A/N Sorry this took soooo long to get out...this is a long one, and it explains some of James' past...lots of mystery, love, trust, and danger involved. Enjoy!
A/N part 2
Agh I just fixed some errors...and here is the revised version...a three word difference lol.
Two weeks later, Lily and James invited their friends over for Brunch...so that they could tell them the good news.
As soon as they were all seated and Lily had put food on everyone's table (including little Benjamin's!), James cleared his throat.
They all looked up.
"Lily has an announcement to make." James said, eyes dancing with excitement.
They all turned to Lily and she grinned.
"I...(pause)...am proud to announce that...(pause)...I am pregnant!!!" She squealed.
Susianna and Aria gasped.
Sirius and Remus stared, remembering, against their wills, what had happened the last time...
"Congratulations you guys!!! I can't think of anyone who deserves it more!" Aria exclaimed, eyes shining with happy tears for her best friend, remembering the look on Lily's face just two months ago.
"Thanks." Lily said, smiling so hard her face hurt.
"So Jamsie, how do ya feel?" Sirius asked, eyes twinkling.
"Happy, excited, nervous, scared." James replied.
"YOU'RE scared?! You're not the one who has to deliver the 8 pound baby!" Susianna exclaimed, glancing at her month old son fondly.
They all laughed and Lily made a face.
"Have you been thinking of any names?" Aria asked excitedly.
"No, because we already know what its going to be." Lily replied, looking as though she felt the urge to throw up...morning sickness.
Susianna gave her a glance and tried to hide her smile.
"What are the names you have picked out Lil? I think I should know first." James said amusedly.
"Harold James Potter or Angel Rose Potter." Lily announced.
"I hope its a boy." Remus said, grinning.
Aria swatted him.
"Its gonna be a girl." she said, laughing.
"Or MAYBE, just MAYBE it'll be an IT." Sirius shouted, whooping with laughter as James tried to smack him from across the table.
"Goodness!!! You two will act like two year olds until the day you die won't you?" Lily asked, trying not to laugh as she saw Sirius slip something into James' pocket.
"I wonder what he'll teach the baby first...what a dungbomb is, or how you use one." Susianna commented wryly.
"Speaking of dungbombs..." Sirius trailed off as something exploded in James' pocket.
"You little....!!!!" James shouted, jumping up, the smell almost too much for his nostrils.
Another small explosion and Sirius was rolling on the floor laughing as Remus jumped up from his chair, having had one planted in his pocket too.
"Remus...how bout you?" James whispered to Remus.
Remus nodded and they counted down.
"Three...Two...ONE!!!!" they shouted the last number as two small explosions went off in Sirius' robes.
They grinned and slapped each other high fives.
"DOUBLE WHAMMY!!!" They whooped.
Sirius sat down in his chair, trying not to laugh.
"Argh, go change your robes. You smell like you rolled in something rotten." Aria said, wrinkling her nose and giving him a shove in the opposite direction.
This got Lily and Susianna laughing, and soon they were all laughing so hard they were crying.
"I feel sooo loved." Sirius said sarcastically as he went off to borrow a set of James' robes.
Suddenly, Dumbledore's head appeared in the fireplace.
James hurried over.
"What is it?" he asked worriedly.
"Longbottoms...DeathEaters...Voldemort...unforgiveables...
HURRY!" Dumbledore panted as though he had said this in many fires in the past few minutes.
"Blast it all to hell. I'll be right there!" James exclaimed, running up to get Sirius, who was also an auror.
"Wait...James...we need all hands on deck. Lily too." Dumbledore said gravely.
James visibly paled.
"But...she can't!" he protested.
Dumbledore disapparated.
James turned slowly around.
"I want to go, but if it is that much of a worry to you, I can stay home and watch over Remus...I know they're after him for...what he is." Lily whispered, her big green eyes glowing feverishly.
"Stay here Lil. Please. I wouldn't be able to work with you out there." he replied helplessly.
"Its alright. Go. Just...just...give the Longbottoms my love ok?" she said, eyes shining with tears.
James crossed the room and pulled her into his arms.
He gently kissed her on the forehead, and as soon as Sirius came down, he gave her one last kiss and disapparated.
Lily stood there, staring at the spot where James had been for several minutes, before shaking her head and furrowing her brow in concentration.
"Remus! I need you in here!" She called.
Minutes later, Remus hurried in with Benjamin in his arms.
"Remus I am going to put you into a Epelosophilus charm so they can't touch you...unless I give you to them. I'll wear it as a necklace. Hurry! We don't have much time!" she said hurriedly.
Remus nodded and hurried over to where Lily was standing.
"Hor Pavoris Unum Pluribus Alahomona E Unum Consensus Oramono Pavor!!!" she shouted, wand pointed at Remus.
Remus shrunk...and shrunk...and shrunk until he was the size of a beetle...and was soon encased in a crystal.
Lily picked it up, looped it on a chain and put it around her neck.
She patted it, as if to make sure it was still there, and she turned to an astonished Aria and Susianna.
"Where did you learn that?" Aria breathed.
"Something I picked up at Auror Training." Lily said, giving them a small smile.
"Are they after Benjamin then too?" Susianna asked fearfully, knowing full well that their son was a werewolf (they just gave him wolfsbane every full moon).
"They can't know about him. Not so soon." Lily said, half to herself.
"Where are we going to go?" Aria asked.
Lily thought of what James had told her long ago.
"Lily, if ever you are in danger, touch our wedding picture...its a portkey. I promise it will take you to safety." he had said.
"We're going to go someplace safe. Everyone hold onto my hand." Lily said, walking swiftly over to the picture.
They obliged, and Lily touched the portrait.
They were sucked into the picture (or so it seemed) and when they finally came to, they were in a house.
Their were photos of Godric Gryffindor all over.
"Gryffindor Castle." Susianna breathed.
Lily lifted her head proudly.
"James is the last living Heir of Gryffindor....and this little one (she gestured towards her tummy) will carry on the legacy."
Aria and Susianna stared surprised at her.
Lily grinned and took a torch down from one of the many cold, empty rooms.
She lit it with a small charm and led everyone down one of the many passages.
Somehow, she knew exactly where to go.
She walked briskly down one of the many long, elegant corridors, and came to...
She led them into the largest of the rooms they had seen so far.
The room had a large canopy bed with scarlet and gold curtains surrounding it, about 6 pillows (scarlet and gold of course) and many thick down blankets.
It had a large chest for clothes, that had the Gryffindor lion emblazoned on the front.
There was a large well kempt desk at the front of the room, on the east wall.
Their were scarlet rugs at the foot of the bed, and under the desk chair...each emblazoned with the golden Gryffindor lion.
Lily set the lantern in a lantern holder at the head of the bed and instructed them to sit on the bed for now, while she went to find something to eat.
Minutes later, she came back with enough food to last them a while.
She sat herself on the bed next to Aria and Susianna. Benjamin was already sound asleep on his mother lap.
"What time is it Lily?" Susianna asked her, after they had all eaten their fill.
"Erm...9:00 in the evening. James should be back soon....and Sirius too." she said reassuringly.
At about 10:00, Aria and Susianna were both asleep in the guest room where they had been all day.
Lily got up quietly and entered Godric's room.
It was the same as the guest room, except on a much more elaborate scale...and there was a desk, that looked as though it had been left in a hurry...old papers all over it, and a hastily scribbled...note laying on it. Next to that, an old quill and an ink well.
She tiptoed over to the desk and scanned the note quickly.
It read;
SLytherin has turned against me, much like we thought he would. I may never get another chance to tell you, so I will tell you now.There is a prophecy and it states that My 100th heir, Harold James Potter, will finish the legacy I have left unfinished. He will be the downfall of Slytherin's 98th heir, Tom Marvolo Riddle and the world will be at rest. The prophecy states that I will give my life in the hopes that I can kill Slytherin...but that I will fail miserably. I pray that it won't happen, but I am off to find Slytherin as we speak. Please forgive me, and live the rest of your life in the hope that the heir is coming.
Godric Gryffindor
Just as she ran into the parlor, James and Sirius apparated in, their faces grave and exhausted.
James saw Lily and his expression lifted almost completely.
"Oh James! Are you alright?! Let me make you something to eat. You look exhausted! While you eat I will get a bed ready for use."
Lily said in a rush, seeing his face.
James smiled tiredly...and...sadly?
"James whats wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"The Longbottoms...under the Cruatius Curse too long. They're at St. Mungo's right now...in the mentally unstable department." he said, his face giving away his deep feelings of sadness.
"Oh no! Oh James! I, oh my goodness!" Lily said, her eyes filling with tears. "What about little Neville?!"
"He'll go to his grandmothers, God bless the little soul." Sirius said.
"Frank...told me to tell you, Lily, that he appreciated everything you had done for him and his wife and that he would never ever forget you and your kindness. And then they put the Curse on him again."
At this, Lily burst into tears and collapsed on the floor, rocking back and forth as she sobbed.
Sirius gave her a sympathetic glance and went upstairs, knowing James would want to be alone with Lily.
James eased himself down on the cold stone floor and pulled Lily into his arms.
She gratefully cried into his shoulder.
He patted her back and whispered comforting things into her ear for probably 10 minutes, until, in the midst of her crying, Lily saw blood.
She flew back.
"James! What happened?!" she asked, staring in horror at the bloodstained side of his shirt.
"I, well, a knife in the side. I'll be alright." he said, scrambling to his feet.
"Come into the kitchen, I'm going to find a needle and some medical thread. Thats really deep James!" Lily exclaimed, running down the hallway.
15 minutes later, she rushed back in, the things she had needed in her hands.
James was sitting at the table awkwardly, trying to stay comfortable, his shirt almost completely covered now.
Lily whipped out her scissors and cut the shirt off, and she almost passed out when she saw the wound.
She swallowed her nausea and wet a towel to clean the wound.
James winced as she cleaned the cut, but hardly said a word as she stitched it up tightly.
Then she wound soft cotton wraps around his stomach several times hoping he hadn't lost too much blood.
She tried to help him up and he groaned.
"Shh it'll be alright. I'm going to take you upstairs to bed." she whispered.
She put his arms around her shoulders and allowed him to lean heavily on her as he dragged himself up the stairs.
As soon as he was lying in bed, and she was walking out to find a room to sleep in, James spoke.
"You should have been a nurse. You're the best." he said softly, a smile obvious in his voice.
"Hmm...the only reason I could put up with the sight of blood was because its you...anyone else and i would have been on the floor, out cold." she said, giggling softly.
James chuckled.
"I love you James. If you need me, I'll be in the room next door." she whispered.
"Love you too Lil." James replied as she walked out of his room.
The next morning, Lily heated some water on an old fashioned stove and took a bath in an old tin bathtub.
By the time Susianna, Aria, Sirius, and Benjamin came down, breakfast was already on the table.
Sirius filled them in quietly on what had happened, and after a few moments of silence, Aria looked up and looked around the table.
"Where's James?" she asked.
"He's injured...he's upstairs resting right now." Lily said as she served the others.
The others accepted this explanation and started eating.
Lily took a tray up to James, who was still in Godric Gryffindor's bed.
"Morning." she said cheerfully.
"Good morning Lily." James said, smiling.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" she asked, knowing that he was...
"For some reason, just having you walk in the door makes it not hurt anymore." James said, kissing her softly.
"Suck up." Lily said, grinning as she set down his tray.
James dug into his breakfast.
"When are we going back home?" she asked him.
"We better stay here for at least a week...they think Voldemort is after Remus...so it is a lot safer for us here." James said between bites of sausage.
Lily nodded, then suddenly rushed out of the room.
A few sounds, and then silence.
"Lily, you ok?!" James asked worriedly.
"Yes. I'll be glad when the morning sickness goes away though, thats for sure." Lily called back weakly.
James tried not to smile.
When Lily got back, James was gone. There was an envelope wit her name on it, in James' handwriting.
Lily- I wrote this poem for you last night:
got all the blessings life can bringI always neededsomethin
And now I've got all I want and it comes from lovin you
you're my only reason you'ree my only truth
I need you like water, like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy from heaven's gate
theres a freedom in your arms and it carries me through
I need you
you're the hope that moves me, to courage again
you're the love that rescues me when the cold winter ends
and its so amazing cause thats just how you are
& i can't turn back now.cause you've brought me too far
I need you like water, like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy from heaven's gate
theres a freedom in your arms and it carries me through
I need you
Lily smiled, pocketed the letter, and went downstairs to clean.
At around 5:00 James came home for supper.
Lily saw James and how much he looked like Godric.
That made her think of Godric's letter to Rowena Ravenclaw and what it had to do with her baby.....
A/N R/R