Lily's Downfall
Celestia0909
*** Prompts displayed at bottom to avoid spoilers ***
'It wasn't supposed to be like this.'
Lily slammed the baking tin on their counter and stared at the burnt black lump which was supposed to be a cake. Frustrated and annoyed, she tore her baking mitts off and threw them next to the tin, staring vengefully at the would-be cake.
A small group of their friends were supposed to come for dinner and she had asked James to cook a roast pork while she would bake the cake for her son's second birthday. Her husband had already put the pork in an hour ago and the smell of onions and garlic filled their small kitchen.
She didn't know if it was the hormones or because of her failed cake but she felt a few fat tears trail down her cheeks and her chest heaved as she sobbed at how terrible a mother she was. She thought of her own mother who was long gone and remembered how she would always let her and Petunia choose a cake from her many cookbooks and on their birthday she would unveil the perfect replica to them.
Her mother worked so hard to create those cakes, and she had found out just how much when she walked into her mum decorating her cake at three in the morning before her eleventh birthday.
'Hey Lil you should come see…' James stopped abruptly and Lily quickly wiped the back of her hand across her nose and wiped her teary eyes, taking a few quick breaths to get her breathing in line. His soft footsteps padded closer until she felt his breath against the back of her neck. 'Everything okay love?'
She nodded too quickly and shuffled away without looking at him, 'Where's Harry?'
'No way, you're not avoiding my question right now,' he quickly grabbed her forearm before she could sneak out of the door and into their hallway. Spinning her softly with his other arm, she faced him and looked at his shoulder pointedly. 'What's wrong?'
'I'm honestly fine James,' she put her hands on his cheeks and kissed his forehead softly before scraping the burnt cake into the bin and soaking the tin with warm water.
'If you're not feeling alright we can just cancel the party,' he said softly as he took one of her hands in his.
'But you've already cooked your roast and - '
'- and our friends will understand if we cancel Lil,' he finished. He smiled at her so tenderly and his hand squeezed hers. 'Besides I don't think our son is really up for a party right now.'
Lily arched her eyebrow at him and he winked at her as he led her towards the nursery where she assumed he had left her since coming down to see her. He slowly opened the door to avoid the hinges from creaking and the sight in front of them was both headache inducing and hilarious.
'Your son is going to be the death of me…' Lily shook her head as she stared at the mess of crayons, toys, lego and ripped pieces of paper that surrounded her son as he slept soundly.
'It's weird how Harry becomes only my son when he's being troublesome,' he playfully squeezed her hand and glared at her before he joined her in staring at their son. 'I've heard that all bad traits come from our mothers so you have only yourself to blame, Mrs Potter.'
Lily winced as she felt a numb pain in her stomach and James quickly put his hands on her back and arm as she took slow deep breaths.
'Okay?' Lily nodded and she straightened back up again.
'We're never going to get those off the wall,' Lily whispered, slowly opening the door a little further and gasping as the full extent of Harry's damage made itself known.
'The real question is how he got the crayons, we kept them on the top shelf,' he pointed at Harry's dresser and indeed the shelves below it looked as though things had fallen off or been thrown onto the floor. Harry's favourite stuffed toy, a black shaggy dog, was face down on the floor.
'It's a miracle he's alright, not a scratch on him,' Harry fussed as he slept and wriggled on the soft plush carpet. Their cat, a fat little tabby, Hamlet was sat atop Harry's dresser and purring contentedly.
'Two years old and already showing accidental magic? Lily, he's destined for greatness,' she hummed contentedly and imagined that James would brag about this to his friends sometime soon.
'Let's put him in his bed, he'll be so grumpy if we don't…' James nodded at his wife and she watched as her husband delicately picked their son up and tucked him into bed with a kiss on his nose. She smiled and kissed her son's forehead and pushed his hair out of his little forehead. His thick eyebrows furrowed before she smoothed them out and he sighed in his sleep.
James was leaning casually against the doorway when she turned around and she was immediately brought back to their days at Hogwarts when he'd look so handsome as he waited for her to finish her classes to walk her to her next ones. Five years they had been together and she would never get tired of the handsome man who she called her husband.
'I can't believe we're having another one,' he put his arms around her shoulders and they slowly walked downstairs and settled into their worn leather couch. 'Any idea what it'll be?'
Lily watched James' hand as his thumb rubbed slow circles around her prominent belly and she grinned as he placed a kiss on her cheek.
'What do you want it to be?'
'A girl,' he flashed her a smile and her heart leapt as he did. 'We can name her Anna Marie…'
'After my mum?'
'Yeah, I think she'd like that.'
Lily remembered her mum and wished more than anything that she could've met Harry, James, and their new baby who was due in late December. She would've been so proud of the life that Lily had built for herself – even if her youngest daughter couldn't bake to save her life.
'She'd like that a lot James.'
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365 Prompts Challenge
133 - First Line, "It wasn't supposed to be like this"
Words: 1,036
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Love, Andy