11

Godric's Hollow (Lily)

Lily Potter rested her head against a tattered red armchair and listened as rain began to pour. The armchair was James's favourite and, no matter how many times Lily pointed out to him how old and uncomfortable it was, James wouldn't have it moved. It had belonged to his parents, and Lily could only imagine Mr Potter sitting on it, reading the Daily Prophet; Mr and Mrs Potter had died that summer. Lily wouldn't admit it to James because she had great respect for their memory, but she didn't like having their furniture. It reminded her everyday of what they had lost. Fortunately, James and she had had their own flat for over a year, but she'd like to go somewhere else, far away from London.

She wanted to a new setting for their lives, especially now that they were three.

Lily smiled. She had learnt she was pregnant four days before but James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were the only ones who knew it as of yet. She was, for some reason, reluctant to tell the Order. Because she didn't want to be any trouble for them, because a pregnant woman meant more danger, and she wouldn't be able to fight anymore. She was also quite wary of other people's reactions: they were at war, and James and she weren't even twenty. But she had worked up the courage to tell them that night, especially when she had received the owl from Frank and Alice. She had been pleasantly surprised; maybe having a baby now wasn't such a crazy idea, after all.

"What are you doing, love?"

James appeared in the doorway of the living room, dark hair still damp from the shower.

"When did you wake up, sleepyhead?" Lily asked teasingly.

James smiled his usual lopsided grin as he walked towards her and kissed her lips gently.

"Fifteen minutes ago," James admitted.

"Which means you woke up at ten o'clock," Lily stated, hiding a smile.

She had never known a smile as infectious as James's. It almost made her forget that Remus was out there under the rain, going to attend to his mother's funeral – he had insisted that none of them should go with him. He had said he didn't want to bother them. Lily had never known anyone else who excused themselves for attending the funeral of one of their parents. Remus had also said funerals were not good for babies. Remus, as clever as he might be, sometimes said the worst pieces of rubbish.

"That's right, ma'am. So sorry, ma'am. Have no excuse, ma'am."

Lily made to hit him with her magazine; James dodged and retreated on the couch.

"If you call me ma'am ever again, I shall hex you," Lily said conversationally, returning to her magazine.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh, some Muggle magazine I bought about homes in the English countryside," Lily said without looking up.

The page she was currently reading sang the praise of Godric's Hollow, a little village in the South West. The photographs showed a rural, quiet-looking village. She wondered if James would like it, if he wouldn't be too bored there.

"Why are you reading this?"

Lily looked up at James; he was frowning. Lily sighed and put down her magazine.

"I think we should move in the near future."

"But why? There's room here, you know, if Sirius stops spending half his nights here. There's Remus's room, and ours, and I thought we could turn the study into the baby's room – I mean, I know it's rather small, but it's a baby, so it doesn't need a big place, right?"

James was looking at her hopefully. Lily smiled slightly; she was touched that he had already thought of that.

"James, I don't want the baby to grow up here, it's too dangerous… Do you?"

James looked away, and for a while the only sound was the rain clattering against the window.

"I… guess you're right," James finally said.

Lily went to sit down next to him on the couch and snuggled against him, caressing his neck and shoulders.

"James, I know this baby is going to change a lot of things, and I also know that it won't always be easy. But there's one thing that won't change."

James turned to her and they smiled.

"And that's you and me?" James said.

"Exactly," Lily said softly.

James kissed her and then put his hand carefully on Lily's stomach, approaching his head.

"Hello, there," James said. "I'm James Potter, otherwise known as The Bullying Toerag, and even though I'm sometimes a complete twat, I'm going to be your father, like it or not. And I'll always love you so you'd better love me back or we might have some conflicts and as your mother knows, I always win in the end. Oh, and I'm sorry, but your godfather will also be a maniac. Fortunately for you, you're going to have the best mum you could hope for."

James looked up at Lily, who was smiling and crying at the same time.

"I know, it's stupid to talk to the baby, I know he can't hear me yet –"

"It's not stupid," Lily cut in hoarsely. "I love you, James."

She hugged him tight as he said he loved her too.

"You said 'he', but it could be a girl," Lily said.

James made a face. "A girl? No way! I want a little James Potter."

By now Lily knew he was arrogant only to tease her; his hazel eyes were twinkling more than never.

"I hope you aren't thinking of giving him or her one of the stupid names Sirius and you come up with, like Kendrick or Elvendork, because this kid is going to have a nice, normal name, like Julie or John or Harry."

"But I like Elvendork! Besides, it's –"

"Unisex, I know," Lily cut in, rolling her eyes.

"But that's handy, since at first we don't know if the baby's a boy or a girl. Think about it, Lily! Elvendork could be the answer to all our problems!"

"But we don't have problems, James, you do. Besides, I don't know if anybody ever told you, but once the baby's born, we do know whether it's a boy or a girl."

Chuckling to herself, Lily stood up and made her way out.

"Well I think Harry is a stupid name," James said in a disgruntled tone.

Lily stopped on the doorstep and replied lightly, without bothering to turn:

"It's settled, then. We're calling him Harry."

I'm sorry if this chapter is too sappy for you, but it just wrote itself this way! Please review; I'm not having a great week, so reviews would cheer me up. Thanks. Oh, by the way, I just made a Caradoc icon, it's the icon on my profile page.