Hey there! This was originally posted on October 1, 2017 over on ao3, but I thought I'd crosspost it here as well. Enjoy!

The Dark Lord is dead. The world is crawling with Inferi.

The few survivors are gathered at Hogwarts, trying to carve out a new life for themselves and their children. The Potters are no different. Their new normal is far from what they imagined on their wedding day, but it's theirs and they love it regardless.

Then, the Order gets word that a lone child - an infant - is trapped in Malfoy Manor, a veritable hotbed of dark magic and former Death Eater activity. Lily volunteers to go along on the rescue, while James stays behind with Harry.

Together, they are strong. But is that strength enough to endure when apart?

James rolled over, his arm draping over his wife's bare waist. She curved slightly against him, and he dropped his head down to place a kiss on her neck, smirking when she squirmed.

"James… s'early… too early for these shenanigans…"

He kissed her again. "Time to wake up, Carrots… and don't pretend you don't love those shenanigans."

Sighing, she begrudgingly opened her eyes. Her green gaze was fiery, even first thing in the morning. "Why? Why do we have to get up? Why can't we just…" she rolled over to face him, her nude body on almost full display as she propped her head up on one hand. "Can't we just… have a lie in for once? Maybe if we had a lie in, I'd be in the mood for shenanigans first thing in the morning."

"There're no lazy mornings allowed at the end of the world…" he said, his lips pressing into a line.

"No end of the world talk in our flat, James Potter. You know the rules." Lily rolled back away from him, tossing the covers from her body before standing to walk across the room for her dressing gown.

"I'm sorry, darling. If I take it back, can I have five more minutes with you?"

She paused at the doorway, seemingly thinking over his offer. "The shenanigans I want to get up to with you take longer than five minutes… besides, our son is awake. Our pride and joy. I'm sure he needs a new nappy and kisses and hugs…"

Watching her slim form cross the floor, one would never imagine she'd given birth a scant nine months before. All the running about that came with an apocalyptic incident had certainly helped her regain her former figure. Something James certainly wasn't complaining about, but now all the memories they had of those blissful months of pregnancy were the fading stretch marks on her hips.

And Harry, of course.

Lily crossed the dorm room-turned-flat as James got up to search for his pants. A lot had happened in those nine months since Harry had been born. It seemed like Lily had barely healed from the birth before the world fell apart around them.

It began when Voldemort had turned every single one of his loyal followers into mindless Inferi. He himself had been defeated just recently, but that still left hoards of his undead followers at large, most of them bewitched with various complicated spells, roaming entire regions of the country.

The Order had killed thousands of those rabid Inferi, who carried some sort of infection that spread through bites and scratches. The living simply couldn't survive it; they died days later from the sickness.

It was a rather large state of emergency.

It was why James' little family, along with the entire Order of the Phoenix and various others they'd rescued along the way, were now living at Hogwarts. The school was still functional for the children housed within it, but their surviving families were now living there as well.

He and Lily had his old room in Gryffindor tower. He'd transfigured it into a very lovely flat, but there were still remnants of his time as a student that simply couldn't be transformed.

One of those was the wall colour. No matter what he did, it faded back to crimson at the end of the day. Not that crimson wasn't lovely. But as Lily said, it made it look like the dorm room it had been.

James waved his hand, opening the drapes and taking in the bedroom around him. He reached for his wand and flicked it, changing the paint into a pale yellow.

He could hear Harry's high-pitched giggles and Lily's low voice as she spoke to their son in the next room, so he resumed looking for his pants.

He found them where he'd stripped them off the night before and pulled them on, grabbing his own dressing gown from the back of a chair.

"I know you're putting on clean pants, James Potter. Because I know your dearly departed mother taught you better than to put on the same pants two days in a row…" Lily called from the other room.

Sighing, he stepped out of them again and sent them to the laundry hamper, summoning a clean pair from the chest of drawers. Once he had those on, he shrugged on his dressing gown.

He didn't bother to knot the sash as he walked out into the main part of the flat.

There was no kitchen, just a kettle for tea and a small cupboard that held the cups and tea in question. Harry's crib was in a corner, along with a chest full of toys that never seemed to stay inside no matter how many times he or Lily tidied up. There was a bookcase along one wall, partially full, mostly textbooks or books Lily borrowed from the school's library.

It wasn't quite the cozy cottage he'd envisioned for them. But they were safe. All of them.

And Sirius and Remus, too. And most of the rest of their friends as well.

It wasn't the future he'd dreamed of on their wedding day, but the sight of his lovely wife and their beautiful baby boy greeting the day together was perfect enough for him.

"Here, Daddy… Mummy's got some bathroom business to see to." Lily passed the baby to him; he squealed in delight at the mere sight of his father.

James' heart skipped a beat as he looked down into Harry's eyes, eyes that were most definitely his mother's. Bright green and piercing as hers always were.

"Good morning, my little sproglet. You slept well, I trust?"

Harry squealed again and made a show of pulling his feet over his head and James couldn't help but snuggle him close. This, of course, made Harry wriggle and squirm and babble.

"When are you going to get around to speaking, Harry? I must say you must have picked it up by now."

"Hi," he said, almost on cue.

"Ah, of course. I'd almost forgotten your first word. Hi there, old chap."

"Bear?" His little hands reached for his favourite stuffed animal. 'Bear' was also his second word.

"See, I think I might have made myself a bit… um… confusing before? When are you going to say my name, Harry? Da-da?"

"Bear?" Harry reached for and grasped his bear.

"Da-da?"

"Bear?" His infant son held out the bear, obviously assuming his father wanted it. So James took it, giving it an over-exaggerated hug before returning it.

"Well. I suppose it could be worse. You could be saying 'doggy' or something."

"Doggy?" Harry mimicked.

James' eyebrows nearly flew off his forehead and into the rafters of the room somewhere. "Da-da?"

"Doggy!"

Lily chose that moment to re-enter the room, fully dressed and glowing with her special kind of beauty that never failed to make James gawk. He swore he'd never get used to her. Being married to a goddess was tiring.

"What was that, my sweet baby boy? Doggy?"

"DOGGY!"

She grinned at James. "Sirius will be thrilled."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't I know it."

Harry abandoned his teddy the moment Lily entered, taking instead to crawling after her and chanting his usual mantra of "Mu-mu-mu-mum…" as he thumped on the floor in her wake.

James couldn't say he blamed him. He tended to follow Lily around if left to his own devices as well. "Someone's hungry, I'd say."

"Wait just a moment, Harry, Mummy's got to get herself presentable."

"You're always the most blaringly beautiful being in any room you enter."

"Presentable, James. Something you should probably take care of as well. Starting with finding a pair of trousers. We've a meeting after breakfast."

"Another one? I thought these raids would be winding down as the Inferi deteriorate."

"Apparently not," she said, leaning down to hoist Harry up on her hip. He immediately began pawing at her top and she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Just a moment, Harry."

"Of course he's adorable, but when I do it, it's 'Not now, James, we're in public'…"

She shot him a look. "Get dressed, Casanova."

He stood and wrapped his dressing gown around him with a flourish. "You know, even sarcastic, that's quite the compliment, Carrots." The next look she lobbed his way put a little more spring in his step. "I'm going, I'm going …"

Lily held Harry on her lap as the meeting came to order. Her knees were bouncing, but her eyes were on Dumbledore.

Harry squealed, loving the sound of his own voice in the silence.

More than a few people chuckled. James reached over to take him, pulling him close as their old headmaster began to speak.

"The Manor… Malfoy Manor, that is. The situation is … much more dire than we previously thought…" Albus began.

There was a rise in nervous chatter before Arthur Weasley spoke up. "What do you mean?"

"Whereas it was previously believed empty, a half dozen house elves have now barricaded themselves inside," he paused. "With what appears to be an infant."

A hush fell over everyone in the room. James hugged Harry closer and Lily's hand came to rest on their son's back.

"Not… it's not Draco, is it?" Andromeda's voice was strained. A quick look in her direction revealed a wobbling chin and watery eyes. She'd been all but despondent to discover that her sisters' fates were both one and the same: they'd walked amongst the mass of Inferi that crawled the earth at the Dark Lord's bidding.

Ted's arms were around his wife, seemingly holding her upright.

James glanced back at his best friend. Sirius' face was dark. Sullen. Tight. He wasn't thrilled with the news either.

"I'm afraid so, Andromeda," Dumbledore conceded.

Andromeda Tonks, née Black, let out a ragged breath that was likely the closest any of them would get to seeing her cry. Her daughter wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face in her mother's belly.

"We'll need at least a dozen of you for the rescue operation," Dumbledore continued.

James had his hands full of Harry or he'd have raised them before Lily raised hers. "I'll go, Professor," she said quickly.

"Lily…" James hissed. It was his turn to go. They alternated on these raids so one of them could always be with Harry. She'd gone on the last one, so it stood to reason that he'd be the one going along this time.

She turned, her green eyes flashing as she took in his expression. "It's Malfoy Manor, James. The curse-breaking will be advanced. They'll need me."

"My curse-breaking is just fine, Evans."

"It's Potter now, darling. And I never said it wasn't. Mine's better ."

"Well, of bloody course it is, there's no denying that. But you also went out last time."

"James, if it's all the same to you, Lily is right. She's needed on this raid. I'm… sorry. But I must insist." McGonagall was the tie-breaking vote.

James blinked repeatedly, his eyes set on his son. Harry babbled some nonsense and James hugged him close, his hand clasped tightly in Lily's as he nodded. "I understand, Minerva."

"I'll go as well," Sirius said, speaking up. He nodded once in James' direction, which James took to mean he'd look out for Lily. James appreciated it, but he wished she wasn't going along at all.

"And me," said a voice from the back of the room. James turned at the familiar tone. Severus Snape was standing stiffly away from the rest. "I'll go as well. I'm familiar with the Manor's layout."

Alice Longbottom, Arthur Weasley, Ted Tonks, Minerva McGonagall, as well as quite a few others rounded out the group. Even James had to admit it was a nice-looking team of powerful witches and wizards. If anyone had any chance at all of saving the Malfoy child, it was them.

He knew a rescue wasn't their only reason for going to the Manor. It was a hotspot for Dark Magic and he knew as well as anyone that any curses they could break would only spell out good news for those still living, and anything that might speed the end of the plague of Inferi was worth trying.

James still slipped his arm around Lily's waist and held her fast to his side because, regardless of how well-rounded the group was, he had a terrible feeling about this.

Breaking into the Manor was definitely a larger endeavour than they'd even been expecting. And they'd expected a rather large undertaking. Lily, Severus and Sirius were no slouches when it came to curse-breaking, and they were being given a run for their money inside Malfoy Manor. The sheer number of cursed objects, cursed entryways, and just plain curses on the place was mind-boggling.

Worse, there were Inferi crawling all over the main house. It seemed as if every time they dispatched one, three more came running to take its place.

"In the kitchen…" Severus said, pointing down the hall. "It's the last room in the back."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked. "Why would they be in the bloody kitchen?"

"House-elves," Lily said with a nod. She got up from where she'd been resting against a wall. Her clothes were filthy. Sodden with blood and dirt. The three of them were covered in it.

"Merlin's beard, this is disgusting…" Sirius said. "I'm covered in Inferi guts."

Lily snorted. "Aye. Looks like we're all mudbloods now, eh, Severus?"

"Lily," Severus began and she shook her head to silence him.

"No, I'm sorry. I apologize. That was ill-timed on my part.."

"Lily, you can't possibly…"

"Bear a grudge for years, Severus? Hate someone for one small minute thing? You're right. And I don't. I was merely trying to make light of a terrible situation. Now, we really must go. There is a baby in here that needs us."

She started to walk away, but Sirius grabbed her arm, yanking her back just in time, so that the wall of dark magic that fell from the archway didn't touch her. Severus cast a counter-spell that kept it from flowing along the carpeted hallway to reach them.

Lily exhaled. "Thank you."

Sirius patted her shoulder. "Keep a cool head, Evans."

"Potter," she and Severus corrected him.

A series of counter-spells got them through the hallway. It was taking all three of them on high alert to get down it and into the kitchen. Lily was starting to wish they'd asked for a few more of the group to come through with them, but she supposed they were all needed to keep the peace outside, as well as to maintain the barrier they'd established to keep all the dark magic contained to the grounds.

The entrance to the kitchen looked safe. None of them detected any movement inside, nor any dark magic barring the doorway.

Upon pushing through, they found six house-elves surrounding a screaming baby. They must have cast some sort of muffling charm on the room, because even though the Malfoy heir's face was red from screaming, there was no sound.

Lily rushed forward, holding her arms out for Draco. The house-elves allowed her to take him, apparating away nearly instantly. She had to respect their loyalty. They'd stayed with him until help arrived, despite the danger they were in.

He certainly was a screechy little thing. Maybe she'd been spoiled by Harry being such a good baby, but this tow-headed child was worlds apart. But, then again, he also had been left on his own with a bunch of house-elves for a few days at least, his mother gone who knows how long before, so perhaps his foul mood was to be expected.

Regardless of how wretched he looked, she was still a mother, and her maternal instincts kicked in, recognizing a child desperately in need of them. She cuddled him close, nodding to the rest of her team, and they ran back the way they came.

Draco's screeching was deafening, and his cries weren't muffled any longer. Still, over them, she could hear the rumbling of the Inferi in the upstairs rooms descending upon their position.

For the first time, she was scared. She looked down into the face of the infant in her arms and felt the same emotion he felt. The uncertainty. The fear.

She cuddled him closer, shushing him as they kept running, until they broke out of the side entrance they'd come through and out onto the lawn.

Lily could hear windows breaking and wood splintering behind them, and Sirius looked back only once to scream at them to keep going. He had one arm around Lily to push her forward and the other was shooting spells behind them.

Severus' face was ashen, and Lily knew she wouldn't be able to keep running if she looked back. So she just ran. She found some second wind or something and pushed on, towards the hole in the barrier that was being held open for them.

She was so close to safety. Twelve paces away or so when her ankle rolled. Or at least, that's what it felt like. She stepped down into some sodden mud and her ankle collapse in on her. It left her with shooting pains up her left leg.

Crying out, she tried to hobble forward, only to find her foot stuck. On what, she had no idea.

"LILY!" Severus was yelling at her, his wand out and shooting at something . There was a raking pain down her calf that she knew couldn't be her rolled ankle's doing.

Knowing she couldn't look back, she instead turned towards Severus, handing the baby to him. "Take him. Go!"

Sirius hit the beast with a spell square on the forehead and knelt to yank her foot free from the earth.

She could hear them coming. Hear their broken fingers and feet crunching as they scrambled across the lawn towards them.

"Leave me!" she blurted. She couldn't very well take James' best friend with her. Who would keep him sane? How would he survive without both of them? "I can make it on my own."

"No," he replied. "Not bloody likely, Evans."

"Potter…" she mumbled.

"Potter," Sirius said with a grin, dragging her up and forward. "Come along then, Potter."

He sat her down on the ground just outside the barrier once he'd pulled her through, turning to help them close it once more, sealing the teeth-gnashers inside.

It was at that moment that everyone turned to look at her, that she realized her leg was covered in blood. And it hurt. It hurt like a bugger.

And it was also at that moment that the world went blissfully black.

Bitten. She'd been bitten.

James didn't know how he found the strength to rise from the floor where he'd been playing with Harry. Molly Weasley knelt down to take the infant, shushing him nervously as she watched James stumble from the room.

Sirius looked distraught; he kept apologising.

Severus was nowhere to be found, but if he could venture a guess, James knew where he'd be.

That thought didn't upset him. At least she wasn't alone.

"James, mate… none of us saw it. It must have been hiding there in the ground, waiting to attack us as we left. That's all I can think of. We'd stepped over it on our way in…we were so close… Severus tried to kill the thing before it bit her… we just weren't fast enough."

James shook his head. "I'm not… s'not your fault, Sirius… I know you tried… no one's fault really... "

He would apparate to the hospital wing if he thought he could, but what good would he be to anyone if he splinched himself? Instead, he and Sirius found themselves running down the familiar hallway. It really hadn't taken as long as it usually did. It was almost as if the castle was helping them for once, the stairs shifting to draw them closer instead of away. They reached the door and James burst through it and into a very hushed and very quiet scene. Quite the opposite from what he expected.

In fact, Madam Pomfrey was smiling. Smiling .

"What's… what's all this then?" he asked, causing them all to look up at him. Severus, Dumbledore, McGonagall… all of them looked up at him from their vigil around a bed.

"Is that you, James?"

Lily's voice was like a salve on a wound. He lurched forward, nearly tripping over Severus to get to her side. He turned towards him to apologise but instead was greeted with an awkward shoulder pat as Severus rose to give him room.

"Lily… darling… are you… will you… what…"

She looked fine. Nowhere near the ashen mess that Sirius had been when he'd come to get him. She looked… well .

"It would seem that your wife is quite the fighter, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey began. "She did not succumb to the infection like the other victims did."

James leaned forward, brushing his fingers through her hair. Besides being a bit grungy, she looked no worse for the wear.

"Something in my blood, she says…" Lily continued for her. "I've an immunity for the infection."

"Quite. And after she's feeling a bit better and her leg's healed, we're going to use her blood to make an antidote. I very much doubt there will be any more deaths from Inferi attacks… provided of course, that the victim survives the attack." With that, the Mediwitch began to shoo people from the room. "Come now, let's let husband and wife spend some time together. I will need to start cleaning and healing the wound."

He turned to lock eyes with Severus, sending his unspoken gratitude through the look before his former adversary turned and left the room in a flurry of robes. He doubted there would ever be good blood between them, but at least now, there might not be bad blood.

And speaking of blood... Madam Pomfrey pulled back the sheet covering Lily's leg.

James blanched a little when he saw the state of her injury.

"Just how bad was the attack?"

"Oh, that bloody monster practically took my foot clean off…" Lily said dryly. She smirked. "Obviously, it's just a scratch. A bite rather."

"A dirty, nasty bite," Sirius said quietly. "Nothing clean about that."

Lily looked up at the sound of his voice and immediately held her arms out. He leaned down to hug her.

"Glad you're okay, Lil. Don't think I could have lived with this one if you weren't…"

"Thanks to you , Sirius..."

Sirius clapped James on the back once and then left with the rest of the group, leaving James and Lily alone for the time being, save Madam Pomfrey, who was preparing her potions across the room.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" James asked. He didn't think he could bear it if she was.

She shook her head. "Not so much now… I was given a lovely potion for it when I came to."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here." He pulled her hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss there.

"Darling, you were with our son. I never ever want him to be alone…" She looked so sad for a moment that James leaned over to kiss her lips.

"James, we found that baby. Draco... He was screaming . So scared. So alone…" she pressed her lips together. "We mustn't ever leave Harry like that."

"We won't, Carrots. We won't. He's with Molly currently, playing with Ron and the twins. He's fine. He's not alone."

She nodded, blinking back tears. "Poor little Draco…"

"He's with his aunt now, Lily, dear," Madame Pomfrey assured her. "He's with his aunt and getting all the affection he surely hasn't been getting from those house-elves."

"Any sign of his parents?" James asked.

"Severus saw them. They were among the first Inferi we dispatched when we entered the home…" Lily said quietly.

"Poor little tot," he mused. "But I suppose, now he's got quite a few parents."

"Andromeda. Ted…"

"And Sirius," he added. "Sirius is his family too."

"Ah yes. Uncle 'Doggy' once more..." Lily smiled and reached up to run her fingers through his hair.

"You know, I'm starting to think Harry's inherited your sense of humour…"

"How so?"

"He's simply refusing to say my name. I think he's taking the piss. What with that 'doggy' business earlier."

Lily chuckled, still stroking his hair. "You want it too much. Your need is showing, James."

"He knows that's my name and he refuses to say it. He says your name."

James was well aware that he was being silly about this whole business, but his silliness was masking a very real fear that had nearly come to fruition that day.

"I'm the milk factory. Our son is nothing but diplomatic."

"Babies always love their mums more…"

"He loves you too. Have you seen his face when you walk into the room? I certainly can't get that reaction out of him."

He smiled, reaching down to hold her hand tightly. "I am so happy you're alright, Evans."

"It's Potter now."

"I know…don't I know that." He propped up on his elbows, leaning forward to kiss her lips once more, revelling in the way her breath hit his face. "I know full well what your name is now, my darling. But you'll always be Evans to me."

"I would marry you all over again, James Potter."

His heart thumped in his chest, same as it always did when she said things like that. "I only hope that I'm worthy of that honour."

"You are," she said without pause. "I love you."

"Love you too." He pressed his lips to the back of her hand again as Madam Pomfrey approached the bed.

"Right then, let's get this wound taken care of, Lily, dear. The sooner we do, the sooner James can go bring that sweet little boy of yours here for a visit."

Lily clasped his hand tighter, so he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "Stay here with me, James," she whispered.

"Nowhere else I'd rather be."

Give me some sugar if you liked it! *hearts*