#lily always kissing harry's cheek and making him giggle

[lexithwrites]

im so emotional about james and lily not getting enough time with harry, they were babies themselves when they got married they deserved to be around him for the rest of their lives what the fuck

[robynlilyblack]

But you’re over here

Fred Weasley x fem! shy! Potter! Reader

Summary: During the final game of the season, a certain redhead couldn’t care less about the trophy

Warnings/tags: swearing, friends to lovers, first kiss, getting together, mutual pining, Hufflepuff reader, potter reader, James being a good dad, Cedric being the best wing and hype man, Jess, Timothy and Joey OCs, marauders being parents

A/n: 4.4k words, ngl the alchemy plays in my head during this kiss scene, apologies for any mistakes I'm a bit ill right now, as always reader can be the bio or adopted older daughter of James and Lily, based on this and this requests ♡

Navigation | Fred Weasley Masterlist

“Oh boy, oh boy!” James claps his hands, rubbing them together in excitement as he, Lily, Remus, and Sirius reach the top of the stands 

Lily giggles at her husband's enthusiasm, following him to the front row, while Remus and Sirius brace themselves at the top, catching their breaths after a quite frankly atrocious number of stairs

Today was the big game, not only was it the old rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor, but it was the final, and the first year Harry was serving as captain after Oliver passed the torch to him two years ago. It was safe to say as fun as the Triwizard tournament was the previous year, quidditch was still the marauders and co’s favourite pastime. Hell, the whole school was buzzing

“Were they always that high?” Sirius whispers, rubbing his chest “Fuck me” he breathes heavily

“I think we’re just old now my love” Remus chuckles, after all these years he still can’t help but wind up his husband just a little bit

Sirius makes a face “Fuck you! I’m not old…you’re old!” he childishly argues, wearing a grumpy pout that twitches everyone once and again, revealing the smile beneath

“And when is your birthday?” 

Sirius’ mouth opens to reply but alas the man has nothing and is caught looking like a fish, though he’s a very cute fish in Remus’ mind

“We might be old…but you’re still as pretty as you were last time we were up here” Remus compliments, leaning down to peck Sirius’ tinting cheeks “Pretty boy” he whispers one last blow before pushing off the beam and joining his friends leaving Sirius flustered 

“Pads? You comin?” James calls out, head shooting over “Ohhhh” James barks a knowing laugh, whispering something to Remus and patting his back as he sits down

Sirius can’t help but let out a small smile as they turn away “He thinks I’m pretty” he mutters all giddy to himself before joining his friends, taking a seat between Remus and James, with Lily on James’ other side

“See! I told you we were smart coming early, it’s already beginning to fill up” Lily points out, smiling to herself as she shrugs off her jacket, grabbing the others as well, before laying them on the seats behind them to save room for when the McKinnon’s made their fashionably late appearance

James smiles, hand finding the top of Lily's head “That we were, hun” he agrees, patting her head and soaking up her proud little smile as she smooths out the rest of the coats

“Who are you looking for?” Remus asks, pulling James’ attention back to find Sirius squinting off into the distance

“Our goddaughter, I haven’t seen her in ages” Sirius pouts, squinting harder

“You saw her at Easter break” James chuckles 

“Oh yeah” Sirius nods, remembering “Still, I miss her” he confesses, warming the men's hearts

Sirius and Remus decided against children, not that they didn’t want them per se, more they couldn’t confirm the child's safety with Remus’ furry little problem. As such, they filled that hole with you and Harry. Sirius took an extra shine to you though, maybe it was your shy yet cheeky nature that reminded him of Remus, or maybe it’s the little bit of himself he saw in you, watching you get sorted into Hufflepuff when everyone else in your big, wonderfully weird family was Gryffindor. Whatever it was, though today was Harry’s day, he still had to make sure you were alright

“Do you want your glasses?” Remus offers, sighing as he watches his husbands sorry display and reaches for his bag

Sirius swats his hand away “I don’t need glasses moony, I’m fine. It’s just the wind, it’s blowing stuff in my eyes” he gestures around his face, scrunching his nose before attempting to subtly squint again

Remus’ eyes meet James’, shaking his head as he mouths ‘why can’t he admit defeat?’

James smirks, shrugging as he turns away, now interested in where you were, as is Lily after overhearing the debacle. The four searched for you as the student body make their way to the stands. Glancing around Remus’ spots a wild Weasley, smiling as he watches Ron attempt to hold back his blushes as Hermione fixes the red paint on his cheeks. Lily spots Neville, Ginny and Luna in another stand wearing their handmade lion mains. Sirius spots well…nothing, but your father on the other hand is the one to finally find you. 

He watches as you enter the stand diagonal to them with Cedric, Jess and two other boys he doesn’t quite recognise but based on their green scarfs must be Timothy and Joey, which would be two out of the four very few Slytherins in this world he accepted were good, the others being his best friends’ brother and the one and only Dorcas Meadows

“Found her” he points with joy “There she is, ain’t our little fawn beautiful” he shines, causing all their eyes to fall on you as you all worm your way to the front of your own stand

“It’s funny seeing them in red and gold” Remus notes, an amused look as he observes yours, Cedric, and Jess’s Gryffindor scarves, most likely stolen from your brother and his friends…or perhaps secretly gifted from one particular Weasley

Lily nods, but her head tilts to the side as your head taps the taller of the other boy's shoulders “They seem close, which one is he again, Tim or Joe?” she ponders trying to remember

“Tim, she said he was tall in the letters” James confirms “They aren’t together” he says with confidence

“And how would you know that Captain Oblivious?” Remus’ laughs, eyeing his friend but then his gaze drifts to peak at his husband, who's been unusually quiet, realising he’s still very much struggling to see you

Remus slowly collects the glasses from his bag again and holds them up in offering

“Dammit” Sirius sighs accepting the truth and putting them on, looking grumpy until his eyes widen, like he’s seeing a brand-new world

“Better love?” Remus teases while pointing you out again

“Shut up moo…aww there she is, beautiful as ever” he adjusts them smiling “Wait…whoa” he looks at James doing a double take as everything is now in high definition “You’ve aged so well” he notes

James’ smirks “Why thank you, I steal Lily’s muggles products” he admits unapologetically, not that it’s much of a surprise to the girl next to him who just rolls her eyes, accepting the fact she now buys two of every product just for him

“It’s the one with lighter hair, not Cedric, the taller one” Remus points out to Sirius

“Oh…” Sirius eyes the boy, judging “...nah”

“What do you mean nah?” everyone jumps a little at first turning around to see Marlene, Dorcas and the cutest little lion there had ever been joining them “Holy shi… sugar those specks are something” Marlene laughs, catching herself before glancing at her wife, mouthing an apology while their daughter looks up at them confused

“Suu’gar” the little cub repeats before pointing at Sirius “Specky!” she says excitedly “Unkie Jams t‘win” she claps, pointing between James and Sirius before jumping and clapping again all happy with herself

Sirius’ quickly pulls the glasses off, cheeks heating while the others struggle to hold in their giggles 

“I don’t need them” he looks straight at Marlene, trying his best to be convincing

She just gives him a ‘really’ look in return before smiling softly 

Sirius half chuckles, half sighs as he admits defeat, flashing the women a genuine smile “It’s good to see you Marls, you too Dorca darlin” he then looks down at little Lacy “Hello little cub” he coos 

“Rwah!” Lacy holds up her hands in a claw motion, doing her best lion impression 

It was well known the Marauders had one brain cell between them, but when that cell fired it was magical, all including her mothers and godmother pretended she was the most fearsome thing they’d ever beheld, even a couple other parents who had taken seats little ways down joined in. After some pleas and chocolate offered to calm the beast, the group settled in again, catching up as they waited for the game to start.

You rocked on your feet, eyes continually flicking to the players entrance in anticipation

“You good sunshine?” you feel a soft pat to the top of your head, looking up you’re greeted with Timothy's soft smile, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he checked in, worried the ruckus and busyness of the stand was a bit overwhelming for you

You gently tap your head into his shoulder, nodding “I’m good…just excited” you confess with warm cheeks as your nose is flooded with the scent of your scarf again

“Ahhhh” he elongates, giving you and then the scarf a look “Y/n and Freddie sitting in a tree” he whisper sings

Your eyes widen before you attempt a scowl that looks more like a puppy pouting “Shut up” you chide, fixing the scarf a little before looking away, hoping Cedric, Jess and Joey were having a more in depth conversion but instead you find them grinning “Sugar” you press your lips into a downturned smile

They all looked at each other before singing in unison 

“K…i…s…s…i…n…g!” 

Despite your cheeks positively flaming around the second ‘s’, you can help but break into a smile. Your friends knew about your little crush on the Weasley boy from afar. Despite your brother’s closeness with the family you didn’t have such ties, you adored Ginny on the few occasions she had visited, along with Ron and Hermione, but as for the rest of the clan your paths rarely crossed. You were meant to spend the summer with them as your families decided to holiday together, but when Cedric won the Triwizard tournament that changed, and instead, he took you and your friends traveling with the prize money 

Yours paths finally crossed at the beginning of the school year, when Sprout created a seating pattern allowing everyone to get familiar with their randomised Herbology partner before the end of year assignment. You were nervous at first, as you were sure the professor was when she pulled out your names. Putting the quietest person in Hogwarts with the loudest person seemed like it would either be the worst pairing she had ever seen or the most genius 

To her good fortune…and ego, it was the latter. It was surprising to see the king of mischief actually try with his assignments, but most chalked it up to the fact that while you were quiet, you were well-loved by your year, you held no prejudices, helped people with their assignments when the asked you, and was just in general sweet to everyone, to the point even the meanest Slytherins were a little soft on you. Therefore, most assumed Fred couldn’t bear to let you down either, and while that was true at first, a second reason soon bloomed for the boy

It bloomed for you as well, you slowly opened up to him each class, topics drifting to something deeper, and by the time Christmas rolled around you both were close friends. So close in fact you began inviting him to your friend’s secret hideaway by black lake, at first to study, but then to hang out both with and without your other friends. It was funny at first, with Cedric and Jess being rivals in quidditch and Timothy and Joey's Slytherin status, but Fred warmed to them, gaining their trust and, not that they told either of you, their blessing 

“I hate you all” you pout, falling into Cedric’s side hug as you shake your head

“Nah” Timothy joins from the other side

“You love us” Jess chimes in, beaming at you

“Not as much as she loves him though” Joey adds cheekily, nodding towards the pitch, it seems none of you had noticed the crowds stir for the players appearances during your teasing session

Cedric and Timothy quickly retract their grasp, smiling at one another as you lunge adorably forward to see. Your friends soon join you, all cheering, while you find Fred in the small mass of people, admiring him as he laughs with the others. After a few moments, the team is finished talking, beginning to take flight and get into position. Once there, you watch as Fred’s eyes begin to scan the crowd, heart thumping as his gaze slowly draws closer, skipping a beat when they fall on you, and damn near stopping as he doubles back, face lifting 

You see, a few weeks ago you had met Fred to check over your final herbology assignment, which meant a late-night picnic waiting to see if your flower would bloom under the full moon. While chatting, the topic of today's game came up. Of course, now that Hufflepuff were out for the count, he teased you with who you would be supporting, his teasing backfired however when, without missing a beat, said you would be supporting whatever team he was playing in. 

After his slight fluster, which, to this day is one of your proudest achievements, conversation returned to normal, you figured he’s forgotten about it until a first year found you this morning holding a small bundle of Gryffindor scarves, one of which had a red ribbon around it with a note for you

You bring your hands up, hugging the scarf as your eyes meet, causing the biggest smile to take over his face. It was times like this you truly believed your crush was requited, and little did you know a certain redhead was thinking the same thing

“Be brave and go for it” Cedric whispers some encouragement 

He’s right, you think, Now or never

As you mouth him ‘Good luck’, you add a little extra to it, blowing him a kiss

His eyes widen in a pleasant shock, melting into a mix of joy and pride as he pretends to catch it, winking at you before kissing his balled up fist before returning his gaze to the field just before the starting whistle blows

“Way to go gal” Jess cheers, reaching over to give your arm a soft squeeze

“Aww the grew up so fast don’t they” Timothy wipes an imaginary tear from his eye while Cedric and Jess both match his energy, taking out handkerchiefs and pretending to be forlorn mothers, with Joey doing the same but with an imaginary tissue

You giggle at them, and while you would usually try to come up with some sort of witty answer, you instead break into a smile “He likes me” you say simply, swaying side to side

“If he didn’t, he’d be an idiot love” Cedric gives you a side hug while the rest of your friends’ smile, happy for you “Now let’s what your man kick snake butt”

“Hey-” Joey and Tim begin to object together but then shrug 

“Oh, who are we kiddin” Timothy laughs, taking off his green scarf and pulling out a red and gold one as does Joey “Pusey’s an arsehole and I want a chance to be a bridesman at your wedding someday”

“Bridesman?” you giggle, heartwarming at the idea of you and Fred getting married someday

“Yip, Ceds already called man of honour” 

The match was a whirlwind of emotion, the kind of game that left everyone on the edge of their seats. Gryffindor and Slytherin were neck and neck at every turn, every goal answered by another, and it was clear to everyone that this match would come down who would catch the snitch first

“Holy shit, this is intense!” James exclaims, practically bouncing in his seat “Merlin, how the hell did you guys watch me and Marls do this back in the day?”

“Jamie…language!” Lily scolds with a giggle, lips quirking up in amusement as she gives Dorcas a please forgive us look

“Oh, don’t worry, Lacey can’t hear a thing thanks to these” Dorcas it waves off, gesturing to Lacey’s adorable, enchanted earmuffs “Watch this” she says leaning over the little girl perched on her lap “You want some ice cream, bubs? What about a unicorn?” 

Lacey doesn’t react at all, instead she stays focused on mimicking her other mothers’ gestures and waves towards the pitch

“Those are…” Lily starts but is promptly cut off 

“What the hell was that!” Marlene huffs, throwing up her hands as the crowds roar once more, a mix of cheers and groans as the Slytherins risky manoeuvre pays off leading to another goal “Fucking Pusey again!”

“Did you get the earmuffs for the crowd or for Marls?” Remus whispers to Dorcas, who struggles to hold back a smile

“Oi! Gingers! Stay in formation! Godric, what are you doing?!” Marlene shouts again, shaking her head as Fred and George narrowly avoid colliding whilst going for the same bludger

“No comment” Dorcas replies with a grin before planting a kiss on Lacey’s cheek

The match grows increasingly heated after Harry lets the snitch slip through his grasp, igniting a fire under Slytherins asses causing their play to get even more aggressive

“This game is insane!” Cedric grips the railing so tightly his knuckles turn white

“Come on, Freddie!” you yell, unable to stop yourself as he whizzes by

You watch him turn ever so slightly, catching your voice over the roar before he dives back into the action, pulling off a spectacular move that has more than one person flushing

“Offt…your man’s a beast” Timothy mutters as Fred swoops in to deflect a bludger, shirt riding up a little as he does “What? I can admire” his cheeks tint as he sees all of your raised eyebrows

“Don’t worry” you say with a laugh, “He’ll never admit it, but he has a little guy crush on you too”

“Really?” 

“Really” you confirm, giggling 

“Did you see that?!” Sirius exclaims, pointing towards Fred after he executes a spectacular mid-air spin to block the Bludger aimed at Angelina “Can’t deny the boys got style!”

“Sure does” James agrees but then his expression sinks to a smug one as he adjusts his glasses “Almost as cool as some of the moves we pulled off ay Marls?” he tries to get her attention but is gifted a passive ‘uh huh’ instead

“Oh, please” Remus argues, chuckling “Are we forgetting in our final year when you tried to do a spin like that and your glasses came flying clean off?”

“What?!” Lily, Sirius, and Dorcas all turned to him in unison

“Moony!” James protests before his face slowly sinks as if awaiting his impending doom

“Wait…” Marlene turns slowly, looking menacingly down at James “You’re telling me. I almost lost my final match as captain because of your speckyless ass?”

James hesitates, his ears turning near crimson as he sheepishly scratches the back of his neck “…no comment”

With one final push, the final whistle blows, and the crowd erupts into cheers. You and your friends join in, your eyes look over towards Fred, who’s the first to get to Harry, pulling him into the biggest bear hug. The sight makes your heart warm, but your admiration is cut short as your friends practically pick you up, ushering you to move 

“What’s happening” you ask confused

“Come on, we gotta get down their sunshine” Timothy insists, shooing you along with Cedric, Jess and Joey “You’ve got a ginger to congratulate”

Over on the other stands your family celebrates. Everyone’s on their feet, except Lacey who is now glued to Marlene’s hip as they cheer 

“Yesssss!” James roars, pulling Lily into a celebratory hug…and subsequent snog 

“That’s my godson!” Sirius bellows, fist pumping the air before looking to hug James then realises “Oh…well if that’s what we’re doing, come here moons!” he hithers towards Remus, arms outstretched 

Remus laughs softly before indulging his husband, pulling him in for a kiss before dramatically dipping him

Meanwhile Marlene and little Lacey remain oblivious to the romance in the air, as she was too busy yelling so hard her voice will be lost come tomorrow “THAT’S MY LIONS!”

Dorcas just chuckles at the scene, pulling out Lilys camera and snapping a shot of them all (A/n: art of this bit in the future?)

As their celebrations calm down, they notice the teams beginning to land and everyone else begin to make their way down to join them

“This takes me back” Remus lets out a small laugh watching the red and gold scarfs fly around

Nostalgia fills the air as the others join him, gazing down

“Man…that used to be us” James remarks, letting out a breathy laugh before glancing over at Marlene

She nods, a happy yet bittersweet smile on her face “Yeah…good times” she reminisces before looking down at Lacey “Times are still pretty good…maybe better” she confesses watching her little cub cheer 

Dorcas joins her side, arm wrapping around both Marlene and Lacy as their foreheads meet

“I think we should give them their moment” Lily suggests “We have time to embarrass them later” she giggles

The group hums in agreement. As their stand empties, they begin pointing out things only they are privy to from their vantage point. Like Nevilles and Lunas intertwined hands as they weave through the crowd with Ginny, Lee sprinting to hug George, the Slytherin team sulks, or even Snape begrudgingly handing a couple of gallons to McGonagall. None of them, however, have managed to spot you or your friends yet. 

“I hope y/ns alright in the crowds” James says softly next to Lily

“As long as she’s with her friends I have no doubt shell be alright” she hums, giving your fathers arm a squeeze 

“Oh, there she is…” Sirius points you out before chuckling to himself “…maybe being your twin ain’t so bad” he jokes, wiggling his glasses 

James laughs, wrapping an arm around Sirius as everyone turns their attention back towards you 

Down on the pitch, it’s a flurry of red and gold, so you hold back at the edge where it was quieter, encouraging your friends to head into the chaos and enjoy it. Jess, Joey and Timothy promise to be right back, while Cedric spots Cho in the crowd little ways from yourself and joins her, being careful not to drift too far from you

You beam as you take a couple of steps back, watching Harry get lifted up by Ron and Neville. Much like your parents and family above, you want Harry and Fred to have their moment in the spotlight. There would be more than enough time to talk to them after

Unbeknownst to you, one of that duo was already looking for you. Fred’s eyes scan the chaos for your figure, but finds a familiar blonde in the crowd first, and he smiles watching him kiss Cho’s cheek. Cedric feels the eyes on them, looking up and noticing Fred’s searching expression. He smiles, giving a knowing nod towards you, as does Cho who’s clearly been filled in on the situation. 

Fred’s eyes follow the direction and there you are, standing apart from the rest, your gaze locked on Harry. Taking a deep breath, he hypes himself up, realising in that moment you aren’t just wearing his scarf, but the jumper he gave you to keep warm a few weeks ago as well. That along with the kiss you blew him earlier, are all the signs he needed to finally make a move

“Oi, Freddie” George calls as he moves away from the rest of the team “Where ya going?” George tries again but to no avail, Fred’s already gone, pushing through the crowd, using his broom to help manage the masses

As he breaks free, you do a double take, and he finds himself smiling as your confused expression melts into hope and joy

“You’re supposed to be over there” you tell him, taking a few steps forward as he closes the gap

“But you’re over here” he replies simply before leaning closer, eyes searching yours for permission 

You bite your lip, giving him a nod, to which his own smile grows and his broom is abandoned as his larger hands come up to cradle your cheeks guiding them up towards his lips as they crash into your own. You clutch the front of his sweater, pulling him closer but Fred being the showman he is had other ideas. His hands drop down, snaking around your hips before he dips you back. You squeal at first, then laugh softly with him before your lips reconnect. After that the rest of the world fades away. The cheers and buzz around you becoming a distant hum, neither of you reacting to your friends’ cheers nor the flash of Jess’ camera 

Your friends aren’t the only spectators of course…

“Wait…” Marlene points towards you and Fred “…is he about to…oh!” her mouth drops open, gently covering Lacey’s eyes while Dorcas smiles in a happy shock beside her 

Remus, Sirius, Lily are next to react, eyes widening, before breaking into smiles. Remus and Sirius take a moment longer, clearly doing the ‘does he deserve her’ math in their heads first

“That’s my girl” Lilys hands come up to face, overjoyed, she had an inkling you were a little love struck from your letters, she just didn’t know with who until now

“He’s alright” Sirius begrudgingly admits while Remus nods in agreement

Their smiles and shock soon melt into anticipation as they all slowly turn towards James, who had been a bit too quiet considering the situation. But when they see him, he is…beaming?

Turns out Lily wasn’t the only one with an incline, in fact, James being the girl dad he was, has known about every crush you’ve ever had, your one on Fred being no different. Safe to say, he was ecstatic

“Yes!” he cheers “Oh the dips a nice touch, very classy” he nods in approval before looking over at the others “What?” he takes in their shocked faces

“Prongs?” Remus eyes him “You realise that’s y/n, right?” he feels the need to check

“Yeah” James shrugs before his mouth makes an ‘oh’ shape, his reply sending them into fits of laughter “I’m supposed to be mad right now, aren’t I?”

Thank you for reading ♡

[maraudering-times]

25 days of Jegumas - Day 11: Colored Lights - 681 words - @noblehouseofgay

Regulus turned the heat up higher in the car and rubbed his gloved hands together, coaxing more heat into his digits. In the backseat little Harry giggled excitedly in his carseat. “Reggie, Reggie!”

“I hear you, baby. Daddy will be back any moment and then we’ll go see the pretty lights, okay?”

James had left them in the car to go pay for their passage to drive through the lightshow. They can’t see anything from the car park aside from the glow over the trees but Regulus was excited. Not only for the fact he’s never gone out to just look at Christmas lights and enjoy the guiltless pleasure, but the fact that this is their first official family outing with Harry since he and James started dating four months ago. 

Not that there haven't been any other opportunities before now. It was always the matter of their schedules not matching; either Regulus would get off of work too late, or Lily had Harry for the weekend and such, nothing really coincided until tonight. But, Lily was taking the weekend away with Mary and Regulus managed to get off of work early enough that they could go do this before Harry’s bedtime.

And, yeah, he’s nervous, why wouldn’t he be. He’s had plenty of time for Harry to get used to him since he started dating the boy’s father but this is something new than them just sitting at James’s house playing with toys and watching cartoons. 

The driver’s side door opens and James ducks in, rosy cheeks pulled wide with his smile. He reached over and turned the key, shutting off the ignition. “Are my boys ready to go?” James asked. Regulus preened at the term and nodded, opening his door and getting out. He went to the back seat and unbuckled Harry from his car seat. James grabbed Harry’s little snow jacket from behind his seat, along with a blanket, and walked around the car to them. While Regulus held Harry, James put the jacket on his son, adding a hat to his adorable ensemble.

“Ready, Bambi?” James asked him. Harry giggled and clapped his little mittened hands. “Ready, baby?” Regulus nodded at his boyfriend and took his offered hand. James clicked the lock on his key fob and guided the three of them through the parking lot toward the front of the fair grounds. 

Harry’s tiny fist gripped tightly to Regulus’s collar while they walked, him babbling in that adorable two year old way as James encouraged him. They reach the front gate and swiftly pass through with their purchased tickets. James stopped by a drink stand to get him and Regulus hot chocolate and Harry a warmed cookie, before leading them further to where horse drawn carriages decked out in garland and bows waited for guests.

They get one all to themselves and sit down. James draped the blanket over them, making sure to tuck it securely under his leg, Reg’s leg, and around Harry who was perched on Regulus’s lap. With a snap of the reins, the horse is coaxed into an easy trot. They round the bend and get into the light show. 

Harry’s eyes positively light up taking in all the statues and facades covered in colored lights. Reindeer moved their heads mechanically, carolers pantomimed singing, arches lit up in reds and golds and greens and blues. It was breathtaking. Regulus smiled down at the little boy in his lap and looked over at James to see if he was seeing the same delight Regulus was. But when he turned to look at his partner, he wasn’t looking at his son. Instead James’s loving gaze was focused directly on Regulus. 

Regulus blushed, mumbling, “What?”

James shook his head and leaned in to whisper in his ear, his smile still plastered on his face. “You’re just so beautiful.” He pulls back and places a delicate kiss on Regulus’s red cheek.

Regulus smiled completely content and leaned into his warm shoulder, pulling Harry closer to his chest. They enjoyed the rest of the ride like that.

[lolathestoryteller]

fatherly duties (April 25th prompt; Thrill) @jilymicrofics

“You’re staring, Lil.”

Lily startles, nearly knocking James off his feet as she spins around to face him.

“Woah,” he breathes, steadying her with his hands on her shoulders. “Just me.”

Lily frowns up at him, though she can’t completely hide the slight blush that warms her cheeks, noticing his bemused expression. “I wasn’t staring James, I was just—“

“Staring. Yeah.” James interrupts cheekily, giving her his typical lopsided grin.

“Checking.” Lily corrects him, crossing her arms. “I was just checking if he’s alright.”

James’s smirk softens at that, and is replaced by an understanding smile. “Yeah.” he says quietly, looking past her at the door to Harry’s bedroom, which stands slightly ajar. “I was about to do that, though. One of my fatherly duties.”

Lily can’t help but chuckle at his feigned displeased frown. “Oh, is it now?” she asks amusedly. “And what else, may I ask, would those fatherly duties include?”

James presses a finger to his chin, thinking. “Well…there’s telling horribly flat jokes, for one.” he muses, smirking slightly at Lily’s eye roll.

“Hm, they’re called Dad jokes, I think.” she replies, acting as though this conversation was indeed very serious.

James can hardly hold back a laugh. “Yes, yes, exactly those.” he agrees. “Oh! and there’s also, teaching him all the hidden ways around Hogwarts and—“

Lily slaps his chest. “James Potter!” she hisses quietly. “He’s gotten into more than enough trouble on his own, he definitely doesn’t need your encouragement.”

“Alright, alright.” James sighs, but in all honesty, he does agree with Lily. Hearing about Harry‘s many previous escapes has had them both feeling less than thrilled, to say the least.

“Well, I’ve got another one then,” he adds, walking up closer to the door to peak inside the moon lit room — the room that once belonged to Sirius and now hosts his son. “Protecting him, with my life.”

Lily feels her chest constricting with the entirety of the statement. “With our lives.” she corrects him quietly, leaning her head against his shoulder.

She watches Harry’s sleeping face, and tries her best not to think of the last time they’d vowed to do that — and the last time they almost did do that. And she’d do it again, in a heartbeat.

James wraps his arm around her shoulders, kissing the side of her head.

“Merlin, I’d take a hundred curses for that kid,” he says after a minute. Then, with a breathed chuckle. “Although, you know, I’d still prefer not having to bite the grass anytime soon.”

Lily smiles weakly. “You always hated to eat your greens.”

James turns his head to look down at her, an incredulous expression on his handsome face, before he suddenly bursts out laughing. “Wow.” he snorts. “Can’t believe Prefect and Head Girl Lily Evans would ever pull a pun.”

Lily giggles despite herself, reveling in this moment of quiet solitude. “Oh, she’d never,” she replies with mocked disapproval, before her lips tug into a smile. “But Lily Potter certainly would.”

She thinks James’s smile could probably light the entire bloody house. “I love you, Mrs. Potter.” he smiles, like the love struck teenager he hasn’t been in almost seventeen years.

Lily blushes, although she reckons she really shouldn’t anymore, being in her thirties and all. “I love you too, Mr. Potter.”

A slight creak to their right makes them both turn, and Lily’s blush increases, now twinged with a bit of guilt as she’s met with the confused eyes of their son.

“Dunno what’s more worth asking about,” Harry lulls tiredly, blinking against the light in the hallway. “Why you two’ve been standing in front of my bedroom for the past half hour, or what’s gotten you to giggle on about…?”

Lily bites her lip, sparing Harry a sheepish smile. “Sorry, sweetheart,” she replies genuinely. “We didn’t mean to wake you.”

“We’re just checking on you.” James adds, perhaps unnecessarily.

Lily notices the look of confusion on Harry‘s face. “Uh…right,” he replies slowly. “Checking for what?”

“To know you’re okay.” she explains gently.

Harry raises a brow, lips twitching amusedly. “I’m fine,” he chuckles. “I was asleep, you know…not much I could do that you’d have to check on.”

“It’s just a nice change,” James pipes up, clearly wanting to lighten their conversation. “You — sleeping so quietly, not scurrying around, beating your old man at quidditch.”

Harry snorts. “Yeah, well, I could still beat you, even with my eyes closed.” he retorts jokingly.

James gasps in mock appall; „In your dreams!“

Harry snickers, with that same cheeky glint in his eyes which Lily‘s seen plenty of times before, on James. “Yeah, there too.”

[gardezamour]

harry potter au where james is still alive, but lily still sacrificed herself.

i’m thinking she had her wand, james didn’t, she made him take harry and run. and she was so infuriated and frightening, that james listened to her, praying to the whole universe that she would make it out alive. they had their final, desperate kiss. and then she was running towards the explosion at their doorstep.

he ran into the darkness, grabbing his broom and sobbing with his sleeping son in his arms as blue and green lights flashed through their windows. he took off and forced himself not to look back. because he would’ve ruined everything if he had.

he made it somewhere over the ocean, looking over dark waves as the sun rose again. he was freezing, but harry was watching him silently from his blanket. they were still in their pajamas. harry had always loved their broom rides, but he didn’t giggle like he usually did.

they eventually go into hiding. he reads about lily’s death through the paper, dealing with the grief on his own.

he reads about sirius’ arrest, and peters death. then, he reads about voldemort slowly taking over the ministry one department at a time. making it harder and harder for muggle born witches and wizards to come and go. then, it’s remus’ arrest after killing fenrir greyback in a blind fit of werewolf bloodlust.

he grieves again, because he’s truly alone.

while out shopping, polyjuice potion disguising him as he sorts through produce, he catches a cat watching him from the stoop of the small store. then, a familiar nose that makes him grab his son. then, a rippled vision of his best friend.

he pays five minutes later, because harry was much too thin to go a day without good food. and he tries to run. but, he’s quickly caught, and the flurry of spells he tries to send at the men are deflected with awful, sympathetic grimaces.

he doesn’t relent until the cat finally transforms, a cold hand patting his cheek as his favorite professor pulls him into a tight embrace.

it takes possibly too much convincing, but eventually he’s making them chai, and keeping harry protectively close. they ask him to rejoin the order, to let them protect him. protect harry.

he screamed at them, only catching himself haphazardly when harry began to cry. but he’d been so full of wrath as they spoke, like he hadn’t experienced the torture of own failure. like everyone he’d ever loved wasn’t gone.

all, except his son. he wouldn’t allow the order to fail them a second time.

he’d never seen severus or regulus look so defeated. like he was someone they cared about, and they weren’t sure how to comfort him. like they were friends. he bluntly reminded them that his friends were as good as dead. minerva teared up.

he packed everything up with a rushed spell, and took harry away with the three of them still sitting behind steaming mugs.

he took to teaching harry everything he could. going through old books that his own parents had collected. some of his own from school, which held idiotic notes that he’d cry over late at night.

a few months after harry had turned five, it was severus (of all people) who found them again.

lol. this got too long and i’m still thinking about how the plot would go. i’ll possibly post more parts as i think of them. i already know if or when i do write this as a proper fic, it’ll be long. i crave james angst i fear. possible ship recommendations would be appreciated for consideration. i don’t promise anything, but romance can make things so much more tragic 🤭

[starryeyedwolves]

Home

The Potter house was warm, filled with the sound of laughter and the clatter of dishes. The scent of Lily’s cooking drifted through the air, and somewhere in the background, James was telling an exaggerated story about a Quidditch match that had never actually happened.

Sirius Black lounged on the couch, long legs stretched out as he twirled his wand between his fingers. Across from him, Remus Lupin sat cross-legged on the floor, a small, pudgy Harry Potter clambering into his lap with all the confidence of a child who had never known a world where he wasn’t adored.

“Moony!” Harry chirped, tiny hands grabbing at Remus’ sweater. “Up!”

Remus huffed in amusement but obliged, hoisting Harry onto his lap. “You’re getting heavier, pup,” he mused, ruffling the child’s messy hair. “James, you’d better start training now—he’s going to be wrestling you into the ground by the time he’s five.”

James turned from where he stood in the kitchen, an arm slung over Lily’s shoulders. “Please, he already wins half our battles. I think he’s inherited your brain and my reflexes.”

Sirius snorted. “A terrifying combination.” He leaned forward, reaching for Harry, who immediately turned and launched himself at his godfather with a delighted squeal. Sirius caught him easily, swinging him up and tossing him just high enough to make his little heart race before bringing him back down into a snug embrace. “Who’s my favorite little troublemaker?”

“Me!” Harry giggled, eyes bright as he clutched at Sirius’s robes.

“Damn right, it’s you,” Sirius said, pressing a smacking kiss to Harry’s cheek. He turned dramatically to Remus. “Sorry, Moony, you’ve been replaced.”

Remus arched a brow. “By a toddler?”

Sirius held Harry out at arm’s length and gave him an appraising look. “A very charming toddler.”

Harry beamed and then, as if sensing an opportunity, reached back toward Remus. “Moony now!”

Sirius let out an affronted gasp. “Traitor!” But he handed Harry over anyway, watching as Remus gathered him into his arms with the same gentleness he did everything else. It was a small thing, but something about the way Remus held him—careful but confident—made Sirius’ chest ache.

Harry, completely oblivious to the weight of Sirius’ thoughts, patted at Remus’ face. “Story?”

Remus chuckled, tapping his fingers against Harry’s back. “Alright, but only a short one. It’s nearly bedtime.”

From the kitchen, James groaned. “Why does he always want stories from you? I’m his dad! I tell amazing stories!”

Lily patted his cheek. “Darling, your stories are ninety percent Quidditch, and the other ten percent is hexing Slytherins.”

“Exactly! Educational,” James argued.

Sirius cackled while Remus just shook his head and settled Harry more comfortably in his lap. “Alright, Harry. Once upon a time, there was a little stag who wanted to explore the whole forest…”

As Remus told the story, his voice warm and even, Sirius watched the way Harry’s eyelids drooped, his small fingers curling into the worn fabric of Remus’ sweater. It was such a simple, domestic scene, but to Sirius, it felt like magic of its own kind.

It hadn’t always been easy—none of them had expected to be here, together, after the war. There had been so many close calls, so many nightmares that could have been real. But they had made it. James and Lily got to raise their son. Remus had a home where he was safe. And Sirius, for all his reckless, wild ways, had something steady to hold onto.

Harry let out a tiny sigh as he finally drifted off, his head tucked beneath Remus’ chin. Remus glanced up at Sirius, soft and knowing, and Sirius reached out, brushing his fingers over Remus’ wrist in a touch that said more than words ever could.

This was home.

[calmethar]

a little jily ficlet based off this post i made (and thus inspired by the official music video for "almost (sweet music)" by hozier)

happy halloween :)

-------

It's a known law of the universe that James Potter cannot sit still.

He'd always been adventurous and curious, getting up and wandering off in search of something interesting or engaging. Even in class at Hogwarts, he would tap incessantly at the floor with his shoe, not unlike a car engine revving up. The professors and prefects had long lost count of how many detentions James had earned for sneaking out of bed at night and wandering off into an abandoned part of the castle.

Being stuck in Godric's Hollow was killing him slowly, Lily knew. He misses the days at Hogwarts—every full moon on the dot—where he and his friends would sneak off to the Forbidden Forest. She'd written to Sirius about it on at least six separate occasions—if you could visit, it would cheer him up so much. The last time Sirius swung by, he had suggested they take up dancing. James had a good laugh when he heard that, dancing, really, Pads? We're not twelve. But Sirius is—as always—brilliant, so they give it a go.

They found an old wireless tucked away in a cabinet up in the second-floor study that might've belonged to Lily's parents. She wouldn't know; it's not like she can ring them up and ask. They fiddled with it together until they managed to get a signal for some Muggle pop radio station.

"Like this?" James says, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he wiggles and hops around the living room.

"That's not right at all! You're way off beat," Lily manages to reply through her outburst of laughter. Harry, from his seat on the sofa, giggles and claps his pudgy hands together.

"D'you see this, Harry?" James says in mock outrage, pointing at Lily. "Your mum is making fun of me! How dare she!" He grins, and sweeps up Lily in his arms. She shrieks.

"James!"

"Well, if the great Lily Potter would like to show me exactly how I'm not right at all..."

"Right, then," she says, stepping back slightly to clasp both of his hands. He smiles at her, and she smiles back as the opening bars of the next song start.

Tapping out a rhythm against the carpet floor, she leads the two of them in circles around the living room. Their house in Godric's Hollow is tiny in a way that the Potter ancestral home in Devon most definitely isn't, and it shows as they make miniscule steps to avoid crashing into the furniture.

It's not graceful, by any means. Neither of them are formally trained in dance; they step on each other's toes and generally make a fool of themselves. It's inevitable, then, when they careen into a side table, sending James' glasses flying and both of them tumbling to the ground.

Reflexes from both of them results in an extra-fortified Cushioning Charm as they hit the ground, and they look at each other for a split second before collapsing into laughter. Harry joins in from his spot on the sofa, before making the necessary noises and motions that he wants to be picked up.

James, after helping Lily back up, goes over and picks Harry up. He gives him three kisses, one on the forehead and each cheek, which Harry smiles at.

"Are the Weasleys still coming over tomorrow? For Halloween?" James asks Lily. Harry squirms around, as restless as his father, and James readjusts his hold to avoid dropping him. "I know they can't all stay the night, but maybe Harry and Ron can have a sleepover."

Lily nods. "I can talk to Molly when we have them over?"

"Brilliant. Hey, Harry, ready to see your best friend again tomorrow?"

Harry babbles excitedly, waving his hands in the air.

[resident-gay-bitch]

⭐️ Sirius Sundays ⭐️

Sirius + Harry + James hanging out together

Sirius crouches down on the ground, knees digging into the plush carpet and providing a warmth that the outside couldn’t bring. It’s cosy here, in the Potters living room, always has been. It’s one of his favorite places to be.

In his hand, is a blue little wooden train car, and he pushes it along the carpet, puffing out his cheeks and making animated steam train sounds with his mouth. He screeches, one eye squinting shut when the wooden train approaches a mountain, and prepares itself to go up.

The wooden toy with rickety wheels turns up, climbing over socked little toes, darting up a chubby leg and racing up his little body. He makes zooming noises with his mouth, so expressionate it makes little Harry burst out with laughter as the train zips over his head and back down the other side of him.

He laughs so hard his little face goes red, and whilst grabbing his feet, he begins to topple backwards.

Sirius drops the toy, hands darting out to catch the boy before his head hits the ground. On this plush carpet, no damage was sure to be done, but Sirius worries about his Godson. One can never be too careful, he believes.

Harry doesn’t relent with his giggling and Sirius begins to worry if the sweet boy can breathe at all. He lifts Harry high into the air, giving him a little shake that has him wiggling his arms and legs about with joy. And in one swift movement, he pulls Harry down into his hold and snuggles him tight, slapping dramatic kisses all over his chubby little face.

Harry is delighted by this, and he grabs for Sirius’ hair, small fingers trying to twist between the strands, but Sirius has it tied into double braids so no strands find themselves wrapped taught around his fingers.

That had happened, not too long ago, a strand of Lily’s hair had the babe crying so hard they rushed into St Mungoes for help. Now, there’s a strict rule to keep all hair tightly tied back, and double braids seem to be working the best for Lily, so Sirius bites.

He clicks his tongue, tutting at his Godson with a smile, “No, no, no, little Bambi. That’s my hair, you’ll get your own someday. If you turn out to be anything like your dad I promise you’ll have a glorious mop to mess with anytime you-“

“Oi!” James shouted, cutting across the living room to continue hanging decorations. It’s Lilys birthday today, and they’re going to have a party. Sirius is supposed to be helping with the decorations, but how is he supposed to get anything done when playing with Harry and his trains are an option?

Harry giggles some more.

Sirius sets him back down, sitting flat on his own arse now, Harry between his legs. They both face the little toy train tracks, and Sirius reaches to pull everything closer so Harry can play. He picks up a red train and shows it to Sirius, incoherent rambling leaving his lips until he’s blowing spit bubbles and laughing to himself. Sirius can’t help but laugh too.

“WOW!” Sirius gasped, “That story truly is magnificent, Harry.”

Harry smiles and turns back to his trains, leaning forward until he’s crawling, pushing the train back and forth a little distance. He’s trying to make zooming noises, just as Sirius had. With a smile, Sirius grabs his own train and makes noises for Harry to imitate.

The little boy makes his train zip around, laughing every time his crashes into Sirius’, the little rascal. He really is just like his dad.

Harry makes his train go up the hill of Sirius’ leg, and crawls along to make it drive up his torso and over his head, which Sirius had to lean down in order for Harry to reach.

Harry is beside himself with giggles, so Sirius snatches him up to tickle and blow raspberries on his puffy cheeks. His laughter is so delightful, Sirius can’t help but feel a tremendous amount of love for the baby. He’d do anything to ensure that laughter never dies. He’d do anything for Harry, anything at all.

Harry smiles at him, now held closely in Sirius’ arms for a cuddle. He presses a soft kiss to Harry’s brow and whispers, “I love you, Harry.”

Harry smiles up at him, little hands reaching up to grab at Sirius’ face. He tries to bring himself closer, and Sirius moves him where he likes, and Harry presses a kiss to the high of Sirius’ cheek. Or, well, what he supposes is a kiss. Harry just opened his mouth and pressed it to Sirius’ face, letting his slobber get everywhere in the process, and he popped his lips to imitate the sound of a kiss his parents always make when giving him kisses.

Sirius smiles at the boy, and smacks another dramatic little kiss on his cheek, and Harry goes to kiss Sirius’ nose, leaving it covered in saliva as well. Sirius laughed, smacking a few kisses all over the baby's chubby face, and Harry, of course, copy’s his behaviour, and by the time he’s done, Sirius’ face is wet and smells of formula.

“You are lucky you’re just a baby, Harry.” Sirius says, lifting the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face, “That is disgusting,” he says, sticking out his tongue in distaste.

Harry is beside himself with laughter again.

Sirius sits him back down on the ground between his legs, handing Harry the red train again, racing him with his own. James takes a seat on the ground beside them, clearly bored of setting up all on his own.

“He really loves you.” James comments, reaching out to pet his son on the head, “Thinks you’re the coolest.”

“I am the coolest.” Sirius says with a flourish of his hand, flicking a braid back behind his ear.

“I’m glad to know he has you if…”

“Don’t think about that, James.” Sirius said, putting a hand on the other man’s thigh to soothe him, “Nothing will happen to you. I’ll keep you safe, always.”

James smiled sadly, leaning his head over onto Sirius’ shoulder. He’s so tired these days, always so tired.

“Harry will grow up a happy boy.” Sirius said, nodding as if his words were certain. And to him, they were, he believed every single one of them.

Many years later, he’ll think about those words, all those promises he made, and they’ll haunt him.

“You and Lily will watch him grow, Prongs, I’ve no doubts about it. We’ll win the war for him. He’ll be the reason the war is won, I can feel it in my bones.” 

ouch, sorry about that

[taliesin-19]

Random Fact of the Week - Birthday edition

Elizabeth Evelyn Potter--named after Abby's mother and grandmother respectively--was born on June 28th, 2015.

Today, she would be turning 1 year old. And Harry just prayed the house would stay standing long enough for them to celebrate.

Beep beep beep beep beep

"What the bloody hell is that?" James said covering his ears as he came down the stairs still in his pajamas, hair a mess.

(It was currently 2pm. Abby claimed this was normal for 14 years olds.)

Lizzie immediately broke out into startled cries at the noise, lifting her arms up from her high chair as Harry walked by.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Abby said, taking a smoking tray out of the oven.

With Lizzie in one arm, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the screeching fire alarm to silence it before dispelling the smoke from Abby's...cake? He wasn't positive, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings by asking.

Abby was not a delusional person by any means. But for some reason, she had it in her head that she was meant to be a baker.

However after so many years spent witnessing the carnage she wrought with that oven, Harry could safely say, she was not.

And that was perfectly fine. He was more than happy to help out with the occasional bake sale or the hastily agreed upon dessert for a party. But for some reason, Abby had insisted on baking Lizzie's cake herself.

"Yikes," James said, eyeing the darkened blob on the tray. "Was it supposed to come out like that?"

Lizzie immediately pushed her body towards James at the sound of his voice. "Ame! Ame!"

"Don't let her touch it," Harry said quietly as James took Lizzie in his arms and started making goofy faces at her.

Harry then turned to Abby who was still eyeing the blob with consideration, a knife in her hand.

"Do you think if I try to scrape off the burnt parts, it'll--"

"No," Harry said, gently pushing her arm down.

"Magic?" she said, hopefully.

"Don't think Merlin himself could get you out of this one," James said, causing Harry to give him a look of disapproval.

A sound at the kitchen door made them turn around and they saw Teddy walking in with Lily attached to his side, chattering his ear off while Al, a respectable distance from his other side, was doing the same.

Various shouts of "Teddy!" rang throughout the kitchen.

Burnt cake and knife long forgotten, Abby ran over and brought him into a hug, practically squeezing the life out of him.

Harry and James followed suit, the latter giving him a very 'cool' and 'manly' slap on the back.

Only Lizzie seemed hesitant, smiling shyly at him from Abby's arms.

Teddy was so busy these days with work that he didn't often get the chance to stop by, and Lizzie was still so little. Harry would be surprised if she even remembered him at all.

"Aiw...aiw," she said, rubbing the top of her head.

"What, baby girl?" Abby said, looking down at her.

"Aiw!" she said, jumping down in her mum's arms before pointing at Teddy.

"Is she saying 'ew'?" Al said, looking amused.

James snorted a laugh. "What's that phrase?" he said, bumping Teddy's elbow with his. "From the mouth of babies, or something?"

"Out of the mouths of babes," Teddy corrected.

"Aiw, aiw!" Lizzie said, rubbing her head again.

With a gasp, Lily looked at Teddy then back at her sister. "She's saying 'hair'! She wants you to change your hair!"

Harry and Abby met each other's eyes and grinned.

"Do it, Ted," Harry said with excitement. "Let's see if that's what she wants."

Not needing to be asked twice, Teddy turned his hair from turquoise to lime green to red to purple to neon yellow, all the while causing Lizzie to squeal with happiness and clap.

Harry was beaming the entire time, unable to believe his baby girl was this smart. It had been at least a month since they'd last seen Teddy, and she'd remembered.

He leant in and kissed her chubby cheeks as she continued to giggle at Teddy's hair.

And as always when all his family was under one roof and happy, Harry couldn't help but feel like the luckiest man in the world.

[tracingpatternswrites]

Wednesday WIP

Thanks for the tags @puuvillaa, @theresthesnitch and @heartofspells. Here's another little snippet from The Patchwork of Us.

No pressure tags: @krethes, @soloorganaas, @silently--here, @annanother-thing, @elder-millennial-trash

“Did you play football?” he heard Teddy ask as they reached the pitch. “When you were small?”

Remus was quiet for a moment before he shook his head.

“No, not exactly, it wasn’t really my thing.”

“Padfoot was really good,” Teddy said, turning around to beam at him before he turned back to Remus, and Sirius didn’t miss the way Remus’ gaze swept over him, an unreadable sort of look in his eyes. “He was on his school team and it was really good and Padfoot was really good. The best.”

“I wasn’t the best,” Sirius protested with a laugh as he pulled Teddy into a reluctant hug. “But thanks for talking me up.”

“He wasn’t the best because I was the best.”

James’ voice rang loud, and Teddy squeaked and flailed as James lifted him up and flipped him upside down, the boy choking on his giggles. Sirius laughed as he watched them, wrapping Harry up in a half-hug which the teenager grudgingly allowed before turning to Lily.

“Always so modest, my husband,” she deadpanned as she leaned in to kiss Sirius’ cheek. “Hello, love.”

“Don’t break him, he’s got a game in a bit,” Sirius pointed out as James flipped Teddy over again, making him shriek and flail.

“Oh, hello,” Lily said and only then did Sirius remember that Remus was there. “You must be Remus.”

Sirius saw her smile widely as she greeted him enthusiastically, and he thought he saw a flicker of apprehension across Remus’ face. Sirius didn’t blame him, Lily was a force of nature.

“Er, yeah, yes, hi. Remus,” the other man fumbled, but Lily pushed on.

“It’s so great to finally meet you, I’ve heard so much about you.”

“You have?” questioned Remus, and Sirius felt his eyes on him as he busied himself with helping Teddy on with his football boots once James had finally put him back down on the ground.

“I have,” Lily smiled widely.

“Remus!” Sirius pressed his lips together hard so that he wouldn’t smile at Remus’ horrified expression as James pulled him into an enthusiastic hug. “Good to see you again, mate!”

“Is it?” Remus asked, his voice muffled from where his face was pressed into James’ shoulder.

“Of course,” James beamed sunnily at him but Sirius missed the rest of the exchange as Teddy pulled at his arm.

“Can Harry go with me?” he asked, pointing towards where his team had gathered.

Sirius turned a questioning look at Harry who shrugged.

“I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, sure,” Sirius said, ruffling Teddy’s hair. “Good luck, spro– Ted.”

“Yeah, knock ‘em dead,” James called after them as Harry and Teddy headed towards the other side of the pitch.

“So you all went to school together, hm?”

Lily’s voice brought yanked Sirius back to present and he whipped his head around to look at her but she was studying Remus, green eyes sharply focussed in a way that Sirius knew meant business.

“Yeah,” Remus replied, a little awkwardly. “But we didn’t really know each other back then.”

“That’s not true,” protested James eagerly. “We were in the same class, weren’t we?”

“Yeah, but–“ Remus started but James continued, as if he hadn’t heard him.

“You were really good at English and History, weren’t you? I remember that,” James mused.

“C’mon,” Sirius interrupted. “We better move around to the other side of the pitch before it starts.”

“It’s good that you’re here,” he heard Lily say kindly to Remus and he had to force himself to keep on moving, not to look as if he was listening in on their conversation.

“Cheer up, old man,” James cooed as he flung an arm over Sirius’ shoulders, nudging against him. “Your boy is about to play a big game.”

“It’s under-9s,” Sirius replied drily. “It’s hardly a cup final.”

James glanced over his shoulder to where Remus and Lily were trailing behind before looking straight ahead again.

“It’s good that he’s here, isn’t it?”

Sirius made a non-committed noise.

“It shows he cares,” James continued, unperturbed. “It looks to me like he’s making an effort.”

“For now,” Sirius muttered, before adding. “Teddy asked me why I hate him. Remus, I mean.”

James whistled lowly, “And what did you say?”

“That I don’t,” he replied, huffing out a breath as James gave him a sceptical look. “I don’t. I just…think he’s got a lot to prove, that’s all.”

“Mhm,” James hummed as they came to a halt. “Sure, that’s one way of putting it. All I’m saying is…give him a chance to do the right thing.”

“Fine,” Sirius sighed, holding his hands up as James threw him a pointed look. “What? I invited him, didn’t I? He should be grateful for that.”

James rolled his eyes, but he didn’t have a chance to reply before Lily and Remus joined them, and instead he turned his attention towards the pitch where the kids were starting to filter out. It took him a moment to spot Teddy playing chase with some of his friends.

Sirius felt something warm spread in his chest as he watched the boy and he took a deep breath. He was doing this for Teddy, he reminded himself. That was all that mattered.

[tiffanytoms]

Happy Halloween 👻

Obviously this is a very bittersweet (or maybe just tragic? Yeah, probably just tragic...) holiday for Jily fans, but I thought I'd post the epilogue from my story What Are You Doing to Me? which can also work as a traumatic one shot in honor of this night!

Enjoy! 😁🎃

Halloween Night, 1981

"Babe, we can't dress him up like a stag every year," Lily teased, flicking at her husband's fake antlers, currently perched lopsidedly atop his messy-as-always hair. They matched a tinier set that very adorably adorned her young son's head, making him even more of a carbon copy of his father than usual. It hadn't been all of five minutes after James had held his son for the first time, his eyes practically morphing into hearts, when a mischievous smirk had slid onto his face.

"What?" Lily had asked skeptically, utterly exhausted.

"Lils…"

"Yes?"

"Baby…"

"Yes?" Lily had been in no mood for banter.

He grinned down to Harry. "I knew I'd be right, but—" he held up Harry to face his mum, "— I didn't realize I'd be this right."

Lily had laughed, and then promptly yelled at James because laughing right now fucking hurt. 

Yeah, so it turned out their baby looked like James, but Lily was still holding out hope that perhaps he'd act more like her. Naturally, she ignored all contrary evidence — like that he seemed born ready to fly, already had infectious charm, a whole bunch of nerve, and, you know, the fact that there seemed to be a rather familiar swagger to his first little steps. But then again, Harry was just such a good, sweet baby; and sure, Lily hadn't been around for James' infancy, but there was no way that he could have been so well-behaved back then. (James had pointed out that she was the more likely out of the two of them to throw temper tantrums, but she ignored that too.)

"Why not?" James asked innocently with puppy eyes that rivaled Padfoot's. "They still fit him, and look how happy he is!"

"And they'll keep fitting him every year since you keep transforming them larger," Lily responded. However, she lacked any true opposition in her words, because Harry really did look so over the moon to be matching his dad, emerald eyes gleaming as he leaned back in his crib, clapping his hands. She couldn't help but gush over him.

James pulled out another pair of plushie adult antlers out of his back pocket and offered them to Lily. "Is someone perhaps jealous, and in need of her own pair?"

Lily shook her head, snatching the headband and jamming it over her hair. "When'd you make this?"

"Just now, on the couch."

She grabbed both of James' cheeks, smooshing his face before kissing him between every word. "You are such a dork."

James grinned as he wrapped his arms around his wife's hips, pulling her flush against him. "I'm pretty sure you meant adorkable."

Lily smiled as she tilted her head to the side and rested her forearms on his broad shoulders. She wasn't altogether too subtle about just how much she was checking him out in this sweater, but so what? James was her husband, and her husband was a whole damn meal.

"Pretty sure I meant I'm gonna need you to…" Lily leaned into his ear and whispered something that made him flush almost instantly.

James' jaw dropped, faux-scandalized as his fingers dug into her skin possessively. "Lily!" He shook his head and laughed. "Harry's first real sentence is going to be something filthy, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself."

Lily shrugged. "I don't know about that. We could always pin it on Padfoot."

James chuckled, leaning into her as his hands roamed her back and he swooped her down for a kiss. Lily giggled as he held her there for a moment, rubbing his nose against hers. "Mrs Potter, that is simply devious."

She gave him a fresh peck. "You love it."

"I do, oh, how I do…" Harry making strange gurgling noises had them come back to standing straight. "I know, Harry, I know." Harry continued making nonsensical squeaks that James pretended to understand perfectly. "Why yes, very astute observation, son. You should be wary of red-headed minxes trying to steal your heart."

"Oh hush, you," Lily reprimanded her husband as she took Harry in her arms. He immediately started playing with her hair as she cooed to him. "Happy Halloween, Harry, happy Halloween!" She tenderly pushed his wild hair off his forehead as she bounced him. "Next year we'll take you Trick-Or-Treating," she promised hollowly. Lily missed the sad look James gave them; after all, they'd never expected to spend a second Halloween in hiding. "Even if we have to do it from under your Dada's Invisibility Cloak." Lily looked up to James, who quickly cleared his face of melancholy. "Did Albus mention when he was bringing that back, by the way?"

James shook his head. "Nah, he didn't."

Lily balanced Harry on her hip and swayed them gently. "I still don't get it. I mean, I heard the man say he has the means to turn himself invisible with my own ears. So, why's he gotta take ours?"

James sighed. "I don't know, babe." The way he said it very much implied, 'When Albus Dumbledore asks you to do something, you just do it.' His eyes landed on the camera Padfoot had dropped off on his last visit, and he instantly jumped at the chance to brighten the mood. He picked it up and pointed it his family's way. "All right, my deers! Harry, Harry— look at Dada!" Harry tittered and did so. "Okay, on the count of three, we're gonna say 'Prongs,' okay? Okay Harry: one, two, three—"

"PWONGS!"

Lily gasped as James took the shot and then practically punched the air in excitement.

"Good job, Harry!" Lily encouraged.

"Yes, Harry, yes!" He stole Harry from Lily and made him fly across the room in his arms, one of his son's all-time favorite pastimes. Harry cheered and giggled as James continued to shout, "A genius! Babe! Our baby is a bloody genius!"

Lily watched the scene, heart melting with love, sweet, sweet love. She adored her family so friggin' much, and truly would do anything to protect it.

James flew Harry back to her and removed the bulky camera strap from off his neck, managing to one-handedly make it face them as he stood by Lily's side and clutched Harry to his chest. "Here, let's get one of the whole Pwongs family."

Lily laughed as she took Harry's tiny hand and leaned into her husband. He kissed her cheek right before the flash went off, completely taking her by surprise. "Sneak attack," he joked.

Lily couldn't wait to see how the photo developed. She thought it had the potential to be one for her nightstand.

Of course, she never found out.

Only a few seconds later, the sound of their front door being blasted apart downstairs echoed across the whole house. Lily and James both jumped, making three sets of plushie antlers and the camera fall to the floor, the lens cracking sounding like a death knoll.

Lily and James turned to each other and she saw her own sickening panic reflected right back at her. No, her brain short-circuited, it's rowdy trick-or-treaters. It's the neighbors. It's Tiger. It's not… it can't be…

But she knew who it was. She had always known who was coming for her, who was still fuming over her years of evading him, who was here. This time, she feared she wouldn't be able to get away. This time, she knew she was about to die.

James reanimated first, shoving Harry into Lily's arms as he pushed her to the window. She realized they both didn't have their wands. If she recalled correctly, hers was probably still on the kitchen counter, last having been used to clean up the mess of James' attempt to make shepherd's pie from scratch. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off—" Seeing his wife remain frozen, he opened the window himself, only to be greeted by a solid brick wall. He yelled out in frustration, punching it to see if it was really there. "Shit!"

Voldemort had magically trapped them inside, and they'd been having too precious of a moment to notice.

Downstairs, she heard Tiger let out an almighty hiss and Voldemort cry out as though he'd been brutally scratched. It was a small victory that ended too soon when she heard that horrid spell, followed immediately by a vivid green light making the carpet just below the nursery door glow. Tiger…

"No… no…" Lily cried, squeezing Harry to her chest.

James sunk to Lily's eye level, gripping her face right in front of his own. "Lils, baby, listen to me," he whispered urgently. "Listen to me." Her terrified darting eyes, frantically searching for a way out, any way out, finally focused on his. A small wave of completely unwarranted comfort washed over her, even though tears were fully streaming down her face. "You have to protect him. I know you can do it," he told her steadily.

What he was planning to do — go down and face Voldemort and buy her time to perform her shield magic — was slowly starting to sink in. "NO. No, James, don't go, please—" she pleaded, wildly gripping for his wrist. She was holding on to both her boys, her boys; why would anyone try to take them from her? Why? "Stay! I can protect you. I can protect both of you!"

Lily's vision was swimming, but she could still so clearly feel the pain in James' gaze. "We don't know that, Lils. It's never worked at protecting two people before." His hand quivered as his thumbs swiped at her cheeks. "Maybe the only reason it hasn't been activated yet is because I'm still here."

"No, baby, no…" Lily sobbed, leaning into his palm. She knew they were running out of time, but she couldn't lose him. Not like this. "Please, don't leave—"

James was holding back his own tears as he moved in to kiss her forehead and put his hand over her heart. "I'm right here. I'll always be right here." He bent to Harry and kissed the top of his head; their son, their precious little son, let out a little laugh with the action, truly having no idea what was going on. "Save Harry?" he asked determinedly as he stood tall.

Lily jutted out her chin, summoning every ounce of strength her body had left to answer him. Her husband needed her. Her son needed her. "Yes. I will." She felt her jaw twitching, but her conviction remained solid, I'll do whatever it takes. 

James shot her a wink. "That's my girl."

He turned to leave, but Lily wasn't ready. She wanted just one more moment, one more second with her man. That wink had brought her back to a time when the possibilities had been endless, and they weren't yet cursed — even if it had felt like they were at the time. She yanked James back to her and sunk her free hand into his silky hair, kissing him like they were 16 again and he'd just cornered her against a desk to try to get her to admit that she loved him back just as much as he loved her. Only now, they both already knew.

She could faintly hear the creak of the first step, alerting them to the fact that Voldemort had deduced that they were upstairs. They were out of time. She quickly tried to imprint the feel of James' lips into her mind forever, to memorize the love she felt with Harry sandwiched between them, delighted he was getting hugged by both his parents at once — but it was over too soon. "I love you, James Potter. I've always loved you." Her voice crackled and was water-logged, but he still understood.

Lily watched as a tear escaped from one of his gorgeous hazel eyes and rolled down his cheek, over his smattering of freckles, to where his dimple should have been, where it had been not minutes ago. He tried to smirk, but his lips didn't quite make it. "I know, Lily. I love you too. Until the very end."

He turned and walked out the door, and Lily knew it was the last time she'd ever see her husband again. She threw things in front of the door, barricading them in desperately, all while knowing it was no use. She just needed to do something with her hands to distract herself from James' suicide mission and the fact that she wasn't going after him. She was trying to find a way to not completely fall apart over the fact that she'd just let her heart walk out the door and she wasn't going to protect him — the man who had always been there for her was about to die, and she was doing nothing. 

Harry babbled at her chest, a string of Mamas and Dadas, and she looked down at him to try to stop from hyperventilating without James. He looked so very much like his father. "Mama loves you," she sobbed. "Dada loves you." Why wasn't the shield working yet? What more did she bloody need? She felt like she was losing her mind.

Then she heard it. After a few taunts from James and a high-pitched cackle, she heard the worst curse in the world and felt a body crumble to the floor, reverberating through her bones and sucking out her will to live.

She knew James was dead.

Lily screamed, feeling her heart ripping in two, or maybe it was her very soul; all she knew was that he was gone, her James was gone, and she didn't— no, she couldn't be here without him. Never again would she see his smile light up the hall when he waited for her after a class they didn't share. Never again would she wake up to his eager face, ready to tell her about all the games he and Harry had already played that morning. Never again would she feel his arms wrapped around her tightly when he inevitably fell asleep as they watched a Muggle movie together on the couch. Never again. 

But, Harry. Save Harry. Harry needs you. Since when had her inner monologue sounded like James? She looked at her son, emerald eyes wide and curious, wondering why his mum was screaming bloody murder. All she could see was love. This was her child, her baby with James, who looked just like him, who was a part of him — and she was going to save him.

She felt her heart pump out its final beats for herself before lurching and bursting forth its last protective bubble, straight into Harry who was still cradled against her chest. The filmy surface was a blood red, like the purest of love, but tinged with gold flecks, the same hue as those in his father's eyes. James is golden. James' love for his son would help to protect him too, even now.

When the bubble soaked into Harry's skin, he looked straight at Lily mesmerized. She knew that awe-inspired look. It was the same one he always gave her whenever she'd start singing him a lullaby before bed. After the attack at the talent show, Lily had never sang in public ever again, and James had never asked her to sing for him either, knowing how painful the memory was for her. But she still sang for Harry, if only to see the look he was giving her right now. She wondered if that's what her magic felt like to him — like his mum was softly rocking him to sleep whilst singing him the sweetest of songs.

(She never knew it, but James would have an almost identical look on his face whenever she sang, only he'd be on the other side of the nursery door, listening in. The Potter boys both just loved her voice that much.)

As her magic got absorbed, Lily let out a shaky sigh of relief. He'll be safe. She knew Harry would grow up, be the bravest kid in all the land just like both his parents before him, it just wouldn't be with them.

[themoonlitquill]

Chapter One.

King’s Cross Station was bustling with people, as per usual, and I stood side by side with my father, Sirius Black, looking around for the rest of our usual party that met before boarding the elusive Hogwarts Express; Uncle James, Aunt Lily, and their son Harry, who also happened to be one of my best mates and cousin by proxy. A smile lights up my facial features upon seeing the familiar mop of unruly curls and green eyes, two things I had grown quite fond of over the years, not that I would ever admit it out loud of course.

“Astri!” 

“Harry!”

We embrace and I laugh airily before releasing first, taking the time to look him over and nodding in approval. He looked much more put together than last year and for that, I was grateful and I knew he was as well, especially since he had laid his eyes on a particular redhead that was a year below us. A smirk replaces the smile I wore at the thought, giving him a knowing look and laughing again when I see the tips of his ears flush red.

“You look great, by the way. I think Ginny will be pleased.” I nudge him lightly with my elbow and he returns it, the tip of his nose now matching his ears.

“Thanks, but hush it. Mum and dad will never let me live it down if they find out.”

I roll my eyes affectionately before turning to my Uncle James and Aunt Lily, offering them a wave of my own before I’m lifted up into the air by Uncle James, a squeal falling from my lips.

“There’s my favourite little star! It’s so good to see you. Been too long, it has. Right, Lilypad?” He looks over at his wife, who now matched her son with how red she was upon hearing the nickname he had donned for her back in their years at Hogwarts, sweet really. I giggle and slap his arm playfully, silently telling him to put me down, which he does, and I look up at him with a nod of my head.

“It has been too long, but we’ll see each other at Christmas. A whole week and a half of me, along with your best mate, whom I’m surprised you aren’t sick of yet after all these years.” 

Harry snorts and Aunt Lily laughs, quickly covering her mouth as my father’s own mouth drops open with a shocked, “Hey now!”

I give him an innocent look and he grumbles before ruffling my hair, to which I shriek in protest, rushing over to my Aunt Lily who immediately springs into action and begins to fix it, her touch gentle and full of love. She smooths some of the golden curls down and tucks a few stray ones behind my ears, the same green eyes as Harry’s looking into my silver ones and smiling softly.

“You look more and more like your mother every single day, Astri. A lovely young woman and she would be proud.”

A lump forms in my throat then that I struggle to swallow, feeling the backs of my eyes prick with unshed tears. My mother was Marlene McKinnon, a singularly gifted and formidable witch, taken too soon by none other than the Dark Lord himself. I never got the chance to truly meet her, but her memory still lived on through my father and everyone else that knew her, it just was nowhere near close to being the same as actually having her here. I was going into my fifth year and she had not gotten to see any of it, not seeing me grow or getting my wand from Ollivanders, nothing. It hurt, I would not deny, although I was incredibly thankful for the people I did have. But how could anyone replace my mother? They could not and I was reminded of that fact all the time.

“Thanks you, Aunt Lils.” I manage to choke out and the woman pulls me in for a warm hug, the familiar scent of sugar and amber invading my senses, comforting and one of my favourite combinations. The pair of us had made a deal long ago that she would always be there, taking on the things that my father deemed too hard to handle and boy, did that come in handy. I smile as she kisses my cheek and steps back, looking up at her husband then.

Harry makes a face at the loving look his parents share before chiming in, “We better get a move on or we’re going to miss the train. I don’t fancy having a repeat of my second year.” He grimaces as Uncle James guffaws, earning a smack to the arm from Aunt Lily. I burst into a fit of giggles and quickly stifle them with an enclosed fist, sharing a look with my father as his eyes twinkle with a mixture of mischief and faux disapproval.

“I’m just glad Astri wasn’t there. I would’ve had to come after you and Ron for that.” My father says, reaching up to clap Harry on the back, giving a small squeeze and a now stern look.

Harry falters and opens his mouth to speak when I quickly intervene, “As if you and the Marauders didn’t do things that were twice as bad, if not more so!”

He gives me a look as we all start walking, pushing our trolleys with our trunks, making our way to Platform 9 3/4’s with haste. “I wasn’t a dad back then.”

I roll my eyes and nudge him with a shake of my head, to which he returns; all in good fun. That was the type of relationship I had with my father and truth be told, I wouldn’t change it for the world. He was lenient, but when he needed to make a point and be heard, especially when it came to being a single father of a teenage witch, he was ruthless, relentless, and everything else in-between. I tried my best not to bring that side out of him too often, but it had happened in the past and I did not want to rehash that, no thank you.

We all manage to make it to the platform on time and Harry goes first, followed by Uncle James and Aunt Lily, leaving the two sole members of the Black family, looking at each other with mirrored mischievous facial expressions.

“Together?” He asks.

“Together.” I confirm.

We turn back to face the barrier and with a running start, we walk through and are met with an abundance of witches and wizards alike, along with the gleaming Hogwarts Express, steam billowing out of the top and the whistle blowing to signify that we would be taking off soon. I turn to my father and the mischievous looks are long gone, now replaced with a sense of sadness. I feel it, too, and was more than likely showing it as well. I could not help it and it was the same every year. Not that I minded; having something to miss just meant that you had something to lose.

“Bye dad. I’ll miss you.”

He chuckles and quickly pulls my petite frame into his arms, giving a squeeze as he rocks back and forth for a moment, hand on my head as he kisses the top of it. “I’ll miss you, too. Don’t you forget to write and I’ll see you at Christmas.”

I nod and inhale deeply, memorising the moment and filing it away with all the others before pulling back, both of our sets of silver eyes shining with unshed tears. We both bark out a laugh and I grab my trolley, beginning to push it to the designated area for all student belongings.

“I love you, my star.”

My heart clenches as I glance over my shoulder, seeing that one tear had slipped from his eye and was now rolling down his cheek. The whistle blew again and I had to resist the urge to turn all the way around, running back to him and refusing to board. I continue to push the trolley and once I’m far enough away, I angle my head over my shoulder once more and shout, “I love you, too!” with a grin and he returns it, along with a wave as he reconnects with Uncle James and Aunt Lily, the latter of which was a complete mess of tears as she watches after her only son, who now stood beside me.

Harry sniffles, “Ready?”

I blink a couple of times, choosing not to acknowledge his own red-rimmed eyes, and softly say, “Ready.”

We drop our trolleys off and make our way onto the train, moving down the aisle as we look for an empty compartment, finding one after a few tries and settling in. The pair of us sit in silence for a spell, which was fine with me as it gave us time to compose ourselves, before Ron Weasley popped his head in.

“There you are! I was looking everywhere for you two!”

Harry and I look up simultaneously at the youngest Weasley boy, who had now entered the compartment and took his usual place next to Harry. They engage in pleasantries before Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood enter as well, much to my relief. There was far too much testosterone going on for my liking.

“Astri, you look lovely,” Luna says, taking a seat on my left, a dreamy smile present on her face. Besides Harry, Luna was my best friend, the two of us joined at the hip ever since our first year and Harry was sorted into Gryffindor, myself into Ravenclaw. I did not think I would find a friend as good as him until she came along, which was saying something. She truly was one of a kind and I could not have been more grateful for her.

“Thanks, Luna. You look quite lovely yourself, as do you, Hermione.” I smile at both girls and we soon dive into our own pleasant conversation before Blaise Zabini shows up for Luna, knocking on the compartment door with an uncharacteristically sheepish smile upon his strikingly handsome face. It looked odd, but I knew exactly why, sharing a look with her before she gets up to follow him with a whisper of “I shall return. Watch for the Nargles, they seem to have taken a liking to Ron.” Hermione and I giggle together before she asks, “Is that about what I think it’s about?”

I give her the same look I had just given Luna and I nod, “Oh yes. They’ve been writing each other all Summer and I think this may be the start of the epic love she keeps going on about. Did she tell you?”

Hermione returns the nod and drops her voice lower, glancing over at Harry and Ron to make sure they were not eavesdropping, before continuing, “She did. I told her I thought it was wonderful because despite being a Slytherin, Blaise seems to really like her and why not go for it?”

“I agree. It’s about time someone notices her brilliance.”

We fall back into easy conversation, which I was thankful for considering all the boys’ could talk about was meeting up with Fred and George to prank Peeves before classes started. I rolled my eyes, Harry truly was his father’s son, and looked out the window for a brief period, watching as the scenery passed us by; rolling hills and lush grass that went on forever, it was breathtaking and it also reminded me how fortunate I was to have the life I did, with these friends and all these opportunities. It was like something out of a muggle fairytale and I was determined to make this the best year at Hogwarts yet.

[reysdriver]

Babysitting Date | S.B.

You and Sirius postpone date night so you can take care of Harry — sirius x gn!reader fluff

warnings: none :)

words: 0.9k

Lily and James had expressed a desire to go on a date at Hogsmeade like when you were all kids, so Sirius offered to take care of Harry for the night—much to your dismay. You two already had a dinner date planned for that night, and sure it was just going to be a new restaurant you’d heard some good things about, but it would have been nice if he asked you before changing your plans. 

“Babysitting Harry is still fun, right? Plus they don’t get to have date nights whenever they want like we can.” Your boyfriend pleaded later that afternoon, just an hour or two before he had offered to start taking care of the little boy. 

“I know, Siri, but we made that reservation a week ago.” You pouted. 

“And remember how easy it was? We can cancel and get it back for another day. You’ll still love me on the weekend, right?”

You laughed, and Sirius seemed relieved that you didn’t sound upset with him. “We’ll see. It depends on if you cancel any more of our plans without my approval.” 

“I promise I won’t do it again. I just got too excited at the idea of hanging with Mini-Prongs and letting Big-Prongs and Lily go out together.”

You knew he was telling the truth, so you cancelled your reservation and postponed the date. You could go out with Sirius anytime. 

And an hour later, Lily and James had shown up at your door just as promised. Lily held her four year-old son in her arms, refusing to admit he was growing too old to be carried everywhere. 

“Thanks so much for offering to take him for the night.” Lily told you. “We’ve wanted to go back to Hogsmeade for such a long time but it’s tough—”

“You don’t need to explain.” You cut off her unnecessary rambling. “We’re always happy to see our godson. We just always have so much fun together, don’t we?”

Harry smiled widely at the sensation of you lightly squeezing his blushing cheeks, and both his parents were happy to see it. 

“Alright, if you’re good, then we should get going.” James added. 

Lily passed Harry over to you, kissing him goodbye for the night. 

“By the time we come to pick you up, you’ll be asleep.” James said to his son. ”So, goodnight, Haz. Be good tonight.”

You kissed the boy’s unruly curls and he let out a giggle like he always does. “He’s always perfect. Say bye, bub.”

Harry mumbled goodbyes to both his parents, and they sent him air kisses in return until they closed the door behind them. Once his parents were gone, he wriggled in your arms to face you. 

“Where’s Uncle Padfoot?” The little boy asked you, his curious hands running across your necklace. 

“You want to see Sirius?” You asked cheerfully. “Let’s go see him, I know he’ll be so happy to see you.” 

You carried him across the flat to find your boyfriend who was clearly fresh out of the shower. He was dressed in sweats and his hair was soaked—he could use a spell but prefers to air dry as it keeps the volume, or so he insists—and he couldn’t have gotten out more than a few minutes ago. 

Sirius was sitting on the bed and toying with one of the tchotchkes from off his dresser, and his face lit up at the sight of you and Harry. 

“Mini-Prongs, I didn’t even hear you come in! What’s up? What do you want to do tonight?”

Sirius grabbed him from out of your arms and began lifting Harry up in the air as if he was flying. The little boy loved it, but it made it a lot harder for him to answer the questions. 

“I’m hungry, Uncle Pads.” He said in between sounds of joy. You then asked if he ate dinner at home, and he said no. 

“Alright, so how about you hang out with Siri while I make something to eat?” 

Harry nodded in approval and turned to Sirius. “Can we read something?” Both James and Sirius give all the characters special voices and crack jokes in between paragraphs, which Harry loves. 

“Of course we can, mate.” He pressed a kiss to the boy’s forehead before getting up and heading to the bookshelf of children’s books you kept for your godson. You wished you could stay and watch the adorable scene that was about to happen, but you left to go cook before the urge to stay was too strong. 

You whipped up something quick, and it didn’t take any longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. You opted against calling the boys and instead just walked across the flat to your bedroom, where you found Sirius fast asleep and Harry trapped in his arms. 

“He’s been asleep for hours.” Harry said as you let him out from Sirius’ hold. You laughed at the hyperbole, then allowed the boy to go to the kitchen and start if he wanted. 

After he rushed out, you woke Sirius up by rubbing your hand along his chest. He mumbled something about Harry that you couldn’t understand through his groggy voice. 

“Rise and shine, honey.” You said quietly while he sat up and stretched. “You’re missing all the fun of babysitting.”

[enigmaticemperor]

It's November 10th. Not October 31st.

Written for @hinnyfest

#10 I’m so lucky to be able to live this life with you

James giggled and flailed his legs around as Harry tried in vain to get him to stay still.

“Come on, James,” he cooed, “Let Daddy change your diaper. You don’t want to sleep in poo, do you?”

“Poo-Poo!” James told Harry seriously, pointing to his diaper. He turned fifteen months old today and they went all out, a massive party with their friends and family at their home, wanting to make a new memory to signify a Potter child turning fifteen months old. 

Harry was surprised that James still had the energy to do all this, when he just wanted to close his eyes and drift off, preferably cuddling with his wife. James was always a hyperactive kid, though, he surmised.

“I know, Jay. Poo-poo. That’s why I’m trying to change it.” He showed James a clean one to get him to understand. 

He might have understood, as he stopped moving around. Harry let out a sigh of relief but James immediately started clapping his hands and shouting, “Bubba!”

“Bubba?”

James nodded vigorously and said, “Dada! Bubba!”

“I think he means bubbles.”

Harry turned around to see Ginny leaning against the doorframe, in one of his old Gryffindor hoodies, which submerged her, going up to mid-thigh, covering her underwear, not looking like she was five months pregnant. She had a radiant smile adorning her face, her arms were crossed, and her fiery red hair cascaded down her shoulders in waves. Harry thought she was becoming even more beautiful every day.

“Oh! So you want bubbles, Jay?” He turned to James and smiled.

James returned a toothy smile, clapping and shouting “Bubba!” the whole time.

Harry took out his wand and silently made different coloured bubbles of various shapes and sizes appear out of the tip as James fell silent and stared mesmerised, trying to poke the ones that floated near him with his tiny fingers.

He was immediately flooded with a memory.

He remembered the scene through Voldemort’s eyes.

James Potter was making Harry laugh, conjuring multicoloured bubbles out of the tip of his wand, moving around swiftly as Harry wobbled around, trying to chase after the bubbles and giggling loudly every time his tiny fingers popped one.

Lily Potter was smiling and laughing along, looking at them adoringly and full of love.

He remembered Voldemort feeling a perverse pleasure at the pain he was about to inflict on the family as he blasted open the front door.

He didn’t know there were tears running down his cheeks until James wobbled over and hugged him around the waist. He hugged his son back as a pair of freckled arms enclosed both of them and Ginny started lightly kissing his spine, whispering sweet nothings.

He hugged James tighter, kissed his forehead, and James grinned at him. Harry went back to changing his son’s diaper and James didn’t even complain once. His attention was reclaimed by the bubbles. Harry gave a watery chuckle.

He picked James, who immediately snuggled into him, right thumb in his mouth and his left hand reaching for Harry’s hair, twirling it around his index finger.

He turned around and Ginny immediately placed a hand on his heart. She understood him so well. His heart swelled with love for his wife, and both his children. He wouldn’t have dared to dream of this seven years ago.

“I’m so lucky to be able to live this life with you.”

Ginny looked at both of them. She didn’t even want to imagine Lily’s sacrifice not being enough or her children being hunted down by a power-hungry monster. She just couldn’t.

“Me too.”

Constructive criticism is always welcome!

[ginnympotter]

First time Harry does accidental magic as a baby.

Let's go with as a 3 year old, Jily lives of course :)

"C'mon, mate, please just finish your food," implored James.

"No!"

"Three more bites."

"No. I want cupcake."

"Try the Quidditch thing," Lily suggested, finishing her own plate of food.

James put a piece of broccoli on a fork and began swooshing it around dramatically in the air, making flying noises. Harry giggled, following it with his whole body.

"Here comes the Qudditch player!" James announced as he zoomed the fork toward Harry. "He's zooming fast on his broom! He's coming toward the Keeper's goal!" Harry reluctantly opened his mouth and let the piece of broccoli in. He chewed it with a grimace, then spit it back out onto his plate.

James sighed in retirement. "Well, we tried and we failed."

Lily leaned over and kissed James's cheek. "There's always tomorrow."

She got up and started collecting their plates, Harry's included. Harry smiled as his discarded piece of broccoli was taken away. "Cupcake now?"

"No, my love," said Lily. "Dad asked for three more bites but you didn't even finish one. So no cupcake."

Harry let out a groan, kicking his feet a bit. "Don't be a complainer," warned James.

"But-"

"Sorry, Harry," he apologized, ruffling his hair. "There's always tomorrow," he echoed his wife's words as Harry stared with all his might at the cupcakes on the counter. James got up and joined Lily in the kitchen area to help clean. "Wonder where the kid gets his stubbornness from."

Lily eyed him suspiciously. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing, love," he said, winking at her. "You know, I-"

He stopped in his tracks. Looking at something, his jaw dropped. "James?" Lily asked, half amused, half concerned. "What is it?"

James grabbed Lily's shoulders and turned her to the right side of the counter, and her jaw dropped as well. There, they saw a chocolate cupcake floating in the air, then smoothly gliding towards the dining table. It landed gently in front of Harry, who smiled victoriously. "Cupcake!" he shouted with glee, and took a big bite right off the top.

"Did he just..."

"He accioed himself a cupcake!"

"Without a wand, even!"

"He's a wizard!"

James and Lily hugged excitedly, thrilled at their son's first bout of accidental magic.

They pulled apart and watched their son happily stuff his face. "Should we take it away from him?" asked Lily. "I mean, we don't want to be encouraging this, right?"

"Eh, let the kid have it as a reward for his first use of magic," James said. "He deserves it. He won't get away with it again, we'll be more on guard next time."

"Next time."

[robynlilyblack]

Mini Pads

Sirius Black x fem! pregnant! reader

[Requested – see request here]

Summary: Sirius was always known as the cool, laid back marauder but when it comes to his pregnant wife all that goes out the window

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, nudity and pregnancy, established realtionship, featuring Sirius being an adorable idiot but we love him and James being a chaotically beautiful dad

a/n:  3.2k words, I’ve never written pregnant reader before so I hope I did alright, thank you so much for the request I loved writing this one x

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“Love are you alright?” Sirius calls from the living room of your shared apartment

He calls again, when there is still no response he puts down his attempts at wrapping Harrys gift to go check on you. As he opens the door to the bedroom he sees you with your head in your hands, crying as you stand in the middle of the room

“Darling what’s wrong?” he walks up pulling your hands away from your face with concern in his eyes, he hears you mumble something but he doesn’t catch it “What?” he says softly, wiping the tears away

“I’m too big for my dress” you pout, turning around to show him your back with the zipper you both couldn’t reach nor pull up anymore

“Aww honey” he kisses the side of your head bringing you back to look at him “Do you have any of the maternity dresses you bought with Lily?” he asks trying to help and you knew that but with your hormones you couldn’t control your mood swings

“This is one of them!” you look at him insulted, pushing his hands away

“Oh” his eyes widen, this wasn’t the first time he had said the wrong thing, just last week you cried for an hour because he got you the wrong kind of sandwich for lunch and then may or may not have thrown it at his head

“Yeah oh” you say sharply as you put your hands on your hips staring at him furious

Despite trying to relieve the situation Sirius just makes it worse “Well maybe we could get one that’s a bigger size or…” he clasps his hands together, gesturing to suggest something else but as he looks back, you are no longer angry but crying “What happened?” he asks although he’s pretty sure he’s asking himself at this point

“My husband thinks I’m fat” you sniff sitting on the bed head down as he sees the tears fall onto the fabric of the dress coving your knees

“Hey I never said that, I…ugh…” Sirius points at you trying to defend himself, stuttering a bit before he kneels in front of you, hands on each of your knees “You aren’t fat”

“Yes I am, my dress doesn’t fit. I had this picked out for months it was going to be perfect and now you don’t love me anymore” you frown as you sit your head on your palms looking down at your husband, tears streaming down your cheeks

His eyes widen, how the, he thinks trying to do the pregnancy math on how you went from him thinking your fat to him not loving you anymore, he could have laughed at the mood swings if he wasn’t so concerned and sure you’d probably kill him “Darling you’re carrying whole human being in you” he tries to reason, placing one hand gently on your lightly swollen stomach “You are so beautiful, you always have and always will be in my eyes, so when you grow as our little baby grows I’m not going to love you any less” he smiles at you taking your hands in his “If anything I love you more”

“Why didn’t you start with that” you let out a laugh as does he, as started to feel bad for giving him a hard time, you knew what you were getting into when you married the most adorable dumbass “I’m sorry Siri”

“Don’t be” he says, planting a lingering kiss on your knuckles “You’re allowed to be a bit…” he hesitates not wanting to get a sandwich to the head again

“Crazy?” you answer for him, sighing as you rest your head on his

“Your words not mine” he says making you giggle to which he he chuckles as well so happy you’re feeling a bit better

Standing up you bite your lip looking down at the dress “Can you help me?” you ask gesturing to the dress

“I can transfigure it a bit if you want?” he muses tilting his head

“Please” you smile at him nodding

Sirius smiles looking you up and down “You are going to need to take it off first because I’m not risking anything happening to mini us”

You let out a small laugh as you unzip the dress letting it slip off your body piling around your feet, leaving you in just your panties. Looking up at your husband he smirks to himself eyes trailing over your naked upper half, his actions making you feel warm and fuzzy

“Stop” you say a bit self-conscious as his eyes focus around 12 inches south of your face, you were aware they had gotten bigger as did everything with pregnancy but Sirius’ eyes on you and the hormones made you flush profusely

“Sorry darling” he snaps out of his daze, adoring the flustered look on your face, even after all these years together he could still get you all worked up “Don’t hide” he lightly scolds pointing as you try to cover your breasts with your arms

“Can you do my dress please, you’re making nervous when you look at me like that” you can’t help but smile as you say it, biting your lip as he approaches you, hands settling on your hips

“Like what?” he stares down at you with a smirk

“You know like what” you giggle as you point to your stomach “the kind that led to this”

Sirius eventually helpped you with the dress after you both engaged in other activities. You both were almost ready to head, Sirius was just nipping to the loo as you finished wrapping Harrys gift, and by wrapping you would use a spell Lily taught you and take all the credit for yourself

“You are amazing” Sirius shakes his head as he sees the perfectly wrapped gift on the counter, picking it up as he plants a kiss on your head “Ready to go?”

“Yeah” you nod grabbing your bag as he walks towards the door, stopping as you feel something funny in your stomach, placing your hand on your bump, checking in case it happened again

Sirius looks back, seeing you look a tad confused, walking back over he places his hand over yours “You two okay?” he looks into your eyes looking for any worry in them

“Yeah” you nod waving it off

“You sure?” he checks

“I think I must have eaten breakfast too fast or something” you laugh “You’re so cute when you’re worried” you place a hand on his cheek

“Don’t do that, gave me a heart attack” he breaths heavy placing a hand on his chest but the smallest smile does appear on his face at the compliment “Come on trouble and future trouble we got our godsons birthday to get to” you giggle as he takes your hand leading you out

Short while later you arrived at Lily and James’ house, you were a little late but Sirius was always the fashionably late type. Coming in he placed Harrys gift on the pile with the others before heading out into the garden, walking out Sirius kept his hand on the small of your back as you both looked around trying to spot your friends. Alice and Frank were on one of the benches as they fed Neville, Mary was talking with people you knew from Hogwarts, Peter could be seen attempting and failing to chat up some girl, Marlene had her arm around Dorca as they gushed about their travels and finally Remus was over by the small pond bouncing Harry on his hip while he talked with James and Lily.

Sirius gave you a quick kiss to your cheek as you both approached your friends “There’s the birthday boy!” your husband smiles brightly walking up to Remus who hands him Harry “Come here little man”

You can’t help but smile as he scoops Harry up in his arms, making faces that gets the boy giggling before he starts to throw him gently in the air and catching him making Harry squeal “Sirius!” Lily scolds while the rest of you giggle, your hands subconsciously moving to cup over your bump

“What?” Sirius laughs “He fine, aren’t you mini Prongs” he nudges his nose with Harrys making the boy let out the cutest sound

“No, mini Prongs isn’t becoming a thing” Lily shakes her head

“Why not?” James frowns “What’s wrong with calling him our little fawn”

“Because” Lily takes Harry from Sirius, the boy instantly cuddling into his mother head in the crock of her neck “He’s my little angel and he will not be a troublemaker like this father” she cups his head giving him a kiss before she looks towards you and Remus “I hope”

James slithers his arm around Lily’s waist giving both a kiss to his wife’s cheek and Harrys head before he looks at you and Sirius “Enough about us, how you two doing? Little pads in the making” he wiggles his eyebrows as Lily rolls her eyes laughing

“We’re doing good” Sirius says smiling brightly at you as his eyes trail to your hand on your stomach, heart bursting, merlin was that man in love with you

“How’s mum?” Lily says as she hands Harry to James who takes him happily before moving to talk to you

As you and Lily walk off taking away Sirius turns to James and Remus “Is it weird I liked the sound of y/n being called mum?” he questions

“Nah I was the same mate. Right harry we both love mummy…” he smiles at his son before his face flashes with something before he adds “…in very different ways”

“I didn’t know it was possible but you both got weirder” Remus looks between his friends before they all take a seat around the table nearby

“Remember when we used to be cool?” James reminisces as he takes a drink, leaning back in his chair as he speaks with Remus and Sirius while Harry begins to drift off in his arms

“Prongs I hate to break it to you but we were never cool” Remus chuckles as he shakes his head

“I was cool!” Sirius sits up looking offended “Still am” he corrects himself

“Still what?” Marlene asks as she and Dorca join the group sitting down with them

“Still cool” Sirius says earning laughs from the two girls

“You’re as cool as Marls now” Dorca teases as Remus and James start chuckling

“Hell…wait” Marlene stops snapping to look at the girl “Did you just call me…” she looks around the table “Did my own wife just call me Marlene Mc-fucking-kinnon uncool?”

“Language” Remus scolds pointing to Harry to which Marlene slaps her hand over her mouth saying a quick sorry to James

“It’s alright he’s a fuckin sleep” James jokes before he realises that was a) a terrible joke that didn’t even make sense and b) he just swore in front of his son and if his first word is anything but ‘mumma’ Lily will kill him “I think I had too much champagne”

“You’ve had like two glasses” Remus tilts his head

“Yeah but I also haven’t drunk since before Lily got pregnant so my tolerance is so low” he cringes

“Can we back track to how I am uncool” Marlene looks around the table arms crossed

“You have become a bit mushy like Sirius” James nods to his friend

“Hey…I” he looks at them who all tilt their heads so he shuts up looking back at Marlene

“Well mushy and cool can go together” she tries to argue

“Yeah” Remus nods making Marlene and Sirius smile triumphantly “Like those peas at Hogwarts no one ever touched” the sarcasm makes James and Dorca chuckle

“Now I’m really offended, we are no longer friends Remus John Lupin” she huffs

“Middle named” James cringes nudging Sirius

“Yeah…” Sirius’ chuckles before his eyes trail to see you holding your stomach again

James follows his eyes “She’ll be fine mate Alice is there” he tries to reassure

“You sure she’ll be okay?” he panics looking back at his friends “Like what if it’s the baby, she didn’t feel great this morning she said it was breakfast but I don’t think that’s it” he starts to ramble making the rest look among each other with the same ‘that is adorable’ expression

“Mate trust me from experience she will feel every weird feeling in the book” James pats his shoulder one hand still firmly holding Harry “It’s probably just the baby getting comfy” he suggests

“You sure?” Sirius asks not caring how frantic he sounds

“She’ll be fine Pads, just like she was fine when she had to run to the bathroom because the chicken at my birthday dinner” Remus says with a knowing look

“And just like she was fine when she felt fatigued and dizzy at mine and Dorcas engagement” Marlene adds giving his arm a squeeze with a support smile

“Or when you ran to me about the discharge in…” Sirius clamps his hand over James’ mouth

“Okay I get it” he says scrunching up his face as James licks his hand before the worried expression returns to his face “Still this hasn’t happened before, plus she was so upset this morning” he closes his eyes for a second

“Why?” Dorca inquires

“Because…” he sighs “Once again I made her go through about 12 emotions by saying the wrong thing”

“Do we want to know?” Remus asks

“No because I do not want their sandwiches thrown at my head” he points at Marlene and Dorca

“I love Lily but not looking forward to that again, are we?” James smiles to himself rocking Harry happily before eyes widen realising he just let that slip, damn the champagne

“Again?” Marlene’s eyes light up as do the rest of the groups

“No no no” James shakes his head cheeks going red as he points desperately between them all “You cannot let her know I told you especially after last time she really wanted to be the one to tell you” the others all chuckle remembering when he let it slip the first time

“Maybe you’ll get it right with the third one” Remus jokes

“Congrats” Marlene smiles “Hey wouldn’t it be cute if yours and Sirius’ kids got together” she points between the two

“Aww that be so cute!” James lights up falling in love with it even more in his slightly tipsy state “We could be in laws one day…Pads” he nudges Sirius

“In laws yeah, mate…one minute” Sirius waves him off watching as you part from Alice and head into the house

“What’s her symptoms?” James forces himself to sober up enough to help

“Felt a funny feeling in her stomach just happened the once but I feel like it’s something more” he answers

“How far along is she?” James raises his eyebrow as he tries to recall if it happened to Lily

“About 16/17 weeks?” Sirius tilts his head as he does the math

The man’s eyes light up in recognition “It could be the baby kicking, it freaked Lily out too so much she dragged us to the doctor” he chuckles

“Really!” Sirius perks up smiling as he half falls out of the chair as he gets up making his way over to you

“He used to be so laid back” Marlene notes as they watch him wander off

“I think it’s sweet” Dorca says leaning into Marlene

“Oh yeah it’s definitely sweet and hilarious to see him so worried about her” Remus adds

“You told me that was annoying?” James looks at his friend in shock mouth wide open

“Yeah because you’re like that in general with Lily and it was like times 100 while she was pregnant” Remus laughs “honestly Prongs it was like you were the one pregnant” that gains some laughs from the girls

“Speaking of you may not see us much over the next 9 months” Marlene jests making James scoff

“Arseholes” James shakes his head “Right Harry”

“Ass-” the boy starts to make out the sound as James’ eyes widen rasping Harry must have woken up

“Shit Lily’s gonna kill me” he looks between his friend who all try their best not to face palm beside Remus who actually does

“Sh-” James stops harry by placing a finger lightly over the boy’s lips

“Harry no!”

Meanwhile Sirius makes his way over to you as you look at all the cakes on the little table Lily had set up “Hey darling” he grins at you as he comes up from behind, hands on your hips as he kisses just below your ear

“Hey Siri” you smile leaning into him “You think I should get this or this?” you point to two of the desserts

“Both, the answer is always both and I’ll have them as well” he moves to grab you both some food but stops as he years you gasp

“Oh” you feel the same sensation again “Siri” you take his hand placing it on your stomach

The baby kicks making Sirius jump a little “Oh merlin” he starts smiling placing his other hand on your cheek as he feels the baby kick again

“Alice told me that it’s the baby…” you start

“…kicking, yeah prongs told me the same” Sirius finishes both of your smiles widening as your eyes become a tad glassy “I love you so much” he says with such sincerity you could cry and you probably would with the hormones

“I love you too” he pulls you in for a sweet kiss, move savouring as you pull back his hand still on your stomach

“Hey you two alright” Lily comes in tilting her head

“Yeah we felt the baby kicking for the first time” You say excitedly

“That’s amazing honey, may I?” you nod as Sirius moves his hand to around your waist instead, letting Lily feel the baby as it kicks again “Aww I wish mines and Jamie’s was like this” she confesses “He got so worried about it that he dragged me at 2am to a muggle hospital and then started crying when he found out it was Harry kicking” she shakes her head laughing at the memory

“Did he now” James walks up with baby Harry shrugging with a cringy smile knowing that that little white lie isn’t the worst of his problems at present

“Aww how’s my baby…” Lily picks harry up from James

“Ass” Harry says smiling while you and Sirius look at each other, then towards James who looks mortified closing his eyes as he prepares himself

“What was that?” Lily giggles nuzzles her nose with Harrys

“Ass-hole” the boy repeats as you and Sirius bite back your laughter

Lily gives her husband a death glare “James. Please tell me my sons first word wasn’t…” she places one of Harrys ears into her chest as he cups the other whispering “Asshole”

“Well technically it was…Ass” he whispers the word before the panic washes over his face realising that she did not find this funny “And in my defence, I have none please don’t kill me I love you” he pleads as you and Sirius giggle

“I don’t know why you’re laughing you think my little prongs is bad wait till mini pads is up and about” Lily looks at the two of you before laughing herself “This is what happens when you marry a marauder”