Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 63

~ You're a memory, a fingerprint on the film.

You're a shadow in the sun, now it's your time to burn. ~

***

It was Halloween night, exactly a month after Harry's first birthday. James, Lily and little Harry were in the living room, sitting together as they weren't allowed to have any other company but themselves.

It was supposed to be for their safety, Dumbledore had strictly warned them not to leave Godric Hollow, no matter what happened. Hence, Harry's first birthday had passed without any celebration too and by then the little family had gotten a lot bored of the isolation.

They were only allowed to sent letters and those too were first sent to the Order Headquarters then dispatched to the recipients carefully so that there would be lesser risk of interception. James had written regularly to Felicity, knowing that she had been dealing with a severe loss all on her own.

Sirius and Remus did their best to care for her and Alicia had moved in with them to look after Fel too, but the Order missions kept both busy and it was just Alicia who would be with her at all times.

James wanted so bad to go to her and comfort her, she was his best friend after all and he couldn't bear to see her falling apart. But he couldn't leave Godric Hollow hence he couldn't pay her a visit.

She had written back to him just once though he received letters from Remus regularly, updating him on her recovery. It was a slow and painful process but Felicity had started to get somewhat better than her terrifyingly unresponsive state earlier.

Recently, she had gone to Italy to visit her mother upon Remus and Sirius's suggestion. They knew seeing her mother after so long would help her get better and after all, Esther missed her daughter a lot too and it was only fair that the two got to meet even if it was for just a few days. 

It was time to put Harry to sleep so James had brought out his guitar to play a lullaby on it to Harry while Lily would sing to the tune. Though as James struck the chords, he couldn't help but recall the last time all their friends had gathered together at his place before his and Lily's wedding.

He had played different songs for them on his guitar and they had all had a lovely time together. They were all happy back then. Marlene was still alive and the war though brimming up hadn't struck the Wizarding World with full force then.

At the current moment, it all seemed like a wistful dream. 

Lily looked down at her son who was almost asleep, green eyes soft with adoration but a sad look crossing her features, "I hope the war ends soon. All of us have had enough..."

"I hope so too," James replied, putting the guitar down as he reached out to gently cup her face, "we can only hope."

"I don't like being cooped in here," she resumed, "we are Aurors, both of us. We should be fighting against the Dark Forces yet here we are..."

James knew Lily got upset sometimes and it depended on him to calm her down, "my lovely Lily flower, the reason we are asked to stay here is because of Harry's safety. You remember the Prophecy that Dumbledore mentioned, don't you?"

She nodded but kept silent, letting him resume.

"There's a high chance that he knows about it too," his voice had turned low and he refrained from saying the name out loud as it was common knowledge that the name was taboo.

Whoever uttered Lord Voldemort's name would risk his or her location being compromised. They could certainly not risk it at the moment.

Little did they know that their location had already been revealed to the Dark Lord who had approached heir house and was standing outside, ready to bombard the door and end the young soul that was prophesized to be the Wizarding World's savior.