James – July/August 1980
I rubbed my eyes. I knew they were red with tiredness. I'd been up all hours of the day and night I was getting so worried. It was July thirty- first. It was Lily's due day and it was the day the kid who was supposed to defeat Voldemort was supposed to be born. The Longbottoms had their baby a few weeks ago so naturally everyone is on edge. I had recently been hit with a horrid bout of insomnia, I wanted to sleep but I just couldn't. All I did at night was lie in bed watching Lily, making sure she was ok. Merlin, forget maternity leave, there should be paternity leave. I shouldn't be at work I should be at home next to Lily. What if she gave birth when I wasn't there. There was no one at home but her, no, wait, her mum was there too. I gave a sigh of relief that Lily wasn't on her own. I felt a hand on my back and jumped to my feet. I got my wand out in the process and pointed it at an uneasy looking April.
"Oh, April." I said, putting my wand away.
"You don't look very good James." She said uncertainly. I sank into a chair and put my head in my hands.
"Well you wouldn't be very good if your wife was going to give birth!" I snapped at her. I didn't mean to, I guess I'm just feeling really tense. April pulled her own chair over and put a hand on my back.
"I think you should take the rest of the day off work. You shouldn't be like this so soon. Plus the final assessments are soon. You have to get some rest." April said kindly.
"I can't rest." I said. "I have to look after Lily and hunt down deatheaters and look after Lily and-"
"James, go home." April said sternly, like she was my superior. "I'll tell Moody what's wrong, he'll understand." I nodded and got to my feet. April gave me a smile. I pulled on my cloak even though I didn't need it. It was so hot in the auror offices it was almost suffocating.
"Yeah, I'll go home." I said thinking out loud. April gave me a tight hug.
"I'll be round later to check up on Lily." She said. I nodded, not really taking anything in. I had to be at Lily's side. I had to make sure she was ok. She couldn't have the baby alone. April let go and instantly I apparated to my house. It was strangely quiet.
"Lily!" I called.
"In here" Lily answered. I ran into the living room where Lily had a magazine propped on her belly. I ran to her and gave her a hug and a kiss. Lily returned the kiss and looked at me slightly amused.
"Why are you home so early?"
"April sent me home. I'm so nervous for you, you realise that today is the day the-"
"Seventh month dies, I know." Lily said, her face turning into a frown. "But nothing has-ah!" Lily gave a slight convulsion and held her belly. I started in surprise and worry. What was that? What was happening? Oh Merlin!
"What-" I started to say but Lily interrupted me.
"Contraction, ow." Lily said wincing. I stood up.
"Quick we have to get you to the bed." I said. "Margaret!" I shouted, calling for Lily's mum as Lily got another contraction. I helped Lily to her feet. She held onto me tightly with one hand as she held her belly with the other. Margaret Evans looked at us calmly.
"I'll phone for the doctor."
"No, we'll go to St. Mungos." I said.
"No James!" Lily said, "Dumbeldore said to have a home birth."
"Since when did you listen to Dumbledore about this kind of thing?"
"Since I felt that I can't make it to St. Mungos. Just take me-" She bit her lip.
"Ok. Margaret, go and get the doctor for Lily." I said to her. She nodded and put her shoes on and left the house. I don't quite know how I managed to get Lily to the bedroom. I felt like stunning her just to put her out of the pain she was obviously in but it would look really strange to the Muggle doctor. I gently lay Lily on the bed as Magaret came in with a woman who looked like she was in her late thirties. She had shoulder length blonde hair and was holding a bag in her hands.
"Mrs. Potter?" She asked. I pointed to Lily and the doctor nodded. "I'm Doctor Jenkins. When did the contractions start?" She asked.
"About ten minutes ago." I said. She nodded.
"Ok. Well do you want to stay or would you-"
"He's staying." Lily said as one contraction calmed enough for her to speak. The doctor nodded. I took Lily's hand and gave her a smile.
"Other then the pain how are you feeling?" I asked.
"Scared." Lily said. "What if he comes for us?" Lily asked quietly. I could hear in her voice that she was scared.
"Don't worry. We'll be fine. Ow!" I said as Lily squeezed my hand as she got another contraction. For a woman in pain Lily had an incredibly strong grip.
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. Lily was really huting my hand, in fact I was beginning to lose feeling in it. Lily had been in labour now for four hours and I hated seeing her like this. Her water had burst about ten minutes ago, was that a good sign? I wasn't told. There wasn't any spaces in between her contractions anymore and not even the painkiller that the doctor had given Lily was doing any good.
"Lily, you'll be fine, come on, just breathe." I said stroking her head. Breathe, like that seemed to be doing any good. I don't know why Margaret and the doctor were telling Lily to breathe, Lily blatantly wasn't listening.
"James!" Lily managed to say in her pain.
"It's alright." I said.
"Come on Lily, just one more push." Her mum said.
"I CAN'T PUSH!" Lily screamed. Giving birth looked too painful, I think suddenly I felt so incredibly glad that I was a male member of the human race as opposed to female.
"It's coming, just once more Lily." The Doctor said. Lily nodded and squeezed my hand tighter. I opened my mouth in pain, it felt like my hand was going to break. I glanced at the clock. Eleven o'clock. As much as I don't want our child to be the one who defeats Voldemort I really hate seeing Lily like this.
"Come on Lily. It's nearly over." I said. The door opened and April came in just as Lily let out a loud scream. I wanted to cover my ears, a luxury that both April and Mrs. Evans got to do. Moments after Lily started her scream another scream merged with it. A different type of scream though, more like a loud cry. A baby's cry. I glanced at the doctor as she pulled a baby from between Lily's legs. Holy shit, I made that thing. I just stared at the baby, completely forgetting my wife until she loosened her grip on my hand.
"It's a boy, congratulations." Doctor Jenkins said.
"That was sick." April said from the door. I smirked and looked at Lily who looked so tired.
"Just relax." I whispered to Lily. She nodded and lay her head back onto the already wet pillows. I leant over and kissed her gently on the lips. "You did it." I grinned as I started to pull away. Lily smiled and tried to sit up.
"Lily, stay lying down," Margaret said. I didn't notice what the doctor was doing, I was completely absorbed in Lily at that moment. She looked so tired but she'd done it. She'd brought our baby into the world. I brushed some of her damp hair away from her forehead. I hadn't realised how much Lily had sweated during labour.
"Um, excuse me, could you help me for a moment." The doctor said to April. April nodded and went to the doctor's side. I glanced at them for a moment and then looked back at Lily. I gently teased my hand out of her grip and flexed my hand slightly.
"Sorry." Lily said. I forced a smile, merlin my hand hurt.
"It's fine." I said, "I just think that maybe I'll have to have it..." What's that Muggle thing that shows your bones?
"X-rayed?" Lily suggested
"That's it." I said. Lily gave a weak laugh.
"Lily Potter." Doctor Jenkins said. Lily and I both looked at the doctor. "You gave birth to a healthy young baby boy." She said with a smile. She gently and delicately handed Lily a small bundle of towels. Among them I saw a tiny little face and two tiny arms and hands waving in the air. Lily took our baby and smiled.
"My god, we did this." Lily said turning to me. I gave her a smile and kissed her forehead.
"So, what are you going to name him?" April asked eagerly.
"You tell them." I said to Lily, we'd already decided what we were going to call our son.
"Harry James Potter" Lily said proudly.
I sat in the living room with April, as Lily stayed upstairs to get some sleep and spoke to her mum about being a mum. It was midnight now and I just felt so calm like there was nothing bad in the world. I held in my arms, my baby son. Harry Potter, my son. I never actually thought I'd be a father, while Lily was pregnant it never actually clicked in my head. Now, here he was, healthy and beautiful. I could already see that he had exactly the same bright green emerald eyes as Lily, they were the same shape as Lily's eyes as well. April put an arm around my shoulders and grinned.
"I'm an aunty." She said.
"You already were." I said laughing.
"Yeah true." April said. There were two cracks and Remus and Sirius both appeared in the living room in front of me and April.
"Just got your owl is Lily o-" Sirius started to say but when he caught sight of Harry he grinned. "I'm an UNCLE!"
"Sh! Lily's trying to sleep." I said urgently.
"Sorry." Sirius whispered. Remus smiled. He had come back from China a few weeks ago, apparently things were going well with Jenny and her family were starting to warm to him.
"What are you calling him?"
"Harry." I answered. I looked at Harry again. He had his eyes open just a fraction and the green of them were so bright, even though you could only see a bit.
"I can't believe you're a dad." Sirius said. "Imagine, first Moony now Prongs. Look, it's prongs junior, can I hold him?"
"No." I said, lifting Harry up a bit. April laughed at Sirius's crestfallen expression.
"Why not?" He asked.
"Don't worry, they won't let me hold him either." April said. "But I've already held him, I was the second person to hold him." She beamed.
"Who was first?" Remus asked as he sat down.
"The muggle Doctor." April said.
"You got a muggle doctor?" Sirius asked in disbelieve. I looked at him.
"Well Lily couldn't exactly apparate to St. Mungos at the time and I didn't want to leave her so Mrs. Evans went to go and get a doctor."
"Can I hold him?" Sirius asked.
"No!" April and I said at the same time. Remus chuckled and got up and stood next to me.
"Look, he has Lily's eyes." Remus said, his head cocked to the side slightly.
"I know." I said. At that moment Harry opened his mouth and let it rip! Sirius winced, Remus scowled and April covered her ears.
"Take him away!" Sirius shouted. I nodded and rocked Harry in my arms as I left the room and went up the stairs to the bedroom. I knocked on the door gently and pushed it open. All the while Harry was crying in my arms.
"Can I come in?" I asked as I walked into the door. Lily was sitting in bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her mum was sitting on the end of the bed. Lily gave me a smile and looked at her mum.
"You'll be a great mum, better then Petunia anyway but don't tell her I said that." Margaret said as she kissed Lily's forehead.
"Thanks mum." Lily said with a smile. I continued to rock Harry in my arms as Margaret got up and left the room. When she passed me she gave me a smile, which I returned. I went to Lily and sat on the bed next to her.
"I think Harry's hungry." I told her. Lily sighed and took Harry from me carefully. I tried not to watch as Lily breastfed Harry, I looked at Lily's face and smiled. She seemed to sense my gaze as she looked up and smiled at me.
"What?" She asked.
"We're parents." I said as I sat on the bed properly and put an arm around Lily's shoulders.
"I know." She said. "I can actually see my feet now." Lily said. She stretched out her legs and wiggled her feet around. I laughed gently and kissed Lily on the cheek. Lily gave a slight moan of happiness. She turned her head to kiss me properly when Harry started crying again. Lily looked at Harry and frowned.
"Mum!" She shouted. The door opened and Margaret came back in.
"Yes Lily." She said.
"He's crying, what do I do?" Lily asked.
"Did you feed him?" Margaret asked. Lily nodded. I gently kissed Lily's forehead.
"I guess motherhood is something you can't learn out of a book." I murmured. Lily gave me a long look before turning back to her mum.
"Have you changed his nappy?"
"He was only born an hour ago!" Lily said. Margaret smiled.
"Maybe he just wants sleep." Lily nodded.
"Um, ok. James." Lily gave me a sweet look.
"Lily." I said copying her expression.
"Can you bring the cot in here please?" Lily said. I got out my wand. "No, don't summon it. You'll break it." Lily said sounding very slightly panicky.
"Fine." I said getting up.
"Thank you, love you." She said. I gave her a smile. Once I left the room I went to the stairs.
"PADFOOT! MOONY! I NEED YOUR HELP!" I shouted. Sirius appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
"Thou callest me?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.
"We need to move the cot."
"Why don't you just use your wand?" Sirius asked.
"Oh yeah." I said, I think having a baby scrambled my brain slightly. I stood up properly. "I'm an idiot."
"That you are Prongs." Sirius said as he walked up the steps. I walked into the playroom nursery baby room thing that we had and got out my wand.
"Wingardium Leviosar." I said making the cot levitate in the air. I went to it and pushed it carefully out of the room and down the hall. Sirius had now reached the top of the stairs.
"So how is the mother?" He asked as he leaned against the wall.
"Do you want to see?" I asked him. Sirius nodded.
"I suppose that might be a good idea." He opened the bedroom door and I pushed the cot through and let it fall gently on the floor.
"Lily Darling, how are you?" Sirius asked as he walked in behind me. Lily glanced up and smiled. I rolled my eyes. Their pet names for each other got annoying sometimes. I understand fully why they have the names but still! Wait, I'm not getting jealous of Sirius am I? Shit!
"Hey Sirius Honey." Lily said.
"Lets see Harry." He said.
"Um, Sirius." Lily said. She looked up at me and I nodded.
"Hey, Padfoot. You fancy being Harry's Godfather?" I asked him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. Sirius looked at me then to Lily.
"You guys want me to be Harry's godfather. ME, the worst marauder?" He asked pointing to himself. I laughed.
"Yes. We'd be honoured if you would." I said. Sirius grinned.
"Only if I get to hold Harry for just a moment."
"You're such a girl." Lily muttered. Sirius scowled.
"No I'm not!" He said. Lily shook her head. Sirius!
Won't that baby shut up! It's been two weeks since Harry was born and he's cried almost non-stop since. I love Harry to bits, I really do. He's the loveliest baby on the face of this earth, he's beautiful and I only love Lily more but he's driving me crazy! Merlin knows how Lily feels! Lily rolled over next to me and I felt the bed spring up slightly as Lily's weight came off the bed.
"Please, I literally just fed you." Lily said. She sounded quite upset. I turned over and looked at where the cot was. Lily's now slender frame over the cot. Her red hair falling over one of her shoulders. She bent over and picked up Harry.
"Bring him over here." I managed to croak up in my semi conscious state. Lily nodded and came back over to the bed with Harry in her arms. She sat in the bed and lay Harry between us as she lay back down again. Harry seemed to calm down slightly and when Lily gently held his tiny, itty bitty hands he stopped crying all together.
"God, we've only been parents for two weeks and we already can't cope." Lily said,
"No, we're just not used to it. If Jenny managed it on her own with a werewolf baby I think we can managed together with a normal baby." I said leaning over and kissing Lily. She happily returned the kiss. Kisses had been in short supply recently with Lily looking after Harry and me going out to work at all hours.
"But I feel really bad, it's your final assessment today." Lily said as she looked at the clock on the bedside table.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll be fine. My record says everything." I muttered as I pulled the duvet over Lily. She nodded and gently rested her hand on Harry's chest and played with the fabric of his clothes. I lay down as well and looked at her with a smile.
"I'm actually more worried about you." I said.
"Why?" She asked with a yawn.
"You're just so tired. Why don't you get your mum to look after Harry sometimes so that you can sleep."
"No, I have to learn to be a mum on my own. Well Mum will help me obviously but I want to do it on my own." Lily said. "I just gotta get into the swing of things." She said as she yawned again. I reached across and put a hand on her cheek and stroked it gently.
"Lily, please this isn't the kind of thing that's like school or Healer or Auror training. Being a parent is a full time job. I know I'm getting just about enough sleep, you need some as well." I said worriedly.
"I managed to do this through my exams at school I can do this now." Lily said, almost stubbornly. I sighed and gave up.
"Fine." I said. I rolled onto my back, I could feel Harry kicking the duvet up and down with his legs. I just stared at the ceiling for a while, I don't know why but since Harry had been born things just weren't as...easy anymore. Lily and I had to be careful about everything. I really tried to help out when I wasn't at work, I really did but there was so much that Lily would let me do. She was taking on too much. Didn't she realize that a baby was one of those responsibilities that she didn't have to take on all by herself. I heard Lily sigh tiredly.
"I'm sorry James." She said
"It's alright." I said, I swear I sounded colder then I meant to. I turned over and saw Lily absently playing with Harry's hands. She looked quite troubled. "Lily, it's fine, just let me do more to help." I said. Lily nodded.
"Here, you go to sleep. I'll take Harry downstairs." I said sitting up. Lily looked at me.
"But you have your assess-"
"No, Lily. I'll take Harry downstairs, you just try and get some sleep. I'm fine." I said to her. I slowly began to pick up Harry. Lily sat up and was about to say something when I put my fingers against her mouth. Gently I moved them away.
"Ja-" I put my fingers against her mouth again.
"Lily." I said staring into her eyes. We'd had these kind of staring contests before. We just stared at each other for a while. Lily did look rather drawn and tired. Finally she sighed and nodded.
"Fine." She said with a smile. I gave her a smile of my own and got up.
"I'll bring Harry back up when I go to work." I said. Lily nodded and lay down in bed again. I held Harry carefully and went to his cot to pick up his blanket before heading out the bedroom and to the living room.
"Do you think there's any chance you can maybe stop crying, just so your mum can get some sleep?" I asked Harry. He just seemed to stare back at me, obviously not understanding what I'd just said. What two week old baby would? "Don't answer that." I said. I went to the living room and sat on the sofa with Harry lying across my legs. He was so tiny and so light. He seemed to give a toothless grin and I smiled.
"What you smiling at?" I asked as I wiggled my fingers above Harry's face. I learnt by watching Lily that this had quickly become Harry's favourite thing. Wiggle your fingers above his face and he'd wave his hands around and try and catch them. He wasn't very good at it but that was because he couldn't move his limbs quickly. I watched Harry carefully and noticed that he seemed to be concentrating awfully hard for a baby. Curious, I stopped wiggling my fingers and jut held my index finger out. Harry watched it carefully. I moved my finger around and Harry's eyes followed it. I moved my hand a bit faster and still Harry's eyes followed my finger.
"Amazing." I said with a smile. "There's a chance you could be a quidditch player my son." I said. Harry was still staring at my finger like he was expecting it to move again. I rolled my eyes and began wiggling it again and Harry gave a baby laugh and waved his arms around again.
I crept into the bedroom silently and as gracefully as I could. I didn't want to wake up Lily or Harry, who was asleep in my arms. I glanced over to the bed where I saw Lily looking snug and peaceful under our duvet. I went to the cot and gently lay Harry down in it. I admit I felt slightly tired but after the assessment I had been granted some leave in order to help Lily out. Finally, that paternity leave thing, aurors weren't as cold hearted as I thought. Of course, April had also tried to get some leave but aurors aren't that stupid. They saw right through April's claims that she was also nine months pregnant. As I put the blanket over Harry I waved my wand and my clothes changed so it wasn't so much night wear but everyday wear. I picked my auror robes off the back of a chair in the bedroom and pulled them on. I glanced at Lily again and smiled. As I put my wand into my robes I went over to the bed and crouched on the floor on Lily's side. Lily looked so peaceful and like she was so happy that she was finally getting some sleep. I leant over and kissed her gently on her forehead. Lily let out a moan and took my hand.
"Damn it, did I wake you up?" I asked quietly. She smiled and opened her eyes slightly.
"I'm a really light sleeper now" She said. I looked at her and smiled.
"Well I have to go to work." I said, "Final assessment then I have a few weeks off." Lily's smile grew.
"Yay." She said. I grinned and planted a kiss on Lily's lips. She responded weakly, she was still very tired. When I pulled away I stroked her hair out of the way of her face.
"Try and get some sleep while Harry's asleep." I said before kissing her forehead.
"Why are you so good to me?" Lily asked, "I swear I've done nothing to deserve it." Oh, I can think of plenty things Lily's done
"You gave birth to Harry and I love you." I said as my reasons. "That's enough for me. See you later." Lily was reluctant to let go of my hand but eventually let go as I left the bedroom. I was in the hall when I saw Mrs. Evans coming out of the bathroom. "Good morning Margaret." I said. She looked at me and smiled.
"Off to work?" She asked.
"Yes." I said politely with a smile.
"How's Lily and Harry?"
"Harry is fine, Lily's a bit tired, you wouldn't mind looking after Harry for a bit today so that Lily can get some sleep would you?" I asked.
"It's fine." She said. "He is my grandson."
"How does it feel?" I asked cheekily.
"Off to work with you." Mrs. Evans said.
"Yes mother in law." I said. Mrs. Evans rolled her eyes and I apparated out of the house. I found myself outside my little cubicle. I glanced at the cubicle next to me and saw my wife's blond haired best friend fast asleep on the desk. Her head was nestled in her arms. What was it with the girls falling asleep now a days, well no, Lily had an excuse. I got out my wand and pointed it at my throat.
"Sonorus" I said. "HEY APRIL!" I said only my voice was about ten times louder. April gave a start of surprise and her chair fell backwards. She rolled off it and got up in a tangle of robes as I said the counter charm. I burst out into a fit of laughter. April was breathing heavily and look at me rather annoyed. She straightened her robes and ran her fingers through her hair.
"JAMES!" She shouted.
"You're gonna make such a good auror!" I said falling back into my chair, no longer able to hold myself up.
"Oh shut up, you're such a pig." She said. "I don't know why Lily married you." She conjured a brush and began to detangle her hair.
"Well just this morning she asked me what she'd done to deserve me so yeah, I wonder why?" I said. April sneered at me and sat down again muttering swear words under her breath.
"I'm so glad my son isn't here to hear that." I said. April gave me another annoyed look. "You're just tired."
"I'll have you know that I was up all night revising and learning the stuff that YOU made me fail last assessment!"
"It's not my fault you were concerned about my wife." I said. April was about to snap back at me then shut her mouth. I smiled smugly and turned to my desk as I felt something like a book hit the back of my head.
"Hey!" I said. I turned to look at April. She stuck her tongue out at me.
"Oi, Marsden. Time for your assessment." Moody said from a doorway. April suddenly went serious.
"Good luck." I whispered.
"Thanks." April got up and went to the doorway that Moody stood in front of. He moved out of the way and April glanced at him nervously and went through the door. I suddenly felt very nervous for April, I hoped she passed. She was going to pass anyway. We had been told the assessment was only about ten percent of the final mark and there was really no point to it but it was a necessity. Everything else was based on our performance during raids and recently, how many deatheaters we had helped to capture. I went to April's cubicle and looked at her desk, as usual it was covered in wrappers of chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts every flavour beans and some Muggle gum called Wrigley's chewing gum. I had to wonder how she stayed so thin after eating so many sweets. Lily was always complaining about April's figure. I'm pretty sure that April does a lot of exercise that we don't know about. I frowned, I wasn't one for being very fussy about mess but I just felt slightly annoyed about April's messy cubicle.
"Scougify" I said pointing my wand at the desk. April wouldn't mind. The sweet wrappers all disappeared and I looked at a few odd pieces of parchment that were on April's desk. A few of them had odd doodling on it, yes, April really worked hard last night! I sorted through her parchments and came across a photo of her and Sirius from when we'd just come out of Hogwarts. I could see Peter and Remus in the background pulling faces and I smiled. I sat down in April's seat as I found another photo of her and Sirius on the desk. I was curious now. I know I really shouldn't look through April's things but other then Lily I really didn't know any girls very well. April was effectively my sister-in-law I wanted to know more about her. I glanced at a few other pieces of parchment. April had doodled her name quite a lot as well as Harry's name followed by some really random drawing of stick babies. I laughed as I went through the pieces of paper until I came to one that had a letter on it. The letter had been crossed out and the parchment looked like it had been crumpled slightly. It had a date on it, it was from months ago but still, I was curious.
"What is this?" I muttered to myself.
Hey Sirius.
It's me, April. I think I was wrong when I said I wanted to break up with you, I know you're going out with Yasmine but I just wanted to tell you that I still care for you a lot. No, not a lot, I love you still so much and I didn't know how to tell you in person because I reckon it would just be awkward-
The letter stopped there. Wow, April still felt about Sirius like that? She made a good show of making us think that she'd gotten over him.
"Potter." Said someone behind me. I turned to see Kingsley Shacklebolt behind me. "Ready for your assessment?" I nodded and put down the pieces of parchment. I stood up. "Should you be looking through April's things like that?" He asked with a smirk.
"Just reading her notes" I said casually. He nodded.
"Ok, so this is pretty standard. We've got a deatheater from Azkaban in a room and you have to catch him." Kingsley said.
"Is that it?" I asked him.
"Oh, don't be so cocky Potter. I think you'll have met this Deatheater." Kingsley said. I nodded slowly. He indicated to a door and I went in. "I'll stay here." I nodded and he closed the door. His voice suddenly filled the room. "Alright, we'll know when you've found each other. The assessment will be over once one of you is down, NO unforgivable curses!" What was this? A bloody battle? I glanced around, the room was totally dark.
"Lumos." I said. The light out of my wand shone right into a large collection of trees. "What the-" I looked around, I'd never been in this room before. It was filled with trees, it was like a small forest only it was inside. There was even slightly damp grass on the floor. I slowly walked further into the makeshift forest. My mind was racing as I thought of all the useful spells and curses I could use. I heard a rustle in the bushes to the side and swung my wand around.
"Nox" I whispered. The light at the end of my wand went out. "Reducto" The bush seemed to explode apart and a small rabbit hopped out of it. There were animals in here as well? I felt the urge to become prongs, I could se clearer in the dark as prongs but if I did here then I'd be sent to Azkaban. I stayed still and slowly began to look round in a circle. I could hear something. A flash of red shot past my head and I turned. There was a light shining in my face.
"Stupefy!" I shouted. The light disappeared and I saw the figure disappear behind a tree. All I saw was a flick of long hair. Great, I was facing a girl! I snuck behind a tree and glanced into a small clearing near the area that the woman had disappeared into.
"Reducto!" The woman said. The tree I was hiding behind splintered and I was forced to look for somewhere else to hide. It took me a fraction of a second to find another place to hide for protection. I glanced around the tree and saw the woman standing in the clearing muttering something. I recognised her, I'd seen her before.
"Lumos." I whispered. I pointed the light at the woman, Oh merlin, that was Jessica Lowe. That meant they'd caught her, she was a deatheater. That's what Kingsley meant, I might have met her. She looked in my direction. I felt slightly hesitant about attacking her for my assessment but all I had to think about was the fact that she used to give Lily a hard time, she was a deatheater so she must have killed many innocent people.
"Impedimenta," I shouted.
"Protego." She said. My spell rebounded and I turned and came out at the other side of the trunk as the spell hit where I had been a minute ago. "Flamora" A jet of fire shot out of her wand. I pointed my wand at the fire and a jet of water shot out of the end of my wand. I had to hold my wand steady, I could feel it wanting to pull away.
"Serpentsortia" Jessica said as she seemed to jump out of the way.
"Finite incantatum." I shouted as I pointed the wand at the oncoming snake. Snakes! Urgh! The snake disappeared. I looked around and saw a bit of Jessica's robes on the floor.
"Accio" I said. The robes came towards me, it looked like it was stuck on something. Jessica let out a frustrated shout and I conjured some ropes and they wrapped around Jessica.
"You bastard." She shouted at me. "Stupefy!" She said pointing her wand at me somehow from behind her back. I dodged out of the way and she got free.
"Petrificus Totallus! Confundus!" I shouted. The first jinx missed but the other one hit Jessica and she stumbled back and shook her head.
"Its you." She hissed when she saw me. I smiled
"And what's my name Lowe?" I said.
"Um..." She held her wand out as her confused mind just couldn't think of my name. "Um, Avadafy!" She shouted. I felt like laughing.
"Stupefy!" I said lazily. Jessica fell backwards completely stunned. Was that it? Jessica wasn't that much of a challenge. Next time give me Lord Voldemort! I thought cockily. I had heard that Jessica had been a very fierce deatheater, that she was one of Voldemort's inner circle, she certainly didn't seem like that much of a challenge. The forest disappeared and I was in a large empty room.
"Well done Potter. You've passed, congratulations, you're now a fully fledged Auror." Kingsley said walking into the room and holding his hand out. I grinned and shook his hand.
"How's April?"
"She's still in her assessment, I've heard she's sustained some injury but only a few minor cuts, I'm surprised that you didn't get injured." Kingsley said.
"Well, I'm good what can I say?" I asked him. Kingsley laughed.
"Your parent's and sister would be proud. Now, I believe that you have a baby to look after." Kingsley said. I grinned at him and gave a quick manly hug.
"Thanks, see you in a few weeks." I said. I was a fully fledged Auror! WOO! I apparated out of the Auror headquarters and back home. I went straight into the bedroom where Lily still appeared to be asleep. Harry wasn't in the cot so that meant that Mrs. Evans had him downstairs. Lily rolled over in the bed and gave me an amused frown.
"How did it go?" she asked. I went to the bed and picked her up in my arms. She gave a slight shout of surprise and put her arms around my neck. She laughed as I pressed a kiss against her lips.
"I passed, I'm a full fledged Auror now." I said with a grin. Lily murmured a response.
"I'd be happy for you but I want another kiss." She said with a grin.
"My pleasure." I said. I pressed my lips against hers again. Her lips were so soft as usual and they way she kissed. I felt my heart explode, everything was going so right today!
A/N:-Ok, this chapter was VERY long, over 6000 words which is 1000 more then usual. This has to be the longest chapter I have EVER written. Be proud of yourselves for getting through this chapter, I applaud all of you for your dedication to reading my story.
Ok, more questions need answering. Argh, all you people who want me to keep Lily and James alive...I've been planning an ending where they do survive so right now i have 2 different endings, but i rather like the one where Lily and James die but that's because i like the way it goes into Prisoner of Azkaban (which is where the story will officially end) but I like the idea of them being alive...WHY DO YOU PEOPLE MAKE ME THINK!! I'm feeling rather rude right now because i've just written more of this story where April is being rather bitchy so i'm in this whole, lets be horrible to everyone mood....
Dee: Normally Lily is pretty Radiant and stuff but have you been around pregnant women? they are the most emotional creatures on this planet! After watching my mum have 4 kids (That was AFTER me), i've learnt to e very wary of pregnant ladies
Jessie: Did i say that Sirius was a Traitor? i can't remember that, he was on recon! did you not notice the whole go and save the marsdens thing?
Luthien: Sorry i didn't put your entire name but it's too long for my brain to remember. But yeah, Lily conceived in October, int he last chapter i think she was 7 months gone (I'm too lazy to check) and this one...she had Harry! joy of joys! As for April and Sirius....ah, well there's a mystery.
Fra: you will get your wish with the Jenny/Remus...i like the next Remus Chapter :D or the beggining of it anyway
Next chapter will be....dum dum dum.......APRIL!! It's called Death Eater Meeting