Deliverance. Disorder. Descent.

Author note – YAY an update! this one was mostly smashed out tonight because i'm procrastinating on a 53 page reading on "representation and interaction: designing the position of the viewer" (basically how the book/illustrations affect how you [the reader] interpret the meaning of the text/image Zzzzz). I'm at page 14 and have 24 hours to get through it, so it's all good :)

Please read and REVIEW. (more reviews = more active interest from readers = I update faster)

for the friend who once sent me this: "So today at work I was scrubbing the dolphin docks and scratched myself. The sharks smelled blood and came and took my arm off: future true story.".


May 28th, 1989

Sunday morning was spent curled up on the sofa together, listening to the smatter of rain as it fell against the windows. They had a meeting with Dumbledore and Remus the next afternoon in the backroom of the cafe at James' work. Lily would have an additional admission to make to her boss, her pregnancy would not likely change their mission detail, but it would perhaps have Dumbledore on a higher alert, with a higher regard for their safety.

Usually on missions agents accepted the fact that their life was secondary to that of the successful completion of their mission, usually as bodyguards to the at-risk politicians. It had been a long time since any agent had been killed in the line of fire and Lily was hopeful that their death-free reputation would not end with her or James. Being pregnant however made Lily think of how suddenly her life most certainly not her own anymore. She had a duty to not only complete the undercover mission, but to keep herself alive and healthy to keep her baby healthy.

Their afternoon led them to take a bus into London's CBD area and walked aimlessly about town until the rain started again and forced them to seek shelter from the torrential downpour in a cafe. Buying treacle tarts and hot drinks for them both James directed her to an empty booth off to the side of the counter. There they talked quietly of what the addition to their lives would mean. It was clear to the waitress, who delivered their drinks and treacle tarts to them, that the couple was clearly and madly in love, they way they sat facing each other and the look in their eyes belied their affection for the other.

'Boy or girl?' James asked after a particularly large mouthful of tart.

'It's way too early to tell yet, it'll be another couple of months before any ultrasound will be able to tell anything, I'll make an appointment for this week, but it'll really just look like a little blip on the radar.' She replied before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

'What about names?'

'Bit early to think of that isn't it?'

'Never! We could pick some now, boy names, girl names, unisex names and at least have some idea of the ones we like by the time baby comes out.'

'Alright, let's start with girl names, I think we should name a girl Lily junior.'

'We are not naming a baby after ourselves.'

'Fine, what about Marlene or Irene of Mary or Rose?'

'I like Rose, my mum was a little bit of a hippy in her youth and named me after her favourite flower, roses are mine.'

'Duly noted for all future special occasions and that's a girl's name sorted. What about unisex names, Andy is definitely out as is Madison and Lindsey; if we pick a unisex name I want it to be something unique and non-embarrassing for the poor kid.'

'So if we give our kid a unisex name it has to be something like Kumara or Elvendork or East-West or something?'

James laughed at her names, 'Firstly Kumara is another name for sweet potato, but sure that can go on the list, as can the use of compass directions and names of countries, but c'mon, "Elvendork"?'

'What? It could totally be a unisex name.'

James shook his head at her, 'Alright, fine Elvendork is in. Boys names next.'

'What about your dad's name?'

'Harold? Nah, it's a bit outdated, what about your dad?'

'Larry, but I don't want to call a son that. We could always find a happy medium though; mix the two names together or something.'

'Larold?'

'No,' a gleam appeared in Lily's eyes as she thought of a name, 'Harry.'

0-0-0-0

May 29th, 1989

Monday, like all the ones before it undercover, passed in a day of mindless coffee making, writing articles and the blur of faces. When afternoon came James kept glancing out the window, hoping that every passing face was the one he was looking for. Knowing that Dumbledore would be in the back room soon, ready for the penultimate meeting before the election, he wanted Lily by his side as soon as possible. In the next fortnight the whole operation was expected to be blown so far out of the water it would probably create its own continent and become the new USA.

He also wanted to see the look on Dumbledore's face when Lily told him that she was having a baby, conceived during the last half of their 6 month undercover mission. He also wanted Lily by his side as protection when Dumbledore berated them for how irresponsible they had been.

He thought back to Saturday, when Riddle had complimented each of the inner-circle members on their attributes that made them strong supports for his vision. Complimenting them all on their positives didn't make a lot of sense, all current evidence suggested that he was planning to blow up the Palace of Westminster, what did he need them for?

The implications of having a variety of nondescript civilians believing that they were doing the right thing did not comfort him at all, it did the opposite. He just hoped they all got out of it alive.

0-0-0-0

Lily went to the same confectionary store she did a couple months prior and bought a half dozen of their mini treacle tarts. She wasn't sure if it was pregnancy cravings kicking in already, but she found herself wanting to eat them all before she reached James' work. Resisting the urge, she put the paper bag into her satchel and continued on to see James.

She arrived at the cafe, the last customer of the day holding the door for Lily as she entered. Thanking the man, she leant over the counter to kiss James on the cheek as he wiped down the surface. Petunia came over from the sandwich bar to pull Lily into a hug.

'James told me about your expected addition this morning, many congratulations!' she said into Lily's hair, 'you're going to make a fantastic mother.'

Lily thanked the older woman as she was released, Lily found herself wrapped in a second embrace as James had snuck out from behind the counter as she was being hugged by Petunia. James kissed her neck, as she leant back into his torso.

'I'll leave you two to lock up this afternoon, Vernon and I are due to go see our son in his high school boxing tournament this afternoon and I want to stop by the greengrocer beforehand to pick up a few things for tea.' Petunia said as she prepared to leave.

'Good luck to Dudley,' James directed at her as she put on her cardigan, 'this is his, what, fourth tournament this year?'

Petunia nodded, 'Won the junior heavyweight title for the three most recent ones, and nearly won the first meet this year, but just missed out, we're hoping to make win number four today!' she paused for a moment to fix the strap on her handbag, 'oh, and Albus is in the backroom, I let him a minute or two ago, and the guy who is sitting across the park on that bench by the bin followed you here Lily, so if I were either of you, I'd keep an eye out this afternoon.'

James and Lily nodded, closing the door after the woman hurried out the door.

She took a quick glance in the direction Petunia mentioned to see a man in a long black coat, somewhat unusual attire for spring, seated on the aforementioned bench, calmly eating out of a brown paper bag, identical to the one she had in her satchel, the one with the treacle tarts in them.

Looking away, she found her hand encompassed in James' warm one. Gripping it tight for comfort, she looked up at him, 'ready to walk to our doom?' she asked quietly.

The corners of James' mouth lifted noticeably, 'I'm ready if you are.'

'Ready to face a den filled with the one wolf in the world that scares me? Never.'

0-0-0-0

Their admission to Dumbledore granted them a facial expression they had not seen grace their boss' features in a long time – surprise. Luckily for them, he wasn't angry, instead being empathetic to their situation and understanding of the complexity of the events surrounding it.

'How do we proceed?' James asked when the topic of Lily's pregnancy reached its completion.

'We proceed as normal, however now we have three people to consider into our safety precautions.' Dumbledore looked at them sternly, 'You both know by now just how dangerous this mission is, if there is any sign of things going south, we're coming in and pulling you out.'

Both Lily and James nodded their understanding, Lily subconsciously placing a hand over her lower abdomen. She could feel a small bump just below her bellybutton if she lay down on her back and tightened her diaphragm; otherwise she wasn't showing signs of being pregnant yet.

Dumbledore glanced over to Lily, his expression softening as he took her in. 'When are you due Lily?'

'January tenth, or thereabouts. The midwife I've got has said I'm currently at seven and a half weeks, near enough to say two months.'

'What do you two plan to do, in terms of personal relationships? You know Phoenix policies don't exactly encourage internal relationships.'

'I'm not leaving her.' James announced.

'I'm not leaving him.' Lily echoed.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and took in a breath as he did a silent, single laugh, 'no, I didn't imagine either of you would. We can always worry about the fine print later, but now you have just a fortnight to figure out the finer points of Riddle's plan. We know by now he intends to place a bomb somewhere, and he intends to do it somewhere either in, or near Westminster. What we don't know is the exact location, the type of bomb and the area and level of damage we need to prepare for in the worst case scenario.'

'What if we don't get any Intel until it's time to take action?' James asked

'Come Election Day, we will have agents placed at strategic points; they will either radio your coordinates in, confer with you in a manner that won't expose you or they will provide you with opportunities to communicate with us in any way that we can.'

'What about this worst case scenario, what if this bomb is nuclear and obliterates the entire city?'

'We don't have enough information to evacuate anyone involved in the election. Marge won't allow it either, she doesn't want to create wide-spread panic when the panic could be one option Riddle is hoping for and counting on. At any rate, we have evacuated the royal family and any visiting foreign dignitaries. The heads of our Commonwealth have also been put on alert, in case there have been any forms of aggression directed towards them alongside the one shown to us.'

Dumbledore sighed, rubbing his brow and glancing at a silent Remus before continuing, 'Worst case scenario, truthfully, will mean all our deaths, mine included. If there is a detonation of an incendiary device in the Palace of Westminster and it contains nuclear material, then the resulting fallout will infect millions of people, and not just have the short-term effects of killing those in the immediate vicinity. Worst case scenario is failing, and we cannot allow that to happen. Too many lives are at risk.'

0-0-0-0

The walk to James' apartment was sombre. Neither of them felt like talking, but they had to keep up the pretence of a happy couple as the man from before was still tailing them at a considerable distance. Holding onto James' hand tightly, she nudged his shoulder and mentioned she bought them both some treacle tarts for dessert. He smiled at her, his eyes lightening up in response.

'I nearly ate them all too. I bought more than I usually would because they looked so good.'

'Pregnancy cravings kicking in already?' he laughed.

'That is a possibility, but it could be that I've grown to like them too.'

'Well I like them, and if I've gotten you into them, what are the chances we'll have a treacle-tart-hating baby?'

'Absolutely none, this baby would probably live on them.'

'Is that even remotely healthy?'

'Nope.'

0-0-0-0

Their evening was once more spent lying on the couch together after finishing their dinner and dessert. Lily's head was in his lap, her shirt drawn up exposing her stomach as James' fingers traced mindless circles on her abdomen.

'You scared about becoming a parent?' he asked her.

'A bit; I guess it's more because I have no clue what to do with children more than anything. But I've got you by my side, so that makes it better.'

'We can do it, we've survived years of being friends, you've survived being my girlfriend for four months, I've survived your crazy food rages for ages; I think a baby will hardly throw a spanner into the works.'

'Wait-what do you mean my "crazy food rages"?' she asked as she processed his statement.

'You know that time we had an eating competition in McDonalds and you ate more than I did, then there was Easter last month where you literally started a stampede the Monday morning to get to the on-sale chocolate because you managed to finish your stash on Easter Sunday. Every so often you go on one of these food rages where you just about eat everything you can get your hands on. It's kind of scary, but mostly adorable to watch you as you completely unravel because you're craving food.'

'You are awful.' She cried, socking him in the arm for his comments, 'you can't make fun of a woman's eating habits, especially one who is pregnant!'

'Why not? At least you're a sensible woman who does eat! I remember overhearing a couple girls in high school with my mate Sam, they were banging on about how they would eat their dinner so their parents wouldn't get suspicious, then later on when they were in the bathroom, they'd turn on the shower faucets to muffle the sound of them barfing it right back up; what kind of madness is that?!'

'Some girls do it to try to lose weight so they look good.' Lily explained with a shrug of her shoulders, 'one of the girls in my grade used to do it until she fainted in class and had to be taken to the hospital.'

'That is completely mental; why bother doing it? Most guys don't really like the look of stick thin chicks, and to know she's always barfing isn't exactly a turn-on.'

'Some people do it because it's something they can control; even if life is shitty, or they're being bullied at school, or they've just lost control over the rest of their lives. Controlling some portion of their daily lives probably gives them something to hope for, something to hold on to. I'm not saying it's a good thing, it's completely unhealthy and people with bulimia need help and support, but I can empathise with their struggle.'

James bowed down his head to kiss her forehead, 'See this is why I love you. You're smart, you're lovely, you're gorgeous, even when you've downed half a dozen McDonald's burgers.'

Lily grinned, lifting her hands and playing with his tousled hair, 'As long as you keep being that amazing guy that is pretty decent at football, makes great decaf coffees and keeps me warm at night, I'll keep being that crazy food loving, ginger ninja who is having your baby and is quite in love with you.'

0-0-0-0


Next time:

'James I'm getting scared, and with my reduced bladder capacity, it does not make for a good combination.'