Chapter 1
The day had started out good.
Lily sat at the kitchen table, trying desperately to get Harry to eat his cheese cubes instead of dropping them onto the floor from his highchair, when the telephone in the hall began ringing.
It didn’t happen often that the device made any noise at all, it happened so rarely that she barely even recognized the sound of it anymore. Her and James had gotten it so that she could talk to her parents without having to expose them to the confusing world of floo-networks.
Yet now that her parents were no longer alive, the phone made almost no noise.
Surprised, and quite confused, Lily quickly made her way to the hall, after asking James, who had been cleaning the kitchen counter, to watch Harry for a moment.
The number was not one that she recognized, it made her somewhat nervous, a strange feeling of dread washed over her as she picked up the receiver.
“Hello, this is Lily Potter, how can I help you?” she asked, unsure if this was the proper telephone etiquette, considering she had only ever called family and never any random muggles before.
“Hello Mrs. Potter, I’m calling from Little Whinging’s Hospital to inform you that your sister Petunia Dursley and her husband Vernon Dursley have been in a car crash. As Petunias next of kin, we need you here to sign some paperwork as she and her husband are both currently incapacitated.”
Dread immediately settled in Lily’s stomach. Pulling herself together quickly, she quickly asked for the address of the hospital and called out for her husband.
“James, I need to go to a muggle hospital, my sister’s been in an accident!” she saw him appear at the end of the hall with little Harry on his hip. James looked quite shocked at the news, considering he knew very little about muggle vehicles that weren’t Sirius' motorbike.
“Do you need me to come along? I can leave Harry with Sirius and Remus.” He asked immediately, handing Lily her wand while she grabbed her jacket and boots. Lily shook her head, “I’ll be okay James, just make sure this one gets to bed on time, yeah? He's getting cranky.” She gave Harry a kiss on the forehead and James a kiss on the lips before stepping into the fireplace and grabbing a handful of floo powder.
“St. Mungos Hospital!”
As soon as she fell out of the floo network, she made her way to the front desk.
Muggle hospitals weren’t connected to the general floo network, but rather had private connections to the nearest magical hospitals in the event that a muggle patient was hit with something from the magic world, or in the event that a wizard or wizard’s family members were in the muggle hospital.
Lily’s heart pounded as she made her way to the front desk, but to her delight the witch there was understanding and pointed her to the correct floo within the next minute.
She tried desperately to calm herself, but upon arriving at the muggle hospital, her fears only doubled. What had happened to her sister? Would she be okay? What about little Dudley?
She tried to push her emotions down as she approached yet another front desk. This one, it seemed, wouldn't be as much help as the St. Mungos one, as she was only instructed to sit in the waiting area along with several muggles who were experiencing varying levels of pain and injury.
Lily sat down and let her eyes wander for a bit. They landed on a small boy who seemed to be in a lot of pain. Looking at him and his mother, who was trying to comfort him, made her think of her own son.
Harry was her life. Her baby. Her everything.
He would never feel pain or want for anything, she thought with a smile. She and James would surely make sure of that, and anywhere where they were lacking, their friends would make up for it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a nurse coming along and calling her name, to take her to where her sister was.
When they reached the room, Lily had to take a moment to steady herself. Petunia and Vernon laid each on a small bed of their own, hooked up to several machines. The bright lights and constant beeping made her head spin and throat dry up.
She stood in the doorway of the hospital room, trying to remember what her sister looked like without all the bruises and bandaged cuts. She thought she’d been prepared, but Lily had severely underestimated how much seeing Petunia like this would hurt.
Her heart hurt.
It hurt when she looked at the beds. It hurt as she listened to the nurse tell her about their declining conditions. It hurt when the sound of a heart monitor flatlining interrupted their conversation.
Then, Lily’s heart didn’t hurt anymore, because it was broken.
She signed the papers that were handed to her without much thought, she knew nothing of muggle healthcare anyhow. The numbness that was starting to spread throughout her didn’t concern her much, because Petunia was dead.
“You’ll have to go through some legal stuff before you can formally adopt little Dudley.” the nurse said conversationally. Lily’s head shot up, she hadn’t even thought about her nephew.
“You’re his next of kin, and listed as his godmother, so you shouldn’t have any issues with that. It might take a few days, but until then, it’s likely best if we keep him here at the hospital, he’s also injured." All Lily could do was nod dumbly.
“Thank you mam, will the hospital be in touch with me about Dudley’s situation, or should I apply for custody on my own?” she asked, to which the nurse nodded and explained the process and where she could get such a thing taken care of.
It seemed the issue would only take care of itself in a few days though, seeing as Dudley was still injured and in need of care. The nurse seemed to believe that Lily needed to go home and rest a bit before she jumped into the legal part of adopting or even fostering her nephew.
This alone was already a problem on its own, James would have no problem taking in a child in need, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Dudley, as far as Lily knew, was likely not a magical child, and though there was always a chance, she couldn’t rely on that in court.
What would happen if she was seen as unfit to be his guardian because the world she lived in was so different from the world that he should be living in? Lily didn’t know what she would do if that were the case.
Still, she decided to let the issue rest, and made her way back to the floo network, and then immediately back home.
Once she arrived at home, she was immediately embraced in a warm hug, by her husband.
Lily was always grateful at times like these, that James always knew how she was feeling, he could just tell, and right now she needed that. Lily could barely speak past the sobs that wracked her whole body. James just held her through it all. He held her tightly in his arms until her tears subsided and her body and mind felt too weak to do anything but lay there on the couch that they had made it to at some point.
When she finally felt a little less distressed, James carried her up the stairs to their bedroom, helped her undress, drew her a bath, washed her and dressed her for bed.
He brought her tea and made sure to tell her how much he loved her. Lily had never felt more grateful for her husband.
She thought of how much she loved him as he tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead.
Lily’s last thoughts were of James when she fell asleep that night.
Her dreams, though, were about Petunia, Vernon and Dudley.