You’re gonna hate me for this but I don’t care SO
Can we just imagine for a second that James and Lily are immediately transported to whatever afterlife there is when they die but to them it’s as if no time has passed since they were each hit with the killing curse so when they each hit the ground they’re already in heaven or whatever.
Just imagine James, whose only job, only wish, was to make sure that his family made it out; imagine him scrambling to get back up, scared out of his goddamn mind and confused as to why he didn’t seem to die when he got hit. Imagine him looking around and realizing why Voldemort has suddenly disappeared, why his house is suddenly so quiet. Imagine the anguish he feels as he thinks that he’s failed his wife and child. That when they die it’ll be because he didn’t fight hard enough.
Now imagine Lily. When she falls she doesn’t waste a moment getting back up and throwing herself in front of the crib once more; but this time Voldemort is no longer there. She turns around- no Harry. Where’s Harry?? She screams. Her knees give out from under her. Her son is gone. Or is she the one that’s gone? Imagine her pain as she realizes that her only goal, to protect her son, had failed.
James hears the scream from downstairs after an agonizingly long minute of silence. He sprints upstairs as if death himself was behind him. When he enters the nursery he wastes no time scooping Lily up from the ground and into his own shaking arms. She sobs into his chest. He sobs into her hair. They blame themselves but only themselves. They each tell the other that they’re silly, that no one could have predicted this, that they shouldn’t take the blame when it wasn’t their fault.
That’s when they realize that Harry hasn’t arrived in his crib yet. They quiet themselves but hear no soft coos or cries from their child. Could he have somehow survived? They wait by the crib for hours, holding each other because they have no one else to hold, because they’re soulmates, dammit, they are each other’s lifeline, and because they’re both terrified of what this means.
And when morning comes and the papers reveal what happened the night before don’t ask me how just roll w it thanks they realize that they’ve lost their son. That, while he may be alive thanks to god knows who, they won’t see him for a very long time; and that hurts more than when they realize that peter had betrayed them.
I just, I have feelings about this ok