YOU ARE THE REASON
Origami Around
Claire Keane
i don't do bad sauce passes
ellievsbear
ojovivo
roma★
JVL
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
sheepfilms
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
Peter Solarz
blake kathryn
trying on a metaphor
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
NASA
art blog(derogatory)
d e v o n
$LAYYYTER
Game of Thrones Daily
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@all-things-jily
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Got this.
“C’mon Haz, just try it?,” James crouched by the high chair to be face to face with his baby son, brandishing a spoonful of mashed sweet potato.
He took a bite of it himself, “Mmm sooo yummy! Now, aaaaaa—“, he opened his own mouth exaggeratedly, but Harry only turned his head away.
Lily stood behind him with her hands on her hips, “The pamphlet says he should be ready for solid food by now,” She frowned, “Here, let me try.”
Harry reacted the same way, only this time he took a chunk of Lily’s hair and tried to chew on that instead.
The two of them stood there, stumped. Staring at their son and his bib with little ducks all over, as he peered around obliviously.
This had been hard. Being parents that is. Neither of them ever expected to end up here so soon, and in the beginning they’d been positively terrified.
James was aware even 6 months later, just how young they were. They withstood the late nights and messes and tears together, but they still didn’t know what on Earth they were doing half the time.
From the corner of his eye, he watched Lily set the little cup of baby food next to Harry, as her shoulder’s slumped in a great sigh.
Her eyes were rimmed in dark circles, her hair had tangles and bits of spit up stuck to it. Wasn’t often you saw Lily look so defeated.
“D’you.. Are we going to be shit at this?”, she said quietly, “Harry deserves a mum that knows what to—“.
James elbowed her shoulder before he could finish, “You? You’re a brilliant mum! I’m the one—“,
“But you’ve got so much more—“, A gentle hand was clapped over her mouth. James shook his head.
“Lils, yesterday I literally got peed on, mid-diaper change,” Reluctant laughter bubbled up from Lily’s spot now between his arms, “Sure, we aren’t exactly experts but.. Me and you. We got this, yeah?”.
Lily squirmed against his chest, flushing slightly, “Yeah.. Yeah I suppose, Potter,”
James swayed her side-to-side, “‘Potter’ now? You wound me,”
A fond smile grew onto her lips, and she leant in to kiss him. James let his arms wrap around her waist, as hers came up to his neck, and just for a moment they didn’t feel so lost.
James grinned against her, placing once last kiss on her cheek, before Lily’s gaze drifted back to the high chair and she gasped.
“Yes!”, She pumped her fist in the air, before pushing James towards the living room, “Get the camera!”. Harry looked up confusedly, mouth full of sweet potato and hands smeared with orange mush.
When James rushed back into the kitchen, camera in hand, his heart nearly burst in his chest.
There Lily was, face-splitting smile, pressing her nose into their son’s hair, as he smacked his little fists joyfully on the table.
He was the luckiest man alive. And that picture would stay above their fireplace for years to come. Because in the end it turned out, they’d be okay.
For @jilychallenge
My partner is @formerlympp
And the prompt
"A knight request a token before the jousting tournament begins and receives it."
It's more a Robin Hood than a knight but he got some apples.
chapter one: the arrangement
Rated E
“It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, Evans. Simple quid pro quo — you help me, I help you.”
Or: All James wants is to pass his next Muggle Studies exam. All Lily wants is for Bertram Aubrey to notice her. Maybe they can help each other.
read on ao3!
Photograph of the Marauders from 1979 :)
to gain a fairy wife
written for Jily Week 2025 - Day 7 "Choose Your Own Adventure" Click here for a prompt generator and get inspired! the prompts I got out of it: Accidental Marriage, High Fantasy, Everything Hurts I didn't think I would do this one, but here I am anyway because I'm a completionist 😂 thank you @sunshinemarauder and @kay-elle-cee for this week! It was a lot of fun 😊 [AO3]
The horse steps over a fallen branch in the way, jostling James on its back with the movement. James groans, nearly biting off his own tongue.
Taking an arrow to the side sucks, James knew this already.
Taking three is utter hell.
A cool hand brushes sweaty bits of hair out of his face. “Hush,” a soothing voice whispers into his ear. “We're nearly there.”
James' head lolls back against the shoulder of the woman who sits behind him on the horse, holding him upright. Without her he would have fallen multiple times on their short journey.
Some would argue that without her he wouldn't even be in this position at all, wounded and weak, but that would be untrue. He only has himself to blame for that. It's simply against his nature to stand aside and watch someone else in danger.
So he had rushed to her aid when he had stumbled upon her in the woods, surrounded by Death Eaters, the servants of the Dark Lord. He had not hesitated to lend her his sword in that fight, even if she had been capable of defending herself. She might even have come to victory without him, but still James prides himself in the thought that he had been a helping hand, the right distraction at the right moment.
Together they had pushed back against the Death Eaters, some dying and others fleeing. Victory had been close and then the arrows had come out of nowhere, out of the trees.
He had not been fast enough to stop them entirely, only fast enough to shield her from them.
And now he's paying the price for his oversight. Every breath he takes hurts. It rattles around in his lungs like a handful of smooth river stones. His eyelids are heavy. He has long given up on trying to keep them open.
The horse stops. “We are here,” the voice says gently.
Somehow James makes it down from the horse, he has no memory of how. He might have fainted for a moment. When he forces his eyes back open, which almost takes more energy than he has left, he finds himself in a clearing with a small pond. Willows sway in the soft breeze.
The mysterious woman kneels beside him in the soft moss, washing his wounds with water from the pond. The arrows are gone somehow. He must have been out for longer than he thought.
The bright red of her hair looks like fire, like a dancing flame, and James feels like a moth, drawn to it. It slips over her shoulder as she works, revealing the pointed tip of her ear. She bites her lips in concentration.
James feels the icy water, but nothing else.
“Come on,” she mumbles under her breath, a frown on her face as she pressed harder onto the wound at his side, the deepest of all of them. James knows he should scream, but there is nothing. No pain at all, which is a relief.
He can feel his heart slowing down. Soon he will see his parents again, beyond the veil that separates this world from what comes after.
He's almost looking forward to it.
“Don't you dare,” the woman hisses. James isn't sure if she means him, but he still gathers his last bit of strength and takes one last breath.
It shudders in his chest, a faint little thing.
The world dims.
And then suddenly explodes into light and colour.
James gasps as he feels it, rushing through his veins – magic. Pure magic, sizzling and burning. The woman laughs, a beautiful sound of relief and happiness.
“I knew I could do it,” she says, a bright smile on her lips when James slowly blinks his eyes open. Everything seems a little too bright – the light, the green of the moss that matches her eyes. She brushes a bit of his hair out of his face, but pauses when she looks at her hand. “Oh.”
There is something that looks like a glowing, golden ring on her finger that wasn't there before. A faint thread of light spins away from it. James follows it, curious to see where it goes, only to find it leading to a matching ring on his own finger. He lifts his hand and looks at it. It's not made of metal or stone. It seems to not be made of anything substantial at all. Still, it feels very solid and there.
When he looks back at the woman, she's blushing almost as brightly as the colour of her hair. “Well,” she says, clearing her throat. “I have repaid my debt.”
“There was no debt,” James says with a frown, dropping his hand.
“You saved my life, of course there was,” she huffs at him, then smooths out her dress and her hair. “Anyway. The debt is repaid, which is good. I would not wish to be indebted to you.”
“Oh, yeah, I get that,” James says, trying not to show too much disappointment at words that are clearly meant as a rejection. He sits up carefully, bracing for any lingering pain, but all his wounds are perfectly healed. “Yes, any debt is entirely paid off.”
“Good,” the woman says, tilting her head as she looks at him with her moss-green eyes. “Now that this is settled, will you tell me your name? I don't fancy calling you husband at all times.”
James almost loses his balance and falls back down. He stares at her, unable to comprehend what she just said. “Call me what?”
“Husband,” she says with a little shrug of her shoulders, a blush still on her cheeks as she wiggles her finger with the mysterious golden ring on it at him. “Since I am your wife.”
This drawing sounds like, would that I the hozier 🌞
I made this fully on livestream on my twitch channel, it was super fun and I did it cause someone in the chat told me cause I have not idea what to draw 🍊💖
I got Ko-fi and prints if you want to support me.
Xoxo see you soon 💖
Cottage Neighbours
by lebensmuede
Summary:
If I'd known a certain messy-haired idiot was going to be in the cottage next to my family's when we went away for winter holidays, I would've stayed at Hogwarts.
Inspired by @gigglesandfreckles-hp one more time now, with feeling chapters aka what james is imagining/longing for
@shirtlessjamespottermay
May never looked so hot!
James posing for the charity Quidditch calendar. It's for a good cause... for absolutely everyone.
Testament of Youth
@jilymicrofics prompt: May 2026 #21 — Clue | WC: 747. Part 1 | Part 2
Part 3 - 31 October 1978
‘James?’ Lily blinked, her eyes still unfocused from sleep.
The tiny bedroom was still dark, save for the weak grey light creeping through the gap in the curtains. Rain tapped softly against the windowpane.
‘Lily,’ he said, mouth dry. ‘I… need to ask you something.’
They were eighteen. She’d say no. He knew she’d say no. But he had to ask. He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t.
‘I… I know —’ pausing, he started over: ‘Actually, I know very little.’
Lily snorted.
‘Well, yes there was a time I used to think I knew quite a bit, but now… I really only know a few things.’
Lily pushed herself up slightly, the duvet slipping down her shoulder and stomach, her green eyes serious as she surveyed him. Did she already guess where this was going? If she didn’t, she would know in a second:
‘I know I love you. And I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I always thought we’d get married when the time seemed right.’
He really ought to have waited a day. Planned his words a bit more carefully.
‘But now it seems a lot to ask for. That we should all be alive… mum, dad, your parents, Sirius, Carl….’ Peter. Remus. You. Me.
Lily’s fingers tightened slightly in the bedsheets, and he could practically feel her desire to pull him close to comfort him. But this was not the moment.
Exhaling, he repeated: ‘I know I love you. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I think—I hope, at least—you feel the same. So why wait?’
He looked at her, studying her features, wanting to see any clues as to which way she was leaning. She had gone pale, but her lips twitched as she repeated: ‘Why wait indeed.’
Her voice was quiet, but there was no hesitation in it. James felt his heart lurch painfully against his ribs. There was hope, after all.
‘Lily Evans,’ he said, feeling his eyes burn anew, having experienced too much in the last twenty-four hours for anyone to bear: ‘will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’
Then he realised he’d forgotten—
He reached into his robes and extracted the silver bracelet: ‘It’s not a ring,’ he said quickly. ‘This used to be my great grandmother’s, and I thought that you might like to have it until we get a ring. Or.. I mean… it’ll be yours after that too—’
‘—James,’ said Lily, placing her hand on top of his, ‘are you going to let me answer?’
Oh. There was that.
Heart hammering, he met her gaze once more. For one, breathless moment, time stood still. Then:
‘Yes!’
‘Yes?’
‘Of course, you fool.’
The relief that swept through him was almost painful. James let out something between a laugh and a shaky breath before he cupped her face and kissed her hard enough to send them both falling back slightly against the pillows. Lily laughed into the kiss, one hand tangling immediately in his hair as the other gripped the front of his robes.
‘I think,’ she muttered after a few glorious moments, ‘if you hadn’t asked soon, I would have.’
‘Really?’ grinned James.
But Lily didn’t smile back as she reached out and brushed some hair out of his face: ‘You nearly didn’t come back yesterday,’ she said, seriously.
The grief, the guilt, everything flooded back in, as he replied: ‘But I did.’
Rob didn’t, a small voice offered unbidden, but he pushed it away. Just for now. There would be plenty of time to mourn him.
‘You did,’ she agreed, face relaxing.
‘I am still here.’
‘You are.’
James kissed her softly, one hand still wrapped around hers where it rested atop the silver bracelet between them. Even when they pulled apart, James could still feel her breath against his skin.
‘Now all we have to do is stay alive until after the wedding,’ she teased after another kiss. ‘Easy.’
He kissed her nose: ‘Maybe we should push it far into the future after all?’
‘Don’t you dare,’ she said, biting his lip, ‘Nothing would annoy Petunia more than if I got married the same year as her.’
‘But that gives us —’
‘About two months. Getting cold feet, Potter?’
James shook his head. What was it Robert had said: Time was precious. They were going to get married and the wedding couldn’t come soon enough.
If you liked the series, please consider dropping a kudos on AO3 <3
James Potter the minute the temperature goes above 15°C probably
(he may or may not cause a few traffic accidents)
@shirtlessjamespottermay
Profile Match
James isn't sure if he failed or succeeded at online dating Written for May 2026 @jilymicrofics Prompt: Profile
James: Just so you all know, your “great genius idea” was complete rubbish.
Sirius: You’ll have to be more specific, dear Prongs. All my ideas are brilliant.
Peter: He made a WandMatch profile.
Sirius: No. You actually did it?
James: You told me it was the best way to meet girls who weren’t Evans.
Sirius: I didn’t think you’d actually listen to me! Show me.
Read On AO3
Is she looking? Yes! Let's act debonnaire...
And bc it's the last day of may so here is my last shirtless james
In the same "medieval" world set for the @jilychallenge and partnered with @formerlympp
Another bountiful May 😌
POV: Lily Evans watching James Potter take off his shirt for quidditch practice
Lily Evans's Pregnancy (Jily)
In this timeline, Lord Voldemort killed Albus Dumbledore in early September 1979. The Marauders, Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, and Dorcas Meadowes stay with Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts to prepare for the Death Eaters' upcoming invasion. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin reaches new extremes. James and Lily have an intimate moment in the Room of Requirement, resulting in Lily becoming pregnant at the mere age of 19.
Full story: "Lord Voldemort and the Lost Decades, " by Birger, ao3
October 1979
Guard duty at Hogwarts had changed Lily and James more than either realized. Every night, they patrolled dim corridors, extinguished duels before they became bloodshed, separated snarling Slytherins from furious Gryffindors, and comforted frightened younger students who didn’t yet understand the weight of Dumbledore’s death.
In all that darkness, Lily and James found themselves clinging to the one hopeful thing still left to them: each other. They had talked, sometimes in whispers in abandoned classrooms, sometimes openly in the quiet hours after curfew, about what kind of future could possibly exist. A future where Voldemort hunted them. A future where Hogwarts itself felt ready to crack.
One night, after breaking up a particularly vicious hexing incident outside the library, Lily pulled James aside.
“We need… somewhere quiet,” she whispered. “Just for a little while. Please.”
James nodded, equally exhausted, equally aching for a moment without fear.
They wandered the seventh-floor corridor searching for an empty room. James even checked the Marauders Map twice.
“There should be something here,” he muttered.
Lily turned a corner and gasped. A door had appeared in the blank stone wall.
“James,” she whispered. “This wasn’t here.”
They stepped inside the hidden room. The room was impossibly enormous, filled with forgotten things: crates, dusty cabinets, half-collapsed bookshelves, tarnished armor, stacks of broken cauldrons, caged artifacts, weapons, and glittering objects half-buried in shadow.
“The hell is this place…?” James breathed.
“It feels ancient,” Lily said softly. “Older than Hogwarts. Like it’s been waiting.”
James moved through the clutter until something glinted at eye level. It was a silver hilt embedded in a wooden case. He wiped off the dust and stared at it.
“Lily.” His voice shook. “It’s the Sword of Gryffindor.”
He took the sword and began playing with it, and pretended that he was a medieval knight in shining armour.
"Look at me! I am Godric Gryffindor. I'm here to rescue you!" James said, waving the sword as if he fought a dragon.
Lily laughed at her boyfriend's silliness. "Stop it, silly. "
As James started to look for more toys to play with, Lily wandered deeper into the room, toward a high shelf where a delicate tiara carved with the words Wit Beyond Measure.
She lifted it. “It’s beautiful.”
Once she placed the diadem lightly atop her head, she froze. Her breath hitched, and her eyes widened. James stepped toward her.
“Lily? Are you all right?”
A vision slammed into her: A dark forest. A young man screaming in agony and terror. She felt colder as calculated malice pressed against her mind. Lily ripped the diadem off, shaking.
“I—I don’t know what that was,” she whispered. “There’s something wrong with this thing. Something dark.”
James took it from her immediately and set it far back on the shelf.
“You’re okay,” he murmured while pulling her close. “You’re okay.”
Lily trembled, still feeling the echo of something vile. James kept his arms around her. Slowly, very slowly, the fear disappeared and in its place came something else. A desperate, human need for warmth in a world collapsing around them.
Lily looked up at him.
“James…” she whispered. “Stay with me tonight.”
He kissed her, and all the exhaustion and fear melted into something fierce and tender. In that hidden room, unknown, unrecorded on the Marauders Map, they held each other until dawn.
-
Lily waited for James in their shared quarters. She was extremely nervous and shaking as she didn't know how to deliver the news. When he arrived, she grabbed his wrist.
“James. I have to tell you something.”
He saw her expression and his heart dropped.
“What is it? Are you hurt? Did someone—”
“I’m pregnant.”
The world stopped. James stared at her, breathless, as everything inside him turned weightless.
He had imagined many terrifying things since Dumbledore died: Death Eaters breaching Hogwarts, werewolves in the halls, and Voldemort himself tearing the castle apart. But this, this tiny spark of a future he had never dared imagine.
“I… I don’t know what to say,” he admitted, voice cracking. “Lily, I don’t know if I’m ready to be a father. I don’t even know if I can protect you, protect us, while all of this is happening.”
Lily nodded as tears fell down her cheeks.
“I’m scared too. But James, this child is ours. Something good. Something innocent. Something worth living for.”
James took a long, shaking breath. Then he kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and her hands.
“I’ll try,” he whispered. “Whatever happens, I’ll try. I want to do this with you. Even if I’m terrified.”
Lily held onto him tightly.
For the first time in months, hope flickered. It was fragile, and small, and surrounded by shadows but it was theirs.
-
The Knight Bus screeched to a halt outside the familiar row of brick houses in Cokeworth, tilting dangerously before settling with a shudder. Lily stepped off, one hand protectively resting over her stomach. The autumn air smelled of damp leaves and chimney smoke. For a moment, she stood there, staring at the house she grew up in. She had faced werewolves, Death Eaters, and Voldemort himself without trembling half as much as she did now.
They deserve to know. Mum and Dad will be happy. Even Tuney… maybe…
Lily pushed the gate open and walked up the path. The door swung open before she could knock.
“Lily!” cried her mother, pulling her into a tight embrace. Her father followed, smiling broadly at the sight of her daughter again.
“You’ve been gone for months,” he murmured. “We’ve been so worried, darling.”
Before Lily could answer, Petunia appeared in the doorway. Vernon Dursley loomed behind her like a particularly unpleasant thundercloud.
“Well,” Petunia said sharply, “look who finally decided to show up.”
Lily swallowed. “I—I have news. Can we sit down?”
Her parents ushered her into the living room. Petunia sat rigidly in an armchair, Vernon perched beside her, looking as if he expected the furniture to bite him.
Lily took a breath. “I’m pregnant.”
Her mother gasped, then burst into delighted tears. “Oh, Lily! That’s wonderful! Oh, Harold! Did you hear?”
Mr. Evans beamed. “That’s marvelous news, sweetheart. Congratulations.”
Petunia’s face drained of color. “You’re what?”
Lily flinched. “Pregnant, Tuney. James and I, we love each other. We’re going to have a baby.”
Petunia stared at her as though she’d announced she’d joined a cult. “You disappear for months, no explanations, no calls, nothing, and then you show up saying that?”
“Mum and Dad knew I was safe,” Lily protested, though her voice wavered. “I wrote when I could. Things have been… complicated. Dumbledore is dead, Hogwarts needs protection, and—”
“Oh, here we go again,” Petunia snapped. “That world. You’re always running off to it. You think any of us understand what you’re talking about? ‘Dark Lords’ and ‘aurors’ nonsense! And now you’re bringing a child into it? Are you insane?”
Lily’s eyes filled with hurt. “I’m doing everything I can to protect people. Voldemort—”
“Stop it!” Vernon barked. “Don’t bring your freakish business into this house!”
Lily’s temper finally flared. “This isn’t about magic, Vernon. This is about family. I wanted to tell you all because you are my family!”
Petunia stepped closer. “You think you can just flounce back into our lives and act like everything is normal? You left us behind, Lily! You always do! And now you’re dragging a baby into a war instead of doing the sensible thing and staying out of it!”
“That ‘war’ killed my headmaster,” Lily whispered. “People are dying. Children are in danger. I can’t turn my back on the school that protected me.”
“And what about your child?” Petunia demanded. “What kind of mother puts her baby at risk like that?”
Lily felt as though Petunia had slapped her.
“My child will be loved,” Lily said softly but fiercely. “My child will be brave. And I will keep him or her safe, no matter what it takes.”
Petunia’s expression flickered with fear, jealousy, something Lily couldn’t place but it hardened again almost instantly.
“I’m pregnant too,” Petunia said coldly. “But at least my baby won’t grow up in a madhouse of spells and monsters.”
Lily froze. “You… you’re pregnant?”
Her mother placed a trembling hand on Petunia’s arm. “Girls, please—”
But Petunia ripped her arm away. “Don’t look so surprised. Unlike you, I actually care about raising a child properly.”
Lily stood. Her heart felt like it was splintering.
“I came here because I wanted to share something beautiful,” she whispered. “I didn’t come to fight.”
Petunia said nothing.
Lily turned toward the door, unable to hold back her tears.
Her mother tried to pull her into a hug. “Lily. Darling, don’t go like this—”
“I’ll write,” Lily said, though she wasn’t sure it was true. “I just… I need to go.”
Vernon muttered something about “unnatural nonsense” as Lily walked out. Petunia didn’t say goodbye.
Outside, Lily wiped her tears with shaking hands. The Knight Bus reappeared with a bang and screeched to a stop beside her. As she climbed aboard, she pressed a palm to her stomach.
“You’ll be loved,” she whispered. “Even if the world is falling apart… you’ll be loved.”
The bus shot forward into the night, carrying her away from Cokeworth and from the sister she feared she might never understand.
Lily stumbled off the Knight Bus onto the outskirts of Hogsmeade, wiping angry tears from her cheeks. The night air was cold, sharp, almost metallic against her skin. She wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, heart heavy not from fear of Voldemort or the war, but from the sting of Petunia’s words. The echoes clung to her like a curse.
She made her way through the gates of Hogwarts, past the half-lit torches and the flickering silhouettes of patrolling ghosts. The castle had always been her sanctuary. Tonight it felt like the only place left that loved her unconditionally.
James was waiting for her the moment she stepped into the Entrance Hall. He saw her tear-streaked face before she could even speak. His smile faded instantly.
“Lily! What happened?”
She collapsed into his arms before answering. Sirius, Remus, Dorcas, and Marlene hurried over, sensing something was wrong, but James held up a hand. This moment was hers.
“Petunia,” Lily whispered. “She… she said I was irresponsible, that I shouldn’t bring a baby into this war. That I’m reckless for disappearing, for fighting, for… for everything.”
James pressed his forehead to hers. “Lily, look at me. You’re doing more to protect people than she can even imagine.”
Lily’s breath shuddered. “She’s having a baby too, James. We could’ve shared that… But she hates that I’m part of this world. She always has.”
Sirius crossed his arms. “Tuney calling someone irresponsible? That’s rich. Bet she’s never saved a village from a pack of werewolves.”
Remus gently elbowed him. “Not helping, Padfoot.”
“No, it is helping,” Lily whispered with a faint, watery laugh.
Dorcas placed a warm hand on Lily’s shoulder. “You’re going to be an incredible mother. We’ll all make sure your baby grows up safe.”
Marlene nodded firmly. “And loved.”
For the first time since leaving Cokeworth, Lily felt the ache in her chest lighten.
James placed a hand on her stomach, tentative but full of wonder. “We’ll make a home for them someday. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere far from Voldemort.”
She looked up at him. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
James gave a nervous smile. “No. I’m terrified, but I want this. I want you. And our child.”
Sirius grinned. “Good answer, Prongs. Ten points to Gryffindor for emotional maturity.”
Lily wiped the last of her tears and laughed, a real laugh. One she hadn’t felt in months. Later that evening, McGonagall summoned Lily and James to her office.
“I heard about your visit home," she said softly. “I am… very sorry.”
Lily nodded, grateful but exhausted.
McGonagall went on, voice steadier now. “I must be honest with both of you. A child born during wartime will be a target. Voldemort will not stop at schools or villages. He will burn down the world if he feels threatened.”
James swallowed hard. “We know.”
“But,” McGonagall added, her voice surprisingly gentle. “I also know Albus would have supported you. He believed in life even in the darkest times.”
Her gaze flicked to Lily’s stomach.
“When the time comes, Hogwarts will be here for you. Whatever protection this castle can give, you shall have it.”
Lily felt her throat tighten with gratitude.
“Thank you, Professor,” she whispered.
McGonagall nodded curtly. “Now off you go. Get some rest. Both of you.”
That night, Lily and James returned to the hidden room, drawn to it by instinct, by memory, and by something darker neither wished to name.
The diadem still rested on the shelf where Lily had left it. Its silver-blue glow pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat. Lily felt its pull, a whisper at the edge of her consciousness, but she forced herself to look away.
James noticed her discomfort. “Let’s leave it alone,” he said quietly.
“Yes,” Lily replied. “Some things… should stay lost.”
