Chapter 3 – Lily's Pregnancy

Two months later, James and Lily married on a cloudless morning in James's old church in north London. They had to admit it was a big wedding. On each side of the family, there had at least been a hundred relatives and friends that had to be invited, or they would be offended. The church had been so crowded, that Lily barely had room to walk the aisle properly, but in the end, everything turned out okay. Even with all the mishaps and disturbances, such as Sirius losing one of the rings in his yesterday clothes and finding it in his laundry, Lily wasn't perturbed enough by these things to be unhappy at her wedding. Everyone was enjoying themselves at dinner, except for one left out young woman clutching her Muggle pink dress, looking absolutely frightened at all the magic in the air. Lily could not believe it. Her little sister was not sensible enough to be happy for her, or at least fake it for her sake. When Petunia eyed her parents laughing and eating with Mr. and Mrs.Potter, a disgusted look came on her face. Either she was jealous or scared, or maybe both. Lily did her part by inviting Petunia to her table twice, but she refused. Well, she guessed she couldn't teach an old dog new tricks.

Two weeks after the wedding, James and Lily moved in Godric's Hollow. Even though Dumbledore had told them that it wouldn't be necessary until they had a child, James thought it was crucial to move in as soon as possible for the safety of his wife and their unborn baby.

One Sunday, when both of them did not have work, they decided to begin cleaning and furnishing the house up. It was a mess. As you already know from before, the house was unsuitable of residence, with chipped paint everywhere and a foul smell of old and rotten fruit in the air, which made Lily feel like spreading her bed sheets in the backyard and sleeping there. She could not take the smell. She was not feeling well these days and her attitude had become very snappy and grumpy whenever James asked her to do something. She would start getting dizzy when she climbed the stairs, and she found that she could not put food into her mouth before feeling a wave of something uncomfortable in her stomach.

"Phew." Lily huffed, as she settled down on the nearest chair of the living room and put the dirty cloth aside. They had been cleaning for an hour now, with no food, drink, or rest. Lily knew that might seem comedic to some people, but not to her. She was exhausted.

"Down already?" James commented, facing her with raised eyebrows, "I knew you were slow, but not that slow."

"Shut up." Lily snapped, half kidding and half serious, and threw the cloth at him.

"Hmm…looks like someone's ready to strike," he said, turning his back on her again, "You know, it's funny how you're more violent and immature than me now. Before, you wouldn't even smile when I made a joke."

Lily waved her hands in front of her face, hoping to catch some fresh air, "What can I say. I caught it from you. Unfortunately."

"Haha. You know you love it."

"Sure."

"Now, why do I feel like I'm the only one working in here?"

"I'm…tired." She said with a low voice, and suddenly, everything began to swirl around in front of her. She held her hands in the air, as a kind of overdramatic reaction to the dizziness. It was as if someone had stuck a tiny ball inside her head and now it was circling annoyingly inside her brain.

James came to her and kneeled down. He looked at her with concern, holding her hand and touching her forehead at the same time.

"Lil, what's wrong? Have you got a headache?" He asked concernedly.

"Yes…I'm a bit dizzy."

"We're getting you to the hospital. Now." James stood up and escorted her up, but she tapped his hand with more force than she intended, and said, "Sweetie. I'm a nurse myself. I can handle it."

"What if something horrible happens?"

"Aren't you just an optimist. Don't worry. I'll figure it out." She assured him, and then got up, "You know what. I think I'm going to lie down for some time. Can you clean the rest?"

"Of course." He hugged her warmly, "If there's anything you need, food, pillows, doctors, me, you name it. Got it?"

Lily giggled, "Yeah."

In a few minutes, she was lying down on their comfy bed with her head up. She gazed deeply at the ceiling, thinking of what she was going to tell James. Lily knew she was pregnant. All the signs pointed to it. The frequent dizziness, upset stomach, and she had not told James this, but she had missed her period. It was now a week after the date. The pregnancy was obviously due to their decision to engage in premarital sex. So much for not having a child until after Voldemort was gone. She knew this didn't make sense, since the prophecy said Voldemort couldn't be defeated without their son, but they'd hoped that it wouldn't happen and Frank and Alice's son would take care of it. Lily could see it now. Voldemort would break into their house and flash that green light at their baby and then laugh at his demise. It was a horrible image that wouldn't leave her eyes.

Lily felt guilty about not being happy that she was pregnant, but how could she be? Their baby would be in danger as soon as it would be born. Dumbledore had told them a few days after their meeting that someone had heard the beginning contents of the prophecy, and that he could have likely been a Death Eater. This had worried both of them more than anything, and that was when James had decided that they would move into Godric's Hollow as soon as they were married.

Lily touched her belly, wondering how it would be after a few months. She would feel kicks in it and the little baby would be able to hear everything going on in the outside world. He would be born, and then…Tears came down her cheeks and she couldn't stop them. She rolled over to the side and fell asleep.

…

Lily finally made up her mind a couple of days after about what to do with her news. She had to tell James. She wouldn't be able to hide it for long, and besides, it wasn't fair to him. She approached him at night, when he was reading a scroll of parchment thoroughly at his desk, ready to give him the news, but that wasn't the only thing she wanted to talk to him about. She was ashamed herself to think it, but under the circumstances…

"James, sweetie." She poked his shoulder lightly, making him turn to her with a happy smile on his face.

"Well, well, well. Do I know you? I've seen you somewhere before, but…" He pretended to be in deep consternation.

"Oh, stop it." Lily scowled.

"Then what's the joyous occasion? I feel like I've been avoided for the past few days, and it hurts." And there it was, his puppy dog face that didn't quite suit him.

"Uh, well…do you remember what we decided just before we got married?"

"What? That your sister wasn't allowed in here without my permission?"

"No!"

"No more telling Peter that he would never find a girl?"

"James. I'm being serious."

"Alright alright." He stared at her in thought, "That we wouldn't have any kids until Voldemort was gone?"

Lily nodded. He kept on staring at her, expecting her to elaborate.

"And?"

"Well…we failed."

Realization dawned upon him and he jumped up and down like a child, screamed with joy, hugged Lily and kissed her stomach, and went around the house screaming some more. Despite the other thing she wanted to talk to him about, she found herself laughing at his immaturity. He came flying back a minute later, kissing her all over the face, and exclaiming, "Oh wow, we have to tell everyone. Have a party. Oh, this is so wonderful, Lil! I don't think I've ever been happier!"

He picked her up and twirled her around. It was her chance to scream, and she did, demanding him to put her down. When he did, she was about to open her mouth to tell him the other news, but he was off, Apparating probably to every single house in existence to tell them that Lily was pregnant. Well, she guessed she could wait until the next day.

…

James was sure he had lost his mind. Since the other day, he had told practically everyone that he knew of Lily's pregnancy. He was overwhelmed with happiness and felt like he had to share it with other people or he would explode. So the next day, Lily and his parents came for a visit. They were lucky to have received some good news or James and Lily would most definitely have gotten a scolding after observing the conditions of the house.

"Hmm…" His Mum said, walking around the house with sharp eyes, "Is this a house or a dump?"

"Mum! You know the reason why we're staying here." James explained.

"All I was told was that Dumbledore forced you to live here, without any reason."

"Oh, there is a reason, but it's supposed to be a secret."

They all sat down as James served them drinks and a few snacks (he had taken over in the kitchen from that day). As he walked into the family room, he heard his mother say, "May God bless you with many sons."

"And daughters." James added, smiling. He knew it was an old Wizarding tradition to say that, because a male firstborn was supposed to bring good luck. However, he wanted a daughter just like Lily after his son.

"Are you taking your vitamins, honey?" Lily's Mum asked her, patting her hand softly, "Remember, the child needs its proper nutrients."

"Yes. How do you think you turned out so well?" Her Dad joked.

"Oh, I was meant to be good." Lily retorted, smiling.

"But really, Martha," James's Mum said to Lily's, "Do you think this is a proper place to raise a child? The place looks over two hundred years old."

"You know, that's true." Lily's Mum said in consent, "Either you two get another place to live, or you're living with us."

"Mum!" Lily protested, "We need to stay here for our own safety, and besides, we're planning to fix this place up. We already started."

"What do you mean, for your own safety?"

"We can't go into detail." Lily said, "Just that we need to stay here."

All four of them shook their heads with disapproval. They stayed for an hour or so, and then left.

Lily and James sat down comfortably on the sofa, feeding each other cherries.

"Your parents worry so much." Lily told him seriously.

"Ha! And yours don't? What happened to 'You'll stay with us'?"

"That was concern."

"Sure it was."

"Can't you ever be serious?" Lily said.

"Why? What's up? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. Physically, anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You called everyone and told them I was pregnant. Did you even care to ask me if you could?"

"But-"

"Never mind now. What's done is done, I guess." Lily sighed and slouched back.

"What's wrong, Lily?"

She sat back up, looked at him in the eyes, and said, "I don't think we should have this baby, James."