A/N: A quick moment in the Potter household.
"Lil," he gently spoke as his fingers stroked her side lovingly. "Lil, I'm leaving," he explained. Lily mumbled incoherently and her eyelids fluttered open. Squinting from the early sunlight gleaming through the drapes, she stifled a yawn.
"Now?" she questioned.
"Yes, love." James smiled softly at her appearance. She wore pastel yellow, cotton panties and nothing more. Her eyes, before they shut once more, absorbed and reflected the sunlight in a sparkling, emerald daze, and her skin looked almost translucent under the sun's glare.
Of course, her rounded abdomen and protruding belly-button caught his attention most of all.
He placed a hand just under her belly button and rubbed soft circles with his palm across her skin. "Sirius will be here soon, Lil." James' gaze flickered briefly to her enlarged breasts before he met her stare.
Lily nodded. "Where are you headed today?" She began to sit up, and tied her hair up in a loose pony.
"Not sure," James scowled. "I'm meeting Frank in Diagon Alley; he knows where to meet Dumbledore." He glanced at the alarm sitting on the bedside table and scowled again. "Lil, I'm already ten minutes late."
Lily, who had already pulled on a black bra and a thin dressing gown, turned around to meet James' open arms before she entered the loo. She hugged him tightly (well, as much as her 6-month-pregnant belly would allow) and kissed the corner of his mouth. "I love you," she murmured.
He held the back of her head as he kissed her soundly on the mouth, followed by two or three more wet kisses. "I love you, too," James said. "Be good for Sirius."
Lily laughed loudly as she shut the loo door, and James quickly Apparated when he heard the lock click.
Sirius entered Godric's Hollow early that morning, well before he knew James would be off to meet Frank. He didn't make his presence known, and instead left for the kitchen to get a cup of tea and steal a scone off the plate on the table. 6:42 AM. Sirius knew James was meant to meet Frank at 7:00 AM, so Sirius didn't expect to see Lily until quarter past at the earliest. James was probably just about to wake Lily, kiss her good morning and goodbye, and Disapparated ten minutes late (like he always does).
Taking a seat on the couch, Sirius slurped his tea as he thought about the Order. Fresh out of Hogwarts, at 17 years old, James, Peter, Remus, and he were all assigned to the same missions. They remained the Marauders, out in the field, battling Death Eaters alongside loyal partners, including Frank Longbottom, Alastor Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Soon, both Moody and Dumbledore noticed that Voldemort's followers had caught onto the fact that the Marauders never seemed to be separated. It now became the Death Eaters' goal to eliminate the four of them simultaneously, in one quick act of homicide. Alastor's idea was to split the friends up, so they became less of a threat to both each other and the rest of the Order. The sudden switch up in teams was a bit unsettling at first (James and Sirius, especially, had lost seven years of instinct that existed between them as partners-in-crime), but Sirius acknowledged the importance of the separation.
As a result, when James was off attending to his share of missions, Sirius, Remus, and Peter took turns staying at Godric's Hollow with Lily. Depending on that day's schedule, Lily expected a different Marauder each day. That morning, since Remus was back on Hogwarts' grounds, and Peter was at an undisclosed location in hiding, it was Sirius' day to spend with Lily.
Sirius finished his tea, and glanced at his watch. 7:18 AM. And, right on time, he heard her footsteps as she began to descend the stairs.
Lily still wore the modest black bra and dressing gown she put on upstairs, and had pulled on a pair of James' pajama bottoms. She had cuffed the bottoms considerably, as not to step on the ends of the trousers. After a big yawn and a brief caress to her stomach, Lily finally noticed Sirius and smiled brightly.
Just as quickly, she frowned as she looked down at herself, suddenly remembering her choice of dress. "Oh, Sirius, I'm sorry," she said softly. "I would've put on proper clothes, but all I could think about for the past 20 minutes was toast…"
Sirius chuckled and stood up from the couch, walking over to her. He enveloped her in a warm hug, and kissed her temple. "You look gorgeous," he said tenderly. "I'll make you toast."
Lily smiled appreciatively and followed Sirius into the kitchen. She took a seat at the table, nibbling on a scone, while Sirius prepared her toast. "How late was he this morning?" Sirius smirked over his shoulder at the red-head.
Her hand rested on her belly, where she absent-mindedly rubbed soothing circles. She shrugged. "Only ten minutes, he said."
"Anything about when he'd be back?"
"He doesn't even know what the mission is," Lily replied, "or, rather, where it even is. Frank is taking them to Dumbledore…" She paused, and waited for Sirius to look up at her. He turned around from the toaster and quirked an eyebrow.
"What is it, love?"
Lily sighed and set down her scone. "I just...get the feeling that James hates not knowing, you know?" Sirius pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, placing a mug of tea on the table. "He's so used to being the one in…control, the leader, the…the go-to-guy. Now he's told short to nothing. And he doesn't like it."
Sirius nodded and watched her dip the scone in her tea. He wondered aloud, "That could be better, though."
"How so?" Lily countered.
"Well," Sirius mused, "usually the guy with the most information is the first to be hunted down. This is going to make me sound like an utter bastard, but rather Frank than James, right?"
Lily hesitated before nodding sullenly. The hand on her belly reached out and grabbed Sirius'. He squeezed it reassuringly. "It's…it's awful, but…you're right," she said quietly. Then she released Sirius' hand and picked up her mug, bringing it to her lips and slurping louder than Sirius ever did.