Jily Oneshots (pt2)

Asleep at Last

by the Azbaban Dreamer

The streets of Godric's Hollow were deserted that night and there was a calm silence in the village. Even the Church and graveyard stood silent and if one were to look out their window, they would find the streets empty and the curtains in the picturesque cottages firmly closed.

Except the silence ended in the form of rapid footsteps being made. Outside, there was a large, shaggy black dog trotting through the village at a hurried pace. The dog turned and trotted down a narrow lane, sniffing out its destination. A couple of rabbits leapt aside as the dog sprinted past and entered through an iron gate and made its way up the path leading to a small, homely cottage.

The dog looked inside the sitting room windows whose curtains were open and saw a beautiful woman holding a crying baby with jet-black hair. Meanwhile, the tall man also with untidy black hair and glasses was making funny faces at the baby who kept crying.

The dog could hear the baby's cries that were loud enough to be uncomfortable to the dog. The dog wagged its tail at the sight of the young family and turned into a tall, handsome young man with long, dark hair. He had the look of a casual elegance about him and was dressed in a long, black travelling cloak. The man made his way to the cottage door and knocked four times. Inside, there was the sound of scurrying footsteps over the baby's cries. The man heard a harsh shout.

"Who's there?" Shouted the man with untidy hair through the other side of the door. "Identify yourself!"

"Relax," The man said in a hoarse whisper. "It is I, Sirius Black, also known as Padfoot. I was invited to this Cottage by my best friend, James Potter, also known as Prongs. We are Animagi together and I can turn into a dog, whilst Prongs can turn into a Stag."

There was a sigh of relief on the other side of the door and Sirius heard the lock click and the door opened slowly a few inches revealing a hazel eye behind a pair of glasses. The eye saw Sirius and Sirius imagined the other man grinning before he opened the door wider revealing Sirius's best friend and honourary brother, James Potter.

James, in Sirius's opinion looked terrible. He had dark circles under his eyes and Sirius could see a small layer of stubble forming on his chin. But all of that was irrelevant now as James pulled Sirius into a bone crushing hug.

"Blimey, Padfoot," James sighed. "It's been too long."

"Good to see you, Prongs," Sirius said fiercely, patting James's back. "You look terrible, mate."

James laughed and pulled out of the hug.

"Cheeky git," He snorted. "I haven't seen you for a month and the first thing you tell me is that I look terrible?"

"Just being honest," Sirius shrugged and James grinned.

"Thanks for coming," James said. "We know you're busy with the Order, but this is a bit of an emergency. It's Harry. He just won't settle. We've tried everything, but it's no use."

"How is our little protégé?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Harry's been cranky all day," James muttered, looking stressed out. "We've tried everything and all his does is cry. It's driving us around the bend. Lily's at her wits end and so am I. I just want my little man to sleep."

Just then, the living room door opened and Lily Potter emerged holding a bawling Harry in her arms and her dark red hair looking disheveled with her bright green eyes full of worry.

"Oh, Sirius!" She exclaimed over the noise. "It's so good to see you! I'm so sorry for calling you out this late, but Harry's been frantic. He said that he wants you and his crying has been driving us all mad and I just don't know what to do. James has tried everything! Smoke rings, flashes, bangs. They made him cry harder. James ever transformed but his antlers caught the mantlepiece and smashed this really ugly plate that Petunia sent me and Harry just screamed even louder. He's even frightened the cat off."