Lily woke up with her head absolutely pounding painfully. She can’t remember when she finally managed to fall asleep, perhaps it was 2AM, could’ve been 3AM…The night felt like it went on for so long. She stood up and went along with her usual routine. Bathroom, getting dressed, quick breakfast, go down to the basement. That is her every morning ever since Harry had left for Godric’s Hollow.

James as usual seemed to be taking the early morning shift, meaning she was once again left to her own devices until lunch.

She sighed and dug through her several cabinets until she managed to grab one of her several, messy sketchbooks. Her fingers were still aching from last night so she’ll just do a quick shape doodle of whatever floats inside her head. 

Sometimes she considers using her magic instead for her pottery. It would certainly prevent the ache in her wrist and her nails could definitely use a break, but it would also defeat the whole purpose of having a hobby.

Another sigh escaped her throat without her knowing and she flipped her book open, mindlessly sketching pyramids and cylinders. She erased, drew, erased again, drew some more until the basic shapes became incomprehensible. Lily clapped the book closed and lay her head against the workbench for a while.

She’s been feeling less than inspired for days, at first she enjoyed the quietness and getting some more time on her own again. She hasn’t had moments like these ever since giving birth. At the same time though, she realized that separation anxiety goes both ways. Harry must be missing her as much as she missed him. 

James is around, but it’s just not the same. Being with her husband is one thing, being with her child is another and she wanted to be with her child again so badly.

She rummaged through her shelves again, rereading the letters she’s been getting every other day. Most of them were short and basically just went “ Hi mom, I’m doing good, ok bye bye. ” but these letters were keeping Lily from throwing herself against the ground and weeping puddles thick enough that they’d sink into the foundation.

The woman picked herself up and stretched her arms for a while, perhaps today is just not a creative one. She could lay down and nap a bit until James comes back.

As she passed by the stairs she took a quick look at the calendar and walked past. A few seconds later she moved backwards and took another look at the circle that lay directly on the day Harry was supposed to come back. Every box before the circle had been marked with an X already, so that means…

“OH NO!” Lily quickly ran up the stairs and picked up some more casual clothes, getting her overalls off and falling as she struggled with a pant leg. Once dressed she took a look at her clock, she’s beyond late at this point.

She grabbed her keys and was about to head out, the moment she stepped outside however her forehead bumped directly against someone else and she fell flat on her butt. She held onto her pained brain, her morning headache made it feel even worse. When she opened her eyes she was quite surprised to see a man and a boy, both with rather dark hair and glasses. “James? Harry?...” Lily picked herself up and held a hand out to her husband, who had fallen in the exact same manner as her.

“Ow…” The man moaned with pain. “What’re you in a hurry for?” He asked.

“I was gonna pick up Harry after I…Uh…”

“After you remembered that he was gonna come back.” The man finished her sentence. “Don’t worry, I knew you were gonna be a mess today so I picked him up instead. I’m pretty sure you didn’t fall asleep until like 4AM.” James took Lily into his arms and gave her a tight squeeze. “Hope your insomnia is gonna recover now that he’s back.”

Harry stepped forward and put his luggage inside the house. As he looked around his home, finally back again, he felt…itchy. This place was so much bigger and he lived in this home for way longer, yet it was weird to be back as he had gotten so used to the cottage in the forest.

Lily sneaked up from behind and gave Harry a sudden barrage of smooches against his cheek. “I’ve missed you~!” She picked the boy up and continued her kisses. “You have to tell me everything. Did you have any fun? Find any wandering spirits flying around?”

“Well, no, there wasn’t much magic stuff there to begin with.” Harry shrugged, “It was ok though, I saw a few wisps and a butterfly with invisible wings.”

The redheaded woman seemed surprised, back when they lived in Godric’s Hollow they would frequently hear the moans of wandering spirits. She’d thought Harry would like that, with how curious and excited he tends to be about all things fantastical. Perhaps they don’t come around much in the forest, or Sev laid some enchantments down so no ghosts could come by, he tends to be kind of a worrywart when it comes to the little boy after all. Then again, that aspect of him is why she trusted him for this visit in the first place.

Lily put the boy down. “You go ahead and unpack, after that I’ll lay out some treats and you’ll tell us all about what it was like!”

Harry nodded and with little words headed up the stairs.

“...He doesn’t seem happy about being back.” James whispered to Lily with an annoyed tone. “He’s been all quiet and moody ever since I picked him up from the Alley.”

Lily hadn’t noticed it so far, but it might due to her excitement. She supposed Harry had seemed a little downcast, but it could just be that he was tired due to waking up early. Her boy wasn’t much of a morning bird after all. “He just needs some time to readjust, you know he is.”

James’ mouth wrinkled, he never liked it when she said that. 

Of course he knew that Harry was…different, that he needed extra time to calm down and get used to things. James knows that…yet he really wishes Harry wouldn’t be so damn fickle. He couldn’t help but feel like it’s the fault of leaving him with Severus alone for this long. 

“I’m gonna go help him with unpacking.” James said as he walked upstairs. 

James doesn’t know why he feels so mad, he knows at this point that Severus can be trusted, that nothing had happened, he would know if something did happen…he would…right?

As he walked into the room, Harry looked at his father with wide eyes, surprised as he didn’t even hear him walking up. “Ah, sorry, I’m not done yet.” He said with a quiet voice. The itchiness got stronger.

“I know, uh, I came by to help you with this. Pretty boring to organize socks on your own.” James spoke with a short chuckle. He leaned down and helped Harry pack all his clothes into the drawers. He lingered on certain items and his eyes frequently wandered towards the kid.

Harry took notice of his father’s act and was starting to feel uneasy. “Do I have a leaf in my hair or something?”

“Hm? Ah, uh, no. I just…It’s nothing.”

“Y’know, when you say it like that, it sure seems like there is something going on.” Harry put his hands to his hips. “You’ve been looking at me all weird ever since you picked me up.”

James shrunk back a bit. “Look I…It’s just…”

“You were glaring at Sev all weirdly and when I tried waving goodbye you pulled me really hard.”

“...Sev?” He was using that nickname again, the same one Lily uses and the one he thought Harry had given up. “You’re calling him that again?”

“Well, yeah, I mean he’s been calling me by my name again. So…”

He left them alone for a few days and already they’re acting like best friends again. Snape was a grown man yet he was getting needlessly close to a kid. This was weird, right? Harry shouldn’t be calling the man by that pet name anymore, he was almost a teen, so why was he getting so close to that creepy old man?

No, but, Severus was also Harry’s babysitter. He was practically like a live-in Nanny when Harry was still a toddler. Of course it makes sense why Harry was still attached to him.

Should Snape be so attached to a child though? No, no he shouldn’t. This was strange.

“Dad!” Harry suddenly yelled. “Why the heck did you do that?!”

James looked down, in his hands was a pair of underwear that he’d apparently ripped apart while arguing with himself mentally. “M- Must’ve been an old pair.” He let out another chuckle, but it only made the uneasy feeling within Harry rise higher.

“Look, could you just leave? You’re being really weird. I’ll do the rest on my own.”

James tried to argue but he was quickly pushed out by his son and had the door slammed in his face. He wanted to get mad and storm back in, he can’t be treated like this by his own son. Part of him though was glad to be out, a large rock that was stuck in his esophagus felt like it had finally been swallowed down.

His hand hovered above the door handle for a while, but he ultimately chose to go back downstairs to Lily.

Everything was fine. Harry is ok.

He’s ok…