HERE'S CHAPTER SIX! Some Jily fluff for y'all :)

The Potters' house

London proper, early the next morning

James felt like he'd been hit by the Knight Bus when he landed clumsily back on the corner of Gimbel Avenue and Nox Lane. It was the best feeling in the world, since he knew it came from last night's adventures with Moony, Wormtail, and Padfoot. It had been too long since he last transformed, and the previous night was so exhilarating that it honestly pained him to have to come home before the full moon was over.

He held his wand at the ready, half hidden in the sleeve of his robes as he trudged through the early morning frost back to his and Lily's home. It felt only right that they move into his childhood home after they were married—James knew his mother and father wouldn't want it rented out or sold, and it couldn't be in a better location. Tucked away in a neighborhood just a quick broomstick ride away from Diagon Alley, it was central to the wizarding community in London without leaving James and Lily feeling strangled by the bustling city lifestyle.

James pulled the invisibility cloak tightly around his body, wincing as his sore muscles protested his every move, and raised his wand arm when he reached his and Lily's front door.

"Alohomora," he whispered, and the lock clicked but the door did not open. Expecting this, James cleared his throat. "James Fleamont Potter, 2-7-3-6-0. Novissima autem inimical destrueter mors," he said quickly. Upon hearing identification and the password that he and Lily had decided on, the door creaked open and James entered as quietly as possible.

He hung up his cloak and robes and set his wand in the same place he always did—on a wrought-iron wand stand that Peter had given him for Christmas one year. When he turned the corner into the living room, he felt every muscle in his body relax, and a wave of warmth spread through his whole body.

Lily had clearly tried to wait up for him, but she lay curled up on the sofa, her hair spread across the cushions and her wand held loosely in one hand. She was snoring a bit, and each puff of air moved her the hair that had fallen over her face ever so slightly. James had need seen a more beautiful sight in his entire life.

He removed his shoes and tiptoed across the carpet, then gingerly lifted Lily's feet, sat down next to her, and placed them back down across his lap. Lily started to wake up with a soft "hmmph?" when James reached over and moved her hair off her face.

"Good morning, sweetheart," James said quietly.

"How's Remus?" Lily yawned as she slowly maneuvered herself onto her back, her eyes still closed. Her body ached from being in the same awkward position for half the night, but when she opened her eyes and saw the cuts and bruises all over her husband's face, she knew his pain was probably much worse.

Despite the injuries, though, James was smiling as if nothing was wrong, and he took one of her fuzzy sock-clad feet and began rubbing it.

"You must really love me," Lily giggled, "I've been wearing these for two days."

"I am honored to rub your disgusting feet," James replied with a grin. "And Remus is just fine; Pete's going to go out with him tonight again, then Sirius can be with him for the last two."

"You're not going?"

James shook his head regretfully. "I've got heaps of parchment work to get done before the next Order meeting," he said. "And hardly enough time to do it."

Lily nodded, remembering as she became more alert that Dumbledore had asked James to make more detailed logs of everyone's missions including exact times and places of every one of them. James wanted to Avada Kedavra himself just thinking about how long that would take, but Order business was Order business, and no matter how dull, it had to be done.

"I'm glad you went, then," said Lily as she sat up and wrapped her arms around James's neck at a sideways angle. She kissed him on the cheek, a little too close to a bruise, and even that small bit of pressure made James hiss in pain. Lily gently pressed her forehead against his. "Let's get you fixed up."

With overdramatized, sleepy effort, Lily got up from the couch and motioned for James to stay put while she went to the loo and returned with various bandages and vials of medicinal potions.

"Sit back," she told James when she got back to the living room, and he scooched deeper into the couch cushions. Lily set her supplies on the coffee table and then, feeling a bit mischievous, straddled James.

"Well hello there," he said cheerfully, "Is this how you're always going to heal me? Because honestly, I think this is all I need," he said as Lily carefully cupped his face in her hands, tilting it back and forth to assess the damage.

Lily smirked and carefully thumbed James's lip; it was split on one side. James pretended to bite at her finger, causing them both to burst into laughter.

"Here, this ought to do the trick for the small ones," Lily said as she dabbed a bit of essence of murtlap onto her finger. She carefully applied it to James's various cuts and he sighed as the pain dissipated. "Did you have fun last night?"

"Loads," said James enthusiastically. "It was bloody freezing, but we hadn't all transformed together in nearly a year."

"I meant the party," said Lily. "I hope Peter had a good time, it looked like he did!"

"He loved it," James confirmed. "Every second of it. Mission accomplished!" He held up his hand and Lily high-fived him.

"Good," She said. "It was nice to see everyone happy for once, not having to think about—" she paused, "—everything that's going on. And now, just one birthday left!" she finished with a wide smile; James would be turning 20 in just under a month.

James nodded as Lily finished putting a few bandages over the deeper cuts that she couldn't make vanish with just a spell.

"I expect nothing less than an all night bash, I want to arrive in a hippogriff-drawn carriage, and I want the Minister herself to pop out of my cake, stark naked," James informed Lily.

"Good to know," Lily laughed. "Although you might have to settle for Sirius on that last one."

James pursed his lips and made a thoughtful face for a moment, then shrugged and nodded.

"Deal."

Lily shook her head with a smile and carefully took James's face in her hands again. He in turn wrapped his arms around her waist and she felt them, firm and warm on her hips as he slipped them under her nightshirt. She softly pressed her lips against his and kissed him passionately; as much as the logical side of her knew that James had been far from harm's way last night, there was a part of her that still worried, and always would. He kissed back with equal fervor and ran his hands up her sides. The heat of his hands on her bare skin made Lily sigh happily and she arched her back so that their chests were pressed together. A moment later, James pulled back with a look of utter amazement on his face.

"What is it?" Lily asked. James ran his fingers through her hair, slowly working them through any tangles, and then looked down between them.

"I can feel your bump," he said, and as he said those words suddenly everything—the war, the battles, what was at stake—felt infinitely more real. Lily leaned back, balancing on James's knees, and pulled her shirt up to reveal her stomach. "I can feel it," James whispered again, laying his hand on her belly.

Lily looked back at him, although she didn't know exactly what to say. Before now, they could pretend it wasn't happening. She could still convince herself that her period was just off because of the stress of the war. She knew she would start to show sooner or later, but now that her pregnancy was an actual, tangible thing between her and her husband, there was no way to sweep it under the rug any longer.

"Did you hear what Sirius said last night?" she asked James after a moment, and he nodded. You beat teen pregnancy!

"He wasn't thinking," James said.

"To be fair, he doesn't know," Lily said, and glanced down at her stomach. "No one does. Right?"

James nodded. "I haven't told anyone, Lils. I would never do that unless we agreed on it. Not even Sirius."

"I think we should keep it that way. Until we can't, anyway."

"I agree," said James, nodding. "Everyone's worried enough as it is."

Lily nodded and felt her heart constrict. What the hell were they thinking, being so careless in the middle of a god damn war? Bringing a child into a world that was hanging on by a thread seemed so obviously foolish, such a painfully young and naïve thing to do…

Lily sighed and swung her leg off James's lap, coming to sit beside him on the sofa again. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she nestled into his embrace with her head on his chest and her hand resting right over his heart. The couple sat in silence for a moment, both thinking the same thing. They had had a short conversation when they first found out Lily was pregnant at the end of November, but honestly, they didn't talk about it nearly as much as they should, and neither of them had addressed the hippogriff in the room: they were practically still kids themselves. How on Merlin's green earth were they supposed to raise one? Sure, they had the money, but it took a lot more than just that.

"What are we going to do, James?" Lily asked. It wasn't a question born from despair, more from genuine lack of knowing.

James kissed Lily's hair and wished he had an answer. "What do you want to do? It's your body."

"Yeah, but it's our kid," Lily said earnestly. "Besides, I'm four months along. That's pretty late to—you know, end it. Even at St. Mungo's. Even if I wanted to," Lily said quietly after a pause.

"You don't want to," James said; it wasn't a question. Lily shook her head no and bowed her head, pretending to look at her nails to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. James's heart was thumping wildly; they'd never gotten this far when they tried to talk about the baby before. One of them always got too tired, or too nervous, or too angry to bring it up, and, worried he might say the wrong thing, James had just assumed that Lily wanted to keep it. As daunting as that was, it filled his heart with joy at the same time.

"I've been thinking about it a lot," Lily continued quietly, "And I know it'll be difficult and scary and beyond exhausting, but I just can't shake the feeling that this was meant to happen, y'know? And it's like your mum always said…sometimes accidents can turn into the biggest blessings, right?"

James smiled and stifled a laugh. "She said that about the time I spilled permanent ink all over the ugly old table in the kitchen, so we had to get a new one. But yes, that's the general idea."

James could see the worry in Lily's eyes and quickly turned serious once more.

"You really want to have a baby?" James asked Lily, who nodded. She always knew someday she'd want a child; she just didn't think that day would come so soon.

"Then we're having a god damn baby," James said confidently. "We can do it, well, you're the one who will actually do it, you know, literally, with your body—"

"Thanks for the reminder, hon," said Lily with a wry smile, and James squeezed his arm around her shoulders.

"—But I'll be here every step of the way. I will do every bit of your pregnant bidding, I swear. Your wish is my command. And we'll be great parents, I know we will, we learned from the best! Honestly, how hard could it be?" He said in an attempt to make Lily laugh that almost worked.

"Hey—Lils, truly, listen," he said. "If anyone I know could be an amazing mother at our age, it's you. I mean that with every bit of me. I love you, and I trust you, and we've got this."

Lily had tears in her eyes as she leaned in for another kiss. When they broke apart, James reached for Lily's hand and threaded their fingers together, then placed both their hands on her stomach, on that small but undeniable bump.

"I'm with you," James whispered. "No matter what, it's you and me, and the little one when he comes along."

Lily smiled. "You keep saying he. What if it's a girl?"

"Oh, then it was nice knowing you!" James joked, and acted as though he was about to get up off the couch and walk out the door. Chuckling, Lily grabbed him by the hem of his shirt and pulled him back down. She settled into his arms again as the sun rose outside the window and doused the living room in radiant golden light.

"I love you," Lily whispered.

"I love you too," James replied, and he felt like his heart might burst from just how true that statement was. "Until the very end."

Ahhh my heart! Please leave me a review if you liked this! CHAPTER SEVEN: COME HELL OR DEATH EATERS is coming soon!

-C