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Title: Everything In Its Right Place
Summary: After falling through the Hogwarts' lake, Lily Evans wakes up to find that she's five years in the future, has a child, and she's married to the cocky James Potter- which is just wrong in itself.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot.
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Chapter Three: Unfamiliar Body
December 15th, 1980
Lily stopped short when she saw Potter. He was standing there, in a set of dark robes, black hair falling in front of his eyes- eyes that burned with such emotion… Breathtaking. For a moment, they simply stared at each other before Potter's anger left him.
"I was worried," He admitted, frowning as he took in her dirty appearance.
"Dorcas told me you would be," Lily muttered back.
"You Flooed?"
"Yes," said Lily.
They stood in silence before Potter sniffed at the air. A grin danced across his lips and he walked closer to Lily, easing Harry out of her arms. The loss of weight was a relief. Potter chuckled as he rubbed at Harry's soot covered face, imitating her earlier actions. Lily took a step away from the two of them.
She was suddenly tired. All she wanted to do was take a bath. It was true then, she was married to Potter and they had a son and… either she was forgetting a couple years of her life or she had gone into the future. Lily brought a hand up to her forehead and rubbed at it, right over the ache that caused her such pain.
Without even realizing it, Lily's feet began to walk her towards the staircase. Earlier she had stumbled upon a grand bathroom and now she desperately wanted to go find it and just... Potter looked up as Lily walked away from him and raised his eyebrows.
"All right there?" He asked.
"I think the smell of the baby's poop managed to kill myability to smell," Lily grumbled, beginning up the stairs.
Glancing at Potter's face she saw that he was unsure whether to laugh or be concerned. That shows him for being an arse to her the last time they saw each other, her mind hissed. Technically, of course, the last time they had seen each other had not been the lake incident but Lily chose to ignore that.
"Where are you going?" Potter called up to her as she reached the top stair.
"Taking a bath," Lily shouted down, continuing to walk. "Hopefully I'll drown in the tub."
A moment of silence passed and Lily shook her head, walking to the third door to the left.
"I'll just take care of Harry!" Potter yelled.
Lily slammed the bathroom door shut behind her and locked it. She didn't feel like having Potter walk in on her while she was in the middle of bathing. Rubbing her face with her hands, Lily allowed her legs to crumble from underneath her. The tile floor was cold and Lily pressed her forehead against it, closing her eyes with a sigh.
Throwing her arms out to the side and spreading her legs so that they were comfortable, Lily turned her head so that her right cheek rested against the tile. The floor was still cold, though quickly heating from her body heat, and Lily relished in it. Unsure of what she was doing, Lily looked at her left hand. Her fingers were curled slightly and her nails looked bitten down, something she had never done before.
Her hand looked more calloused, as though she had worked with heavier things then broken quills and pieces of parchments. If this was the future, she certainly hoped she wasn't stuck writing with quills all day long. Slowly her eyes drifted up her arm, taking it in. It was strange to be looking at her body and not remembering why her body looked the way it did. Where did she work, what did she do, that caused her hands to be rough? She knew she worked as a Healer but what exactly did she do?
Who didn't know their own body? Lily frowned and began to sit up when her eyes caught sight of the tip of a… Lifting the sleeve of her shirt up, a quiet gasp left her lips. A long scar traveled from her inner elbow to her upper arm, stopping short of her armpit. When had this happened?
With her other hand, Lily touched the scar. A shock went through her fingertips at the contact. This was a wound caused by magic then, Lily realized, staring at the ugly scar. Who had used magic against her in such a way? Standing up, she walked over to the bathtub, turning the knobs and plugging the drain.
She had come in here for a bath and she was distracting herself. After making sure the bathtub was filling up properly and that the water was hot, Lily pulled her shirt over her head. When she threw it, she saw from the corner of her eye that it landed on the sink. Lily slid out of her pants, which were dirty with soot, and pulled off her socks.
A pair of knickers and a bra, both not matching in color, was what Lily stood in. She couldn't help herself as she walked in front of the mirror above the sink. Her body was… unfamiliar. A wave of sadness washed over her. This was certainly her body but it wasn't hers at the same time.
Stretch marks could be seen on her stomach, probably from her pregnancy with the baby. Her breasts were fuller and her shoulders slouched, as if she held a weight on them. Never before did she allow her shoulders to slouch, she always held herself so high. Biting her lip softly, Lily looked up at the mirror's image of her face.
There were new wrinkles by the corners of her eyes and mouth, so light that they were hardly noticeable but noticeable enough to her. Her hair was shorter then she usually kept it, falling just below her shoulders. Reaching up, Lily played with a strand of it. Even her bloody eyebrows were different, just ever so slightly different then from how she use to have them.
Lily closed her eyes. Bath, just get into the bathtub, she whispered in her head before slipping out of her knickers and taking off her bra. When she went to the bathtub, the water was basically to the edge and she turned the knobs off. The water was warm when Lily dipped her leg into it. By adding her leg, the water rippled and some spilled over the edge of the tub and onto the bathroom floor.
And, soon enough, Lily's body was swallowed by the water. The sound of water spilling over the side of the tub was the only thing Lily could hear. Maybe she could just pretend that she was taking a bath in the Prefects' bathrooms at Hogwarts. Her toes curled at the thought and Lily closed her eyes in bliss.
If she focused enough, Lily could swear that laughter filled her ears, familiar laughter from the corridors of Hogwarts. She could almost imagine herself walking down the corridor, going to one of her classes or going to the Great Hall. With her nose barely above the water, Lily sighed before lifting a hand and attempting to run it through her hair. Her hair, though, was extremely knotty…
Lily jumped when there was a tapping on the door. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, her back going uncomfortably straight. Was that Potter-
"Lily, love?" His voice called through the door.
What if she just didn't answer?
"Mind if I come and join you in there?"
Oh Merlin. Her heart leapt in her throat, she could swear it, and Lily covered her body with her arms, as though he could see through the door.
"Obviously I do mind if the door is locked!" She shouted, her voice cracking slightly at the end.
A thick silence filled the air and Lily could almost picture Potter leaning against the door, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. After a second, with Lily's body still straight and uncomfortable, Potter spoke again.
"I just want to talk to you."
Lily closed her eyes.
"Just leave, Potter," She whispered. "We can talk during dinner."
Somehow Lily knew that Potter left after that statement. Keeping her eyes closed, Lily slid further into the water, trying to relax again and picture herself at Hogwarts. It took her ten minutes to realize that it wouldn't happen again.
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When Lily was finally done bathing she was severely wrinkled and just as tired, if not more, then she had been when she got into the bathtub. She was quite sure her eyes were swollen and her throat was tender from crying so much earlier. After finding something to wear from the pile of clothes in the bedroom, Lily finally began to go downstairs.
She refused to be frightened of seeing James Potter. If anything she should get answers from him. He had to know something, this incident wasn't normal. This didn't just happen to people. And anything terrible that happened the Marauders were mostly likely behind it.
With that thought in mind, Lily went to the kitchen. Pushing the door open, she took a breath to begin her talk with Potter. But she released her breath when she saw no one in the kitchen. He must have taken the baby somewhere else. A shriek escaped her throat when she turned around. Potter had been standing behind her, looking vaguely amused. She glared at him, rubbing her throat, which now hurt even more.
"Want me to have a heart attack?" She snapped at him before pausing.
He seemed even more amused by her question.
"Don't answer that," Lily told him.
Potter shrugged, a smile curling on his lips and stepped forward. He wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her toward him. Lily stumbled in shock and gave a sharp gasp when he kissed her forehead.
"Of course not, love," He responded.
He then stepped around her, his fingers uncurling from her neck, brushing through her hair. A shiver ran up her back and Lily took a moment to collect herself. Maybe she needed more then just a moment, actually.
"Are you sick?" Potter asked from within the kitchen. "You sound like you're losing your voice."
Lily turned around, heading into the kitchen. Her face was burning from the kiss and she wished that it would cool down. Potter glanced at her before reaching into one of the cupboards.
"You look flushed," He commented. "I'll make some tea. Sit down."
Slowly, Lily took a seat and watched as Potter began to heat up some water. Her face was beginning to cool down but if she were to think of him kissing her forehead it would heat right back up again. She felt indignant that he dare kiss her but it must seem normal to him.
Before Lily realized it Potter was done heating up the water. A mug sat in front of her, steam rising from the contents inside, and Lily watched in interest as Potter began to put the contents in the water. He added some cream and sugar and a tea bag, just enough that the water turned a familiar milky brown.
He knew how to make tea just the way she liked it. In slight amazement she took the tea from him when he offered it. Lily took a sip of it, glad that it soothed her burning throat slightly, and looked up at Potter. The silence became awkward when she realized he wanted her to say something to him. She shifted and took another sip of her tea.
"Where's the-" Lily stopped herself. "Where's Harry?"
Potter took his glasses off and rubbed at his eyes gently. He seemed tired. Well, she was just as tired.
"I laid him down so he could sleep," Potter responded, putting his glasses back on. "He must have been tired by the adventure you two went on."
Lily caught Potter's eyes and fought the urge to throw the tea in his face. He was angry, she could tell. How quickly his mood changed.
"I needed to get out of here," She said, narrowing her eyes. "Out of this place."
"Out of this place? This is your home. And it's not like you're not allowed to leave, I would just like to know so I don't think something happened to you two," Potter told her.
Shrugging, Lily looked down at her tea. She was at a disadvantage; she couldn't make up any lies. Lily just woke up in a strange bed and she suddenly was living this life. Potter sighed loudly.
"I won't apologize," Lily informed him.
Potter blinked at her in shock.
"I wasn't asking you to-"
Lily almost jumped with joy. This was a subject she knew well enough, when Potter was lying.
"Yes, you were," Lily cut in. "You would never ask me bluntly to apologize but you're basically begging me to just so you don't have to be angry."
Potter grew red in the face and he pushed his chair away from the table. He was about to get up before stopping and staring at her.
"What is with you today?"
This was it. She would ask him about the incident right now, she would figure out what was going on.
"I woke-"
Her sentence was cut off by the loud wails of a baby. Potter, however, simply ignored the crying and continued to look at her.
"I woke up…" Lily began again before pausing.
Her determination had left her, as did her anger. The baby's crying was giving her a headache and she sighed.
"I woke up in a terrible mood," She finished.
Potter stared at her a moment longer before turning on his heel and leaving the kitchen. Lily could only hope he was going to shut the baby up.
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Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I don't have any other websites with this story on it at the moment, for those who were wondering. Sorry, I wish I did, I just don't know where to put it up. Any suggestions? And I just realized Ihadmy old title for the story on it. It's changed now. Heh heh.Thanks! Review!