Lily peeked around the corner of the living room at the sound of voices to see James and Sirius sitting on the couch.
James had a book open in one hand while his other was massaging Sirius' left leg as Sirius sat with his legs over James' lap, his head resting against James' shoulder.
"What about Carl then?"
"Really James?" Sirius raised an eyebrow as he picked up another spoonful of ice cream from the bowl resting on his lap.
"Hey, what are you guys doing up so late? It's almost three in the morning," she greeted them as she walked inside.
"Hey, did we wake you?" Sirius looked up to greet her while James groaned and picked up a pillow to hide his face in, dropping the book onto Sirius' legs.
Discover moreComicsRegular storiesAuthor resourcesMobile app subscriptionCookies"No you didn't. What's up with him?" Lily laughed as she sat down in the chair across from them.
"He's having trouble coming up with a list of decent names," Sirius said.
"Don't tell her that!" James exclaimed horrified as he swatted at Sirius' knee.
Sirius laughed as he shifted out of his reach. "Why not? The sooner you admit you really haven't the foggiest on a good name, the sooner we can peek at her list."
"That bad huh?" Lily chuckled.
"What's on your list then?" James asked, removing the book from Sirius´ legs and putting it onto the side table as he returned to massaging Sirius' leg and Sirius leaned back against him again.
"Erm...Are your legs hurting you again?" Lily asked with a small smile as she changed the subject.
"Yeah, I was just going to walk around a little when I found him trying to drown himself in the shower."
"Siri!"
"Why was he drowning himself in the shower in the middle of the night?" Lily asked confused.
"Why are you up in the middle of the night?" James shot back.
"I was thirsty and you were gone," Lily revealed as she showed them her glass of water to prove her story. "But you are avoiding my question."
"All right...I can't think of any names. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't think of anything and went to take a shower that I was most definitely not drowning myself under when Sirius walked in."
"He screamed like a little girl," Sirius grinned.
"Well...what if it had been Lily who had been in the shower?" James protested.
"Then I'd have said sorry before handing her a towel, too," Sirius shrugged indifferently.
Lily laughed."It wouldn't be the first time we walked in on each other showering."
"Should I be getting jealous?" James teasingly gave them both a mock suspicious glance.
"Very," Lily stuck out her tongue at him before she moved to sit onto the table and stole Sirius' spoon from him.
"Oi," Sirius protested as she dipped it into the bowl before taking a bite.
"Hmmm chocolate."
Sirius pouted.
"Here, we'll share my spoon," James handed him his own spoon and Sirius grinned before dipping it into the bowl again.
"So...how far along is your list?" James asked as he looked at his wife.
"Pretty much...none-existing?" Lily winced apologetic.
Discover moreBooksWriting workshopsFan fiction booksFiction writing guidesMovies"You can't think of a name either?" hopeful he smiled at her.
"I've gone through the entire book and though there were many nice names none seemed right. I want him to have a special name that means something to us."
"Such as?" Sirius asked as he fed James a spoonful of ice cream before passing the bowl to Lily so she could finish the last bit.
"I don't know. I was thinking of naming him after one of our relatives but nothing seems to fit," Lily sighed as she took the last few bites and placed it beside her on the table.
"I knew what your parents were called, but I have no idea what your grandparents´ names were," Sirius said.
"Mary and Frank from mum's side and from dad's side Marc and Lynette."
"Was there one who you loved most of all?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah, Grandmother Mary. She was always so sweet to me," Lily smiled.
"Hmmmm...And James adored Grandpa Harold the most. Mary and Harold...Har...old and Ma...ry...what do you think of Harry?" Sirius suddenly asked.
"Harry? ...Harry...you know...I rather like it," James tested the name on his lips before he looked questioningly to Lily to see what she thought of it.
"Yeah...I like it, too," Lily decided with a nod. "The name has special meaning because we'd name him after people we both loved deeply."
"Yeah... Harry," James smiled as he rested his hand onto Sirius' abdomen.
"Baby Harry, huh?" Sirius asked as he looked down at his swollen belly, too. "Hello Harry."
Lily smiled as she knelt down onto the ground before them and placed her hand on his abdomen as well.
"Our little Harry," she smiled.
"Are you going to follow the Potter tradition?" Sirius asked as he shifted slightly in his position to lean more comfortable against James before he yawned.
"What tradition?" Lily asked as she softly caressed the hair out of his eyes with a smile.
"Of giving the child the middle name of the father when it's a boy. James' middle name is Charlus and dad's middle name is Harold and so on and on," Sirius answered her lazily as he leaned into her touch slightly.
"Harry James Potter... it has a nice ring to it doesn't it?" Lily smiled as she looked up to James.
"It does," James agreed as he wrapped an arm around Sirius' shoulder. "I think it is time we got you back to bed now that you are finally sleepy again."
"But I'm comfy," Sirius protested as he snuggled closer. "And you are warm."
James smiled. "All right, then you just stay right where you are," he pulled him slightly closer and picked up on softly rubbing his legs again.
Lily smiled as she softly caressed his cheek for a moment. "Do you want a blanket?"
"No I'm good. I do feel like I'm being awfully cuddly though," he frowned but did not move away from his position as James laughed.
"Not so much more than usual," Lily reassured him.
"Lily's right, you are the same as usual. I can't even remember how many times I walked in to find you curled up beside mum or dad while reading. Or have fallen asleep against Lily while watching television," James smiled.
"And you and James are always touching anyway. You touch me and Remus a lot too, actually. A brushing of hands here, a touching of arms there...it's not exactly new," Lily said.
Sirius looked at her surprised. "Really? I've never noticed."
"Probably because it comes naturally to you and besides, James is the same. You are both rather tactile with people you trust and care about," Lily paused before she corrected herself. "You are both rather tactile to the people you are close to. You hardly ever touch Peter, but you are constantly touching each other in some way."
Discover moreBooks & LiteratureBook recommendationsAnimeCreative writing coursescookies"I wasn't really aware of that either," James admitted as he looked down at his arm around Sirius but made no move to pull back either.
"It doesn't really matter. Your parents are actually equally tactile with the two of you. It is very endearing to see," Lily smiled again.
"So I don't make you feel uncomfortable?" Sirius asked.
"Never...besides, I don't see you complaining that I'm touching you either," Lily laughed.
Sirius blinked at her confused before he glanced down to see she had indeed placed her hand on his arm and was rubbing it softly.
"I hadn't even noticed," he admitted with a tired chuckle.
"I know. And your actions make me rather tactile too. Remus too. On his own I've never seen him touch anyone, yet when he is with either of you he's much more tactile, too."
"We bring the worst out of the two of you," James grinned.
"If that's the worst you guys do then bring it on, 'Lily challenged them with a grin of her own.
Sirius stuck out his tongue to her before he shifted again with another yawn.
"Go to sleep Siri. You need it," Lily said softly and he nodded, shifting slightly to curl up a bit more.
James and Lily shared a fond smile with each other but kept silent so they wouldn't keep him awake.
Lily wasn't sure how much time had passed but eventually James shifted and carefully lifted Sirius up into his arms as he rose.
"Are you bringing him to bed?" she asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, I plan to stay with him though," James whispered back.
"Nightmares again?" she asked and James nodded.
"About the baby?"
"Some, but judging from how he stays even closer than usual I think the latest was about me."
"About you?" Lily asked with a frown.
James sighed. "Ever since I got bashed up pretty badly at Quidditch in fourth year he occasionally has dreams in which something happens to me."
He gave her a wry smile. "I've had the same nightmares after Christmas of Sixth year and still do occasionally."
Lily nodded as James carefully laid Sirius in the bed and Lily tucked in him before they both walked to the door.
"James?" she asked as she moved outside.
"Yeah?"
She looked at him. "What happened that Christmas? I mean...clearly more happened than the whole he had enough and left story. Was it really that bad?"
James hesitated as he glanced back into the room before biting his lip.
"It is not my place to tell you," he finally decided.
Lily nodded. "I know...it's just...it was bad wasn't it? Your mum said when he collapsed due to Tiffy's magic that his muscles looked like he'd been put under the Cruciatus Curse...they looked like they did that Christmas. And I accept that it is something you won't tell me without his permission...but it was bad, wasn't it?"
James sighed. "It was. I was the one who noticed him stumbling up our lane first and the one who caught him when he collapsed," James swallowed. "I thought he was dying right there in my arms."
"And his parents were responsible." It wasn't really a question she was asking and they both knew it so James simply nodded.
Lily took a deep breath. She had already known it but somehow the confirmation still made cold sweat run down her spine. She nodded while blinking away tears, not allowing them to fall.
"I won't...we'll never raise a hand at our child right?" Lily asked, suddenly unsure of herself. "We'll be good parents...loving ones...right?"
James pulled her into his arms and kissed her hair. "We will be. We will never, ever raise a hand to hurt our child, ever. No matter how mischievous he might be we will never use violence to reprimand him."
His voice was so determined and sure that Lily nodded.
"We're not like them..." she whispered before she glanced at the door. The irresistible urge to stay close to him and protect him from the outside world filled her and she couldn't help but ask; "Do...do you think he'll mind if I stay with him tonight, too. I would feel better if I could just be close to him right now."
James smiled softly as he understood her motive. He took her hand and pulled her back into the room, closing the door carefully behind him.
He kicked off his slippers and shrugged out of his dressing gown before crawling in beside Sirius and shuffling closer to him on his back.
Sirius shifted almost immediately, wrapping an arm around James' waist and resting his head against his shoulder without waking.
Lily smiled at how comfortable he was with her husband to not even wake up when James crawled into bed beside him.
Alice had once asked her if she never felt any jealously at the way James and Sirius interacted, how they behaved around one another. But she never had.
Even if their strong bond had baffled her originally, it had never made her feel uncomfortable. And over time, as she had slowly begun to understand their connection, she had come to love and appreciate it. She couldn't even imagine them to be any different, nor did she want them to be.
She might occasionally joke that by marrying James she had gotten a double deal, but she would never want it to be any other way.
She slipped into bed at the other side before shuffling closer herself so that she could rest her forehead between Sirius' shoulder blades.
She wrapped her hand loosely into the fabric of his nightshirt before closing her eyes.
Listening to his quiet breathing she let it lull her into sleep slowly as his close presence soothed her.