Chapter 6
Felix held a combination of the mild sweet flavour of vanilla, mixed with a darker note of caramel, something that reminded him of orange and a hint of ginger. Shortly after the taste registered on his tongue, James felt the potions’ effects.
It was as frightening as it was liberating. Suddenly he knew how they'd be able to save Harry and it would be laughably easy at that. If the potion was right, they would even be able to save their son and fulfill the stupid prophecy in one go.
James grinned. “Time to give Harry the potion and then let's enjoy the day together!” He said, beaming at his beautiful wife.
Lils eyes scanned him over for a moment before she was satisfied with whatever she was seeing and moved to retrieve their son. James got a mortar and a pestle to crush the Bezoar for Harry and added some purified water to the mix.
James winced. His poor boy. Compared to the potion, that mush would surely taste dreadful. At least it wouldn't be much. James knew that without Felix he'd never think about intentionally overdosing Harry on the Luck Potion, but he felt with absolute certainty that this was the right path to take.
Simple luck wouldn't help them with a wizard like You-Know-Who. They had all to go above and beyond. Unfortunately, that included his innocent little boy. He'd make it up to him directly after. James was sure a certain someone was due a ride on big old Prongs's back.
Nodding to himself, he turned only to come face to face with Lily. She looked decidedly unimpressed. “Are we expecting something to go wrong?” she asked in a steady voice, eyebrows raising to punctuate the question.
“It'll be fine, Lils. I've got a feeling he'll need as much luck as he can get today.” At her pained grimace he hurriedly continued. “I know what I'm doing, trust me. Any toxicity will be purged with the Bezoar.”
“James…,-”
Lily started with a warning undertone, before he interrupted her. Arms raised in a placating gesture, he cut her off: “Look. I know what you're thinking. But the potion works differently from what I thought.” He admitted, looking at her intently, willing her to understand.
“Felix shows the best course of action. It shows which of the infinite possible opportunities or pathways leads to the most favourable outcome. And this is it.”
Seeing his determination, Lily's seemed to waver. Her shoulders sagged and she looked sadly down to their son, who looked between them curiously while he pulled on his cuddly toy’s ears. “I just don't want to see Harry hurt.”
If James's mood wasn't artificially elated he thought he might cry. “Do you think I do?” he asked sombrely.
Lily's eyes widened a fraction at that and she hastily replied; “Of course not James! I'm sorry! I'm just worried, is all.” He saw tears glistening in her eyes, which made him instantly feel guilty.
“I know, Lils,” he said with a wobbly smile. “I'm sorry, too. How about we get this over with, so we can continue with the fun part of the day?”
“Right. Let's do this,” Lily agreed and turned to look at Harry who was back in his high chair. “Harry, dear. We've got a small potion and some mash for you.”
Cue Harry’s grimace. He'd had some of his potion shots due around his first birthday and he hadn't liked the taste. At all.
“It's only a little bit, mate,” James encouraged Harry, “I took it too. Afterwards we can do whatever you want. How about a fancy ride on good old Prongs in the backyard?”
Harry pointed as firmly as a one year old could up to the sealing. That meant broom for you. Stags weren't controllable or fast enough for young Harry. He loved the height, but he couldn't hold himself that well yet. Harry needed to be stabilised by Lily, and Prongs needed to go very slow. The toy broomstick on the other hand had enchantments to account for the lack of mobility and grip little kids had.
Careful to avoid Lily's eyes, he beamed at his son: “Great, it's never too early to train you up for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The broom it is.”
“James…”, Lily sighed exasperatedly. He was pretty sure that she was rolling her eyes, though he could hear the smile in her voice.
James reached for the vial of Felix Felices and his instincts still told him to give his son every single drop. It was less than half the vial and a lot for someone so small. He didn’t know everything magic had to offer or all effects so he'd trust the potion to lead him right.
Harry swallowed the potion first hesitantly, then eagerly when he found the taste to be better than expected. The potion urged him to cast a diagnostic spell on Harry to monitor his health.
He hadn't used healing spells often, though he found to his pleasant surprise that he could cast the diagnostic charm successfully on the first try.
As soon as Harry's screen showed signs of poisoning, James urged him to eat a small spoon full of Bezoar mush.
This way, they found the maximum dose Harry could use, even if they had to bribe him through taking two more spoons of the disgusting paste.
Following this ordeal, Harry was overjoyed to be reunited with his broom, while Lily and James got their workout done by running after their delighted squealing kid.
Somehow, probably thanks to the potion, the limitations on the broom seemed to weaken considerably and Harry managed to reach new heights and speeds with his broomstick.
Miraculously, he didn’t even come close to getting hurt, which seemed to pacify Lily. She still hit every edge, corner and hard surface in Harry’s general periphery with a Cushioning Charm. Just in case.
Even the cat seemed to benefit from Harry’s luck as she didn't even get close to the danger zone once. A stark contrast to Harry’s usual flying exercises.
Watching their son so unburdened by the war outside their four walls was a relief he wanted to keep as long as possible.
Looking from their happily laughing son to Lily, he saw her with a faint smile on her face, camera in hand. She wanted to capture each and every happy moment, he knew.
After the prolonged flying session, they brought Harry to bed. James told him a bedtime story about how Padfoot and his three best friends were meeting magical creatures in a big mystical forest. James made sure to tell Harry a lot about Sirius so he wouldn't forget him completely before he came visiting again.
When Harry was asleep he went back downstairs to spend the evening with his beloved wife.
Hearing his approach, Lily closed the book she was currently reading and looked him square in the eyes. “I played along James but you know just as well as I do: A little luck won't help us if he comes tonight. Even a lot of luck won't be enough to stop him. So, what are you really planning?”