Sunrise
by Jori
e-mail: Jori@netroenterprises.com
web: http://www.netroenterprises.com/cozyplace/
Lily and James Potter ponder new beginnings and falling in love at first sight.
Rated PG
Spoilers for the first four books.
A Lily/James story
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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Lily had been in love before but not like this. At this moment, she was hopelessly and completely in love and nothing she had ever experienced in her life could ever compare. There had been other men in her life -- and other boys -- but none of them made her heart swell with so much... she didn't even know if the word love was big enough to define it. There was no way to define it.
She tried to choke back the tears that were beginning to flood her eyes as she looked down at his face but it was a losing battle. They trickled down her cheek and her sniffling didn't go unnoticed.
"Are you... disappointed?" James asked hesitantly from his place on the bed, reaching out to touch her face.
"Disappointed? How could you ask such a thing?"
"The other day when we were shopping I saw you looking at a frilly pink dress and I just assumed..."
She looked at her husband and then back to the baby cradled in her arms. Carefully, she unwrapped him from the tight swaddling and took one of his tiny hands and folded over the mitt that was there to prevent him from scratching himself, revealing five pink fingers.
"How could I be disappointed? Look at this. He's absolutely perfect right down to the last little fingernail," she said.
"Those hands will be slaying dragons someday," James said and Lily scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
"This hand will one day wear some girl's ring," she said, holding up the tiny fingers and squinting at them, imagining a band of gold there. It was impossible for her to even imagine that someday he'd be big enough...
"Getting ahead of yourself there, Lily?" James asked, reaching out to touch his son's hand. The baby gripped one of his father's fingers tightly, not letting go.
"You're the one who has him slaying dragons already."
"I was speaking metaphorically."
"Just don't have him growing up too quickly. I kind of like him just like this," Lily said, watching their son closely. The baby yawned and James pulled his finger out of his grasp. He stroked his cheek and the baby turned his head in the direction of the touch, his mouth opening up.
"I think he's hungry. Again," James said, smiling.
"Maybe that part I'm not so crazy about," Lily said.
"Wait until he's a teenager. I hope Hogwarts has plenty of food," James said.
"They managed to keep you and your friends fed which was no small feat," Lily said, adjusting the top of her gown so she could position her son at her breast. They were both new at this and it took a few attempts before it all worked right. Lily could feel James staring at her but she didn't take her eyes off of the baby.
"We need a name and I don't think Josette is going to work," James said, moving from the bed and sitting down in the rocking chair. That was the name they had agreed on for a girl. They never did reach a decision on a boy's name and apparently they should have worked a little harder at it. Even though the witch who was their midwife could have easily told them the gender, they decided it would be more fun to wait. Lily had hoped that since Petunia had just had a boy, she would have a girl but now she was so in love she couldn't care less about her sister and her family. Maybe two boys would bring them all together. Lily almost laughed at the thought. Nothing was ever going to bring her back together with her jealous sister. Chances are, their sons would never even meet.
The baby suckled a few times, filling his small mouth with milk before swallowing, then starting the process over again. His tiny hand, still uncovered, flailed around a bit until it found a spot on the top of her breast and stayed there, quite content.
"I don't know. Do we name him after one of our friends? My father? Your father? Do we name him after you?" Lily asked. She tried to think of names that seemed to fit this tiny person while remembering that someday, he'd be grown up and the name would still have to fit.
"James will make a good middle name but I want him to have his own name. I want him to make his own mark on the world," James said, pulling a blanket from the bed and covering himself with it. It had been a warm summer's night but they were both exhausted. Becoming parents took quite a bit of effort especially since they decided to forgo any magical assistance their midwife offered. She was a rotund and happy witch by the name of Lucilla Lowdermilk who just smiled when Lily told her she wanted to feel everything when she gave birth to her child. She almost changed her mind a few times but stuck with it and she was rather proud of herself now. James coached her through it all, never leaving the bedside even when she swore loudly at him and threatened him with some rather nasty hexes.
The baby pulled away and Lily switched sides, taking the time to cover his hand up before he could scratch himself. He nursed for just a little longer, his eyes closed the whole time. As soon as he was finished, she covered her shoulder with a cloth and burped him before settling him in her arms.
The sun was rising now, its warmth streaming through the window, covering his face with soft pinks and yellows. He stared up at her with eyes that seemed to know everything. It was as if yesterday he was in a place where he had all the answers to every question in the world and the only way he had to communicate them was with those saucer-like eyes. It was anyone's guess as to what color they would end up and Lily's only hope was that he wouldn't need glasses too soon like his father. He already had James' unruly hair and Lucilla had even commented that she had never seen a baby born with such a head of black hair.
There was a knock on the door and Lucilla came in, smiling at Lily and the baby. "Before I go, there's a few things that must be done to make this all proper in the Muggle world," she said and Lily looked to James. They both knew that the day might come that they would have to live as Muggles and that day might be soon. He just nodded and stood up, taking the baby from Lily's arms before handing him over to the midwife. She went into the other room with him and James sat down on the bed again.
"A name," she said with a sigh.
"Robert."
"No."
"Good."
"Thomas?" she suggested and James frowned.
"We don't have to rush this. We can take our time to think about it," he said.
"We only had nine months."
"So what will another day or two matter then?" he asked, snuggling down next to her. She knew she soon had to sleep at least for a few minutes but she couldn't even think about it without her baby in the room. The next room was too far away right at this moment and she looked anxiously at the doorway.
Lucilla brought the baby back shortly and Lily quickly reached for him, settling him between herself and James.
"I'll be going now. Congratulations on the beautiful baby . . . oh, before I forget, these have been arriving every few minutes," she said, handing over a pile of letters. Lily thanked the witch before she left and then looked through the mail. The letters were from nearly everyone they knew in the wizarding world though how they would know already was beyond Lily. They had sent their owl out to only their closest friends and to Albus Dumbledore but word always spread quickly in their world.
She opened a few letters before the baby started fussing and then she put them aside. James was nearly asleep, lying on his side with one of his large hands gently holding the baby.
"Did Professor Dumbledore send an owl?" James asked with a yawn.
"I believe so," Lily said, reaching for the letters again. She handed James the one from their former headmaster. James rolled onto his back, straightened his glasses and opened the letter. He pulled out a piece of parchment that was covered in lines of tidy handwriting.
"He says congratulations to both of us . . . and that he's always loved the name Harry," James said, an amused look crossing his face. Lily smiled, too. Leave it to Professor Dumbledore to notice that the birth announcement didn't include a name. "Wouldn't he be surprised if we named him that?"
"We can add it to the list of names to consider," Lily said, going back to watching her son. For as much as he went through today, his eyes were wide open. It was if he was taking it all in even though she knew he couldn't possibly be able to see that much yet.
"So that makes ours a list of... one?" James said, yawning again. The baby fussed about in the blankets. "Should we put him in his cradle and hope to get some sleep?"
Lily looked over to the small cradle in the corner of the room and it seemed terribly far away. She looked at their baby again and couldn't see the harm in leaving him right where he was. Soon enough, he'd be sleeping in the nursery she had done but right now... she needed him near.
"Please... keep him safe," she whispered to no one and ran her hand over his unruly hair before leaning over to give him a kiss. The world was growing increasingly dangerous all around them and she knew it would be impossible to always keep him safe but for now, nothing could happen to him. She wouldn't allow it. She blinked back more tears as she realized for the first time in her life that not only was she head over heels in love with this small person but that she would die for him without even thinking twice about it. He turned to her with his all knowing slate colored eyes and her heart began to melt all over again when his chin quivered. "You'll always be safe, won't you... Harry?"
She said the name again and for some reason she couldn't explain, it seemed to fit him perfectly. Lily watched as Harry's big, round eyes finally closed as their first day together as a family began.
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The End
Author's Notes: Yeah, I'm making it all up out of my head. Forgive me for any errors I might have made.