Lily's Choice


Chapter 1 - And so it begins...

She was walking through the garden behind her cottage. It was a beautiful summer's day. James was inside, keeping an eye on their newly born son, Harry. To an outsider, everything was perfect. A beautiful home, a loving young couple, and a much -loved baby to complete the picture. But Lily was troubled. The dreams she'd been having recently were worrying her, she didn't know what to do. James wasn't even aware that she was having these dreams...should she tell him about her concerns? Was she even right to be worried anyway? They could just be the unconscious thoughts that trouble every new young mum. Surely she wasn't the only mother to worry that her child would be left alone in a dangerous world?

She continued to walk through the garden, idly touching the various flowers that she had lovingly tended throughout her pregnancy. She paused at a particularly bright bloom. The lily was an unusually bright shade of red, with a luminous green stem. James had grown it just for her...she smiled at the memory of her husband's words...
'We need a lily that has petals like your hair, and foliage as dazzling as your eyes. Though, of course, they will never outshine them, that's impossible...'
Lily smiled again. Her husband was an incurable romantic sometimes - so unlike the cocky teenager that he used to be. She sighed, and came to a decision. She wouldn't tell him just yet. She would wait to see if any more dreams visited her in the night. It was probably nothing...at least, she hoped so. If what she had dreamed was going to happen, they were in for some terrible times….

One year later...

"Mum-mummmm, mum-mummmm!"
"Ok, Harry, I'm coming!"

Lily turned away from her diary, and looked at her son. Harry was sat in his highchair and covered in porridge. She chuckled at the sight of him waving his hands impatiently.

"Alllll gone!" drooled Harry, with a toothy grin.
"I can see that! Let's get you cleaned up then...Uncle Sirius will be here soon to take you out."

Lily marked the page she was writing in, and went over to her son. As she picked him up, she talked baby talk to him, but her mind was on other things. She deftly bathed and dressed him, before plopping him down in his playpen and arranging all his favorite toys around him. As she pottered around, picking up stray toys and clothes, she pondered on the dreams that she had been having. She worried at her lip, weighing up the decisions that she had to make. Time was running out, and she knew that she had to tell James. The dreams were getting stronger, and more detailed. She could no longer ignore them.

"Lily?" called a voice from the kitchen.
"Sir -rus!!" said Harry, excitedly.

Lily chuckled. "Yes, it's Uncle Sirius. Come on then, let's go and say hello."

Lily scooped Harry up into her arms and made her way to the kitchen, pinning a welcoming smile on her face. Sirius was a welcome diversion. The upbeat humor and wicked laughter that he brought to the house was contagious. It was so easy to understand why he was James' best friend. Lily had agreed wholeheartedly with having Sirius made Harry's Godfather. Since the birth of her son, Sirius had been a frequent visitor to their home. In fact, she sometimes wondered if Sirius had somehow managed to move in without her knowledge, so often was he there.

As soon as she entered the kitchen she found Sirius raiding the fridge. Rolling her eyes, she greeted him with a smile. Sirius looked up and grinned, swallowing some leftover chicken before he responded.

"How's my favorite Godson?" asked Sirius, before biting into a chicken leg again.

"Your only Godson!" said Lily wryly.

"So? He's still my favorite!" said Sirius, with a twinkle in his eye. "Anyway, don't be greedy; pass him here, I've got something for him."

"Again? You spoil him, Sirius." chided Lily."

"That's what Godfathers are for." he replied, waving a hand dismissively.

Rolling her eyes,Lily handed Harry over, and began to make some coffee. Sirius had brought Harry yet another toy; this time, a miniature flying motorbike.

"Sirius..." said Lily, in an exasperated voice.

"Well...you won't let him near the real one, so I thought I'd give him a toy one. At least he'll know what I mean when I talk about flying on my bike now!"

"I've told you before, Sirius. There's no way I'm allowing my son to go on that - that - deathtrap!"

"Awww, come on Lily, just one little go. Only around the garden a bit, he'll love it!" wheedled Sirius.

"Over my dead body!" said Lily, laughing. But even as she laughed, she had a curious prickling sensation at the back of her neck. She shivered, and put it out of her mind. She was doing that an awful lot lately. She pinned a smile on her face, and started talking to Sirius again.

"Have you seen Remus or Peter lately? James said something about Remus being ill...?"

Sirius took on a shifty expression, just as Lily had known he would.

"No, he's not ill. He's, er, having a slight problem with his, erm, condition, that's all. You know...that recurring illness he has. He manages it most of the time, but his last relapse has left him weak. He'll be fine, he just needs to rest."

Lily murmured a suitable reply, while inwardly she wondered why on earth her husband and his friends just didn't tell her the truth. She had known for a while now about Remus being a werewolf. She had sensed it, and felt only admiration for the way that Remus had dealt with his terrible affliction.

They chatted for about twenty minutes over their coffee, and then Lily waved Sirius and Harry off at the door, having first extracted yet another promise from Sirius that he wouldn't take Harry on his bike.

As they walked up the garden path, Lily sighed and closed the door. It had been a pleasant half an hour, but now it was time for the real world again. She went in search of her diary... she had plans to make.