The Alternate | A Harry Potter Original Fanfiction by Ameliapondicus

Chapter 17

James woke up.

The sun was trying to shine through the grey clouds, the birds were chirping loudly, and he had his beautiful wife next to him.

It had been three months since Lily had the miscarriage. They had kept quiet about it, only telling Minerva and Albus the news. Minerva had shown up and hugged them both tight, not crying, but James could see the sorrow in her eyes.

James looked at the clock on his end table, and groaned loudly. It was just after 5 o'clock.

"Shush." Lily half-heartedly punched James in the side. "I'm trying to sleep."

He rolled over and draped his arm over her soft skin. Freckles dotted her shoulders and ran down her arms and back. "I'm being as quiet as I possibly can." He said, dotting kisses over her shoulders.

She squirmed as he hit a sensitive spot, and rolled over to face him. Her emerald eyes were half closed as she tucked herself into his arms.

He continued peppering kisses on her hair and forehead, moving down to her nose and cheeks. He was about to kiss the corner of her mouth when she moved her face to meet him.

He moved his mouth against hers, slowly caressing her body beneath his hands.

James pulled apart for a breath. "What are you thinking, Lils?" He rolled over so she was beneath him, kissing down her neck.

"Oh, you know." She said, breathless. "Just how crazy I am for marrying you."

He stopped. "Whoa. Crazy?"

"You were an arrogant jerk, and a bully too." She teased.

"So then why did you marry me?" He taunted.

"You were pretty good at kissing."

His eyebrows rose. "Oh, really?" He smiled. "I'll just have to show you how good I am."

Lily held him off. "Correction," she said. "You still are an arrogant jerk."

She laughed as he frowned. "You still said yes to marrying me." He challenged.

She grabbed his shoulders, and pushed him up and stared him straight in the face. "And it was the best decision of my life."

He grinned, the banter gone now, and moved to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his muscular shoulders and sighed as he pushed her back down amongst the blankets and covered her body with his own.

*********

James woke up again.

This time, the clock read 8 and Lily was no longer in bed beside him. Groaning loudly, again, he stretched and dressed for breakfast.

Walking down the stairs, he saw that Harry's cartoons were on the telly, and he was sitting quietly tucked underneath a blanket. The sounds and smell of bacon sizzling met his nose, and his mouth started watering.

He walked into the kitchen and was greeted by a casserole dish of fresh pancakes and a mug of coffee. Lily was puttering around the kitchen, waving her wand and flipping the bacon on the pan. She was wearing James' Gryffindor sweater (again) and had pulled her vibrant hair up into a knot.

"Good morning, handsome." She smiled and leaned across the counter to kiss him.

"How long have you been up?" He asked, sitting at one of the stools. She passed him his mug of coffee and he brought it to his mouth.

"About an hour and a half." She said, waving her wand through the air. All the dishes floated up off of the counter and onto the small kitchen table. "Harry!" She called. "Breakfast!"

James smiled as he heard the small exclamation of joy and the pattering of bare feet on their wooden floors. Harry had never failed to fill him with overwhelming love and joy.

"When was the last time you made a full breakfast like this?" He asked, sitting down at the table, and grabbing Harry's hand before he could touch the hot skillet. He carefully placed bacon, pancakes, and fresh fruit on the smaller plate for his son.

"I don't know. It's been a while." She laughed. "It felt good to make it, though." Her smile dimmed. "I think the last time was when Sirius was living with us."

James felt the mood settle over the table. "Well," he said finally. "Sirius would drop dead if he knew we had stopped eating bacon and pancakes."

Lily chuckled, and scooped some strawberries onto her plate. Picking up her fork, she pierced the red fruit and took a bite. "It's been nicer, though." She said through her chewing. "Being able to relax a bit."

James nodded. "It's been so busy." He tore off a chunk of bacon. "Sirius' obsession with Peter was adding such a stress to my life. Now that Sirius isn't killing himself to find Peter, it's harder for Dumbledore and the Order to find him."

They chewed silently for a while. "I still wish he was out of Azkaban." Lily said.

"Of course," James said hastily. "Anywhere would be better than there."

Lily looked at Harry's plate. "Are you done?"

Harry nodded, obviously full. "He did well." James said.

"Go on, watch your cartoons." Lily smiled, and Harry waddled off.

"He ate so much." James mused.

"He did." She said. "Guess he's going through a growth spurt."