Hush

"Hush, hush, time to be sleeping, hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping, dreams of peace and of freedom, so smile in your sleep bonny baby..."

Lily looked down to the face of her little baby boy. So perfect, so beautiful...he'd have hair like his father one day, she just knew it. But her eyes...her mother's eyes. Lily's peaceful, motherly grin was echoed in the innocent face of her son, Harry.

Then, she heard footsteps enter the nursery. She turned, but only on instinct, as the only person it could possibly be was her husband, James. He grinned, playing the part of the proud father perfectly.

"Is he sleeping, then, dear?" he asked, crossing over to stand next to his wife. He brushed a lock of fine black hair off his son's forehead. Harry already had a head full of hair, just as James had when he was a baby. He put an arm around Lily, drawing her closer and kissing the top of her head.

"Shh...yes, I just got him to sleep. Last thing I need would be for him to wake again." She gave her husband a stern look, but then gave in and allowed him a brief kiss. "He is beautiful, isn't he?"

"He is, Lily, he is. I think he's the first thing in my life that I didn't mess up on. Well, second. You're the first." He took her into a full-on embrace. "I love you, Lil. You're amazing."

"I love you too, James, but...I don't want to wake Harry." She pulled away, letting only his arm remain attached to her.

For a few long moments, they watched their son sleep. They glowed with that special light only new parents are allowed to hold, that sort of ethereal luminosity that only comes at night when the baby is sleeping and all is well in the world.

Then James spoke again. "What was that song you were singing, Lily?"

She blushed sweetly. "You heard that? Oh, it's just some Irish song my mum used to sing to me when I was a girl. It's nothing..."

"Sing some more."

"James! I don't want to...wake Harry, you know..."

"You won't...just a little bit. Come on, then. You know you want to," he teased.

"Oh...all right. But I'll never do this again, you know..." She sighed, took in a deep breath, and began singing again.

James had never heard such a song. Beautiful, but at the same time, sad, too poignant for a mere children's song.

"Once our valleys were ringing with songs of our children singing, but now the sheep bleat 'til evening, and shielings lie empty and broken..."

This land, too, was once rich with children singing, but Voldemort had put a quick end to that, hadn't he? He had once hoped to sing with his little son, now he hoped he lived long enough to hear his son's first word, spoken in a baby's soft babble, some little word that was nothing but nonsense to the rest of the world. To him, it would be music finer than Lily's song.

Harry stirred a little in his sleep, and Lily leaned down to kiss his forehead. James supposed it was a young mother thing, all this touching and kissing all the time. Not that he minded at all, as sometimes, when there was no Harry available, he was the recipient.

"Hush, hush, time to be sleeping..."

James twirled a lock of Lily's long red hair around his little finger. She smiled around her song, rested her head on his shoulder, and continued her singing in his ear.

"Where is our proud highland mettle - our troops once so fierce in battle, now stand, cowed, huddled like cattle, and wait to be shipped o'er the ocean...hush, hush..."

Times were tough all around, he thought. Sure enough, the soldiers for the forces for good these days were too often used as nothing more than wand fodder for Voldemort's dark forces. They'd been so strong once, he thought, and now...they'd been reduced to little more than the weakest links among them, because the strongest and the best had long been sent to their graves or driven insane by the madman known as the Dark Lord.

James looked again at Lily's beautiful face. Truly, they were lucky to still be alive. Of course, they would be even luckier if they stayed alive for more than a few days longer. True, James trusted Peter with his life, as well as his family's, but Peter was well known as a weak man, ready to turn at any minute. But he looked so incredibly earnest to become the Potter's Secret-Keeper. Better him than Sirius Black, Peter had said once, but why not Sirius? Lily had wholeheartedly agreed with Peter - she'd never much trusted Sirius. But James still questioned the choice - why not Sirius? They'd been best friends for as long as James could remember, after all.

"...so smile in your sleep, bonny-"

There was a loud noise at the front door, like someone impatiently bursting through, hungry for blood. "Oh, James..." Lily moaned, frightened, obviously thinking the worst.

Just as James had been.

"You stay here, love, I'll go see what's going on." He kissed her, one last time, and rushed out of the room, wand in hand.

The last thing he saw was the smile on his son's face, and that gave him courage.

************** **************

Harry was tired, but knew better than to fall asleep. Too much was going on in his life, too much weight was on his back, too much intrigue and conspiracy. He was too young to have such a hard life.

He rolled over into his bed, pulled the deep bloodred blanket over his eyes, and let the tears roll down his face. They were the tears he was too young to know to shed at his parent's death, they were the tears he had been to surprised to shed over Cedric, they were the tears of a hundred wizards and witches he could have saved so many times and had failed to, they were the stored up tears of 15 years of sadness and solitude. They hurt so much more than anything in his life had ever even thought to hurt.

Just then, he felt a hand upon his head. He looked up, but saw nothing. He thought it to be a ghost, but it was strangely warm, maternal, not as Nearly-Headless Nick had been that one time he'd touched Harry.

It felt...familiar.

In the distant recesses of his mind, he heard a familiar melody, sweet words that had meant nothing to him at the time, but now meant everything.

"No use pleading or praying, for gone, gone is all hope of staying. Hush, hush, the anchor's a-weighing, don't cry in your sleep, bonny baby.

"Hush, hush, time to be sleeping, hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping, dreams of peace and of freedom, so smile in your sleep bonny baby..."

A/N: So hi. Little different this time around, I guess. The song is an Irish lullaby, called Smile in Your Sleep. Lily and James and Harry aren't mine, nor are they yours. The song is everyone's as is all music. Drive carefully and eat your veggies.

P.S. - I got a gerbil!! Aw, she's so cute. Her name's Sakura.