Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 985

Written for Assignment 4, First Aid 10. Set on a winter day/night.

Snow Angels

It was one of the most picturesque scenes James had ever witnessed.

Snow covered the ground of the tiny village he called home. The Church, which he could just barely see from the bedroom window, was coated, as were the surrounding houses. It looked beautiful, and James hated it.

The property he and Lily had decided would be the perfect home had turned into a glorified prison, and James was over it. He wanted, just once, to be normal. To be able to take his wife and son out into the snow to build snowmen, to have a snowball fight, to make snow angels.

He wanted to be able to join the others from the village that he could already see out playing in the snow, despite the early hour.

Instead, he was stuck inside their beautiful cottage, resenting his life, resenting the protection that had led him there.

"Are you okay?"

He turned to see Lily standing in the doorway of their bedroom, Harry in her arms. Every time James saw him, he marvelled at how small the child was, but also, how much he'd already grown in the few months since his birth.

He was almost six months old already.

"Just… wish we could join in," he replied to Lily, as she walked forward to join him at the window. He took the baby from her when Harry reached his arms up for his daddy, babbling nonsensically.

"Look, Prongslet," he murmured, pointing out of the window. "Snow!"

Harry followed his father's hand to the window, looking outside. James heart skipped a beat when the little boy made to grab for the falling snow beyond the window.

"Get your coat," Lily said, gently tugging Harry from his arms. "Scarf, gloves, boots. I'll meet you downstairs in five."

"Lily… we can't."

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "Nobody is going to attack in broad daylight, James. Besides, if he does, we can Apparate away, okay? There are no wards over Godric's Hollow, we'll be able to get away."

Unable to resist, James snaked an arm around her waist and tugged her close, pressing a kiss to her lips. "I never thought the day would come that you'd be encouraging me to misbehave."

Lily snorted as she stepped away from him. "If you really believe that, you don't know me at all."

…

Though for most people, being outside in the snow wouldn't be a luxury. In fact, for some people, it would be an annoyance.

James didn't think he'd ever enjoyed himself more. Wrapped up in winter clothes, he fell back into the snow and spread his arms and legs systematically. Lily giggled and carefully lay Harry down beside him, helping the little boy move his arms and legs in the same way.

It was a little messy, but when Lily picked Harry up and James stood back to view their handy work, he didn't think he'd ever seen a better sight. It was a little messy, but Harry's snow angel was heart-meltingly adorable.

Lily put Harry into his pushchair, strapping him in so that he could sit up and watch what was happening, before she turned to James.

"Think you can handle a snowball fight with your little wifey?" she asked playfully, her eyes alight with happiness.

James was fairly sure it was a trick question, but he snorted and nodded. "I hope you know I won't go easy on you, just because I love you?"

He was pelted with snowballs from a sneaky wave of her wand. "Back at ya."

"Oh, it's on, Evans!"

"Potter now," she replied, dancing out of the way of his attack. James laughed, loud and free.

This was perfect!

…

"You went outside?" Sirius asked, eyes widening. "All of you?"

"I had to get out, Sirius," James replied, and he heard the desperation in his own voice. He saw the way Sirius looked at him, and knew it had been audible to him too.

"I get it," Sirius promised. "Did you all have fun?"

Relaxing, James nodded. "It was the best. Lils helped Harry make a baby snow angel and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Like… it was so sweet, it could have melted all the snow."

Sirius snorted but then frowned. "I've never made a snow angel."

James blinked. "How?"

Shrugging, Sirius looked out of the window. "Can't imagine my mother would have been pleased, finding me lying down in the snow, and then as I got older… I guess I just never really thought about it."

James shook his head. "Nope. This is a problem that we're going to fix immediately. Come on, move," he hustled Sirius out of the back door, into the small garden.

Sirius stared at the undisturbed snow and then looked back at James. "How do I…?"

"You just… fall back into the snow. And then—" James shook his head. "Lemme show you."

He demonstrated the perfect technique to a snow angel and grinned widely in the darkness as Sirius copied him, lying down beside him.

"Oh wow. I've wasted my life, this is awesome," Sirius enthused. "Why have I never done this?"

James snorted. When they were done, and had carefully got to their feet, trying not to disturb their masterpieces, they stood shoulder to shoulder and looked down at their angels.

James pulled his wand from his pocket and cast a preservation spell on them. It wouldn't last indefinitely of course, but it would hold the snow in place for a few days at least.

"That was great," Sirius said quietly. "And hey look, now you've got marauder angels looking after you. Nothing can go wrong now!"

James smiled at his friend. He wished he shared Sirius' optimism.

Looking up to the sky, he ran a hand through his hair. After the day they'd had, he thought that maybe—just for a little while—he could.

Written for:

Space - 1. Godric's Hollow

Showtime - 20. Property

Basement - 5. "Oh wow. I've wasted my life."

Wandmaker - Chestnut (No slytherins) / Jackalope Antler (James Potter)

Build A Bear - Voice - Action packed Sounds - Playful

Sci-Fi - Apocalypse - 3. Finding Safety - 1. Military Base: Protection

Game Night - Playful

365. 345. Cottage

Game Thread - Would You Rather - Order Members