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.”
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AU, where Sirius kidnaps Harry from the Dursleys and shows up at Andromeda Tonks home.
Sirius escaped Azkaban after finding out Petunia had custody of Harry. He had expected to find Harry mistreated, but nothing could prepare him for the sight that awaited him. Sirius found his godson outside his small frame, trembling from the cold, shivering, and crying silently outside while the Dursley’s were having dinner inside their comfy home. Sirius had never felt so much rage in his life. The laughter that used to dance in Harry’s eyes had vanished, replaced by a haunting emptiness. He approached Harry cautiously, afraid to startle the little boy. As soon as Harry spotted Sirius, he lunged toward him, desperate arms wrapping around his godfather. Sirius held on to him tightly and rubbed his back and hands, trying to warm him up. Tears soaked through Sirius shirt as Harry clung to him and pointed towards the window, babbling nonconstructive words almost as if he were trying to tell him how the Dursleys had been treating him. “Mama?” Harry asked, looking behind him. Sirius swallowed the lump in his throat. “Dada?” He asked this time, looking into Sirius eyes. Sirius bit his lip, trying to keep the sob from escaping, and shook his head. The child looked at him for a few seconds before he put his head on his shoulder and cried. At that moment, Vernon opened the back door immediately, looking like he was ready to yell or hit the child for crying out loud. Harry’s body automatically tensed up at the sight of him as he held on to Sirius tighter. Sirius shielded Harry as he towered over the porky man. His voice cut through the icy air, “Touch him, and you’ll die.”
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