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Author: Lady Chi Story: With All My Love Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 6 Words: 60,540
Mr. and Mrs. Potter had bought the house in Godric’s Hollow long before they had brought their one and only son into the world. In fact, it had been their very first purchase as a young couple newly married. Of course, as time went on, they had bought other houses with the funds that came through Mr. Potter’s family, a long and noble line of Gryffindors with a talent for making and investing money. However, the house at Godric’s Hollow was still their favorite, despite all its failings. Looking around, Amelia Potter could see quite a few of those failings from where she stood. For one thing, it didn’t quite stand straight, tilting slightly to the right in a funny way that made her laugh every time she saw it. The foundation was cracking, she was sure, and the roof leaked. Yet, it was home. “Harold, dear, are you awake yet?” she called up the stairs as she bustled around the kitchen, making the tea that would allow her to function normally for the rest of the morning. “’Course, dear,” he shouted back down, and promptly rolled over in his bed. Amelia was well aware of this because he did so every morning. It took about an hour to get her husband up and ready to go, and while it was frustrating from time to time, usually she enjoyed the few moments alone. She was distracted momentarily from her musings by the pecking of an owl at her window. It was a rather noble-looking bird that blinked at her through sun-dazed eyes. Although Hogwarts owls could fly during the day, they much preferred the nighttime to do their courier work, and for good reason. “There, there, dear,” she muttered, opening the window quickly for it. “I’ve got a nice dark corner over there you can rest in for a moment with a perch and some water. I’ll take that letter, if you please.” The owl gave a grateful-but-tired hoot and passed over the letter. Amelia couldn’t hide her delight in seeing that the return address was that of her son. “What was all that racket?” Harold shouted down, irritated. “It’s a letter from James!” Amelia couldn’t contain herself. She ripped the envelope open with all the excitement of a young child at a birthday party. “Well, don’t go on reading it until I get down there,” Harold shouted down, and she finally heard the distant thump of his feet hitting the floor. “Make sure you put on your glasses, dear,” she called up absently, pouring a mug of the now-ready tea. Although she could hardly stand to do so, Amelia waited patiently while her husband fumbled his way down the stairs before she unfolded the letter. “What does he say?” Harold asked, blinking rapidly through thick black-rimmed glasses. “Well, dear, we’ll know when we open it up.” “Get on with it, then,” Harold said impatiently. “What are you waiting for?” “Actually,” Amelia muttered under her breath, “I was waiting for you to get yourself out of bed.” “I’m here now.” Impatiently, Harold crossed the kitchen to the teapot and poured a rather generous mug of the hot black liquid, sighing with pleasure once the caffeine hit his system. “All right then,” Amelia said, and began to read from the parchment. “ ‘Dearest Mum and Dad, First of all, I am under strict orders from Sergeant Sirius himself to give you a cheery hello, and so I will do so here. Hello! Perhaps now I shall be able to avoid a fate worse than death. Remus also sends you the best and says to say thanks to you, Mum, for the shipment of homemade biscuits. He really enjoyed them and is feeling much better. Peter says to send you his regards as well and to thank you once again for the week over the summer. He had a wonderful time. I know I haven’t been able to write to you a lot, but I’m pretty sure that you both understand what a hectic year it’s been. Being Head Boy is everything you said it would be, Dad, responsibility and duty and respectability, not necessarily the fun and games I had anticipated as a much younger boy. The Head Girl this year is, as you well know, Lily Evans, who’s turning out to be not so bad after all. Well, that’s all the time I have for writing. Lily says we’ve got to write up timetables… or something Head-Boyish in nature. Your Loving Son, James P.S. As I conclude my letter, Sirius begs me to let you know that a batch of biscuits for himself wouldn’t go amiss, and Remus wants to assure you that his health is improving and that he will keep you updated himself so that your weekly inquiries won’t be necessary anymore. P.P.S. Lily said to tell you ‘hello’, and that she’s looking forward to meeting you. That’s the end of it. I promise. No more endings.’” Harold chuckled to himself. “Do you really think he’s done it?” “Done what?” Amelia asked, absent-mindedly tapping the paper against the kitchen counter. “Got her to like him, of course.” “Don’t be ridiculous,” Amelia said, looking lovingly over her husband of more years than she cared to count. “It’s James.” Harold smiled. “What is that supposed to mean?” “He’s exactly like you.” “What does that mean?” “Things might be a bit more complicated than James may be anticipating, but I’ve got a good feeling about this letter. It sounds like our boy has done a lot of growing up over the term so far.” “Indeed,” Howard said, sipping his coffee again. “Well, I, for one, am looking forward to meeting this Lily lady.” “I am, too.” Amelia crossed the kitchen to wrap her arms around her husband’s slightly thickening waistband. “She sounds as though she’s made quite an impression.” “Remind you of anyone you know?” Howard asked teasingly. “Sounds like you in the throes of young love,” Amelia responded promptly. “Give me credit, please. I figured it all out eventually.” “Did I turn out to be so awful?” “Not really, no,” Amelia whispered in a voice suddenly soft as she gazed at the parchment in her hands. “He’s growing up, Harold.” Wordlessly, Harold opened his arms wide. “Come here, darling.” Quiet sobs racked her body, both prideful and sorrowful, as they did at least once every four or five letters they received from James. “I’m sorry, Harold.” “I know, dear.” “It’s just that he became so much more mature over the summer… and I’ve been wondering where my little boy has gone.” Harold smiled into his wife’s hair, recalling a time when he couldn’t have imagined having this conversation with her. “Remember when we couldn’t wait for him to grow up and get out of our hair?” In spite of herself, Amelia laughed. “I know, I know. I dreamed of the days when I would have nothing to do…. No fires to put out….” “Nothing to un-Levitate,” Harold put in, his belly shaking with the force of his mirth. Amelia smiled, though her face was buried in her husband’s shoulder. Stepping back a bit, she studied the face of the man she still loved after so many years together. “Do you think we did a good job?” Harold’s smile turned rueful. “James is intelligent, quick, funny, and most of all, the boy’s got a good heart. I’m not really certain whether that’s any fault of ours or not, but we’ve certainly got a good young man on our hands.” Nodding, Amelia wiped her eyes. “Look at me. I’m a mess. All because I can’t keep my own foolish fears in check.” Harold nodded as well, but he couldn’t keep from thinking that in such times as these, when you were never sure who was a friend and who was an enemy, such fears were not so foolish at all. ** It was, Lily decided, a most puzzling dilemma. What was she to do? The day after a full moon, James sat with his head on his desk, obviously asleep. A quick check of the time told her that to get to their next class on time they would have to hurry. “James… James!” Lily sighed, reached over, and slapped her book down on James’s desk. “JAMES!” The combination of the crack of the book hitting the desk and the sound of Lily’s voice piercing the air startled James. He jumped up with a yelp and grabbed his wand. “Who’s there?” Unable to contain it, Lily laughed so hard her eyes began to water and she struggled to catch her breath. “James… James…” “What?” he asked irritably. “James, you’ve slept through History of Magic.” “I have?” To Lily’s surprise, genuine dismay colored his expression. Lily nodded, her eyes still bright and her cheeks still red from her giggles. “You have. Don’t worry, I took notes for you.” James groaned and then shrugged. “Thanks, Lily. Why didn’t you wake me up?” “I just did.” At the look on James’s face, she laughed again and said, “I thought you deserved a bit of a nap, that’s all.” “Well. Thank you.” “You’re welcome. Now, if we don’t hurry, we’re going to be late to Transfiguration, and we don’t want to miss Professor McGonagall’s class. It’s terribly hard to make up, and besides, Remus asked me to take notes for him.” “All right,” James said, and they started off down the corridor, a strange sort of tense silence hanging in the air between them. “James….” Lily started, and then stopped. “What?” “What exactly do you do on nights when there’s a full moon? I mean, what sort of things do you and Sirius and Remus and Peter….” James smiled. “When we were younger, we did a lot of exploring, things of that nature. Now, most of the time we just… well, I don’t know if there’s a good word for it, but I guess the most accurate one is ‘play’.” At the look on Lily’s face, he smiled. “I know, it’s confusing, but it’s not really something I can discuss in the corridors of Hogwarts.” Feeling a bit rebuked, Lily’s face fell. “Oh, I see.” Leaning over, James whispered in her ear, “I didn’t mean to insult you. Ask me tonight when I take you for a walk.” “You’re not taking me for a walk this evening,” Lily snapped. “I’m not?” James smiled, knowing just how to get her to see his side of things. “Well, then, I guess you’ll never know.” In spite of herself, Lily smiled at James’s clever manipulation of her emotions. “All right, you can take me for a walk tonight, but I thought I’d stop by the hospital wing and see Remus after class.” James shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure he would like that. I don’t know how comfortable he is with you knowing just yet.” “Well, he’s going to have to get comfortable with it,” Lily said confidently, “because I’ll have his Transfiguration notes ready for him, and if I know Remus, he’ll be just dying for something to do so that he won’t look as miserable as he’ll feel.” That was, James decided, a true enough statement. “Do you mind if I go with you then?” Lily thought it over for a long moment. “I’m not sure if that’s the best idea, James. He may be even more uncomfortable with both of us there. It’s going to be awkward enough, this being my first time to see him after…” James knew why she couldn’t finish the sentence. Gently, he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Lily, he’s going to look sick like you’ve never seen him before, and he won’t feel at all well, so he might say things he doesn’t mean. I want to go with you.” “Why? So you can protect me from it all?” A hard question like that deserved a well-thought out answer. “Maybe, Lily, but maybe I want to be there because I think you’ll need me. Maybe you and Remus both will.” Lily tilted her head to the side, an expression she often adapted when she was thinking something over very carefully. “I don’t know.” “How about this? We’ll both go and visit him, and if it all looks fine after a few minutes, I’ll leave.” Lily shrugged. “Sounds fair enough to me.” In spite of their best efforts, Lily and James were slightly late to Transfiguration, but Lily explained to Professor McGonagall that they’d had to confer about some Head Boy and Girl issues and had therefore been running a bit late. To James’s surprise, she didn’t blink once. “You’d be fantastic at cards, you know,” he whispered as they headed towards their seats. “That was bloody brilliant.” Lily smiled, and whispered back, “Thank you. Now, please be quiet or I’ll burst into laughter the minute we get to our seats and McGonagall will know something’s fishy.” They managed to make it through class without giving themselves away, and then they headed towards the hospital wing. ** Thanks, everyone who read and reviewed! Your comments are greatly appreciated! A great big “thank you” goes out to Anne, who reminds me that not everyone is as loud-mouthed as I am. Huge hugs to KC Allen for double-checking this for me. I appreciate everything you do.
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