Unofficial Portkey Archive

SGR's Note: I'm not terribly happy with this, but what can you do? I'm going to be out of town until Monday, so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up.

I know what you want,
Swallowed but still not drunk.
And you get so high on the tears you cry,
Nothing else seems real,
Until you smile
Smile - Michael Lord

Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him
Chapter Six

Lily grunted but kept her eyes shut; she felt a presence near her. She would have rather slept more, but she couldn't rest with James lurking so close to her, and that nagging feeling that he wanted her to open her eyes.

Slowly, she pulled her eyes open.

"What?" she grunted.

"Good morning beautiful," he said. 'Beautiful' was a bit of a stretch, as she looked as if she hadn't showered in a few days.

"What do you want?" she said, grumpily.

"You."

"Not in the mood."

"Out of the bed."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

James assumed, being that he was a full-grown man, that he could easily pry his much smaller wife from the bed. Ripping the sheets off of her, he grabbed her feet and pulled. She clamped down on the side of the mattress and held fast.

Five minutes of this tug of war later and James was still without a Lily out of bed. He decided to play a bit dirty, and reached around to pinch at her sides. Instead of the usual shriek of laughter, he got a whiny moan of annoyance and she sat up, grumbling.

"Go away!"

"We're going out," James announced. "You, me, and the baby."

"No."

"Shower." He pushed her towards the bathroom.

"No!!" she cried, but went in anyways. Grunting, she turned to close the door, but James stopped her.

"It's not anything I've not seen before, so keep it open," he said. "I want to make sure you don't lock yourself in there again."

Without any warning or meaning, Lily burst into tears and slammed the door on James' foot. He let out a loud curse and started hopping around the room.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!"

"YOU THINK I'M FAT!"

"What?!" James cried, rubbing his foot. "I most certainly do not!" He hobbled over to the door and put his mouth near the door. "You're perfect, Lily, and always have been."

The door cracked and he saw her red-rimmed eyes looking back at him. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes," he said, quietly, kissing her through the crack of the door. "Though, you do need a bath, because you do smell-OOF!" She slammed the door on his nose. "Lily! Honey!"

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID I WAS PERFECT!"

"You are perfect! You just need a shower! And I tink you just broke my nose again!"

"GOOD! THEN YOU WON'T HAVE TO SMELL ME!"

James sat on the bed, looking at Harry who was gurgling in his crib. Though, luckily, he heard the shower running.

"I don't see why we have to be out here," Lily snapped, glaring at any passer-by who dared look at her in the eye.

"Smile, honey, you're scaring the children," James said, cautiously. He had Harry in one arm, (sleeping blissfully unaware of the storm cloud over his parents) and reached behind Lily to rub her back comfortingly. She looked as if she wanted to smack it away, but didn't.

"Hey, that looks like a fun climb!" James announced, cheerily, pointing to a hill that overlooked the small village.

"I want to go home," Lily announced.

"Tough luck," James said, picking Harry up out of his stroller and handing him to Lily. He then folded up the stroller and held it under his arm, the other one reaching out to guide Lily up the hill. She grit her teeth and stormed up the hill, clutching Harry close to her. The hill was a rough climb, but they finally reached the top.

Lily plopped down, facing away from the village, holding Harry to her bosom. He made a sound and grabbed at her breasts, as if he was hungry, but she continued to stare stonily ahead.

"You know, this is normal," James said, conversationally.

"What?" she barked.

"You being a bitch like this." Lily's jaw dropped, but James continued before she could say anything else. "It's called postmortem depression."

Lily stared at him, open-mouth.

"Yeah," James said. "Padfoot, Moony, and I looked it up. Apparently, every woman, after she gives birth, is so whacked up by hormones that she falls into these depressions. You're supposed to get out of it by the next two weeks but-"

Lily burst out laughing. James was too stunned at her sudden show of happiness to continue.

"You daft idiot," Lily grinned, shaking her head. "It's postpartum blues. Postmortem means 'after-death,' stupid." But she was grinning, and that was progress.

James leaned forward and kissed her under her ear. "It's worth my idiocy to see you smiling again."

They heard baby laughter and looked down just to see Harry make his first smile ever. He giggled again, and his smile grew.

"Look!" Lily gasped.

"See?" James whispered on her skin. "He knows when you're unhappy. And who wouldn't want to smile after seeing your happiness."

Lily was sniffing back tears and she lowered her head into his. "I'm sorry I've been such a horrible mother lately."

"It's that damn postmortem," James whispered before kissing her gently.

"Daft idiot," she giggled back, gently rocking Harry. "He's such a beautiful baby."

"Takes after his mother," James said, still kissing on her face.

"No, James, I'm afraid that he looks exactly like you," Lily said, happily, gently running her finger down her baby's soft cheek. "Which isn't bad at all."

"Do you want to go for a walk?" James said. "I'll carry him, if you want-"

"No, I want to carry him," Lily said, rocking him slightly. "I've been neglectful enough as it is."

"Harry and I just bonded, is all," James shrugged, helping her to her feet, and not letting her hand go. "He's quite the chatterbox, I'll tell you."

"Hm?" Lily said, sliding her hand behind James' back. "Is he now?"

"He's quite easy to talk to yes..."

As it turned out, the walk lasted all afternoon. The sunlight, fresh air, and exercise did wonders for Lily's mood, and soon, she was back to her old self. They paused about mid-afternoon as Harry was hungry and needed a diaper change.

They had only planned to stay a few minutes, but then Lily began to talk about all that was bothering her, besides the wacky hormones. Before they got too deep in conversation, James transfigured the baby carrier into a blanket and they all sat down on top of it, enjoying the beautiful countryside.

Once they were comfortable, Lily opened her mouth and could barely stop talking. She wasn't sure if she was ready for motherhood, or if she would ruin Harry's life, accepting, of course, that they all lived that long. She talked a lot about the worry about being hunted, and her fear that Harry would grow up to fear everything.

James had listened, but he also supported her. He reminded her several times that they were in this together, and that it would do no good for her to have this all bottled up inside her. They talked some more, both of them happy that all of the emotions were out on the table now, and Harry, somehow sensing that his mother and father were happy again, kept giggling and smiling at them.

"Hm," Lily said, after a few minutes silence. She reached down to take Harry's hand in hers, and he grasped at her finger. "You know, we should have brought a picnic."

"I was going to, but you know what happens when food and I mix," James laughed, gently kissing her forehead.

"It disappears or explodes, yes I know," Lily laughed, causing Harry to laugh again. "We've got such a smart baby, you know."

James didn't reply, as he was kissing on her the way she liked it. She closed her eyes and looked at him, her eyes half-closed.

"I miss you," she whispered.

"I miss you too," he said, gently nibbling on her lip. "I'm glad you're back with me."

"I'm sorry I left," she whispered. He had taken her neck, nipping and sucking lightly, and kissing her so beautifully that if he'd been kissing her lips she would have fainted. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, looking down at the baby, who was half-asleep.

"I have a feeling," he whispered into her ear, before kissing it. "That we'll need all the us time we can get now."

"Mmm," Lily giggled. "I like us time."

James increased his passionate kisses on her neck and she broke apart from him. "Not here, James. You should know better."

He chuckled and kissed her nose. "I do know better. That doesn't mean I'm not going to do it."

Pulling her closer to him, he sucked on her neck so hard that she knew she would get a mark, but she said nothing except a few moans of pleasure. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she let out a slow breath, savoring each feeling that he gave her.

She tilted her head backwards and let her eyes slit open. She saw something gray in the sky and opened her eyes all the way. The sky had been a clear blue the entire way over, and she didn't want to have the baby out in the rain.

She righted her head and turned around, looking to see what it was that was coming towards them. It wasn't a rain cloud.

"Smoke," she breathed.

"I know, it's getting really hot, isn't it?" James laughed, throatily. "I can't wait to get you back and-"

"No, James, smoke!" Lily pushed him off of her and stood up, putting a hand to her eyes and looking over the countryside. "A lot of it!"

James also stood up, picking up Harry and squinted, eyeing the dark black cloud.

"It's probably normal stuff, Lily," he shrugged it off. "People's chimneys and things like that..."

"The village is on fire!" Lily gasped, seeing red and yellow marks pocket the landscape.

When they arrived at the village, there was nothing left. No houses, no trees, no people. Everything was incinerated into black ash.

Above the city was a giant, floating green skull with a snake coming out of the mouth.