Severus + Lily + James Polycule

Severus + Lily + James polycule <3 featuring baby Harry

When Severus Snape stumbles through the small cottage in Godric’s Hollow, bleeding and injured he is surprised to see a young Harry at the bottom of the stairs, standing and tense like he was the one caught. Severus quickly composes himself enough to bark the order, “get your mother,” as he falls in through the doorway onto their patchy sofa. Harry, being young and afraid of being caught out of bed at late, scrambles up the rest of the stairs to find James and Lily.

However, by the time Harry’s socked feet have stopped sliding into his parents room he raises his eyes to see them already up and walking towards him. James, his father, walks straight past and briskly down the stairs before Harry can even get a single word out and his mother follows suit, not hesitating to pick up Harry into her arms before she steps down.

When Harry can see past the stair banister, he looks over into the next room to see James furiously muttering spells whilst his wand hovers a mere few inches from Severus’ injured body equally unstable and in motion.

“What’s the damage?” Lily asks as she places Harry down a few feet away and crouches next to James

Taking a deep breath, James doesn’t look up from his casting before replying to his wife,

“I don’t know Lils,” a sigh, “my spells are picking up on so many but I just can’t tell which ones are causing what.” He looks up frustrated and desperate before catching the look on Harry’s face and immediately stopping all action.

Harry looks terrified, face white with glassy eyes and a gaping mouth. His gaze is focused on Sev’s equally pale face and shallow breathing but the unblinking state suggests that Harry isn’t seeing anything at all. Lily, picking up on James’s shift of focus, spins round on her feet and blocks Severus’ body from view.

“Harry?” She places her hands on his shoulders and gets the attention of the bright emerald eyes, so similar to her own.

“Is- Is pa going to be okay?” Harry’s words come out clumsy, matching the childish wabble to his chin that practically beg his mother to tell him that everything is going to be okay.

Maybe in another universe Harry lost his parents young and he was forced to work under the Dursley’s eye without ever showing a single emotion. Maybe his safe space was a tiny closet under the stairs. And maybe the first time he felt parental love was when he was 13 meeting his godfather for the first time. This is not that universe.

Lily pulls Harry in softly and wraps her arms around him, holding him close to her chest and resting her head on his. She breathes around him as Harry grips on and inhales the scent of his mother.

“Your pa will be fine,” she mutters, smoothing down his hair in long strokes, “dad’s casting healing spells on him now. Just like when you fell off your broom the other day, remember? You had a cut on your knee and he made it all better”

Harry whispers something into her chest which makes Lily pull away and ask him to repeat what he said, keeping him close enough that when he spoke he had to look up to meet her gaze,

“I thought it was kisses that did that?”

The question was so innocent that it promptly broke a sharp cackle out of James who seemed to no longer be focused on the healing and was instead watching Lily and Harry.

“Right you are, Prongslet. My magical skills and talent have nothing over the healing properties of kisses” he rolls his eyes and winks which causes a wet giggle out of Harry and an exasperated one from Lily. A groan from the occupant of the couch causes all three grins to fall and for Lily to rest on her knees by Severus head, grasping his hand which was previously dangling off.

“Please do tell me we’re not stroking Potter’s ego again?” The voice comes out rough and follows a singular eye raise that allows all the tension in the room to slowly melt away.

“You better be talking about James and not me,” Comes Lily snarky reply, “and we all know that Harry isn’t old enough to pick up on those traits yet”

“I thought we agreed that the brat definitely was?”

Harry lets out an offended gasp and walks towards Severus who was now attempting to sit up, and failing as two pairs of hands pushed him back down.

“‘m not a brat” Harry huffs out, his little brain catching onto the offending word and running with it.

“No?” Severus’ lazy gaze looks Harry up and down before pushing a finger into his puffed up cheeks and asking, “then what’s with this pout?”

Harry looks away, cheeks flushing before finally admitting, “I was worried about you,” he looks back up into Severus’ eyes and seeing him about to interrupt scrambles to get his words out. “You just showed up all injured and covered in blood and I panicked and couldn’t do anything and then you were just lying there and you looked really gross- and, and dad was worried and mum was worried and I was worried and-“ he sucks in a huge breath which gets replaced by a finger on his lips.

“I’m okay, you silly boy.” Severus’ arm pulls him into his side and Harry lies his head on his chest listening to the steady thump, thump, thumping of his heart. “I’m okay…” he breathes out again pressing his lips to the top of Harry’s messy hair and just saying that way for several moments.

With Severus being awake and no longer taking up the whole span of the sofa, James sits down heavily, the late hour and healing having taken out any spare energy he might’ve had. He wipes his weary eyes out from under his glasses and levels Severus with a half hearted glare, furiously whispering,

“we’re talking about this tomorrow”. Severus doesn’t make any movement or sound to indicate that he’s heard but James wasn’t expecting anything more out of the man tonight.

Lily, sensing that nobody would be moving again until the morning, sits on the floor and rests her back in front of James’ legs and closes her eyes with a soft sigh.

Come morning there would be three sore adults and one grumpy child but they would all be alive, and that would be enough for now.