~ You're not alone, together we stand,

I'll be by your side, you know, I'll take your hand. ~

***

White haze engulfed her as striking green eyes fluttered open. The pain had subsided but everything was unclear. She felt her hand being held in a familiar protective grip and slowly but steadily the haze dissolved into clarity.

The blank white surroundings reminded her of St Mungo's and though she had a vague memory of coming to that place, the heavy medication given to her had somehow numbed the rest of her senses.

She gently squeezed the hand that was entwined through hers and in response, James's features swam into view, a bright smile dancing upon his lips.

Seeing him made her feel safe and at home, no matter how numb she felt otherwise. If James was with her, everything would definitely be alright.

"My beautiful Lily flower," his soft voice greeted her, "how are you feeling now?"

"Numb..." Her voice was slightly hoarse as it was difficult for her to speak just then.

"Don't worry, you will be okay soon," he reassured her, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead, "and would you look at the precious gift God has blessed us with?"

At that remark, she realized James was holding something. Or rather someone.

In his arms, wound up in a soft baby blanket, was their new born son. She craned her neck to get a closer look but James helped her sit up and gently gave the child in her arms.

Lily looked at her first born for the first time, her green eyes welling up with tears for it was indeed an overwhelming moment. James had sat down on the chair beside her bed, his hand gently stroking the child's dainty fingers in his own.

And at that moment all Lily could think of was the pure happiness she felt at becoming a mother to that beautiful little boy in her arms. For that instant, all thoughts of that boy being the savior to wizardkind and the war looming over them faded into the background.

All she could think of was that she was finally holding her son and he was the most precious thing in the whole wide world to her.

James watched his wife and son with a fond look in his hazel irises. Despite the war and the chaos breaking out everywhere, it was a beautiful moment for the Potters, in fact one of the happiest days of their lives.

"James... He's beautiful."

"Just like you," he added, "he's asleep right now or else you would have seen his eyes. Bright green, just like yours."

"Oh..." She gently kissed the baby's hand, her eyes softening in adoration, "I feel so blessed."

"So do I."

The door to their room opened and in stepped Sirius, rather disheveled from the Order mission he had just returned from, but in extremely high spirits. "Oi, Prongs, how dare you not let me meet Prongslet first?"

"Technically, out of my friends, you will be meeting him first," James replied, noticing that behind Sirius were Remus and Peter and further back were Felicity and Marlene.

"Such a pity, Black, can't even wait for the mother to see her son properly," Marlene smacked him on the head per habit, making Sirius duck in alarm. Turning to James and Lily, she added with a soft smile on her face, "congratulations."

"Congratulations!" The rest of them cheered as well, the silent room where only James and Lily had been now becoming crowded and quite colorful with all the happy faces around them.

James's eyes flickered towards Peter as if to see whether he was alright or not but before he could say anything, Peter had stepped forward and embraced him.

"I'm sorry for that day," he whispered in his ear so that only he could hear him, "I was really rude to you while you only meant to care..."

"It's alright," James patted his back affectionately, "forget about it."

 Sirius had bent down on his knees to see the little Prongslet in Lily's arms, then he turned his head to look at her, "though I have to say, this little kid is going to be exactly like his father. Sleeps like a log even though there's such a ruckus going on."

They had all gathered around the bed where Lily was sitting and holding the child, Remus had pulled Sirius back so that the others could see the baby too and apparently the latter was furious at that.

"Sirius, either you're shutting up right now or I'll kick you out of here," Felicity threatened, "you guys will wake the baby up."

Remus nodded, "yeah, exactly what I'm telling him."

"Okay first of all, I'm the Godfather here so all of you back off," Sirius straightened, sending a wink to James who chuckled at his remark, "secondly, we do want the child to wake up and acknowledge how delighted we are to have him here."

"He can't possibly acknowledge your delight at meeting him," Lily added, a smile playing upon her lips, "he's not even a day old yet."

"But he's James's son, he's bound to be magical!"

"Magical or not, such small babies don't start speaking immediately," Marlene spoke up, "you really need someone to knock some sense in your head. Remus, would you mind...?"

"Of course not," Remus's hand landed on Sirius's head in a sharp smack, almost making him jump out of the chair he had taken.

"Holy he... Can't even swear because there's a child here! Remus, I swear you're going to pay for this!" Stormy grey eyes flickered threateningly as Sirius glared at his boyfriend.

James knew he had to stop them or a fight would break out soon enough, "guys, you do remember this is a hospital, right?"

A collective Sorry was heard from the three of them.

"Have you decided a name for our little Prongslet?" Peter asked, changing the topic effortlessly, though he had been very silent earlier.

"We've had ideas. I am personally very fond of the name..." James began but was cut short by Lily.

"James, for the last time, we are not going to name him Elvendork."

Marlene burst out laughing though Sirius looked mortally offended, "wait what? That was the name I came up with, you can't reject the Godfather, Lily."

"In case you forgot, I'm the mother, Sirius. None of your ideas can be implemented on my son without my consent."

Sirius looked at his friends as if silently asking them to back him up but found that they had all sided up with Lily on that remark.

"No seriously, imagine a boy named Elvendork Potter. He will be bullied at school due to his name so a no from me," Marlene remarked.

"Remus?"

"Not Elvendork," his reply dimmed Sirius's hopes because he already knew what Felicity was going to say.

"I suppose you're not going to ask me?" Blue eyes sparkled in amusement as she took in the disappointment on his features.

"Yeah because you never take my side. Anyhow, what do you think, Pete? Isn't Elvendork a fine name?"

He nodded, "it is but it seems made up."

"Because it is made up, I spent hours on this!"

James chuckled, patting his back in reassurance, "it's okay Siri, we've got plenty of other names to choose from."

He sighed dramatically, folding his arms as he turned away, "name him whatever you like, to me he's going to remain Elvendork."

Lily nodded, "of course, however you see fit."

Time passed with the six of them deciding on what to name the youngest Potter. And when it was finally time for them all to leave except for James and Lily, they had finally reached an agreement on the selected name.

Lily looked down at the sleeping child in her arms and spoke his chosen name in a gentle loving tone, "Harry James Potter."

Harry James Potter, the first and only son to Lily and James. The Chosen One. And last but not the least, the boy fated to fight off the Darkest Wizard of their time. Because neither could live while the other survived.

The child had a dark future ahead of him with tons of responsibilities because the wizardkind viewed him as their only savior. But for that short time, he was just a child. A small boy sleeping contently in his mother's arms, with all his loved ones surrounding him.

And little did they know that it was a moment Harry would grow up yearning for because fate had set an evil plot into motion and whatever happiness they had was indeed short lived.

***