Ficlet: "Hush, Lily/James, PG-13
I tried to write fluff about Lily and James and, uh, failed; I tried to post this earlier, and, uh, failed, because I am an idiot ;). All that notwithstanding, here it is. Happy... Valentine's Day?
Title: "Hush"
Author: scythia
Pairing: James/Lily
Length: 473 words
Rating: PG-13-ish, I guess
Warnings: Implied character death
Summary: Lily, at the still point of the turning world
A/N: Leading quote from Eliot's Four Quartets. Cross-posted to my personal journal and hp_classic
And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered
Why, that was as good a reason to love someone as any, thought Lily as the curse hurtled towards her, slow as Christmas Eve: that when James woke up (or perhaps just before) he would reach for her, eyes still shut, and draw her to him in the early morning hush and mumble something and be still.
Stillness was not what James did: he careened, he caroused, he cocked things up. After the ceremony Lily had looked at herself in the mirror, perfect and immaculate in her white dress, and had burst into helpless tears. She would never be his first, his always, because there were his friends, still, first, always. And James looked up from his to-the-death battle with a devilishly cunning boutonniere and said “hush, there, Evans, think of all the poor girls who are crying twice as hard tonight,” and pinched her rear and smiled uncertainly.
At their party the Marauders increased their tally of slain crystal glasses and tablecloths steadfast in the face of certain doom, but as James was serenading Lily’s left sandal Remus said he was tired and told Lily she was beautiful and turned to go. After a moment Remus turned back and reminded Sirius, charming the chandelier to make lewd gestures, that he had recently mentioned something about fatigue himself, and dragged him off as well, Peter bobbing in their wake. And James had looked from Lily’s sandal to Lily and his leg jostled up and down on his stool and Lily placed one hand on his knee and smiled and said hush, hush, be still, and he was.
After Harry was born James spent three days walking into doorjambs and grinning vacuously. Lily thought as she curled into his embrace every night that she had not been first but perhaps she would be always, and when she left a squalling Harry with James one day to go run errands she returned to find Harry sleeping, fist curled round James’ glasses, and James frozen stock-still, petrified of moving and waking him, and Lily laughed as if her heart would break and James said hush, Lily, you’ll wake the baby, and then he laughed too, and Harry slept on still in the curve of their arms.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard a howling as the world flashed green and strange, and Lily remembered waking with James’ arms around her, always, Harry’s fingers knotted in her hair, always, and there was a sound of a woman screaming, screaming as if her heart would break, and Lily said hush, hush, be still, and it was.
Title: "Hush"
Author: scythia
Pairing: James/Lily
Length: 473 words
Rating: PG-13-ish, I guess
Warnings: Implied character death
Summary: Lily, at the still point of the turning world
A/N: Leading quote from Eliot's Four Quartets. Cross-posted to my personal journal and hp_classic
And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered
Why, that was as good a reason to love someone as any, thought Lily as the curse hurtled towards her, slow as Christmas Eve: that when James woke up (or perhaps just before) he would reach for her, eyes still shut, and draw her to him in the early morning hush and mumble something and be still.
Stillness was not what James did: he careened, he caroused, he cocked things up. After the ceremony Lily had looked at herself in the mirror, perfect and immaculate in her white dress, and had burst into helpless tears. She would never be his first, his always, because there were his friends, still, first, always. And James looked up from his to-the-death battle with a devilishly cunning boutonniere and said “hush, there, Evans, think of all the poor girls who are crying twice as hard tonight,” and pinched her rear and smiled uncertainly.
At their party the Marauders increased their tally of slain crystal glasses and tablecloths steadfast in the face of certain doom, but as James was serenading Lily’s left sandal Remus said he was tired and told Lily she was beautiful and turned to go. After a moment Remus turned back and reminded Sirius, charming the chandelier to make lewd gestures, that he had recently mentioned something about fatigue himself, and dragged him off as well, Peter bobbing in their wake. And James had looked from Lily’s sandal to Lily and his leg jostled up and down on his stool and Lily placed one hand on his knee and smiled and said hush, hush, be still, and he was.
After Harry was born James spent three days walking into doorjambs and grinning vacuously. Lily thought as she curled into his embrace every night that she had not been first but perhaps she would be always, and when she left a squalling Harry with James one day to go run errands she returned to find Harry sleeping, fist curled round James’ glasses, and James frozen stock-still, petrified of moving and waking him, and Lily laughed as if her heart would break and James said hush, Lily, you’ll wake the baby, and then he laughed too, and Harry slept on still in the curve of their arms.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard a howling as the world flashed green and strange, and Lily remembered waking with James’ arms around her, always, Harry’s fingers knotted in her hair, always, and there was a sound of a woman screaming, screaming as if her heart would break, and Lily said hush, hush, be still, and it was.