June 1980
Another week, another Order meeting, James thought as he watched his fellow Order members collect their belongings and prepare to leave. It was their first large-scale meeting since Kathleen's death and Remus' disappearance, and the entire Order had been a bit subdued tonight, especially James, Lily, Sirius, Alice, Frank, Dorcas, and Peter.
It had been weeks since they'd found his note, and still no word from Remus. It made James sick to think about him having to cope with the full moon by himself; Remus had always been so worried about accidentally hurting or even killing someone in his animal form, and James, Sirius, and Peter weren't there to help him now. James knew that Sirius and Peter worried about it too, but they rarely mentioned it to one another. None of them knew what Remus was doing and it just made it that much more depressing to speculate about it.
The sound of a creaking chair distracted James from his upsetting line of thought and he turned to see Lily quietly struggling to get out of her seat. Now more than seven months pregnant, Lily was finding her ever expanding abdomen to be a bit of a liability.
"Let me help you," James said immediately, jumping to his feet and extending his hand.
Lily watched James move with something like envy on her face. "No, thanks," she replied a bit stiffly. "You won't be here to help me all the time, so I've got to be able to do it myself."
"Erm – ok…." James didn't really get it, but apparently it was a matter of principle. Instead, he did the prudent thing and watched expressionlessly as Lily struggled to her feet, pink with effort, and immediately put her hands to the small of her back, as though the area ached.
Lily had been a bit moody lately, (although she still didn't hold a candle to Alice) ever since she'd found out that Petunia had given birth to a baby boy. Lily had actually been happy for her sister, in spite of the fact that Petunia had named the baby Dudley, and had wanted to go and visit Petunia and Dudley in hospital until Mrs. Evans told her that Petunia didn't want to see her. James had wanted to go to the hospital just to spite them, but Lily had been very hurt over the whole incident. Apparently motherhood had not made Petunia more tolerant.
They were some of the few remaining Order members now; nearly all of the others had dispersed, leaving in small groups to avoid appearing suspicious. Dumbledore and Moody lingered, however, talking in hushed voices in one corner of the room. Not wanting to disturb them, Lily and James walked as quietly as possible to the door where Sirius, Peter, Alice, Frank, and Dorcas waited for them, yawning and looking bleary-eyed. Dumbledore had been trying to vary the times of their Order meetings lately to avoid detection, and today's meeting had begun at half-past seven on a Saturday morning, which was not many members' most alert time.
"May we have a word with all of you before you go?" Professor Dumbledore and Moody had finished their conversation and were now standing in front of the former Gryffindors, their expressions solemn.
"Sure," James replied, glancing round him for confirmation. The seven took seats and waited as the last few Order members trickled out. As soon as they had, Moody shut the door and sealed it with a locking charm. James and Sirius exchanged glances, but decided not to comment as yet.
Dumbledore and Moody turned their chairs to face the rest of them and sat down wearing nearly identical serious expressions. "Did Kathleen speak to any of you about what she was working on before she died?" Dumbledore asked without preamble, his eyes scrutinizing each one in turn.
Lily, Alice, and Dorcas exchanged glances. "Lily?" Dumbledore prompted.
"Well, she didn't say anything to us exactly," Lily hedged. "It was more what she didn't say."
"Kathleen is – was – always very open about everything," Dorcas explained. "But the last time we were all together, she was very –"
"Closemouthed," Alice supplied. "Kathleen, Morwenna, Dorcas, and I all went to Lily's flat a few weeks before Kathleen died, and she didn't say much when we asked her about work."
"Did she talk to any of you after that? About her work or anything else?" Moody pressed.
Lily, Alice, and Dorcas exchanged another glance. "That was the last time any of us talked to her," Lily said simply. "Had an actual conversation with her, I mean. Kathleen always seemed to be working, but she would never talk about it."
"Did she speak with any of you?" Moody's magical eye rested briefly on James, Sirius, Peter, and Frank, each of whom shook their heads in turn.
"But Remus mentioned once that she was acting a bit strange," Sirius added. "It was the same night that Alice was talking about, about three weeks before Kathleen's – murder."
"He said that she was acting distant and being secretive," Peter piped up. "Remus thought maybe she was unhappy."
"Why are you asking all of these questions?" James wanted to know. "Do you know something about Kathleen that you're not telling us?"
Moody and Dumbledore's eyes met briefly, as though in silent agreement. "Yes," Dumbledore answered finally. "Before she died, Kathleen was trying to uncover the Ministry spy."
"What?!" Alice stared.
"But how do you –" Peter began.
"About a year ago, Kathleen came to me and told me that she was going to try and find out who the Ministry and Order spies were," Moody elaborated. "Asked me for advice, wanted to know who I thought they were. I tried to talk her out of it at first, but she was determined. After that she updated me on her search every once in a while. The last time she came to see me was about two months before she died. She didn't say it in so many words, but we both knew she was getting closer." Moody paused significantly.
"You don't think Kathleen was killed by a random Muggle criminal," Lily divided her gaze between Moody and Dumbledore.
"No, we do not, Lily," Dumbledore said quietly.
"It's too big a coincidence," Moody growled. "A reporter who just happens to have been investigating possible spies in the Ministry is killed during a robbery in her flat? Don't think so."
"And Kathleen's wand and notebooks were never found," Dumbledore took up the story. "A very large coincidence indeed."
"So Kathleen probably knew," Alice wondered aloud, putting a hand to her bump absentmindedly. "Kathleen might have found out who the spies were and they might have killed her." Frank put his arm round Alice, but nobody seemed to be able to think of anything to say.
"Is there any way to find out?" Peter broke the silence a few minutes later. "I mean, do you have any idea who the spy is, or can you find out somehow?"
Dumbledore and Moody exchanged still more eye contact, giving the distinct impression that they had not revealed everything. "We were hoping that you lot could help us with that," Moody said gruffly.
"Do you think that it was one of us?" Dorcas frowned.
Yet another exchange of glances. "We do not suspect anyone in this room of being a spy," Dumbledore said softly, deliberately.
"You suspect Remus, don't you, Professor?" Sirius didn't really have to ask.
James shook his head, slowly at first, then more and more emphatically. "No," he said flatly. "No. Remus would never do that. He'd never betray our trust; we're his friends. No one is more devoted to the Order than Remus is.
"And Remus adored Kathleen," Lily put in, slipping her hand into James' and squeezing tight. "He'd never have killed her in cold blood, no matter what."
"No one here wants to believe this of Lupin," Moody gave Lily and James a level stare. "But we can't afford not to look at the facts. Remus would have been in the perfect position to find out was Kathleen was up to; he lived with her."
Remus is also one of the few people in the Order who has reason to be against the Ministry after its prejudice against him." Dumbledore's eyes bored meaningfully into James'.
"But you know Remus," James protested. "He never holds a grudge about – prejudices." James had to stop himself from saying more, because now Dorcas, Alice, and Frank were all regarding James curiously. Feeling a bit helpless, James looked to Sirius for support. "Tell them, Sirius."
"Do you have any proof other than your suspicions?" Sirius studiously avoided James' eye.
"If we'd had proof, Black, we'd hardly have needed to come to you lot," Moody scoffed. "We'd have – taken matters into our own hands already."
"Is there anyone who knows where Remus Lupin is at present?" Dumbledore's voice had a decidedly sad undertone. Each person shook his or her head in turn, even James, hating that he was forced to admit defeat.
Dumbledore sighed. "The case against Remus would not have been half so incriminating had he not disappeared," he admitted frankly.
"Do you have anyone looking for Remus?" Dorcas wanted to know.
"Yes," Moody replied. "But no luck so far; Lupin had a significant head start."
"What do you mean head start?" James demanded. "Remus is not some sort of fugitive, like some criminal or traitor."
"We do not know that, James," Dumbledore reminded him gently. "As painful as it is to contemplate, someone inside the Order IS a criminal and a traitor." Dumbledore rose suddenly, as if he couldn't bear to sit there any longer. "I'm afraid I must be going; I have an appointment at the Hog's Head shortly. But if any of you learn anything about Remus or Kathleen, please come to me with it. The Order's safety might depend upon it." Taking this as their cue to leave, Lily, James, Sirius, Peter, Alice, Dorcas, and Frank all rose and collected their things, only half listening to Moody and Dumbledore.
"But this is important, Dumbledore," Moody protested, frowning. "What do you have at the Hog's Head?"
"An interview with a potential Divination professor," Dumbledore replied.
"Rather woolly subject, if you ask me," Moody snorted.
"I am inclined to agree with you," Dumbledore smiled slightly. "If Miss Sybill Trelawney proves to be anything other than a solid prospect, I believe I shall be rather inclined to do away with Divination entirely."
With that, Professor Dumbledore swept from the room, his robes twirling in his wake.
Once outside, the former Gryffindors quickly dispersed, Dorcas, Alice, and Frank to their respective homes to catch up on some much-needed sleep, and James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter, as if by mutual consent, to Lily and James' flat to go over all that had happened at today's meeting.
James fumed silently, but he waited until they had all Apparated to the flat and were safely ensconced in the sitting room before opening his mouth. "How can you believe that Remus is a spy?" he whirled on Sirius furiously.
"I never said that I believed Remus was a spy," Sirius replied evenly.
"But you didn't defend him, and that's almost the same thing," James stared accusingly at his best mate. "Remus would have defended you, you know he would have!"
"I would defend him, Prongs, but the fact of the matter is that he ran away," Sirius was a bit less calm now. "You can't hide from the facts just because Remus is – or was – our friend. All of those things that Dumbledore and Moody mentioned are true, and you know that Dumbledore would never accuse anyone lightly. Just stop being so bloody indignant for one second and look at the big picture. You can't afford not to." Sirius' eyes flicked briefly to Lily and her impressive bump.
"I refuse to believe this of Remus," James glared back at Sirius, stubborn. "He wouldn't do that. He couldn't kill Kathleen or sell the Order out to Voldemort."
"We aren't saying that he did," Peter's voice squeaked and wobbled and he had to wipe his sweaty hands on his trousers, but he spoke nevertheless. "But Remus is a werewolf, James, and werewolves are Dark creatures. And Remus did disappear; he could be on some sort of holiday, but he could also be working for Voldemort somewhere."
Lily, James, and Sirius all stared at Peter, unused to arguments from him.
"That is just the sort of anti-werewolf prejudice that keeps people like Remus from having good jobs and normal lives in the wizarding world, Peter," It was Lily's turn to glare. "You can't call Remus a spy just because he's a werewolf." James shot Peter and Sirius a smug look.
"But you also can't refuse to look at what's right in front of you, James," Lily rubbed her temples tiredly. "I know that Remus is your friend and you want to defend him. He's my friend too. But Sirius was right when he said that Dumbledore doesn't accuse people lightly. And Remus isn't here to prove or disprove Moody and Dumbledore's theory."
"I can't believe you would agree with this," James frowned.
"I don't agree; innocent until proven guilty, after all," Lily reminded him. "I'm saying that you shouldn't be any more blind than you can help. Merlin knows that there's enough we don't know without ignoring anything." Catching sight of James' expression, Lily softened a bit, leaning over to kiss him lightly. "I don't want to believe this of Remus either, but I don't want to ignore what we heard today either. I trust Dumbledore. I just hope he's wrong this time."
"Don't we all," Sirius flopped down next to Lily on the sofa.
"I ought to be going now," Peter got to his feet, still clearly uncomfortable. "I'll see you lot later."
"Have fun." Sirius quirked a brow suggestively. Peter flushed and muttered something no one else caught before letting himself out.
"What was that all about?" Lily wanted to know.
James shrugged, scooting over so he could pull Lily's feet into his lap and rub them. "Dunno. He's always disappearing lately."
"I think he's got a girl," Sirius added his two Knuts.
"You always think Peter has a girl," Lily scoffed.
"Well, it has to happen sooner or later, even for little twats like Wormtail," Sirius pointed out.
"How long has he been like this?" Lily asked, frowning slightly. James and Sirius looked at each other.
"A couple of months," Sirius suggested.
"Maybe longer," James added.
"And you haven't asked him?" Lily glanced from one to the other incredulously.
"We've asked him," James defended himself. "He just doesn't want to talk about it. Peter's always been a bit secretive, he likes to go off on his own sometimes."
"Maybe you ought to ask him again," Lily suggested, her frown deepening. "Just in case he knows something he isn't telling us."
July 1980
But as quickly as Lily's concern over Peter had appeared, it went away again. Over the next month, Peter was underfoot almost continually, taking a new interest in Lily and Alice's pregnancy and asking questions about due dates and the sex of their babies. Lily managed to tolerate Peter's questioning most of the time, but Alice didn't put up with it very well at all, which was unfortunate as Peter spent loads more time with Alice and Frank than he did with Lily and James.
Alice grew increasingly nervous as her due date approached in the middle of the month, then reached a new level of irritability when the due date came and went with no baby. Her stomach had reached massive proportions, and as Alice was so short anyway, she appeared to be one big walking belly, which did not help her disposition any.
Lily was still one of the few whose company she wanted, and as they were both on maternity leave now, she spent a good deal of her time at Lily and James' flat. Mrs. Evans was there quite often also, dividing her time between her daughters, and Alice enjoyed having a mother figure around to give her advice.
"I haven't seen my feet in more than four months," Alice said suddenly one afternoon. She and Lily had been sitting in rather morose silence, as Alice was nearly two weeks overdue and Lily was about two and a half weeks away from her due date.
"Huh?" Lily had been stroking her bump and silently wondering if she really did have only two and a half more weeks or if she was doomed to share Alice's fate.
"My feet," Alice repeated. "I haven't seen them up close in more than four months. Frank has to help me put my shoes on. What if they've become deformed or something from neglect?"
"They haven't become deformed." It was a rather half-hearted protest, since Lily suddenly found herself wondering when she had last seen her own feet.
"But what if they have?" Alice was growing distressed. She struggled in vain to bend far enough to see her feet and failed.
"Of course your feet haven't become deformed," Lily snapped, growing impatient with Alice's descent into paranoia, especially since Alice was dragging Lily down with her.
"I'm sorry," Alice sighed and propped one elbow on her immense belly, resting her chin on her hand. "I just feel like I've BEEN pregnant forever, and I'm going to BE pregnant forever. Last night I dreamt that I was pregnant with an elephant."
"You aren't THAT big," Lily said loyally.
"Not that," Alice waved her off impatiently. "Elephants have a gestation period of a year and a half, and so, apparently, do I." Alice scowled fiercely down at her bump. "Come out!" she ordered it, poking her belly. "Come out, come out, COME OUT!"
"Erm, I don't think that's going to work," Lily pointed out delicately.
"Well, something's got to," Alice was still glowering down at her stomach. "He or she was due in the middle of July. The bloody month's nearly over now, and still no bloody baby!"
"Someone at work told me that spicy food is supposed to help," Lily offered.
"I tried that last week, and no cigar," Alice shook her head.
"Exercise?" Lily suggested, reaching for the nearest pregnancy manual.
"I've done aerobics for an hour every morning this week," Alice replied. "Although, in my current state, it just kind of looks like I'm bouncing aimlessly around."
"Sex?" Lily looked up, a puzzled expression on her face, and met Alice's equally confused stare.
"How is that…..?" Alice began, then shook her head. "Do you know, I'm not even going to ask."
"Good call," Lily wrinkled her forehead. "It doesn't make any sense even with the explanation."
"But it's worth a try," Alice said thoughtfully, seeming to have come to a decision. She heaved herself to her feet, wobbling precariously as she regained her balance. "I'm going to go home and do aerobics and order a curry takeaway while I wait for Frank to come home."
"Good luck," Lily called as Alice waddled purposefully across the apartment and opened the front door.
"Thanks," Alice smiled briefly and was gone.
July 31, 1980
"Tell me again why we're doing this," Peter grumbled as he and Sirius trudged down the sidewalk toward a Muggle teashop.
"Because James got called away to help Moody with some sort of assignment and Lily will be all alone and stood up if we don't go and meet her," Sirius repeated for the fourth time since they'd left the Ministry office. "And if you ask me again, I'll stick your wand someplace REALLY unpleasant."
"All I did was ask," Peter pointed out resentfully, warming up to his complaints. But before he could do any more than that, they spotted Lily sitting at a little table outside of the teashop, a book propped on her stomach so she could read.
"Oy! Lils!" Sirius called, striding over to her.
"Hi!" Lily smiled brightly at Sirius and Peter. "I didn't know you lot were joining us. Where is James, by the way?"
"He got tied up at work," Sirius explained, "so he sent us along to cheer you up."
"Tied up how, exactly?" Lily was doing her best not to appear disappointed, but it showed.
"Dunno," Sirius replied, flopping down in the chair across from Lily's. "He got called on some sort of team thing. But we could imitate him for you if you like."
"Maybe later," Lily said hastily, remembering what had happened to Alice whenever she laughed too hard.
"So what brings you to this bit of London anyway?" Peter asked, pulling up a chair.
"I was visiting Alice in hospital," Lily replied. "She had her baby last night."
"Took her long enough," Sirius muttered.
"What did she – er – end up naming it?" Peter was very carefully not looking at Sirius.
"He's a boy and she named him Neville," Lily answered. "He's really sweet, and Alice and Frank are really happy. In fact, I think it's the best mood I've seen Alice in for the last nine months."
"Bloody HELL!" Peter exclaimed, scowling.
"Pay up, Wormtail," Sirius grinned.
"You were betting about what Alice would name her baby?" Lily raised one brow.
"We never said that," Sirius gave Lily his most innocent smile, which wasn't really very convincing.
"Brilliant, just brilliant," Lily shook her head in disgust. "You couldn't have let me in on it?"
Sirius and Peter just stared at her, feeling that they were in uncharted territory. "So what were the terms?" Lily asked to break the awkward silence.
"Er, Peter bet that Alice would name the baby Nebudchadnezzer," Sirius had recovered from his shock first. "And I bet that she'd name it something else unfortunate."
"Neville," Peter shook his head in disgust.
"Sour grapes, mate," Sirius smirked. "You've got to learn to think outside the box." He turned to Lily. "Speaking of babies, how's yours? Kicking much right now?"
Lily shook her head. "He's been unusually quiet today," she said, glancing down reflexively. "He's probably waiting until I try to sleep, because then he can keep me awake." Lily shifted uncomfortably in her chair. The back pain was a bit worse than usual today.
"Want to walk?" Sirius asked, noticing her pained expression.
"Yeah, a walk would be nice," Lily tried to struggle out of the chair on her own, but she was eventually forced to concede to defeat and accept Sirius and Peter's help. Finally, all three were standing, and they made their way down the road, Lily feeling like some sort of barge being towed by two tugboats.
As they walked, Lily told them all about her visit to St Mungo's and Frank and Alice's new baby. Peter was a good deal more interested than Lily had thought he would be, and Sirius was doing his best to keep from revealing his own interest as well as his secretly-acquired baby knowledge.
"So what did it?" Sirius wanted to know after Lily had finished telling them about her conversation with Alice. "The spicy food, the exercise, or the sex?"
"Er, I'm not sure, really," Lily pressed both hands into the small of her back; the ache there had been growing steadily worse. "It might have been all three. When she finally went into labour, Alice said that she'd just eaten spicy food after exercising and – well, she didn't exactly SAY that they were having sex, but –" Lily broke off as a searing pain ripped the length of her spine. She closed her eyes till it passed, and when she opened them again, it was to find herself standing in a puddle.
Sirius and Peter stared at the puddle silently. "It's all right, Lily," Peter said awkwardly, not quite meeting her eye. "We won't tell anybody."
"No! It's not – I mean it's – I think my waters just broke!" Lily stared wildly from one to the other. She put both hands to her belly, as though testing it.
"You mean you're going to have the baby?" Sirius stared back, dumbfounded.
An expression of terror suddenly slid across Peter's face. "But you CAN'T have the baby NOW," he almost shrieked. "It's still July! You can't have the baby in July! It's supposed to come in August!"
"Don't wet yourself, Wormtail," Sirius eyed him warily. "It's the last day of July, and it's ok for the baby to be a bit early – what's so bad about July anyway?"
"It's – unlucky," Peter explained lamely. He was still visibly upset.
"Well, labour can take hours," Sirius pointed out reassuringly. "It could be August 1st by the time Lily has the baby."
"Thanks, Sirius," Lily shot him a filthy look, still clutching her stomach. "Thanks LOADS." She doubled over a bit, gasping, as a contraction tore through her. "They're coming faster."
"Do we have time to make it to the hospital?" Peter wondered aloud.
"Yes," Lily said through gritted teeth, fighting off a mental image of Sirius and Peter delivering her baby for her on a sidewalk. "We have to."
"I'll go and get my motorbike," Sirius took charge. "And then I'll drive you to St Mungo's, and Peter can meet us there."
"Brilliant!" Peter was pathetically relieved at the idea of a plan. "You just have to hold it until then, Lily! Maybe if you cross your legs…." Catching sight of Lily's expression, Peter trailed off. Sirius just looked at him, shaking his head in disgust.
"I'll go get the bike," Sirius glanced round to make sure no one was watching, then raised his wand, preparing to Disapparate.
"Wait!" Lily clutched his arm, between contractions for the moment. "Someone has to get word to James!"
"Don't worry about that," Sirius said rather cryptically, raising his wand again. "I'll be right back." He disappeared with a pop.
Lily watched him go rather forlornly. It was not at all comforting to be left in the middle of the street, in labour and with no one but Peter for help. Just then, another contraction came, and Lily gasped with the pain of it.
"It'll be all right, Lily," Peter took her hand.
"They're five minutes apart now," Lily gritted her teeth.
"Maybe you ought to sit down," Peter led her to a nearby bench, and they sat, waiting for Sirius.
It wasn't long before Sirius arrived (the speed actually would have been remarkable if any of them had had time to contemplate it) and the next thing Lily knew, she was gliding over the London traffic, holding on to Sirius for dear life and praying that the invisibility spell wouldn't wear off. Even she had to admit, they reached St Mungo's in record time.
Sirius grabbed Lily's hand and practically dragged her to the condemned department store that served as the hospital's street entrance. "She's in labour," he told the mannequin in the window, who nodded and beckoned them forward.
Sirius towed Lily through the glass window and charged over to the reception desk. "She's in labour," he announced to the receptionist.
"First floor," the receptionist, a plump, kindly looking middle-aged witch, informed them. She collected a sheaf of parchment from a desk drawer. "Are you the father?"
"No!" Lily and Sirius said in perfect unison, matching expressions of horror on their faces.
"Hmm," the receptionist eyed them warily. "Well, go on up; the lifts are down the corridor there." She smiled at Lily. "Congratulations, dear."
Lily, rather breathless in the midst of another contraction, couldn't manage more than a wave before Sirius was lugging her along again.
They repeated the process on the first floor, and Lily finally found herself ensconced in a hospital bed just down the corridor from Alice's, with two assistant Healers preparing to give her a potion for the pain. Now that the initial emergency was over, Lily was beginning to feel just a bit scared. More than a bit, actually, and all she wanted was for James to be there with her.
The thought of James brought tears to Lily's eyes, but she blinked them back determinedly, glancing round for anything to distract her. "What're you doing?" she asked Sirius, watching him pull a mirror from his cloak pocket.
"Getting in touch with James," Sirius replied after the two assistant Healers had left the potion and departed. "We used to use these mirrors to talk to each other when we were in separate detentions at Hogwarts."
Sirius tapped the mirror with his wand. "James Potter," he said to it, and the mirror began to swirl. "Looks like he can't answer right now," Sirius said after a moment, lowering the mirror. "But he'll know to call me back."
"But what if he doesn't check the mirror in time?" Lily said in a small voice, curling her body round her stomach.
"He'll get here, don't worry," Sirius squeezed Lily's hand.
Just then Peter burst in, out of breath and thoroughly frazzled. "There you are! I couldn't find you anywhere!" he exclaimed, collapsing into the visitors' chair. "I sent an owl to James and left a note on his desk, just like you told me to, and then I tried sending an owl to Lily's parents and Morwenna but nobody answered me, so I thought I'd better just get here, so I Apparated out front, but I miscalculated and wound up in the street and was almost hit by this bus. Then I didn't know where they put the people having babies, so I was wandering round on the fifth floor with all of the mad people, and –" Peter broke off as Lily panted her way through another contraction. "Breathe, Lily," he said, clearly panicked. "Just breathe – Ooh, I know! Put your head between your knees!"
Lily just glanced from her bump to her knees and then back to Peter, finding no reason to dignify his proposition with a response. She gripped Sirius' hand tighter. "Why don't you go down the corridor and tell Alice that Lily's having her baby?" Sirius suggested.
"Good idea," Peter hurried from the room.
"He'll probably get lost," Lily got out between gritted teeth.
"Exactly," Sirius grinned at Lily, then winced a bit as her grip tightened.
"In that case, thank you," Lily gasped as the contraction subsided.
"Why don't you take this now?" Sirius indicated the potion, flexing his hand as discreetly as possible. Lily tilted the little bottle to her mouth and drained it in one swallow, feeling instantly mellow.
A soft tinkling noise sounded from Sirius' pocket. "It must be James," Sirius removed the mirror and tapped it with his wand.
"James?" Lily reached for the mirror, but before she could close her hands round it, another contraction stalled her.
"Lily? I found Alice," Peter called, appearing in the doorway. "She's going to work up some sort of levitation spell and come in here and see you –"
"Excuse me, Mrs. Potter?" a witch in lime green robes appeared in the doorway, parchment in hand, and moved to the bed to examine Lily.
Sirius carried the mirror into a corner of the room "Padfoot? Padfoot? Are you there?" James in the mirror asked.
"Yeah, mate, I'm here," Sirius held the mirror up so that his own face was reflected in it.
"Is everything all right? Is Lily ok?" James ran a hand through his hair.
"She's fine, or she will be. Lily's in labour, Prongs."
"WHAT?!" James' voice came through with exceptional volume. "But it's early! How can she be in labour?" James took a deep breath, obviously trying to regain control of himself. "Where are you?"
"We're at St Mungo's, me and Lily and Peter," Sirius glanced over his shoulder to see Peter babbling on and Lily glaring at him as though she wished him dead, the Healer examining her obliviously. "Look, I've got to go and help Lily before she kills Peter, but you've got to hurry and get here, mate. The contractions are less than five minutes apart."
"I'm on my way," James promised, running his hand through his hair again. "I'll explain to Moody and then I'll be there. Tell her to – hold it or something."
"Or something," Sirius prevaricated, wincing as he thought about what Lily would say if he relayed that part of James' message to her.
"I'm going now. Take care of her till I get there," James' wand appeared in the mirror now as James prepared to sign off.
"Of course," Sirius promised. "Just hurry, Prongs."
"Was that James? Is he coming?" Lily asked as Sirius rejoined her.
"He's on his way," Sirius took her hand again.
"Are you the father?" the Healer inquired.
"No!" Lily and Sirius shouted it this time.
"Well, the father had better get here soon," the Healer observed. "We've probably still got a bit of time, but then it's hard to tell with first babies."
The door opened yet again, and Alice floated in on a chair. "Lily!" she exclaimed, steering her chair to the bed so that she could embrace her friend. "First we're pregnant together, and now we're having babies together! This is famous!"
"Mrs. Longbottom, you need to return to bed!" the Healer seemed shocked.
"In just a minute," Alice waved her off. "Where's James?"
"Tied up at work," Lily twisted her blanket nervously through her fingers.
"Oh," Alice frowned. "How far apart are the contractions?"
"Less than five minutes," Lily almost whispered.
"It'll be all right," Alice hugged Lily again.
A very tense half-hour passed, during which a team of Healers Banished Alice to her room, Peter was exiled to the corridor, and three more people asked if Sirius was the father.
Lily was just beginning to wonder how much more of this she could take when the door banged open, and there was James, sprinting toward her.
Lily's face broke into a dazzling smile. "You got here!" she exclaimed, holding out her arms as he skidded to a stop next to the bed.
"Of course I did," James squeezed Lily as tightly as he dared, relieved beyond words that he hadn't been too late. He leaned down to kiss Lily, but she held up a hand to stop him.
"Don't kiss me!" Lily exclaimed. "I've been sweating like a pig; I probably smell terrible –"
"Oh, good Godric!" James glowered. But before he could pursue the matter, another contraction had begun, and Lily clasped his hand, catching James off guard.
"Oww!" he shouted, grimacing. Lily scowled at him and resisted the temptation to take a handful of hair.
"Nice to see you haven't lost you way with women," Sirius smirked.
"I'd like to see you not say anything while Lily grinds your bones together!" James winced.
Sirius held up his own reddened hand in illustration, his smirk widening.
"More company!" the Healer breezed into the room; thankfully she didn't seem to notice the expressions on the three occupants' faces. "Erm, is this one the father?" she asked Lily tentatively.
"Yeah, that's me," James waved his free hand. The smile quickly faded from his face as he watched the Healer lift the blanket from Lily's lap and begin probing round down there quite unceremoniously. James opened his mouth and quickly shut it again.
"It hit me the same way when I first saw her do it," Sirius whispered to James. "But when you stop to think about how many – "
"Well, you have excellent timing," the Healer glanced up at James. "This baby is ready to be born."
"What?!" It was Lily and James' turn to speak in unison. Sirius made his way discreetly to the door and slipped into the corridor.
"You're ready to start pushing," the Healer declared. "I'll just pop down the corridor for a moment and then we'll be ready." She made her way out of the room, heedless of the soon-to-be-parents' dumbfounded expressions.
"Looks like this is it," James felt the excitement begin to well up in the pit of his stomach.
"Yeah, this is it," Lily tried to smile and failed miserably. "I'm really scared," she added in a small voice.
James hugged Lily tightly. "You're going to be fine," he said, hoping he sounded as confident as he wanted to sound.
"Well, I'm scared about giving birth, too," Lily looked up at James. "But our entire lives are about to change; nothing will ever be the same after this. Nothing." Lily looked down at her expanded abdomen, still unable to believe that a baby was about to come out of there. "What if we aren't ready for that? I don't want to screw everything up for this baby."
"You're not going to screw up our baby," James pushed a few strands of red hair back from Lily's face. You're the smartest, kindest person I know; you'll be an amazing mum by default. And of course we aren't ready for this; by all accounts, no one ever is."
"Thanks," Lily managed to smile this time. "I'm really, REALLY glad you're here."
"Right then, I'm back," the Healer bustled back into the room, her arms full of all sorts of equipment, ranging from the mundane to the don't-want-to-ask. "Are you ready?"
"Ready," James said firmly, renewing his grip on Lily's hand. He could feel his knees trembling slightly, and some part of him wanted nothing more than to hide in a corner, but Lily needed him; James didn't have time to contemplate anything else.
Lily looked up at James' face one more time, her eyes searching his. James smirked at her, that old, arrogant, hellion grin that used to infuriate her. And somehow, it was exactly what Lily needed to see. Lily turned back to the Healer, clutching James' hand even tighter.
"Ready."
Author's Note: Harry is (literally) almost here! Yay! Sorry to cut it off where I did, but the birth scene turned out to be longer than I expected, and I wanted to get the chapter out tonight because it's been a while since I updated. I'll try to have the next one done ASAP, but unfortunately, the schoolwork continues, so we'll have to see…..
It was nice to see the outpouring of sadness over Kathleen; I had no idea that she was such a favourite character. I really was sad to have to kill her off, and I blatantly stuck Peter's brush with death by bus in this chapter to make me feel better.
As always, thank to everyone for their reviews. I did have some specific people I wanted to mention and a couple of C2 Communities to promote, but it's ridiculously late right now, I'm supposed to be working on a research paper, and I can't remember any of it, so I'll try to do them next chapter.
Hope you enjoy!