Somebody To Die For
The earliest rays of spring sunlight warmed his back as Sirius Black leaned lazily against the windowsill of the Potters' kitchen window. Across the room, his best friend's five months pregnant wife was busily gathering baking ingredients. "Are you sure you don't want a hand, Lils?" he asked when she tugged open the fridge and frowned at its sparse contents. She winced when one of the refrigerator drawers shot open and banged against her swollen shins. "Should you even be on your feet right now?"
Lily whirled around with a scowl on her face, even before she saw his wand pointing at the offending drawer. "I am still perfectly capable of hexing you, Black," she warned him. "Give it a rest already, I just want to bake."
"Give what a rest, Evans?" Sirius raised his eyebrows with an innocent grin that fooled no one. He pointed his wand at the open fridge and levitated a bottle of milk to the counter with a casual flick of his wrist. Lily's emerald green eyes widened in horror as they followed the path of the glass bottle until it landed safely on the countertop.
"That, for example," she said pointedly. "You'll break something in a minute, you show off."
"You insult me, Evans," he scolded playfully. "I won't drop anything, just watch this." At his words, the cupboard above Lily's head opened wide and she ducked as a plastic bowl went whizzing towards Sirius from inside it. He held out the hand not guiding the utensil with his wand to catch it, a cocky grin etched on his face. Seconds before the bowl was within arms' reach, the fake Galleon nestled in Sirius' pocket emanated an unbearable burst of heat. His gasp of horror was masked by the clatter when the bowl crashed to the floor.
"I knew it." Lily shook her head at him in exasperation. "That was bound to happen." Bending down carefully to pick up the bowl, she missed his pained expression as he extracted the coin quickly and stared at it. The Galleons were an invention of Dumbledore's, an alternative method of sending out distress calls if conjuring a Patronus should ever be impossible. "Padfoot?" Lily was watching him in concern now, the baking forgotten. "What is it?"
"Trouble," said Sirius shortly. "It's a summons for backup, not even a direct distress call…this is bad." He tucked the coin back in his pocket and forced a smile to sway her terrified grimace. "Say hi to Prongs, alright? I've gotta go!"
"Be careful, Sirius," said the redhead pleadingly and he pulled her into a quick hug.
"I won't let Prongslet miss out on the teachings of his coolest uncle, Lils," he promised. "Look at it this way, no more disturbances with your baking, right?" His grip on her shaking fingers tightened for a split second and then there was a pop and her hand was grasping at thin air.
Lily tried to concentrate on her baking after Sirius disappeared, but her heart was no longer in it. She couldn't deny anymore that all this pretence of homeliness was just a lame attempt to bury her helpless feelings of fear and concern. There was no escape from the terror when their friends were out in combat on any Order missions, worry might as well have lodged itself permanently in her chest for how hard it was to breathe sometimes. Lily doubted somehow even the baby growing inside her had very much to do with that constant symptom. To fight through her scared thoughts, she began to mix the cake's ingredients as hard as she could and was glad when her excessive noise brought heavy footsteps thumping down the hall.
"What's with the racket, Lils?" James asked, sweeping into the room with one hand ruffling his uncontrollable mass of jet-black hair out of habit. "What are you doing in here?" He approached the counter and sniffed the chocolatey batter appreciatively. "Oh, that smells so good. Hate to break it to you, but my birthday was four days ago." He wrapped his arms around her expanding belly and slowly spun her to face him. "Fabulous outfit by the way."
"Well good, because this isn't actually for you, you prat." The teasing diss rolled off her tongue with the ease of habit, because showing how glad she was to have his arms around her felt like admitting her fear to herself. So instead she looked up and down the messy counter in dismay. "Where the hell did my perfectly measured flour go? I swear baking with Sirius around is asking for trouble."
"Padfoot was here?" James interrupted. "How did I miss that? He's not exactly subtle."
"You can say that again," Lily agreed, pushing back the folded sleeves of the oversized Gryffindor Quidditch jersey she was wearing. "He was here, being a nuisance I might add…then there was a distress call from one of the Order members."
"Of course there was," James sighed and tugged her into a protective embrace. "Did he say who?"
"There was no time," said Lily sadly. "What does the Daily Prophet say today?"
"The usual, loaded with killings and disappearances," he replied darkly. "I know it's for our protection but I really hate being so useless when our friends are out there fighting."
"I know, honey." The frustration in his tone made Lily feel almost as despairing. "It must really suck to be stuck with my fat ass around the clock, after all. I couldn't find a thing to wear that looked half-way decent today, as you can see."
"Don't you dare insult the sacred jersey, Lilykins," he gasped in mock-horror. "You look totally hot, if I do say so myself."
"It smells like you," she said fondly. "I quite like it, much better fit than most of my clothes."
"Much," James nodded, grinning when her back arched against his wandering palms. "You are a tease, Evans, you know that?"
"That's Potter to you, mister." Lily smiled against his smooth lips and gave in to his hungry kiss for a moment. "Hey, do you want to help me with this baking?"
James peered over her shoulder at the light brown batter in the abandoned mixing bowl. "Muggle baking?" he asked with a disgusted grimace. "Seriously, Lils?"
"Come on, James," she pouted shamelessly, twirling a strand of dark red hair around her finger. "It helps me not to worry so much about our friends fighting out there. Please?"
"That face of yours should be illegal," he grumbled as a wide grin spread across his wife's face and she pulled him towards the counter. "What is this for anyway? We've already established my birthday was four days ago."
"I repeat, not your cake," Lily reminded him, shaking her head in exasperation. "The Weasley twins turn two tomorrow. I know Molly is a miracle worker in that kitchen of hers but considering she had another a month ago, a little gesture couldn't hurt."
"Two already?" he marvelled. "Merlin, time flies…I don't know how she and Arthur do it with so many kids considering the state of things."
"Yeah," Lily agreed softly and a crease appeared on her forehead as her hands cradled her own baby bump. "I was talking to Alice the other day; we're both so terrified to just bring one child each into the world as it is right now. Frank still goes out on Order assignments, I'm just thankful with the prophecy hanging over our heads I don't have to worry about you out there that way."
"Hey, stop that," he said firmly and Lily exhaled slowly to dissolve the painful lump swelling in her throat, while James' thumb stroked her cheek soothingly.
"Stupid hormones," she moaned and let the folded sleeves of the oversized jersey unravel so that the fabric fell over her shaking palms. "Gryffindors are supposed to be braver than this."
"Brave doesn't mean fearless," James pointed out. The floppy sleeves draped over his shoulders as Lily leaned against his tall frame. "What exactly are you doing with my jersey, babe?"
"I'm trapping you," Lily mumbled, sliding her arms around his neck. James could see that her emerald-green eyes were squeezed shut, as if in denial of their dark circumstances. "So that just for a minute, we can pretend the world is safe and just…be."
"Do I win the competition for your heart against the giant squid now?" he joked and Lily smacked the shoulder she wasn't leaning against. "There's my feisty girl."
"No contest, you dork," she said. "The giant squid can find someone else, I'm perfectly happy right here."
"Glad to hear it," James replied and squeezed her a little tighter than strictly necessary. "I'll die before I let anyone hurt you, Lils, I swear."
"Don't you dare even say that!" his wife protested sharply and this time when she thumped her fist against his chest, James winced.
"Alright fine, I won't say it, easy tiger," he said, taking a step back with his hands in the air. The spatula Lily had grabbed from the counter quivered in her grasp as she aimed it at him with a scowl. "What is this, murder by spatula?"
"You suck," Lily grimaced, sticking the spatula back in the mixing bowl before it could drip melted chocolate all over the floor. "Can we just get this cake done, please?"
"I love you too, Lilykins," James smirked after her back was turned, but as soon as he reached for the carton of eggs there was a series of loud popping noises from the yard. "Oh no," he muttered under his breath and the fear that clouded Lily's bright eyes in an instant made his heart ache. Visitors after a distress call from anyone in the Order usually only meant one thing: casualties.
A / N This was something I started in October 2014 because that's THE month for Jily and then it just got forgotten. After publishing my first HP fic in five years earlier today it felt like a good time to try this again xx