Lily Potter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doeinbloom) wrote2017-03-19 03:26 pm
doeinbloom) wrote2017-03-19 03:26 pm
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They say it's your birthday. We're going to have a good time. [Pre-dated to March 27]
Since Sirius and James told her about The Nook, the quaint house in the country her son resided in during his time in Darrow, Lily has plotted and planned. In the way James spoke of the place, she knew instantly that he longed to live there. To absorb what he can of the same air Harry breathed, when he was here. So though that first trip out had been difficult, nearly impossible, really, what with the way Lily had burst into tears at the first sight of the living room, her son's things scattered about as though he might walk through the door any moment, she kept coming back in fits and bursts, sometimes with Sirius and James, sometimes by herself.
Two weeks before James' birthday, she took Sirius aside and they began plotting. Sirius helped keep James distracted, giving Lily time to sneak away and make the trips necessary for them to move into The Nook. She decided with Sirius that the best surprise they could give James was moving into the place, and to throw a surprise birthday party at the house along with it.
Lily took the time and care to make sure she kept all of Harry's things. She arranged for them all to be placed in one of the four bedrooms, a sort of shrine in the hopes that Harry might show up on their doorstep. For the most part, she kept the furniture in the living room as is. She sold the dining room table and chairs, replaced them with a set that better suited her and James' taste. She spent as much of her spare time as she could buying and arranging furniture; of painting rooms and decorating them to make the place feel more like their home in Godric's Hollow. She added to the spells and charms about the place, increasing security and adding warmth, coziness to their new home.
Finally, on the day of James' birthday, everything is set. She employs Sirius once more to distract James, while she Apparates and charms all of their belongings in their flat to the new place. She hurries to cook, clean, and set up decorations in Gryffindor colors, red and gold. She arranges everything in the backyard; she has charms ready to protect everything in case of rain. She'd spoken with a local witch, who informed her that she could find Firewhiskey and other drinks from her world at a place called the Beanstalk. She'd spoken with the owner, and now she has one table loaded with a variety of drinks, both from her world and Muggle, charmed to chilled perfection. Another table holds the food, a wide variety of all of James' favorites, including desserts.
She's set up the record player with speakers, using her magic so that the perfect song plays just when it's wanted most. There's a space set aside for dancing, as well as a table off to the side for presents, which Lily has already started to stack with some of her own. Fairy lights float throughout the party, each one a kaleidoscope of gold and red. She charms the whole of the house so that it smells different to each individual, matching their favorite scent that reminds them of home.
Finally, she sets up the banners and ribbons, the banners charmed with letters that dance and move. And she waits for James to arrive.
Two weeks before James' birthday, she took Sirius aside and they began plotting. Sirius helped keep James distracted, giving Lily time to sneak away and make the trips necessary for them to move into The Nook. She decided with Sirius that the best surprise they could give James was moving into the place, and to throw a surprise birthday party at the house along with it.
Lily took the time and care to make sure she kept all of Harry's things. She arranged for them all to be placed in one of the four bedrooms, a sort of shrine in the hopes that Harry might show up on their doorstep. For the most part, she kept the furniture in the living room as is. She sold the dining room table and chairs, replaced them with a set that better suited her and James' taste. She spent as much of her spare time as she could buying and arranging furniture; of painting rooms and decorating them to make the place feel more like their home in Godric's Hollow. She added to the spells and charms about the place, increasing security and adding warmth, coziness to their new home.
Finally, on the day of James' birthday, everything is set. She employs Sirius once more to distract James, while she Apparates and charms all of their belongings in their flat to the new place. She hurries to cook, clean, and set up decorations in Gryffindor colors, red and gold. She arranges everything in the backyard; she has charms ready to protect everything in case of rain. She'd spoken with a local witch, who informed her that she could find Firewhiskey and other drinks from her world at a place called the Beanstalk. She'd spoken with the owner, and now she has one table loaded with a variety of drinks, both from her world and Muggle, charmed to chilled perfection. Another table holds the food, a wide variety of all of James' favorites, including desserts.
She's set up the record player with speakers, using her magic so that the perfect song plays just when it's wanted most. There's a space set aside for dancing, as well as a table off to the side for presents, which Lily has already started to stack with some of her own. Fairy lights float throughout the party, each one a kaleidoscope of gold and red. She charms the whole of the house so that it smells different to each individual, matching their favorite scent that reminds them of home.
Finally, she sets up the banners and ribbons, the banners charmed with letters that dance and move. And she waits for James to arrive.
no subject
James has a firewhiskey of his own by the time Sirius finds him, and he claps Sirius on the back with his free hand, beaming at him. "Must be getting thick in my old age," he laughs. That's a pleasant thought all by itself. Twenty-two is hardly old age, but the fact that he's surpassed twenty-one at all is cause for celebration. He thinks there's a good chance that's why Lily has gone all out like this; James was never supposed to make it to twenty-two.
"I suppose a thank you is in order," he drawls, giving Sirius a wry smile. "For all the distracting and other nonsense, and this." He waves a hand, gesturing vaguely to the party around them.
no subject
And for the better, it would seem. Certainly far preferable to hiding and waiting and scheming as they had back home.
"I'd say it is," he says with a tip of his chin, though is voice is all joking. "Look at this! She's pulled no punches, has she? Not that I'm surprised, of course. She's always been a bit of an overachiever in her own way. And she only shared some of her plans with me, I'll have you know. So anything you don't like was almost certainly something she didn't share with me and I couldn't advise her against."
He gives James's side a playful nudge with his shoulder. "You do like it though, don't you? May be a bit weird here all things considered, but it's better than that flat."
no subject
"Of course I like it, you prat," he answers, rolling his eyes. "What kind of sod doesn't like a party?" The Severus Snape kind, probably, but he's not here and James isn't about to let him ruin his birthday by the mere thought of him.
He glances back behind them to the Nook, where he knows now that Lily has moved all their furniture in. She's preserved a room of Harry's, all of his things kept and tucked neatly away, as though he might one day come home and have need of them. James can't begrudge her that, though he knows it will be a long while before he can go in that room without feeling it like a stab to the heart. "The fresh air will do us good," he says with a grin. "Better still with you and Kieren down the road."