It's Time
Irish Silhouette
Disclaimer: Don't Own It. I'm so grateful to J. K Rowling for inventing someone like James Potter, though. Mmmm…
James Potter was dreaming. The dream in question involved wine, lace, and, strangely enough, a hippogriff that somehow looked like… Sirius? The dream was progressing nicely when James was suddenly jarred awake.
He looked around wildly, and his eyes fell on the hunched figure of his wife, Lily.
"Lily! You were moving or something because I woke up!" James complained. "I was having one of my odd dreams, and now you can't even analyze it! I'll never…"
James stopped talking when he realized that Lily wasn't sitting with her back against the bed as she normally did, but bent over and curled in a ball.
He moved closer to try to figure out the source of Lily's unusual body position.
"Lily- what…?" James realized that his hand was resting in something… wet.
"Urgh! You wet the bed!" James exclaimed disgustedly. His first reaction was to get as far away from his wife as possible. Then, he remembered that he had sworn when he married Lily to always be supportive and understanding, no matter… what.
"It's all right, though, love, I won't laugh at you, I promise. I've heard of this, adults can wet the bed too," James hurried on as he felt her start to shake. "It's okay, Lily! I think they even have support groups for adult bed-wetters, and we could-"
"James…" Lily rasped. "Mmughrylghum…"
"What? Once more, didn't quite catch that," James said cheerfully. (Or as cheerful as one could be at 4 AM.)
She took a deep breath, but still didn't say anything.
"Lily, what IS it? You can't just wake me up after you've wet the bed or something then mumble something and not tell me what it is! That's like offering me Ice Mice then taking them away! I love Ice Mice! Ahmm… ice mice…"
"My WATER broke, you great prat!"
James blinked. As surprises went, this one took the cake.
"Come again? Lily, the baby isn't due for a month! Are you sure?"
Lily's answer was a squeak of pain.
"Are those the contractors?" James asked knowledgeably. "I know all about everything that happens when you have a baby! I read it in the 'How to Be a Good Daddy' handbook Sirius gave me."
Lily feebly slapped at James' arm and croaked out one word:
"Hospital."
"Oh, right! Sorry, you know how I ramble when I'm nervous. Come on, Lily, get up!"
He jumped out of bed, pulled a shirt off the ground, and sniffed it.
'Clean enough,' he thought. He pulled it over his head and grabbed his wand.
"Come ON, Lily!"
Lily was, at the moment, struggling to get her body off the bed. Her swollen belly was making things difficult. She scooted to the floor and looked pleadingly up at James. She winced as another contraction hit.
His heart swelled as he realized why this was all happening. He had been preparing himself for this for 8 months. Lily was carrying his child and he…
James mentally shook himself. This was no time to get emotional. James muttered under his breath,
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Lily floated down the stairs and out the door. As she hovered in the warm July air, James felt the panic start to set in.
"Lily, what are we going to do? You're in no shape to Apparate, and we can't just call a Muggle taxi, Godric's Hollow is an all-wizarding village! We can't walk to St. Mungo's! Oh no, oh no…"
This was the first time James had felt utterly helpless when Lily was hurting, and he had sworn when they married to protect her. It was not a nice feeling. Was he going to have to birth the baby himself?
He grabbed Lily's hand, massaging it. If he had to deliver the baby, then he would.
His eyes searched the area, looking for something, anything, that would help him. He stared across the street, and… Of course!
"I'll be right back, love!"
James left Lily panting in midair, and ran as fast as his 6'3 frame could carry him. He stopped in front of the house across the street, and began banging on the door with all his might.
"Sirius! Sirius! SIRIUS!"
The door slowly creaked open, and Sirius appeared in the doorway, yawning. He was wearing the same rumpled clothes as yesterday.
"What, Prongs? I was kinda sleeping! It's hard for me to get to sleep, too… you know I have bad dreams! It's like… I'm scared to go to sleep every night!"
"I don't care… argh, I want… I don't- can't- I don't care right now, Sirius!" James cried frantically, wringing his hands. He didn't do well under pressure. In fact, he did as far away from well as was humanly possible. James did… strange things, when under stress. He couldn't think clearly.
"I- me- the bab- I can't- can you- argh!"
Sirius stared at James, a worried frown creasing his forehead.
"What's happened? I haven't seen you this crazed since you were about to ask Lily to marry you!"
James sputtered.
"C'mon, Prongs, wassamatter? Spit it out, now!" Sirius said encouragingly.
"BABY!" James finally managed to gasp.
Sirius froze.
"Baby? As in- our baby?"
James nodded.
Sirius jumped into action. He reached behind him and grabbed a large briefcase.
"Never fear, Padfoot is here! I even have my trusty Baby Briefcase! In it are all the essentials needed for one to birth a baby! It has manuals, scissors-"
James shook his head and pointed to Lily, who was still floating in midair, her face contorted into a look of intense pain.
"She wants… hospital!"
Sirius' face fell. He had been counting on birthing the baby himself.
"But… Prooonnnggs!"
"SIRIUS! No- no time to… to find the- can't… Lily- baby-"
"All right, this is getting ridiculous." Sirius pointed his wand at James and muttered a calming spell under his breath.
James' body went rigid, then relaxed.
"Ahhh. Thanks, Padfoot. I needed that. Now- Lily's about to have her baby, and I don't know how to get her to the hospital." James turned and gestured to Lily's levitated form. "I can't call a taxi to Godric's Hollow, and she can't Apparate. What are we going to do?"
"You're asking me? Well, I told you I know how to birth the baby! I could easily do it myself!"
"No! Sirius, this is important, more important than anything, and I don't know what to do!"
Sirius sighed deeply, resigned to the fact that his dream of birthing a baby would never be realized.
"Floo powder?" he suggested.
"No, I wouldn't trust Lily to know where she was going. She'd probably step off the wrong grate."
Sirius looked wildly around, as if he was hoping the answer to their problem would materialize. Suddenly, a wicked grin appeared on his face.
"Prongs… you realize what this means, don't you?"
James looked at him and ran a hand through his hair distractedly.
"Erm… No."
"It means," Sirius said, "That we're riding my motorbike to the hospital."
"No!" James cried, alarmed. "I am not putting Lily in that thing while she's- uh- severely impregnated!"
"Re-laax, Prongsie. It has a sidecar that Lily'll fit in perfectly."
James grasped great tufts of his hair, as he was wont to do under stress, and exhaled loudly.
"All right, all right, but we need to hurry! We've wasted enough time as it is."
James ran back across the street to Lily, who was still hovering. He grasped her hand and looked round anxiously.
" 'Sall right, love. Just breathe. Inhale, exhale. Right, there you go. Sirius'll be back any minute."
"James," Lily whispered through gritted teeth. "I want to leave… I want to leave right- now." She gave him a malevolent look and crushed his hand in hers.
He gulped and extracted his hand from Lily's painful grasp.
"Erm, right. No need to get angry. It's not good for the baby." James knew better than to try to grab her hand again, so he settled with patting Lily's hair.
They both turned their hands at a roaring sound, and moaned as the giant motorbike came into view.
"Nooo!" Lily groaned. "Please, James, I'm already in enough pain!"
Sirius' cheerful face came into view. He smiled at them and brandished two helmets that appeared seemingly out of thin air.
"Ready, Prongs, Lily?"
James sighed and levitated Lily over to the sidecar attached to the bike. She took deep breaths as she moved herself into a sitting position.
"Let's just- go," She whispered dangerously.
"Right," James hurriedly put on his helmet and straddled the seat behind Sirius.
The next fifteen minutes consisted of Lily clutching her stomach and making occasional moans, James watching her anxiously, and Sirius making entirely inappropriate comments such as, "Isn't this fun? Aren't you glad you took a ride on my motorbike now?" and, "Oooh, look, JamesandLily! A shop selling all my favorite things!" James and Lily, used to this sort of thing from Sirius, ignored him.
Finally, the motorbike came screeching down to the ground in front of St. Mungo's. James, ready to spring out, had to stop when he realized Sirius was still driving.
"Sirius! What the hell do you think you're doing? We need to get into the hospital now!"
"Calm down, Prongs, I'm only trying to find a good parking spot. I can't just park my bike anywhere. It might get stolen, or worse, scratched."
James flexed his knuckles, looking as if there were a few things he would very much like to say, but was refraining.
"Sirius," he whispered through gritted teeth. "Stop this piece of equipment immediately or I will be forced to do it for you. Is that what you want right now, Padfoot?"
"Ah- no," Sirius said hastily. "I'll just, drop you off, then, and find somewhere to park on my own, so-"
"No, you will park this damn thing in an alley, in the middle of the street for all I care, and you will come inside and help me with Lily, unless you want Remus or Peter to be my child's future godfather!"
That got Sirius. He had been on his best behavior for nine months, because he had wanted to be James' baby's godfather since the age of 14. He was terrified Lily would get cross with him and give the title to someone else. He swerved around some Muggles, skidded to a halt in front of the St. Mungo's window, and jumped out to help.
Lily's eyes were closed, her face ashen. She was concentrating very hard on breathing in, breathing out.
"Erm- all right there, Lily?" Sirius asked helpfully.
She did not answer him. She was too busy trying to get out of the motorbike.
"A little assistance would be nice," grunted James, as he tried to support Lily's substantial weight.
Sirius put one of Lily's arms around his shoulder, while James took the other arm, and they walked, rather awkwardly, to Purge and Dowse Ltd., the hospital's entrance.
"My wife, she's having a baby," puffed James to the mannequin.
The mannequin took one look at Lily's gigantic belly and nodded.
"Here we go Lily, step lightly, there's a girl," Sirius cooed in his most comforting voice.
As soon as they stepped through the glass, Lily, unable to take the pain anymore, let out a bloodcurdling shriek.
James looked around the suddenly silent reception room.
"Um, no need to stop your conversations, carry on, my wife's only having a baby!"
The three hobbled to the elevator, Lily stepping on Sirius' toes the whole way.
"It's all right, my toes are fine, Lil, in case you're wondering." Sirius muttered as the elevator doors closed.
"She's not, Sirius, I can't- just stop, I- so worried," James sputtered.
"James!" Sirius cried, alarmed. "Do you need another calming spell?"
"No," James took a deep breath. "I'll be fine."
The elevator made a dinging noise and opened.
The trio rushed out as fast as they could go, considering their circumstances. James took charge of the situation, and yelled:
"I need a healer, my wife's gone into labor." When no one paid him any mind, he said, louder, "I NEED A HEALER, MY WIFE'S GONE INTO LABOR!"
A woman with a lime-green robe on stopped in front of them.
"Name?" she asked briskly.
"Uh, James," he replied uncertainly.
"Her name?"
"Oh, Lily Potter."
The healer consulted her clipboard.
"Right, Lily. Well, Mr. Potter, your usual healer seems to be gone right now."
"What?!" James roared. "In case you haven't noticed, my wife needs immediate attention!"
"I will be taking care of you, if that is all right."
"You can take care of me, if you want," Sirius said suggestively.
"Not the time, Sirius!"
"Right, so sorry, James, I apologize."
"Anyway," the healer continued, ignoring Sirius completely, " my name is Fiona, and you can take Lily to room 4, I'll be there in just a few minutes. This shouldn't take long, I'm just going to perform a simple birthing spell."
"All right, thank you, thank you!" James called, and led Lily to her room, murmuring assurances in her ear the whole way.
Sirius stood in the hall, unsure of what to do.
"Right then, I'll just… go park my bike now, then, shall I?"
"Sirius! Get your ass in here, or I swear to ice mice and all that is holy, Moony will be taking your spot with my- bestfriendship!"
"All right, all right. Jeez, Prongs, tou-chy," Sirius ambled to Lily's hospital room, and promptly turned around, a queasy look on his face. "Er- James?"
"What is the problem now?"
"Prongs, please, look at your wife," Sirius pleaded.
Lily was sprawled out on the hospital bed, her legs spread apart, breathing heavily, obviously in severe pain. Luckily, Lily was wearing pants. James was clutching her hand with a lost look on her face.
"What do you mean, Sirius?"
"James, soon, Lily'll- what I mean to say it, erm, Lily's going to um, have a baby soon."
"I know that!"
"And the baby will be, coming out, if you take my meaning. I really don't want to be in the room while the baby is emerging from Lily's- er-"
Finally, James understood.
"Sirius, it's nothing you haven't seen before."
"Well, yes, but all the same, I would prefer-"
"It's really not a big deal, Padfoot. The hard part is now, while Lily's in pain. The healer's are simply going to put her to sleep and do a simple birthing spell."
"But James, I will still have to see the baby emerging from Lily's, um, Lily's… you know."
James sighed wearily and motioned Sirius out the door.
"Go, I'll tell you when it's over,"
"Thanksyouthankyouthankyou James, you know me, I Have a bit of a queasy stomach," Sirius turned to leave, just as the healer, Fiona, entered.
"Well he-llo there," he crooned.
"OUT!" James roared.
"Fine, fine," Sirius muttered, and slammed the door shut behind him.
"All right then, Mr. Potter, if you would just step back while I change Lily- thank you." Fiona, with a flick of her wand and a mumbled incantation, changed Lily's pants and shirt into a standard hospital gown. "Now," Fiona explained in a calm and patient voice, "I'll run a quick scan on the baby, and if everything is normal, I'll put Lily to sleep and perform the birthing spell, all right?"
"That's fine, that's very, very fine," James said, wringing his hands.
Fiona started muttering to herself and waving her wand over Lily's body as James watched nervously. A piece of paper shot out from Fiona's wand. She read it quickly, and a frown suddenly creased her forehead.
"What? What is it?" James asked nervously.
"Well, it seems that your baby is caught in Lily's womb. Nothing is the matter, but we are going to have to birth it the Muggle way, the spell can't cope with it,"
James turned pale. "The Muggle way, you say? I don't know about that…"
"Mr. Potter, it's either that or soon we will have some serious problems on out hands. We need to get Lily into labor now, or the- or… Mr. Potter?"
James couldn't answer, because at the moment, he was passed out on the floor.
James awoke to the sound of a baby crying. He was sprawled on a hospital bed, and was quickly starting to panic.
"LILY?!" he roared. "Where is Lily?"
"James, it's all right, I'm here, and I'm fine," Lily's voice said from behind a curtain.
James leaped up, threw aside the curtain, and looked frantically around, only to see…
Lily. Alive. Apparently healthy.
And… in her arms…
A baby.
His baby.
"Lily, is that-" he choked out.
"Yes, James," she replied with a soft smile on her face. "This is our baby boy."
"Why didn't you come wake me up? I wanted to see everything!"
"I thought it was better to just put you to sleep, you know how you get when I'm hurting."
"Well, yes, but-"
"That doesn't matter, just look at our baby. Just look, James."
"Harry," James said wonderingly, having picked out the name long before.
"Yes… Harry James Potter."
"Can I- can I hold him?"
"Of course, love, but be careful, won't you?"
"I will, I will," James took the baby from Lily's arms gingerly and held him.
"I can already see that he's going to have black hair just like yours," she said exasperatedly.
"And I was hoping for red," James sighed.
The door came bursting open, and a disheveled Sirius burst in.
"What'd I miss, I heard that- oh."
"Hello, Sirius, meet your godson, Harry James," Lily said.
"Oh, wow, he looks exactly like you, James, I can tell already. Let me hold him!"
James clutched his son protectively. "Are you sure, Padfoot? I mean, you do drop things a lot, you can't deny that."
"I'll be okay, I just want to hold Harry."
James groaned and handed Harry to Sirius, who proceeded to walk away, talking to harry the whole time.
"Aww, Harry, you're a cute one, aren't you? And I'll see to it that you grow up to be just like your godfather. I'll teach you the best pranks, hopefully Snape'll have a son so you can curse him like he deserves, and-"
James looked and his tired wife. They both burst out laughing. James grabbed Lily's hand, and they smiled at each other.
NoxA/N: Well, that's it. I don't like the ending much, but… I couldn't get it to turn out any other way. Thanks, I love everyone!! Review please!