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It's a rare thing, for Lily to be the last one awake. But tonight—or is this morning now?—she is lucky. Usually, it's Reggie that remains awake long after the day has fled, or occasionally James, who she knows stays up sometimes just to watch her and Reg sleep. Not that she doesn't understand why, because standing in the doorway of their bedroom now, she really does. She just never gets the chance.
Tonight she does.
Her emerald gaze drifts slowly over the two men in her bed, James sprawled across half the mattress while Regulus is curled against his side. James' breathing is slow, steady, and for now, so is Reggie's. Lily knows it won't last, though. In an hour or two, maybe even sooner, the nightmares will begin to surface.
That's when she usually wakes—when Regulus thrashes between her and James, locked in some terrible memory-turned-nightmare. Usually, her mind shifts from sleep to waking at the sound of Regulus' pained whimper, or a whispered plea. Then she'll hear James' quiet voice as he murmurs softly and holds Reggie tight. Usually, she will wake and wrap herself around the younger man, pressing her lips to his hair while James hugs them both closer.
But tonight, she gets to see him peaceful.
Her sock-covered feet are quiet as she pads across the floor from the door to the bed. She is bone tired, and thanks to little Harry using her ribs and her bladder as a house of trampolines, Lily has yet to find sleep tonight. But she wouldn't trade it for anything, she thinks as she perches carefully on the edge of the bed. Reggie shifts just barely in his sleep when the bed dips under her weight, but thankfully he doesn't wake. A soft smile forms on Lily's lips.
She watches both of them, stifling the ghost of a chuckle as James pulls Reggie closer in his sleep while Regulus practically curls up on James' chest like a cat. Fitting, she thinks, recalling the day they discovered the younger man's animagus form.
Tentatively, Lily reaches out a hand, brushing some of Regulus' hair from his beautiful, pale face. He turns in his sleep as if to follow her hand and Lily feels a familiar ache in her chest. She wishes that this could be Regulus' normal: quiet, soft slumber, face peacefully slack, instead of the nightmares she knows are on the horizon. They have lessened with time, but she fears they may never leave him completely, just as her own and James' will never leave them, either—though theirs are never so severe as Regulus'.
Her hand drifts from his face, then, featherlight touches tracing down over Regulus' shoulder and arm. She stops just below his elbow though, not for herself, but out of respect for Reggie. Lily knows how much he hates people touching his left arm, even after Sirius took him to get it covered with Muggle ink. Some days, he lets her softly trace the Muggle designs when he's awake—some days, it helps—but she won't cross that line when he's asleep.
James shifts and rolls onto his side, wrapping himself more solidly around Regulus, and Lily spends a moment staring at his face, his expression so content and happy with Regulus held tightly against him. But he must feel her eyes on him, because his eyelids flutter and she's suddenly met with soft hazel eyes blinking sleepily up at her.
"Lils?"
"Shh," Lily hushes him softly, reaching out and running a hand through his wild hair. She bites her tongue against a laugh when he practically purrs, shaking her head fondly. "Go back to sleep, James," she whispers warmly. He blinks at her again, once, twice, before his breathing evens out again and his body relaxes back into slumber.
Carefully, she finally crawls fully onto the bed, laying on her back—Harry doesn't like any other position, and he's already kept her up long after she should have been asleep. Regulus moves closer in his sleep, and James follows as if glued to the younger man. When Regulus' head finds her shoulder, she reaches up to sweep his hair out of his face yet again, and kisses his forehead. Two hands find her rounded belly then—one James' and one Reggie's—and Lily wonders if they can feel Harry kick at them in their sleep.
Reggie's breath puffs a bit sharper against her collarbone and she holds her own for a long moment. I suppose that answers that, she thinks to herself as Regulus' fingers spread out in a soft caress against her belly, though he remains asleep. Harry quiets instantly in her womb, and Lily lets her breath out in a little sigh. Part of her wants to stay awake, to relish this moment of getting to witness Regulus sleeping, calm and peaceful. But Harry is finally quiet, and before she can even contemplate fighting it, sleep claims her too.