Chapter two: Prophecy Reading
Lily was sitting in the kitchen of her and James 6 room apartment. Her maternity shirt was decked out in food crumbs, which had unfortunately fallen all over her when she was getting her self a snack. She had been left alone in her home for almost a week and even though hers and James's friends had visited her constantly, she still felt lonely. She guessed it was because she felt unsafe.
Allis and Frank were lying in the hospital most likely permanently damaged. They were some of the best auras that they had and they had been defeated. Now here she is, pregnant and alone. She took a bite out of the sandwich she had prepared so caught up in her thoughts of foreboding that she missed the familiar popping sound of someone apparating.
James found himself in the living room of his home. It was in one word 'messy'. 'No', he thought, 'this room is so messy I'm going to have to add a 'very' to it'. The room was 'very' messy. There were magazines and newspapers all over the couches and floor and old dirty dishes and glasses just lying around. He carefully maneuvered his way to the kitchen where he could hear noises.
He could see Lily sitting with her back to him just staring off into space, a half-eaten sandwich in her hands. Very quietly, James tiptoed his way right up behind her. He pulled back his sleeves and wrapped his arms around her large belly.
"AHHHH!" Lily screamed in one swift movement she dropped her sandwich and brought her elbow low to his groin. James fell back to the floor and placed his two hands to his private area. Lily turned around and stared wide eyed at him. "James you're back! OMG I'm so sorry. I thought you were a Dearth eater-I- oh James thank God you're back. I was so scared. Are you feeling?"
"Pain," James choked, "Lots and lots of pain." He let out a moan and rolled onto his side.
"Oh James, baby, I'm sorry," Lily placed her hand on his cheek and forehead. She then got up and rushed to the fridge and grabbed some ice. She pulled out her wand and charmed it into an icepack. She then rushed back to James and removed his hands to replace them with it. Lily helped him stand up and escorted him to the table.
"So how did it go?" She asked him. "Did you find the um-the prophecy-thingy?" She tugged at the end of her shirt.
"Yeah," He shifted the icepack in his lap, "We think it might have something to do with the other prophecy sphere. Were going to try and open them tomorrow."
"Well I'm going in tomorrow to collect my things maybe I could take a look at the two."
James shifted himself in the seat and looked at Lily and smiled. "Jesus, you hit hard."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"Its ok. Don't worry about it."
James and Lily walked hand in hand into the War department. Sirius was already there. He was standing over blond haired auror, who was looking at a map. James and Lily walked over or in Lily's case she waddled over.
"Sirius," James called, "What's going on?"
Sirius looked up and smiled when he saw the two, "Lily, what are you doing here I thought you were staying home." He outstretched his arms and welcomed lily to hug him.
"I'm here because I need to collect my papers and talk to Moody about my work hours after I have my Harry-"
"You already thought of a name, that's great."
"Thank you, we were thinking of Hailey if it was a girl but James insisted it was a boy so I'm not-"
"Yes it will be a boy but what's going on here?" James interrupted.
"Oh, here. Mark just found out about hints of a deatheater meeting tonight so he's going to send out a team there to investigate. Maybe get some news."
"Oh, hey-"
"Don't you dare think about volunteering. Especially after you just came back!" Lily cried attracting a few stares.
"Lily-" James said trying to calm her down.
"No, I will not explain to my son why his father is buried out in Lakewood Cemetery."
"Ok, Lily, I won't volunteer. Is everything ok now?" James asked.
Lily nodded, "I'm sorry. I just well I don't know." She walked by James over to Mark and began to study the map.
James leaned over to Sirius and mumbled, "Mood-swings." As if that explained everything.
Sirius smiled then mumbled back, "I think I might check out that meeting investigation, you know get the inside scoop."
"Wait no you can't. That's not fair."
"Alls fair, my good friend." He patted his shoulder when the familiar voice of Moody called.
James, Lily, Sirius and a few other prestigious Aurors settled themselves around Moody's office. They were waiting in silence for a couple of minutes as Moody went to retrieve the two spheres from Longbottom's office.
James was sitting on one of the swish chairs in the office with Lily sitting on his lap. Lily smiled as she felt her son kick around in her stomach. She grabbed James's hand and placed it on her stomach. His eyes went wide and he smiled as he looked back at Lily.
"Hmm," Moody walked into the room and cleared his throat. Everyone turned his or her eyes on him. He was carrying two glowing objects in his hands He walked to his desk, which was in front of the two chairs. He placed the prophecies in his desk and began to explain the genesis of the two.
Lily stared at the spheres. Both were glowing a searing white and she had to squint her eyes just to gaze at them. The sphere closest to the left was begging to change colors. It went from the plain white to a deep blood red. The creepy thing about the scene was that the from the light's rays, tiny impressions of veins began to fan out. Any of the red lights that hit something solid it instantly turned to blood. Lily resisted the urge to throw up. It was disgusting to watch it drip down people's faces or down the walls, but when it hit the desk it began to form a puddle.
Lily looked around to see if any one was reacting to it. To her surprise the blood was being ignored. She turned her head and looked at James. It was some sort of relief when she saw that he looked disturbed by it. She nudged him with her elbow. He looked at her as she nodded her head over to the sphere.
"Whats going on?" she whispered.
"You see it too?" He asked eagerly. She nodded. He looked like he was going to say something important when Moody's voice broke through the air.
"-That's why were going to send them to Dumbledor. Have Ms. Trelwany, the seer take a look at it." James and Lily looked up at him. "Everyone dismissed." People all around the room began to stand up and leave.
"I'll tell you at lunch," James whispered as he helped his wife stand up. He kissed her then left the room.
Lily stayed back and waited till the room was empty of everyone except herself and Moody. He was standing behind his desk, opening one of his drawers and placing the two spheres into it. She couldn't help but notice that as the spheres began to move out from sight the aura around them began to diminish.
She stared at it until Moody brought her out of her reverie. "I understand you want to talk about your work schedule?" Lily just nodded. She didn't know why but she just never felt comfortable talking in his presence. "Well," he pulled his chair out from under the desk and took a seat. He gestured to the previous seat that she and James were in earlier to sit down. "We gave Allis a 3 months vacation. She'll start back on full in about a little over a month and that's if she gets better." This caused Lily to go pale. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"
"No, I also was kind of wondering what again are you doing with the prophecies."
"We're sending the two to Professor Dumbledor. He'll probably be able to open them."
Lily nodded, "I was wondering um," She leaned foreword, "If James and I could talk to Professor Dumbledor when he comes to collect them?"
"Actually were sending them to him. But I'll make sure to tell him you need to speak to him." Moody gave her a scarred smile and lily subtly flinched. "Now," He wheezed, as he distracted his gaze, "You'll be wanting to take home your work. You'll be covering for Allis."
"Yes, Sir," Lily sighed. She stood up. "Thank you."
When Lily left she was happy to find James waiting for her. He smiled and waved. He gently grabbed her elbow and tugged her off onto the side.
"Lily," he sounded nervous, "What exactly did you see?" His voice was low and husky.
"What again?"
"What did you see with the prophecies?"
"The one prophecy was glowing red and it turned to blood," Lily said, "What's going on?"
James looked thoughtful. He pulled his thumb and his index finger and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "When me and Sirius were in Rome some strange things happened."
"Like what?" Lily asked.
"I could see the magic centering around crystals and Sirius couldn't. I mean I could withstand extreme raw power. And at some point I could hear screaming and creepy crying. The thing was it was all coming from the crystal." James explained. Suddenly Moody's door opened. The old man walked out he glanced at them before he walked out of the room.
"What does this have to do with the prophecies?" Lily asked a when he was out of hearing.
"Possibly everything," James answered. "The crystal was the key to opening the cave where the prophecy was." James took another thoughtful look then he spoke, more to himself then to Lily, "Maybe the prophecies are for us. Maybe that's why we've seen those things. That's why no one has been able to open them. They're meant for us."
Lily stared at him, "Honey, Be reasonable that one prophecy was made about 40 years ago. How would you know?"
"Lily this is divination, its an inexact science. For all we know it is for us. Now-"
"Now what? What is now?" Lily asked.
"We've got to see them. It's now or never. Moody's out to God knows where. Its are only time." Lily nodded, " Ok, Ok, quiet." James led Lily over to Moody's office door. He looked around the room one last time then turned towards Lily and nodded. He quietly opened the doors then shut it gently behind Lily who followed him in. "The prophecies, where did he put them?"
"Um he put them over there." Lily pointed over to Moody's desk, "Quick I don't want to get caught." The couple moved towards the desk and crowded around it. James opened and at once the light poured out: both pure white and blood red.
James stuck hid hand in and lifted the white prophecy out first. He felt a tingly sensation explore his fingers eventually spreading up to his hands. "Lily," He said serenely, "Touch this." She did as she was told and I a matter of seconds she was hit with the same feeling as him except she felt it spread to her stomach and there it felt more intense and there was only so much she could do to not break out into fits of giggles.
Suddenly a distant, serene voice spoke: 'THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES . . .. BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM. BORN, AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES . . . AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT. . AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HANDS OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE EITHER SURVIVES . . .. THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES . . .'
As the voice ended Lily felt the air around her thin and fingers grow tired. She subconsciously let go of it. James who was feeling the same ecstasy was powerless to stop it. The two were only broken from their haze of bliss when they heard the sphere crash into the ground.
James was the first to wake. He looked around to see what had made that noise. His spirit dropped. The prophecy was destroyed. It currently was lying on the hardwood floor with a huge crack down the center. The light was completely out and it resembled a broken light bulb. James moaned. He bent down to pick it up.
He completely ignored the words of the prophecy that were ringing in his head. Mainly because he didn't really let the words sink in. Deep down he knew what they meant but he was refusing to let his conscious mind know anything that might hurt him.
Lily, though, was a different story. She was frozen. The prophecy spoke of a dark Lord. Voldamort was the only dark Lord of this time and both she and James had defied him three times. Of course they weren't together but they weren't alone either. No they were with Frank and Allis. Realization rolled through her. That was why the death eaters attacked the couple. They wanted to kill Neville he was born just this month… This month is July and July is the seventh month.
She tried to find her voice to tell James but she was frozen stiff. She let her eyes take notice of the room. James was squatting on the balls of his feet with the prophecy in his hands. She noticed instead of it being bright it was just black in the middle. It was a dead prophecy now. She turned her neck and noticed the second prophecy still sitting on the desk waiting to be read.
She twitched her fingers before perfunctorily reaching her hand out to it. All at once the feel of the bloody sphere attacked her reality. She was no longer in Moody's office but in a dark place now. It was cold and she noticed her body was at least chest high in murky water. In fact she couldn't even feel the bottom she was just floating. She outstretched her left hand and felt something cold and rough against her delicate skin. Surprised she withdrew. It felt familiar but she couldn't place it. She reached out to feel it again. As she moved her hand up and down she felt small indents in it. Wait that's it. It was a stonewall. That's why it felt so familiar. It felt like the walls at Hogwarts. But why would Hogwarts be full of water.
She was going to ponder this more when movement caught her attention. She looked to her other side and saw a young man wading in the water, too. He had black hair but it was matted to his head as an effect from being soaked in the water and bright glowing green eyes hidden behind large, round emo fashioned glasses. He looked remarkably like James but much younger. He was feeling the air behind him. It took Lily awhile to realize that he was actually feeling the parallel wall. Wait, it wasn't a parallel wall. The whole room the two were in was circular. They were in a well.
Lily waded closer to him. He had now given up on the walls and was now staring up at the tall ceiling. He looked anxious and uncomfortable and Lily felt a huge urge to hug him, just to comfort him but she ignored it. For a moment he turned his head in her direction and Lily felt as if he was really looking at her but before she could get serious about the idea he turned away.
A scraping sound distracted her from the young man and it kind of disappointed her. She felt completely content just to watch him, like a guardian angel forever. The noise, however, came from the ceiling where she could see a ring of light forming. The ring turned to what looked like a moon waxing until finally it was just blinding to stare up.
A distant voice began to call down the well. It was blurry and sounded ethereal almost as if it was on the verge of fading. It was calling a name down but because it was so tranquil she felt it hard to pay attention to what it was actually saying but just to get lost in the melody. She drifted off and barely noticed her body actually fade away from the water. She barely noticed her feet hit the hard floor but when the voice finally did die away she opened her eyes only to be hit with images of a majestic red-bellied reptile. The rest of it was an ebony color, which instantly magnified the pure white eyes. The image flickered every other second with the black haired mysterious boy. It was slow at first until finally they became so fast they meshed as one. Until you could only see one image if you concentrated on just that one and with that she opened her eyes and was now staring into the eyes of a panicked James.
"Lily I think you just broke your water." His voice was dripping with fear and anticipation.
"What?" It was true. She looked down to see herself standing in a puddle of water.
"James," She exhaled calmly, "St. Mungos, St. Mungos. Get me there."
James nodded silently. He whipped out his wand and levitated lily off the ground. He had no idea what just happened. One moment Lily was staring so deeply into the prophecy then the next minute she was dripping water down her legs. He looked over at Lily who was rubbing her stomach and was now beginning to breath heavily. He barely even registered the fact that Moody was standing right outside the door when they exited but he did hear someone shout call 'Moony and Wormtail' and could only guess that was Sirius.
Lily began to hyperventilate when she felt sudden cramps in her stomach. It was beginning to convulse horribly and she let out a blood hurtling scream. She felt like something was literally scraping into her insides. She barely noticed the warm hand slip into her grip but all she could do was squeeze it. The pain was excruciating and she was praying for a miracle. Her eyes began to blur with tears and a dull pounding began to echo against her head. The last thing she knew before passing out was a foreign stranger pointing a ghostly light into her eyes mouthing words of instructions to her. But because of her light-headiness she couldn't hear any of it.