Had this piece in my mind for a while... I thought about small things that Harry could've done with Dora he forgot about. Stuff he started doing with him, not even knowing it's not the first time he's doing that. Dancing in the kitchen with his second half being a small ritual that his body didn't forget, unlike his mind.
Okay LOSERS (no wait I love you guys ☹️) new chapter already because I got bored of making y'all wait three weeks for updates
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT! CHAPTER 9 OF TULOSS UPPPDAATTEE WOOO! Oh but CW for body horror, please, dude I may not be good at writing horror all that much but like beware anyway 😔
I read somewhere that when Harry went on the Xfactor, Harry's mom was using her husband's??? (Idk if he was her husband at the time) surname Cox. Was she still with him, then? Or was she dating Robin, whom she married in 2013? It's interesting that that guy is never really mentioned in the 1D book as well.
Anne’s name at birth was Selly. She was married to Des Styles till they separated when Harry was 7 in 2001. Des has remained active in Harry’s life.
Anne was married to John Cox from 2003 - 2004, He is not talked about much. In 2016 he said to a tabloid he hadn’t spoken to Harry since 2006. He also said he lived with Harry for 5 years, that would be Harry’s ages 7-12. There is inference that that was a hard time in Anne’s life and the way he spoke about not being in Harry’s life sounded resentful and not nice.
Robin is sometimes reported as raising Harry from when his parents separated which overlooks her second husband. It’s not clear when they started dating but Robin was an important person in Harry’s life from when he was young, who he seemed to love dearly. He was with Anne at the xfactor auditions in 2010, when Harry was 16. They were married in 2013 till he passed in 2017.
In 2023 Anne announced she has a new partner, Darren.
Random Idea: would you write something about 5-6 year old Harry wandering off at a game against the snakes and playing with little Draco before anyone realizes then Lily finding them and not messing it up because just because their dads are huge rivals doesn’t mean the kids have to be??
Just an idea, if you can’t think of anything good no pressure at all!
-kj
This is such a lovely prompt, KJ <3 Character credit goes to @lumosinlove !
TW for temporarily lost child
Lily was calm. Lily was level-headed. Lily was not, under any circumstances, going to lose her shit.
“Harry? Harry, love, time’s up!”
Because losing her shit wouldn’t do any good. Losing one’s shit was reserved for people who could afford to do so, those who didn’t have a husband and brother-in-law that would tear the rink apart at the first sign of trouble for their five-year-old.
Oh, who was she kidding. The entire team would go ballistic.
Worst of all, Lily would have to admit she had lost her kid.
“I am a horrible mother,” she muttered, the clack of her boots in the empty hall speeding up to match her pulse. “I am a horrible, horrible mother and they never should have let me leave the hospital with that baby. Harry? Are you down here?”
Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she heard giggling. Lily’s heart seized and she wrenched open the nearest door—nothing. And the next, and the next, and the next, until her whole body itched with anxiety.
“I know you’re having fun, baby,” she called around the growing lump in her throat. “But we’re all done playing right now. All done. You did such a good job finding your hiding place. Can you show me where you are?”
I look like an idiot right now, talking to myself in an empty hall. The next three rooms were empty as well, lined with folding chairs. A conference room, a ballroom, a kitchen; not a soul in any of them. Lily picked up the pace.
He couldn’t have gone far. She only gave him ten seconds—ten seconds, sweetheart, are you ready?—to find somewhere to hunker down. The sound of his little feet on the crisp linoleum had made her smile with one hand over her eyes, counting slow enough for him to hear each number. The door had been closed. It was just them in the break room.
The door had been closed, and then it wasn’t.
“Harry?” Panic turned her mouth bitter and she swallowed hard, forcing it back. None of that, Evans. Save it for later. “Harry James, it’s time to go home.”
Oh, fuck, James was going to lose his mind. She loved him for his rationality in the face of danger but god only knew what would happen when their fucking baby was the one missing. Taken—
No. Not taken. Lily couldn’t bear the thought.
Her breaths came faster. The corners of her vision blurred. “Harry?” she tried again, voice cracking. “We’re all done playing, baby, come see me.”
Even if James managed to keep his even keel, Sirius wouldn’t. Loyal as a dog and twice as protective. Lily loved him like a brother but he would never forgive her if she let Harry go.
“I didn’t.” The words stuck in her mouth and she sniffled. She paused, tucking her arms around herself like a hug, her lungs fucking burned oh god—“I didn’t let him go, I didn’t, I didn’t, I—Harry, love?”
And again, she was left with a silent hall.
Lily exhaled. Pressed the heels of her hands to her stinging eyes. Sniffled once, twice, three times, forced down a thick sob. “This is not the time,” she said firmly, bringing her arms back down. The bright lights made her grimace. Think. “Alright. Locker room.”
She sent a silent prayer of thanks to James for showing her all the secret nooks for sneaky kisses as she followed winding paths through the rink. The crowd above made the ceiling rumble; there had hardly been ten minutes left in the third when Lily left the break room. The game would be over all too soon. Her watch said only five minutes had passed, but she refused to believe it had been less than a lifetime since she saw Harry in front of her.
The locker room, one of Harry’s favorite haunts (much to James’ delight), was well and truly empty. The kitchen was still locked as she had left it. Momentary terror gripped her when she saw the open maw of the tunnel, but logic won out. Even if Harry had wandered toward it, he would have been swept up by one of the security guards and safely deposited with someone who would find her.
“Lily?”
Lily nearly jumped out of her skin and whipped around with a half-gasped “fuck”.
Layla smiled, though she seemed confused. “You okay?”
“Mhmm.” Tears began crawling up her throat again and she forced a smile. “Just—yeah, just left my phone somewhere. Can’t find it.”
“Okay,” Layla said gently, though one look told Lily she didn’t buy a word of it. “Well, I’m here until the end of the game. Let’s look together.”
“That’s really nice of you,” Lily managed.
“Anytime. Let’s go get Harry and—”
Lily may as well have become a puddle on the skate-scuffed floor with how fast she dissolved into tears.
“Hey, hey, alright.” Layla caught her under the arms when her knees buckled, surprisingly strong for someone of her stature. “I’ve got you, it’s all going to be just fine. Is Harry not…with you?”
“We were p-playing hide and seek,” she sobbed. “ ‘s just hide ‘n seek, he didn’t like the crowd and I had to pee and we were in the break room and I closed the door I promise.”
“I know you did,” Layla soothed, squeezing her tight despite Lily’s trembling. “Let’s take some deep breaths together.”
Lily’s chest lurched on the first.
“That was a really good start. One more.”
It was easier to breathe when she wasn’t alone.
“Great job, Lily, that was perfect.”
Layla hugged a little like Remus, a little like James, and somehow better than both of them in that moment. She let Lily clutch the back of her zip-up sweater without protest, and when they finally parted (when Lily could fucking breathe again), she tucked the wild flyaways back with a reassuring smile.
“We’ve got this.”
Lily sniffed. “We’ve got this.”
“How long ago were you playing?”
“Seven minutes.”
Relief eased the faint tension around Layla’s eyes. “Then we’ve got nothing to worry about. I haven’t seen him go by my office, so he probably went the other way. Are you ready to start looking?”
Lily nodded, but went into one last hug like she hadn’t been held in weeks. It certainly felt like it.
“I didn’t know who to ask,” she admitted once they started walking, arm in arm, looking into every storage closet they passed. “It felt—god, I’m so stupid. I felt like I shouldn’t have to, y’know? He’s my kid. I should just…know.”
Layla tilted her head from side to side. “I’m glad you asked me, though.”
Lily squeezed her hand. “Me, too.”
“The good news is, he can’t have gone very far.”
“I dunno, he got James’ penchant for trouble.”
“Pots can’t make it past me on a good day,” Layla laughed. Her ease calmed the bubbling anxiety in Lily’s gut. “That kid might be quick, but he’s not making it past trained security. Where have you already looked?”
Lily gestured vaguely. “The other way, mostly. Just kind of…everything over there. He likes the locker room.”
“Does he?” Something thoughtful came over Layla’s face and she slowed for a moment. “Would he—and tell me to shut up if I’m wrong, here—do you think he’d try the other one?”
“The other—” Lily faltered. “Oh my god, you’re so right.”
“I don’t know if he’d know where it is,” Layla admitted as they hurried down the left fork. “But it can’t hurt to try, right?”
“No, he definitely knows,” Lily snorted humorlessly. “That kid’s had more rink tours than I have. The guys bring him everywhere. He’s started reading signs, if you can believe it.”
“For real?”
“If anyone asks, he got it from me.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.”
Lily rounded the corner to the visitor’s locker room and slowed to a stop, her momentary second wind rushing out in one harsh burst. Gloves, helmets, emerald-and-silver jerseys…and no toddler. The only movement came from the screen in the far corner, showing the last minute of the game ticking down. Disappointment, worry, fear, guilt—it was all there, leaving her right back where she started. “I thought…”
Someone giggled down the hall and Lily was there in the blink of an eye, pushing an already-open door wide with her heart in her throat.
“H—oh.”
Narcissa Malfoy’s razor-sharp gaze softened with confusion. Her hands were on the shoulders of a little blond boy in a miniature Snakes jersey, holding him tight. “Mama,” he whined, wriggling free with a wary look at Lily. “I told you I wanna play.”
Lily didn’t register the scrape of carpet on her knees until Harry was already in her arms, still holding two fistfuls of LEGOs while a cheerful flood of a story spilled out of him. She didn’t hear a single word of it.
He was warm and squirmy as always, tall as her hip when they were standing but just big enough to fit in her arms like this. She pressed her face to his hair and inhaled; soap-clean and still a little damp from his pre-game bath. Faintly, she knew she was shaking. She knew Narcissa and Layla and the other kid were probably watching. Lily brought her face up to kiss Harry’s forehead and bundled him right back in her arms to be hugged some more.
“…mama?” Harry sounded hesitant. She hummed, rubbing his back. “Did you hear?”
“Say it again, lovey.”
“I said I like hugs but I’m playing LEGOs right now, please.”
Her lungs felt too small. “We’re all done playing for today.”
“But mama—”
“Harry.” It took everything in her to separate and sit up properly, holding Harry at arms’ length. “We were playing hide and seek, remember?”
“…yeah.”
“And remember how I asked you to stay in the break room while I counted?”
His guilty look told her everything. “Yeah.”
Lily raised a brow, brushing a gentle thumb over his cheek. “I didn’t know where you went, baby. You scared me. Why did you leave?”
Harry scuffed his shoe on the floor. “Got bored.”
“Harry.”
“I wanted to see the other locker room ‘cause Daddy said it looked different than ours. Ms. Narcissa found me.”
“Thank you.” The worst part was, Lily could hardly blame him. If Harry got James’ general disregard for rules, he also got her own insatiable curiosity. Poor kid, she thought. Your teachers are going to have quite the time with you. “We’ll talk more when we get home. Can you introduce me to your friend?”
“I’m Draco,” the blond boy announced haughtily before Harry could answer, which seemed to take the wind out of his sails a bit. “I’ve been playing here all night. I built the volcano, see?”
“I do.” In truth, it was hard to tell one part of their LEGO mishmash from another, but it seemed to appease him. Narcissa was still watching her as if she thought Lily would start biting. With her hand resting protectively on Draco’s back and those careful, guarded eyes, it was only too easy to see the blood she shared with Sirius. They held themselves with the same straight-backed posture, a silent challenge to take another step closer to their ward.
Lily offered a small smile and inclined her head. Thank you for watching them both. Narcissa didn’t relax, but her pointed chin did dip for half a second.
Outside, the goal horn blared. Harry and Draco made identical faces of annoyance at the interruption, but Lily felt her stomach sink. She and Narcissa had a shared point of contact—the Snakes, on the other hand, did not. She didn’t care for them. She certainly didn’t want Harry around them. From the curl of Narcissa’s lip as the whoops of the Lions echoed down the far tunnel, the feeling was mirrored on her side.
Lily broke eye contact first and bent to Harry’s level. “Time to go, lovebug, Daddy misses you. Can you say bye to Draco?”
“Bye!” Harry chirped, pulling the other boy into a brief hug that seemed to surprise him before returning to Lily’s side. “See you next time!”
The look on Narcissa’s face told Lily a ‘next time’ was unlikely, but…but not impossible. Lily sent her a final nod as she ushered Harry into the hallway. Layla was already gone; she couldn’t help but be grateful for a brief moment of alone time with Harry.
“I like Ms. Narcissa,” Harry announced, hopscotching the gray and white tiles.
“Do you?”
“Yep. She was nice. She keeps LEGOs in her purse, didja know that?”
“I didn’t,” Lily admitted. “I’m not surprised, though.”
“How come you don’t keep LEGOs in your purse?”
“Because I don’t use purses. I lose them too fast.”
“Well, yeah, but what about your backpack?”
“I keep books, cards, snacks, and some other things in my backpack. I like feeling prepared.” And I’m thirty seconds from sticking a GPS on you.
Harry made a faint noise of agreement when they entered the main hall, pulling the sleeves of his too-big Potter jersey down over his hands. “D’you think Daddy will play LEGOs with me and Draco next time?”
Lily had to bite her lip to stifle a hoot of laughter at the thought of James Potter willingly sitting in a room with anyone even distantly related to the Snakes, let alone one of Sirius’ cousins, let alone a Malfoy. “He’s busy during the games,” she said instead. “But he would love to play with you at home.”
Where I can keep an eye on you, she added. They had already passed the labyrinth of halls she had wandered for the worst seven minutes of her life, but she kept close to Harry anyway. Seven minutes was too long to be away from him. Seven seconds was too long.
Harry stopped just outside the locker room, leaning against her legs to look up at her with big, pleading eyes. “Will you play LEGOs with us next time?”
There were a variety of reasons Lily could say no, could tell Harry to stay away from that team and everyone near it. Hell, she had a damn good reason to keep Harry away from anyone associated with Sirius’ parents. Narcissa’s guarded posture rose in her memory, unwarranted. Her crisp clothes, the abrupt black-and-white of her hair, the way her pale hand had been so gentle on Draco’s shoulder. The way Draco had held on to her coat the same way Harry hid behind her own around strangers.
The morning light filters in through the window of Regulus’ home. White curtains blowing in on the cool summer morning breeze, sounds of the city waking up around them slowly. Mornings like this are his favorite, gentle and quiet, stuck somewhere between a dream.
Music floats from down the hall, as Regulus pads across the tiled floor, making a cup of coffee. He’s barely taken a sip before thud, thud, thud, THUD. The floor shaking as something crashes to the ground.
Panic tightens around his chest – heart in his throat– turning the conner he spins out of the kitchen. Harry is lying on the floor face down like a starfish, a laundry basket skidded across the floor and a crash pad of pillows surrounding him on the floor.
“Haz,” He exhales with relief, “Really, it's not even seven in the morning yet. You should still be asleep. He would be more worried if this hadn’t happened before. It’s been the year of Peter Pan. Obsessed with fighting pirates, looking for fairies in the garden, and flying. Or trying to. At least he was wearing a helmet this time.
Harry rolls over, pushing himself up with a big grin, missing two teeth, another flying failure. “I think I almost flew that time.”
