Chapter 1: Lily's Announcement
Lily was in heaven. She had actually married him. She had married James Potter. In most of her school life, she had thought him a rude, inconsiderate, egotistical prat, but now, as she stood in the kitchen of Potter Manor, watching her husband of five months as he dropped the frying pan onto the marble floors, she smiled and moved to help him clean up the mess.
"James, James, James," She sighed, "You really need to leave the cooking to me or to Milly." She told him, referring to their female house elf, one of three.
He wrinkled his nose as he picked up a piece of back off of the floor. "Yeah, well, I wanted to do something nice, and besides, Rooky and Jenny can cook too, Lils." He stated matter-of-factly, referring to Milly's house-elf husband and daughter.
Lily rolled her almond-shaped, light green eyes. "I know that, Jamie."
They finished cleaning the mess in comfortable silence, as they so often did, just basking in the warm presence of the other. It was something that they felt married couples did, which they liked to remind themselves off, smiling like fools when they looked at each other.
They heard the telltale sounds of someone flooing into the huge manor, and neither Lily nor James panicked, knowing that they had full control over whom entered the manor through floo, apparation or any other means of wizard transportation.
The pair smiled when James's best mate from as young as before Hogwarts walked into the kitchen, his swagger in tow, his dark locks of hair bouncing, his typical devil-may-care grin plastered on his handsome face, Sirius Black.
He flipped a chair backwards before sitting on it, straddling it. "What's up, James, Lil-Bill?"
Lily rolled her eyes at the old nickname, which Sirius had called her for as long as she could remember. James laughed at her facial expression, wrapping his arm around her waist. "It's alright, Lils, Sirius still loves you."
She pursed her lips and wriggled from James's arm to pull glasses from the cupboards, setting one in front of Sirius and the other in front of James, who had also taken a seat. She grabbed the juice from the fridge and poured both men some, knowing it was their favorite, one of the many things they had in common.
Sirius grinned. "Yeah, Lil-Bill, when are you gonna leave Prongs over here and come be with me? We could totally run away to Tibet!"
She rolled her eyes for the third time in ten minutes, plopping down into James's lap. "Yeah, right. Where are Remus and Peter?"
Sirius shrugged. "I dunno. Probably out somewhere, the moon isn't full, so Moony's probably still out with that guy, talking about that job opening. Wormtail is… gosh, I don't know. At his mom's, maybe."
Lily nodded. "Well, why don't you go find Peter? I have to talk to James alone for a little while."
She felt bad kicking him out, but she had discovered something that day, and she was anxious to tell her husband. A small bit of guilt swam in her stomach when Sirius downed his juice, sighed, and stood up, gently kissing her cheek and smiling, saying, "See ya, Lil-Bill, Prongs!"
The two of them heard his floo out, and Lily turned to her husband. "So, Jamie."
He kissed her softly. "So, Lils."
She giggled. "Jamie, I have to tell you something."
He cocked his head at her. "What's up, Lils?"
She took a deep breath. Now or never, Lily she reminded herself. "I got sick at work today, so I went to St. Mungos for a quick examination. I got some good news back."
He ran a hand through his hair. "Spit it out! Honestly, Lils."
She laughed. "I'm pregnant, Jamie."
His jaw went slack.
She waited a minute before gently slapping his cheek. "Jamie? Jamie? Jamie! James!"
Suddenly, he lifted her off of his lap, standing and swinging her around in the air. "Lily! This is fantastic news! I'm going to be a dad! Oh, Merlin! Are you hungry? Are you tired? Are you uncomfortable? Are you nervous? Are you thirsty? Are you-?"
"James! Shut up!" Lily cut him off. "I'm fine."
He grinned and set her down, kissing her. "I'm going to be a dad." He stated.
She laughed. "Yes, you are."
Three months later, when Lily was four months into her pregnancy, she and James gathered the marauders into their kitchen to tell them the wonderful news, and ask Sirius a very important question.
Sirius took a slice of chocolate pie that sat on the table, one that Jenny and Milly had made earlier. He grinned and pulled a chair out from where James was preparing to sit on it. He looked down at his best mate, laughter twinkling in his eyes. "All good down there, Prongs?"
Remus and Peter laughed along with Sirius as Lily bent down to help her husband up. She couldn't help a few giggle herself, and James glared at her before leaning down to kiss her. "Git," He addressed Sirius before pulling out a second chair for Lily, then, looking cautiously at Sirius, sat on a chair himself.
Remus grinned, his dark gold eyes twinkling. "What's this amazing news you have to tell us, Prongs?"
Peter smiled. "Yeah, James, we're all excited. What is it?"
Lily smiled, taking James's hand. "Well, James and I are going to be parents." She announced.
"And I'm going to be a dad!" James interrupted.
"Because we're having a baby." Lily finished.
She looked carefully towards the marauders. Sirius looked shocked, Remus had a huge grin on his face, and Peter looked, well, Peter looked worried. That confused her a little, but she forgot about it when Sirius lifted her off of her chair, swinging her around as she laughed.
When he set her down, Remus did the same thing, as she shrieked, laughter in her green eyes. When she was passed onto Peter, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then passed her off to James, who wrapped his arm around her waist and grinned.
She nudged him in the ribs and he started. "Right! Well… er…. I mean, Padfoot, see I've known you for longer than I've known Moony or Wormtail, and I mean…. You're my best mate, not that Remus and Peter aren't my best mates, but you're, you're, like… my bestest best mate, and so I thought, maybe, I mean… well… er…."
Lily rolled her eyes and huffed in exasperation. "For Merlin's sake, James! Sirius, we would be honored if you would take on the role of Godfather for our first baby?"
Sirius looked up. "I…. really?"
James and Lily both nodded. "Yes." Lily said.
Sirius nodded, his statuary grin spreading across his face. "I would be honored."
All five of them, everyone in the room, smiled hugely. James clapped his hands together. "Well, now that we've made our announcement and that Padfoot here has eaten the entire chocolate pie, why don't we see what Jenny made for dinner?"
All three of their guests nodded, and, laughter and joy in the air, the small group called for Milly and Jenny, and dug in when the delicious dinner of salad and bread was revealed.
Seven Months Later:
Lily was now just about nine months pregnant, and was at her wits end with everything. The stress, the worry, James's sarcastic comments, and everything else in the world, whether it be the wizarding or the muggle version.
Her magic had become distorted the week before, thrown off because of her pregnancy. She was tired all the time, she was always uncomfortable and bloated, and she felt like a whale. Her back hurt, she could barely stand, and she had been confined to the couch or her and James's bed.
She heard the unmistakable sounds of the floo being used, and turned to see her handsome husband walking into the room. She wanted to get up and hug him, but her child was not a fan of moving around, unless it was kicking its mother in the ribs.
Instead, James moved to hug Lily, kissing her cheek, just as she felt the odd tensing in her stomach. She pressed both hands against it, knowing that this was not the first time it happened.
James looked at her, concern filling his hazel eyes. "What's the matter, Lils?"
She shook her head, waiting out the two-minute pains. "I think, I might be going into labour." She told him.
His eyes widened. "Oh, oh, Merlin, we have to get you to St. Mungos."
She giggled at his automatic reaction. "Not yet, we can wait a while-"
Lily's voice was cut off by the gush of liquid that came from between her legs, the tell-tale sign that in a few painful, horrific hours (on Lily's part) they could meet their child.
Immediately, James picked her up and side-apparated her to St. Mungos. They were quickly brought to the maternity ward and Doctor Abagail walked into the room.
Lily knew that this was going to hurt, but she was not prepared for the endless hours of contractions. She called James everything she could think of, yelled at him for things he didn't deserve, and squeezed his hand so hard it hurt.
After a particulary painful contraction, Lily looked down at James, who was whining.
"Ow. Lils, I think you might have broken my finger." He complained.
Her green eyes flared. "You think that hurt, James?" She asked. "Well, guess what? I've been trying to have a bloody person here, so if you could keep the useless complaints to yourself, that would be wonderful!" She yelled as the next contraction hit.
With Lily's temper, James knew better than to argue.
After the seven most painful hours of Lily's life, a small red baby was born, and its first cries echoed into the world as Lily sighed in relief. The baby was quickly cleaned, swaddled, and given to its mother.
As Lily looked down into the soft green blanket, she was delighted to see a baby boy peeking back at her, his green eyes almond-shaped and bright as her own. HE already had the unfortunate black rat's nest James called hair.
As James too looked into the blanket, Lily reveled in the fact that this day, July 31, 1980, she Lily Potter, had become mother to the perfect little boy that was her son.
She looked up at James and he, like her, had tears in his eyes. "What should we name him?" Lily asked softly.
James smiled. "I was thinking . . . Harold, like your father."
Lily felt a few tears fall from her eyes. "I would love that. Thank you, James. For letting me honour Daddy. Harry. I want that. Harry James Potter." She declared.
James nodded, and gently kissed his wife's temple, and then his son's forehead, as Lily began the rest of her life.
