Book 1: Nepenthe
Book 2: Halcyon
For those that survived the war and carried on, happiness was waiting for them just around the corner, they simply had to find it. For James Potter, it took a wrong turn to end him in the right place where he met Ren...
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James remembered his first wedding, the small ceremony that took place in the early autumn days of October. It had just been him, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and his parents in attendance. During times of war, it was best not to bring any sort of attention by gathering in large numbers. He had been thrilled that everyone he truly considered family surrounded him, but he knew that Lily was struggling with the idea of her family not being in attendance. Her parents were not in the greatest health and her sister refused to be any part of it.
He had offered to bring the ceremony to her family, but Lily knew that would cause further conflict among her family, Petunia would more than likely make a fuss out of it. And as much as it pained her, she figured she would just visit them after the ceremony and small reception. It certainly wasn't her dream wedding and for nights afterwards, James remained wide awake in bed, wishing he could have given that to her.
Lily never asked for much, she had her own expectations, but she never asked for much. He just always wished he could give her more. He was always convinced that Lily deserved better, but at the same time, he was always convinced that he was the problem. That he got in the way of her happiness.
But he knew better now, that it wasn't his fault and he had dedicated himself to make her happy and he knew she had done the same for him. It was just unfortunate that life had not worked in favour of them. However, they had been blessed with a beautiful boy that not only brought light into their lives but provided light to a world that was facing the darkness.
James would never regret his marriage to Lily, he would never pretend that he didn't love her or that she played no role in his life. Even when years went by and he was happily married to Renata, he would always be thankful for his first love. Even in her absence, she had taught him plenty and she had given him one of the greatest gifts of all. He hoped in her death that Lily found her peace, that she found her own source of happiness in the afterlife, and that she would always watch over Harry.
He was in a better state of mind where he knew she would be happy that if she couldn't be there for happy that someone was there, looking out for her son the way she would. She would be happy that someone loved her son as their own and vowed to take care of him.
Renata was the best thing to happen to the Potter family after such a tragedy and he knew that the real Lily would be thankful. His nightmares of Lily had ceased after he came to the conclusion that it was alright for him to find love again. James no longer had to carry the guilt of what happened during the war, something that had weighed so heavy on him for so long. It wasn't fair to him, it wasn't fair to Harry, and it wasn't fair to Renata. After all, they had been through separately and together, they deserved happiness in any form that it came in.
"Daddy?"
That morning in June, Harry entered his father's bedroom to find James sitting on the edge of the bed. Renata had been summoned that morning, whisked away by Sirius and Molly to prepare for the big day ahead of him. It was tradition not to see the bride that morning, so when James woke up, Renata was already gone.
