Thursday 10th July 1980
Godric's Hollow, 08:00
"I just realised something," James said suddenly.
Lily looked up at him lazily, still tracing absent-minded patterns on his arm. He was actually off today and Lily could do her research work anywhere and she didn't need the Unspeakables Library today so they were both home. Lily decided that she was going to have a lazy start to her research and was more than happy to lie about in bed for a bit longer, cuddling up to him. Not that James was ever going to complain about that.
"What did you just realise?" She asked.
"We should probably tell the Order that we'll be off a bit earlier than expected."
Dumbledore had insisted that anyone who was going to have a child or had a wife who was going to give birth had to take time off after the birth. At least a few weeks. More for the woman, for healing and all that. But even the dads in the Order had to take a step back; those weeks were for bonding with their newest addition and figuring out how to be a family with it. Something James was both looking forward to and was terrified of. He didn't exactly know how to be a parent.
"Oh, yeah."
"Tell Dumbledore at the next one?"
"That would be good," Lily agreed, haw splitting into a yawn.
"Want to go back to sleep?"
Lily got tired quicker now, due to the baby. And she didn't sleep that well either. James knew that she was restless well into the early hours of the morning sometimes. And then, of course, there was the constant need to pee. Pregnancy really wasn't all that great sometimes. From what he could see. It wasn't like he was exactly experiencing being pregnant. Second hand, sure but that wasn't the same as actually being pregnant, was it?
"I don't know."
He gave his wife an amused look, and no, he was never, ever going to get tired of referring to her as his wife.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"Comfy," she said, burying herself into his side. "But I also want to be productive. I feel like I haven't been productive at all the last few days."
"I think growing an actual human counts as being productive."
She snorted at that. "Not according to the Department of Mysteries., it doesn't. I need to give them the next bit of my research soon."
"Which is...?" James asked teasingly.
Lily sighed and shook her head. "You know I can't tell you."
He knew that. He really did. She may not be a full-fledged Unspeakable yet, she hadn't taken the official vow (despite being there a hear but her training was slower due to her doing her Charms Mastery at the same time), but she had signed a contract. Which meant that she couldn't tell him about her research in any real detail.
"I know," he reassured her.
He wasn't angry or annoyed or anything. He wasn't even trying to get her to slip up. Lily wouldn't do that. He still liked to tease about it, however, because Lily had been so serious when she first signed the contract. As if she would actually mess it up. Honestly, she was one of the most dependable people he knew.
Unfortunately, that dependability backfired on him this morning because she was now getting out of bed to do her research.
Well, that put a stop to his fun this morning.
Monday 14th July 1980
Unknown Location, 21:30
Peter tried not to whimper as he was dragged through what seemed to him to be endless hallways. Yes, he was actually being dragged. Avery had actually side-apparated him here from where he had been enjoying afternoon tea with Reginald and now it was he and Lestrange dragging him. Did he mention that he didn't know why he was being dragged? Not that he was going to ask any questions. No. No thank you. He kind of liked his life.
All he could hear was the sound of his feet dragging along the ground. Everything else was eerily quiet. So quiet Peter was convinced he could hear the candles Flickering.
Peter was brought through one, two, three doors - the floor changing from flagstone to carpet to wooden. He was then pushed forwards and suddenly let go. Embarrassingly, he lost his balance and fell heavily on his knees. He swore he hears something crack. That wasn't a good sign but nothing that had happened today was a good sign.
Where was he? Why had he been taken here? To see someone? Who would be interested in him? No one was ever interested in him.
"Here he is, Master," he heard Lestrange say and Peter thought that it would be safe to look up.
Master? Who called anyone Master? Were they doing an apprenticeship under someone? He knew that Lily and Severus sometime referred to the people they were doing their apprenticeship under by their title of Master. But Avery and Lestrange? Peter wouldn't have thought that they would have done an apprenticeship. They were from noble families. Those sorts of people didn't need to do apprenticeships to do things. In fact, they turned their noses up at them. So, who would they be calling Master?
His heart sank and he hesitantly looked up, regretting it immediately. It was the face that had been described to him countless times by James and Sirius and even Frank, Lily and Alice. This was him. Everyone's worst nightmare.
You-Know-Who.
The red eyes looked at him appraisingly. Peter didn't have any thoughts at all running through his head except for fear, fear, fear.
"So, you are the person who knows people who will be born at the end of July?"
Friday 18th July 1980
The Hogs Head, 23:00
"Hey, Professor," Sirius heard James say as they all tried to find seats.
He pulled one out so Marlene could sit, which she did so gratefully. Her ankles were all swollen and the midwife said she should stay off her feet as much as possible. Another day, another Order Meeting and all that. What did James and Lily need to talk to Dumbledore for.
"Know what that's about?" Sirius asked quietly, nodding towards the corner James, Lily and Dumbledore were in.
Marlene shook her head, also frowning. Sirius wondered if she caught the briefly shocked look on their old Headmaster's face. It was weird to see because in his mind, Dumbledore wasn't surprised by anything. And the Marauders had tried to faze him without any luck whatsoever. But James and Lily had managed that just by saying something to him? What was that all about? James hadn't told him about anything particularly shocking. Why did Dumbledore get to know before he did?
Sirius decided that he was going to ask James that very question before the meeting started but James didn't come over. Instead, he stood next to Dumbledore with Lily.
"Shall I?" Dumbledore asked Lily, who nodded with a big smile on her face.
Everyone looked at him expectantly, Sirius more than a little impatiently. Dumbledore smiled benignly at them all.
"I have just been given the news that the Potters here will be taking their parental leave earlier than once thought. At the end of this month, to be exact, if all goes well."
There were some looks of confusion around the room until Lily explained, "We're due at the end of July."
Then they got all sorts of congratulations and cheers.
"Is it still going to be younger than ours?" Marlene asked, gesturing at her stomach.
She was literally ready to pop any day now and Sirius was absolutely terrified. There was no way he was ready to be a father. He just wasn't ready. Not even a little bit. Oh, sure, they had converted James' old room in the Marauder Flat into a nursery, with the help of James, Severus, Frank and Remus. Peter had been too busy to help. But even that being all organised didn't make him feel any more prepared. In fact, it made him even more anxious for some reason.
It was stupid. He was being stupid. He knew he was stupid. He didn't know anything about babies! How was he supposed to know how to look after one? Were some people just born with the ability? What was he supposed to do?
"Maybe?" Lily replied, touching her stomach. "She just said the last week of July."
"So, any day then?"
"Yes."
"Hey!" Marlene said brightly, seemingly unfazed by the whole about to give birth thing. "We could end up having them on the same day!"
"That would be so cool!" James said enthusiastically.
Sirius just let out a sort of moan at that.
Sunday 20th July 1980
Godric's Hollow, 16:00
"You know, most people don't decorate a room four times." Remus told her in amusement, leading her to a chair.
"Now, now, Moony," Sirius said shaking his head before Lily could say anything. "I happen to know that the walls have been painted five separate times."
"Is it really five times if the last colour is the same as the first one had been?"
"Oh, stop it," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that bad."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Really, Evans?"
"You do know I've been a Potter for a year now, right?"
He waved his hand at her. "Whatever. But, seriously Lily-"
"No, that's you," she said with a straight face, making him stick his tongue put at her.
"That's not funny."
"I thought it was."
"Whatever," Sirius grumbled. "Back to what I was saying."
"Something silly about the walls?" Lily reminded him cheerfully.
"I meant you were being silly about the walls," he corrected. "Five times, Lily!"
She shrugged. "I couldn't make up my mind."
"So, you decided on the very first colour you had?"
"I had to see what the others looked like," she argued. "And prove to James that a red room with gold trim was just ridiculous looking for a nursery!"
"I liked that," Sirius said in an offended tone.
"Of course, you did," she said, rolling her eyes.
"It was the coolest course and you want your baby to be cool, don't you?"
Wednesday 23rd July 1980
Marauder Flat, 11:30
You know what? Sometimes staring at the ceiling was a pretty cool way to spend the time. Ceilings had all these lines and cracks and had stories and... Merlin, Sirius knew that even for him, that was a chaotic thought. He snorted at himself. Ceilings? Already?
"Ahhhh!"
Sirius leapt out of bed at that noise, not even giving himself the time to wake up properly. Which, in hindsight, was a mistake considering he stumbled into his chest of drawers and knocked most of what was on top of them onto the floor.
'Crash!'
"Is... is everything okay in there?" Marlene called out, sounding like she was in pain.
Pain was never good. In fact, pain was bad. Very bad.
"I'm pretty sure I should be asking you that," Sirius said, rushing to the bathroom and rubbing his eyes.
Marlene was standing there, in the middle of the small room, her toothbrush on the floor. She looked very, very flushed.
"I'm... ahhh!" She hissed out, clutching at her stomach.
"Uh," Sirius' eyes bugged out. "Are you-"
"I think I'm going into labour," Marlene finished that thought for him through gritted teeth.
"Right, labour." Sirius said, his mind racing a mile a minute yet he wasn't able to focus on a single thought.
"I need to get to the hospital!" Marlene shouted through what must have been another contraction.
"Yes. Hospital." Sirius looked around him and thankfully spotted her hospital bag. Thank Merlin they had listened to Dora and packed one early. Just in case. "Let's go."
"Ahhhh!"
"Now!" Sirius couldn't help but shout in his panic.
He didn't want her to give birth right here! He didn't know what to do!
"A bit busy here," she gasped out.
"Oh, no, you're not!" Sirius told her, trying to coral her out the door. "You aren't having the baby here!"
And thankfully, she wasn't going to because they did manage to get to St Mungo's though don't ask either of them how they managed it, neither would be able to remember. Actually, Sirius didn't even remember talking to the receptionist, suddenly they were just in a ward and Marlene was on a bed, legs spread and groaning loudly.
"I need to push!" Marlene exclaimed through a strained face.
"Not yet please, Ms Tonks," the midwife said, checking her stomach with her wand. "You aren't ready yet."
"I feel ready."
"Well, you're not. Please hold off."
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
And what did the midwife mean by not ready? Marlene was obviously ready to have this baby! Physically, anyway, right? She was having contractions and they were happening a lot. Surely that meant she was ready?
But the midwife was coaching her through some breathing exercises and not telling her to push. So apparently, she wasn't ready. Great.
What was he supposed to do now?
It turned out that Marlene made that decision for him and grabbed his hand in a death grip. He had definitely broken something there but even he knew that it would be a bad idea to mention that.
"You and your stupid penis are never coming nearing me again!" Marlene told him after a particularly nasty contraction.
His fingers were going blue, he was sure of it.
And then that suddenly didn't matter because the midwife was now telling her to push.
Giving birth was messy. Really messy. Blood, fluids and Merlin knows what else. It was a mess and it was everywhere and Sirius couldn't keep his eyes off it.
A baby was pulled out of Marlene and Sirius held his breath until a sharp cry was heard. He didn't think that he had ever felt such relief in his life.
Thursday 24th July 1980
St Mungo's, 17:30
"Apparently there's something about the rebel Black's naming their children something ridiculous," Dora said, rolling her eyes.
"Cassie is a lovely name," Chryssie protested. "Better than either of ours, anyway. I still say my mum was high on painkillers when she named me. Chrysanthemum. Really?"
Dora had to agree with her on that. Both of their names were ridiculous. Chryssie's even more so considering her sisters had normal flower names but whatever. That didn't change the fact that her little niece's (or was it second cousin once removed or something?) name was equally as ridiculous.
"It's short for Cassiopeia," Dora informed her, rolling her eyes.
"They stuck with the star names?" Chryssie asked in surprise.
"Apparently so. Though, technically, it's a galaxy."
"Details," Chryssie waved off. "I'm just amazed that they stuck with the whole Black Family theme."
Dora shrugged; she wasn't quite sure either but apparently it had been Marlene's idea. Either way, both Sirius and Marlene liked the name. That was the important thing, wasn't it? And at least it wasn't something as silly as Nymphadora. No. She was never going to forgive her mother for that one.
"She's adorable," Chryssie was now saying, running a finger down Cassie's forehead. "So sweet. Makes me kind of want to have one."
Dora had to hide a laugh at the look of alarm that crossed Severus' face. Somehow, she thought that Severus didn't want to hear that. Though he probably didn't have to be worried. Dora didn't think that Chryssie actually wanted a baby right now or anything. In fact, Dora was pretty sure Chryssie hadn't even done anything with Severus that would lead to them making a baby together. Well, she hadn't said anything to Dora about it anyway. Though would you share that sort of thing with your best friend? She hadn't but hers and Remus' relationship had been extremely casual when they had got to that point. And it had been accidental that first time. Then it wasn't so accidental. Which led to this whole mess.
Dora sighed and shook her head before pasting a smile on her face. There were to be no negative emotions around the baby.
Monday 28th July 1980
Marauder Flat, 12:00
Severus frowned as he saw Remus. He was pale and unmoving, even those his eyes were open and staring right at the ceiling. There were new cuts on all of his visible skin, which were also starting to bruise. He suspected that there was a broken bone or two as well. That's how a full moon usually went, despite Remus having the company of Prongs and Padfoot. Though one broken bone was far better than multiple, even if they were easy to fix.
"Any complications from last night?" He asked briskly, knowing better than to give his friend any sort of pitying looks.
Remus shook his head, somehow managing to look even more tired.
"No, none," and then he grimaced.
Something that Severus jumped on immediately. Since they had left Hogwarts, Severus had taken it upon himself to take on the role that Madam Pomfrey had previously had. That is, patching Remus up after the full moon. Granted, Sirius and James could both do many of the healing spells that Remus needed themselves but Severus liked to be the one to keep track of his general health and making sure that the stubborn werewolf was treating his body properly. Because let's be honest, he was the only one who could do it right, in his opinion anyway.
He poked and prodded and Remus hissed as he hit tender spots. But overall Severus was satisfied. There was nothing serious going on.
"Go and be with your baby," Remus huffed at Sirius, who was hovering.
"Once we get you better enough so you can go see yours," Sirius retorted. "Well do it together."
The two of them stood and stared at each other in some sort of ridiculous mini standoff. Of which Sirius won because Remus let put a long breath and huffed.
"Fine." He said, holding his hand out. "Give me the potion."
"Drink kt all," Severus reminded him. "It's the dregs that are the most important."
'I know. I know."
Only pausing briefly to grimace at the smell of it and then downing it in one chug.
