Always~Hinny

Chapter seven

As the sun stretched its golden rays across his face and warmed him into awareness, James Potter smiled. 12 years seemed to blend into an Iliad of missed opportunities that somehow, magically, aligned to allow him a second chance.
He was going to see Harry today.
His Harry.
His precious son.

With that thought echoing and rattling in his mind, he leapt from the comfort of his bed and started getting ready for what was quite possibly the biggest thing since his wedding... among other things of course. Using a speed that had previously only been required when he was a chaser for Gryffindor, he sped through the mundane routine of washing and dressing, only stopping his hurry when he sat on the bed.

Or rather, sat on something vaguely human that was no longer sleeping in the bed.
A vaguely human something that he had married.
A vaguely human something that he had married and pissed off.

"James!" Lily growled from under him, pushing at his thigh.

"Sorry, dear."  The man in question quickly rolled off his wife, a cheeky grin firmly attached to his face as he leant down to press a quick peck to her forehead, brushing the soft auburn locks from her eyes.

Unlike Lily, whose hair could somehow always look presentable, James found that his hair - like that of his father before him - was impossible to tame.
Back when he and Lily had first started dating, he had tried a muggle thing (he couldn't remember what exactly , but it was called something like 'hairsplay') that ultimately failed.

"Lily?" He received a quiet grunt in response, "What should we do today? We've got an awful lot of time until we see Harry."

Sitting up, Lily rolled her eyes and yawned slightly before interrupting her husband's train of thought, "If you tell me you've forgotten who we're supposed to meet today, I am going to be most disappointed."

She waited a beat, glancing at the blank look on James' face, before she sighed. "The Minister of Magic, James. We are meeting him today."

"Oh! Oh, yes." He stared at her, "That's today?"

Closing her eyes and muttering a sarcastic 'no', Lily once again tried to recall why she had married a man who would forget his head if it wasn't attached to him.

"Wait a second, I almost missed that." The grin on James' face grew wider, his wife suddenly freezing in horror, as she suddenly realised what she had done. "You want me to tickle you?"

Despite age slowly taking many of his finer aspects, it seemed his memory hadn't been addled at all. The two had come to a silly agreement when they were thinking about getting engaged, concerning talking under their breaths or muttering in front of the other. Doing said things would result in the allowance of tickling (or whatever the other person wanted) for the duration of one minute.

"I don't think it really counts, I mean, it's been such a long while since we even kept-" Lily's hurried words were cut off when she started laughing hysterically.

During her babbling, James had started a mental timer and begun the war by tickling his wife's sides (a spot he knew from experience was her most ticklish), causing her to attempt to roll away, which in turn only made James tickle her further.

Lily's laughs slowly turned more and more gaspy as she ran out of breath. "James!"

At the mention of his name, he moved up slightly to turn the barrage of tickles into a gentle massage. The gentle type of massage he had given her back when she was fed up with being pregnant.

With that thought causing James to stop his methodical movements, he remembered the reason they were in this situation, and immediately returned to the battle.

Shrieking in joy, Lily let her hands crawl up her husband's back to play with his hair, and tried to pull herself up to kiss him. He leant down to help her, allowing his lips to softly touch hers -

"Mr - SWEET MERLIN!!" Dumbledore, who it seemed had given up waiting and had witnessed (what he surely must have thought was) the creation of another Potter child, spun around and immediately shut the door.

Lily glanced at James, who had collapsed beside her on the bed, his face a shade darker than the Gryffindor red they had both worn for 7 years.
She let out a slight laugh, before calling out to their old professor. "I swear that wasn't what it looked like, sir."

"It wasn't - Mrs Potter, to remind you. Magic is a wonderful thing. Please use a silencing charm and lock the door before you -"

"Sir," Lily rubbed her hands over her face, which was by now probably redder than James', "I promise we weren't doing that."

Dumbledore let out a loud cough. "Regardless, the Minister will be here shortly. Please don't let him see such a compromising situation. I'll send an elf when he arrives."

After James and Lily were sure that the great wizard had left, they bust out laughing, before Lily started the process of getting ready.

"Dear, aren't you forgetting something?"

Lily shot a look at the mop of black hair attached to her husband. "Why, no, I don't think I am."

"A proper kiss?"

"I don't think so."

"Please, Lils?"

"You don't want more later?" She bent down to whisper into James' ear. "When we have time and are... completely alone?"

He shook his head, and she sighed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Get going, toerag."

Following his wife's instructions with a shrug , James left the room with purpose. As he walked through the hallways, he realised how strange it was for him to be doing so. All the professors knew he and Lily were alive, and even though they were busy preparing for the next day, they still somehow found the time to send him odd looks.

The painting that lead to the kitchens was the same as always, and even the way to get down into the kitchen was the same (tickling the pear, much like the way he had tickled his wife). The only thing that had really changed was he himself and a few of the house elves.

"Master Potter!" They let out happy cries, offering him whatever foods they had within reach.

"Sir," one of the house elves wearing odd socks quietly got his attention. "Dobby is seeing that you has a bit of something on your face."

James thought for a quick moment, wondering what it might be, before he asked one of the elves for a mirror. When the mirror was passed to him, he realised exactly what it was. A little rose coloured print in the shape of lips right below his hair part.

Letting out a soft chuckle, James rubbed it off, before thanking the elves for the stash of food he had collected. He left the kitchens, piled high with pasties and tarts and headed back to his wife, who was eating some toast in their room, looking very content with herself.

"Whatever was that for? I saw at least half of the professors in the hallways, and they were all giving me odd looks because of it."

She shrugged, a smirk flitting across her face, "You asked for a kiss."

"I didn't mean one like that, Lils..." He smiled gently at her, and came over to take a bite of her toast.

A sudden pop distracted them both for a moment, "Professor Dumbledore is sending Tipsy to tell Mr and Mrs Potter that the Minister of Magic is here." The houself smiled before disapparating.

"Well, you heard the elf, Mrs Potter." James took his wife's hand and lead her out of the room, toward Dumbledore's office.