up and he clapped and tried to catch them. It was always fun to watch and he normally ended up covered in them afterwards. Lily tended to give him a quick rinse and count that as a bath for the day. Hey, he got squeaky clean!
"Well, he was getting really wiggly when I played with him," Hames admitted sheepishly. "So, I couldn't really hold ont0 him with just one hand."
"Which meant you couldn't use your wand," Lily was starting to see where this was going.
Yeah, but he really wanted the bubbles and started crying so I-"
"Used the tap," Lily finished for him with a long-suffering sigh.
"Um. Yes."
Another deep breath. And another. Count to ten. Then backwards. She opened her eyes again and rolled them before turning away.
"Fix it," she instructed over her shoulder.
[xxxxxx]
Friday 8th May 1981
The Burrow, 18:00
Normally James dealt with the Weasleys, the two families were necessarily in an Alliance or anything formal like that but because both were considered 'bloodtraiters' as a whole, they looked out for each other. Despite the difference in wealth and power. Both famili3s did the same with the McKinnons as well. Sirius had always thought it was a bit weird, only having experiences with Alliances, Allegiances, Sponsoring and the like. Nothing like what these families had. They didn't even always invite each other to events or even got involved in each other's lives! Oh, sure, the Potters and the McKinnons did it a lot more often but that was because of a marriage between the two! On that note, he'd have to ask Marlene more about how her siblings were doing. That was something you should ask your partner, wasn't it? It wasn't like she could ask about his. He didn't even want to talk about his.
Either way, James couldn't pass news onto the Weasleys anymore because, you know, of the whole being in hiding thing. And Marlene couldn't because she was currently over in Wales, chasing down a lead on Death Eaters with Moody. It wasn't anything too promising but they had to check it out. And they might get lucky. Which would be nice for a change. Nothing that had been going on in the wider world had been lucky these days. So, the task fell onto him. Which was fair enough.
A quick knock on the door to the Burrow grabbed the attention of everyone inside. Sirius could hear the excited chatter of all the children in there. What was there? Five of them in there now?
Molly Weasley opened the door, looking a bit flushed and an apron tied around her waist. There was a smudge of flour on her cheek and the smell of a pie of some sort wafted out of the house. It made his stomach rumble - he'd skipped lunch today.
"Good evening," he greeted politely. "I've come with some news from James and the Order."
Just keeping them up to date and all that. It was the least they could do. And Molly did provide them with some healing Potions despite not being a fully-fledged member.
Molly gave him a suspicious look but turned to call for Arthur. He had to wince at the volume of her voice but he supposed that she had to be that loud in order to be heard over the gaggle of noise in the background.
Something was shouted back who Sirius assumed was Arthur but he couldn't be too sure. Though, apparently Molly was sure and responded in yet another shout. Merlin, did none of these people know how to cast Patronuses? Or, you know, walk to the person you were talking to instead of shouting?
"Hi!" A young voice said.
He looked down to see a somewhat lanky child with scruffy, shocking red hair. He looked somewhat like Arthur.
"This your oldest?" Sirius asked.
He knew she had two fairly close in age - just like he and Regulus were. He just didn't know which ones.
"Bill. He's going to Hogwarts in September," Molly said proudly.
"I'm going to be the first out of everyone to go," Bill added happily. "Because I'm the oldest. Everyone else has to wait."
"I'm going the year after!" Another little red head said.
Sirius vaguely remembered this one, Fabian and Gideon (and oh, how even thinking those two names still hurt) always talked about how the two oldest Weasley children were inseparable. Did his name begin with an S?
"Cool," Sirius replied. "You'll have loads of fun."
That was what you were supposed to say to kids, right?
"What's Hogwarts like?" Bill asked curiously.
"Haven't you asked your mum and dad?" Sirius replied, bemused.
The last time he checked, Molly and Arthur definitely had gone to Hogwarts. Bill screwed up his face in disgust.
"They're old. They can't remember properly."
"William Arthur!" Molly scolded as Sirius tried hard not to laugh.
"You are old, mummy! Hey!"
Molly had swatted him for that last comment and Bill looked most indignant about it. Sirius had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing. Eleven-year-olds didn't normally like you laughing at them.
Sirius decided that it was only fair to help the kid out a bit.
"Hogwarts is amazing," he reassured him, which made the young boy beam.
"I can't wait to make loads of friends," Bill was now saying. "Brothers and sisters can get annoying. And there will be loads of people my age at Hogwarts!"
He sounded so excited but Sirius and Molly couldn't help but flinch at what he was saying. This generation of children weren't used to being around large groups of people. They had grown up during the war, where everyone was cautious and there were security measures everywhere. You didn't mingle for any longer than you absolutely had to. What sort of childhood was that? Where you had to stay close to home and pray that you weren't about to become a target?
Merlin, he hated this war.