Furball Potter
A/N: I had this one in my notebook for the longest time and now it's finally in word document format! To those of you who are waiting for me to update my other stories…please have patience! I want them to be well written and thought-through, so please just give me a little time! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this short story!
James was exhausted when he came home from work. He had spent all morning on a wild-goose chase in London and then the rest of the afternoon getting reprimanded by his superiors for starting a bomb scare.
"What's the big deal?" James asked. "This is a time of war! It's about time they were scared of something! If they even knew that someone worse than a bomb is out there, then maybe they wouldn't get so hyped up over something so stupid compared to Voldemort-"
Shocked looks from everyone's face at the sound of You-Know-Who's name caused another round of reprimands and when James finally left the office, all he wanted to do was collapse on his bed and fall into endless sleep. He didn't care if Dumbledore wanted to see him as soon as possible or if Sirius was thinking of going into hiding- he just wanted this nightmare to end. However, it wasn't going to end and his next groan came at the sight of James' beautiful, pregnant wife, Lily.
"James, we need to talk," Lily began when James walked in the door and gave another loud groan. "Oh, don't give me that! I only have a few months left and we haven't agreed on a name for our child!"
James let his head fall back onto the cushions and closed his eyes, oblivious to everything except Lily's voice ringing in his ears. "Lily, darling, can we not discuss this right now?"
"Well, then when are we going to discuss this?" Lily fired back. "Not while I'm in labor, I hope!"
"Alright, fine," James gave in, trying to calm down his wife. He opened his eyes painfully and met her green ones with his full attention. "What are you ideas?"
"Well, I have this 'Baby Book of Names' and I think I settled on the name 'Rosalie' for a girl," Lily's green eyes searched in the small, baby-looking book.
"Rosalie? You want to name the baby after a flower? Why don't we just name it 'Dandelion' or 'Tulip,'" James countered, closing his eyes again.
Lily frowned at her grumpy husband. "My aunt is named Tulip and she became a world renowned psychologist, thank you very much!"
"A shrink?"
"Ha ha, Potter," Lily answered sarcastically. "Now that we have that settled-"
James' eyes popped open again and he interrupted, "We're not naming our daughter after a flower!"
"I'm named after a flower, James," Lily responded in a hurt tone.
"But you're name is pretty, darling," James quickly added.
"Oh, and 'Rosalie' isn't?" Lily glared.
"Why not pick a name like 'Penny' or 'Rachel'? Those are good names," James suggested.
"Look who's talking! You want to name our child after a coin!" Lily accused.
"A what?"
"Never mind," Lily said quickly. "Now, as for a name for a boy-"
"But we haven't gotten the girl name solved!" James put in.
Lily put down the book and crossed her arms. "Well, it's obvious that you don't want to cooperate. You haven't made one suggestion that I even like."
James sighed, "Alright, fine. If it's a girl, we'll name her 'Rosalie.'"
"Thank you," Lily beamed and pulled open the baby book again. "Now, for a boy, I was thinking about the name 'Harry.'"
"As in 'Harold'?"
"No, James, just 'Harry.' It has a nice flow to it: Harry Potter," said Lily with a fond smile on her face.
"Are you suggesting that he is going to have a lot of hair?" James joked.
Lily shrugged with a teasing light in her eyes. "If he looks anything like you, then the name will fit perfectly…"
"What?" James cried. "I don't have a lot of hair!"
"Oh, and you also don't run your hand through your hair in that awfully annoying way of yours!" Lily answered with more sarcasm in her voice.
"You know you like my hair, Evans," James said, running his hands through his hair again.
"Then it's agreed!" Lily exclaimed happily. "We'll name him 'Harry'- after his father!"
James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and we'll call him 'furball' for short…"
"James!"
July 31
In the months after, many things happened to change the small Potter family- the two went into hiding under Dumbledore's orders and now only had contact with their closest friends. They had been tipped off that Voldemort was after them and had taken every precaution to protect each other. At the end of July, Lily finally gave birth to their eagerly anticipated baby.
"Meet your son, James," Lily showed her newborn to her husband. "Look at all the hair! See? I told you the name 'Harry' fits! It's all messy and black just like yours."
"He gets my name as his middle, right?" James asked tentatively, ignoring Lily's insult.
Lily nodded and handed the infant to its relieved father.
"Come here, Furball…"