Lily Potter was the only one awake in the mansion.
Lily Potter cursed the fact that she was the only one awake in the mansion. She could never sleep when James was out on missions, and lately there had been twice as many. Some were for the Auror Force, and some were for the Order.
She sat in the library, surrounded by a vast amount of knowledge that she could only hope to discover throughout her lifetime. A lifetime which she knew might turn out a little shorter than planned.
Lily often took refuge in the room of wonders. It was the size of a house in itself and many of the books had a thick layer of dust on them. A close friend and werewolf Remus Lupin had once made a smart arse comment about the beauty of hiding behind those which are greater than oneself. Lily had laughed along, while internally reflecting on the truth of those words.
She looked towards the most colourful and her favourite section of the grand library. As a gift from the house-elves, the bottom shelf between the fireplace and the door had been cleared and stacked with baby books. Dotty, Lily's favourite helper had spoken up with pride,
'We elves gives this gift to future master or misses potter. We hopes they are as clever and informed as master and miss Lily, and we hopes that we will be able to serve long lives in their service. Dotty and elves saved up hard and Dotty is honoured to be part of baby potters life' the small pink elf then threw herself at Lily before they both promptly burst into tears.
James of course, had acciod a camera and the memory now hung fondly in the pantry.
Lily sighed when her thoughts returned to her husband. Lily was terrified that peanut, (a nickname James accidentally made at the start of the pregnancy- sigh) would grow up fatherless.
She stood up to fetch a glass of water, when a searing pain shot through her lower stomach. She waited with her breath held. When all stayed quiet she began to relax before another hot strike tore through her. She whimpered and the door burst open.
'Lily? Lily!' A black haired man in a matching black silk dressing robe ran in. Sirius Black started living with the potters halfway through the pregnancy in order to give James a break.
'Sirius,' she doubled over again, '-St Mungo's, this baby is coming now.' If Lily had not been going through severe amounts of pain, she would have found his expression comical. But as she fought vomit down (she had always had a rather weak stomach) she wished he would just do something.
-—-
Four hours later, the red haired girl was seated in a hospital bed eating a chocolate cup. Sirius Black, disowned by his family and a motorbike rider, sat next to her at the head of the bed trying to 'make sure no chocolate got caught in her hair'. In other words he was casually combing through it. While Lily ate when she was stressed, Sirius liked to play with hair.
'I'm sorry he's not here flower. You know this will kill him.' His hands paused while he spoke. A gentle rasping voice had replaced his usual loud cheers. She leant back into him and he kissed her head. Another contraction ripped through her and she gripped onto his arm, a few tears trickling down her pale cheeks.
'Can we not talk about what's going to kill him please,' she attempted to joke, 'there are enough options in my opinion.' He chuckled and a healer strolled around their curtain. Sirius stood up and requested the mans ID while flashing his Auror badge.
'I want this baby out of her as fast and painless as possible okay?' Sirius crossed his arms and allowed he healer to pass him, looking away in order to give Lily some privacy.
The healer made some last minute checks before announcing it was time for baby potter to arrive. Sirius made his way over to Lily and held her hand like he had when James had made them practice a week ago.
'I'm not going to do this as well as he could,' he gasped as Lily began to squeeze his fingers.
More tears ran down her face, 'Stop talking about him like he's dead, he'll probably be here any minute. Just late as usual.' Sirius just nodded.
-—-
At 03:27 am on 31st July 1980, Lily Potter gave birth to a son.
At 05:44 am on 31st July 1980, James Potter arrived at St Mungo's and held his wife and son in his arms together. Sirius Black stood at the doorway, guarding his best friends and godson, and for the first time in a really really long time, he cried tears of joy.
-—-
Dawn came and went at St Mungo's, and the potter family slept through it all. Their guard dog Sirius, an accurate comparison, woke at ten in the morning and sent a patronus to Lily and James' close friends and family. The silver dog bounded out of his wand just before he heard movement from behind the curtain separating himself and his best friends.
James peaked his head round the corner of the white sheet locating Sirius, then he pulled it back with his teeth as his arms were occupied holding a blue bundle, not unlike Neville Longbottom's from two days before. Sirius opened the duvet and James climbed in.
Ever since they met, it was considered normal for share like this. Sirius gave James a comfortable place to sit and in return James shared his baby with his best friend.
Sirius' tears started up again, but he didn't wipe them away.
'Pr-Prongs?' His voice cracked. He received a shoulder bump in acknowledgement. 'I want you to know that I will die for this baby. And for you and Lily. You're a family now, and that is worth so much more than my life but it's all I can give you. Even if my quidditch skills and God like looks would be lost to the world .'
Both men chuckled.
'Pads?' James whispered. Another shoulder bump was exchanged. 'You're part of this family. You're not going anywhere.'
'You most certainly are not you bloody mongrel. I must have broken your fingers but you stay by me, by James, by Harry whenever we need you most. Both of you get over here right now.' Lily's bright hair contrasted her skin even more than usual, but despite looking ill, she was much fiercer than anyone would think.
The two men laughed and made their way over to ginger. James kissed the bundles head before passing him down to his wife. He then attacked his best man in a ferocious hug which was returned with just as much love.
'Now Sirius,' Lily started, 'we want you to be the godfather and Alice the godmother. But you have to promise us that if anything happens, you'll be the man that you can be. You'll be a father and a best friend towards our son, and you'll help him remember how much we love him. Will you do it?' Sirius broke away from James before gently squishing Lily and the baby in his arms.
'Of course. I'll do anything it takes. I would die for all of you.' He sniffed before planting the softest of kisses on his godson's head. 'I love you,' he whispered.
'Okay Sirius, meet your godson, Harry James Potter. Don't teach him too many tricks, Minerva can't handle a mixture of the two of you in one boy.' Lily kissed Sirius on the cheek and wiped her eyes.
