Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, etc.
I'm really sorry I haven't updated in over two months. (Mercy... please...!) With the end of HeyLookTheSnitch's story, the Devil Wears Quidditch Gear, I figured it was time to get into the swing again... so yeah, enjoy!
Steam rolled off the beveled mirror, and drops of condensation left watery tracks down the surface. Lily, with a long towel wrapped around her, wiped a clear spot on the mirror, and sighed. The thought of going all the way to St. Mungo's to get a pregnancy test defeated the reason of a quiet Sunday afternoon. She really didn't want to do any apparating either, especially if she was pregnant. Would apparating hurt the baby? Was there a baby? Only a Healer could be sure, and they were all the way in London. Everything was so far from Godric's Hollow.
And suddenly, Lily had a brilliant idea.
Toweling off, then slipping on her robe, she walked to her bedroom, and peered in. James was still downstairs, eating everything in the vicinity, no doubt. Lily laughed at the thought, thinking of the poor refrigerator. Tip-toeing in and closing the door quietly, she dressed, and headed downstairs.
Everything was clean: the cups, the dishes, even the crumbs from the carpet had disappeared . . . how thoughtful of James. Even the fridge seemed intact. Pregnancy (even though Lily may not even be pregnant) seemed to have already started reaping rewards. That, or James was best thing that ever happened to her.
Lily guessed that it was the latter.
James was still in his boxers, sitting on the counter, scanning the Daily Prophet. He had his eyes glued onto the paper until he was aware of Lily's presence; she swore she could hear his eyes click as he looked up.
Smiling, James pushed himself off the counter, setting down the Prophet on the kitchen table. Walking towards her, James smiled even more widely.
Finally, he reached her, wrapping one muscular arm around his waist, and another around her neck, and finished off by kissing her quite firmly.
"Why so happy, James?" Lily asked, eyeing his Cheshire cat grin, and watching him trace out her neck, shoulders and arms with his eyes.
"Why shouldn't I be happy? My lovely, beautiful wife is pregnant! With a real baby!" James said, still transfixed on Lily, but staring into her eyes now.
Lily couldn't help but laugh. Between giggles, she tried to explain that more often than not, pregnancies led to real babies.
"Were you imagining a plastic doll or something?" Lily laughed as James shook his head.
"You know what I meant. . . I was actually imagining a baby with blue eyes or something, which neither of us have-"
Lily cut across James, suddenly stern: "Are you implying that I'm screwing around behind your back, James? Because, to let you know, I think that Chaser for the Tutstill Tornadoes is a real looker. . ." Laughing, then nearly choking, Lily did not expect James to kiss her again, much less when she was breathing.
But no matter, James always took Lily's breath away.
Between gasps, Lily managed to eke out, "I was joking you know, and all babies' eyes are blue when they are born- they just change to whatever color they were meant to have, I think. . . plus, we don't even know if I'm pregnant- which is why I'm going out."
James pulled back and asked in a surprised tone, "Going out? Going out where? You hate going out on Sundays! Surely you aren't going to apparate all the way to London to get a pregnancy test."
"No, Lily replied, "I'm going to the Muggle convenience store the next village over, in Rockwall.
And if you'll excuse me," she continued, "I'd like to be on my way before the temperature drops."
Slipping out of his grip, Lily walked to the closet and picked out her black jacket and woolen scarf. A hat wouldn't hurt either.
Turning to James once more, she asked him where the bike was.
"I didn't even know we had a bike. Would it be in the shed, out back? It'll probably need a tune-up or cleaning of some sort."
Lily thanked him and went out the side door. A slight, chilly wind blew across her face and lifted her bright auburn hair, but other than that, it was a perfect day. The sun shone though the now leafless trees, leaving shadows on the ample back yard. A small wooden shed sat in the back of the yard, at the wood's edge, with browned, crunchy leaves on the roof.
Walking towards it, leaves blew and rattled across the ground around her, and the trees swayed and creaked. Finally reaching and opening the shed, she saw in the dark a small yellow bicycle with a basket in the front, attached to the handle bars. Perfect.
Yanking the bike out of the shed by the base of the handle bars, it nearly toppled her over as it came out.
James was right; the whole thing was covered in grime and cobwebs, and the tires were sagging. The straw basket was faded, and the rubber on the handle bars was coming apart.
Lily tapped the tires, and they inflated, plump and firm. The grime was to be tackled next. "Scourgify!" Lily said, and all the dirt off the bike disappeared. Lily tapped the handle bars, and the rubber mended itself. Now, she was good to go.
Wheeling the bike out past the gate, she could feel the protective charms shrink behind her.
Stepping off the curb, she mounted the bike, and pedaled away from home, her safe, protected sanctuary. . . .
Pedaling, and with increasing speed, she heard muffled shouts, and then "LILY!"
The brakes screeched to a halt, and she drew her wand, twisting her head around to see who bellowed her name, a small seed of dread blooming in her stomach. . . .
But it was only James, standing in his boxers and a t-shirt. He was waving a small brown lump in his hand.
Lily stuffed her wand back in her jacket pocket. Pedaling back, Lily could see clearly that she had forgotten her wallet, and that James was obviously freezing.
"L- Lily! You left your wallet with all your Muggle money in the h-house. I wanted to catch you b-before you le-"
Before James could finish his sentence, Lily kissed him again. Payback for taking her breath away earlier.
Still kissing him, with more and more intensity, she found the crook of his arm which had the hand that held the wallet, she wrestled it from his grip, and broke apart from James.
"Look at us", said James, in a bemused tone, " Kissing like we were seventeen again! We're not at Hogwarts, Lily, and certainly not in private- I mean, what if somebody looked out their window, and saw us-"
"There's nothing wrong with us kissing like we're seventeen", Lily interjected, "and if someone did see us, you'd be the crazy next-door neighbor who runs around in his boxers, and I'd just be his equally crazy wife. . . But there's still nothing wrong with that."
"Yeah, well, glad to see you're alright with being crazy, I, on the other hand, would love to keep my sanity. . . and my feet. They might freeze off!"
Lily and James looked down simultaneously, to see James's bare feet on the cold, hard pavement.
Letting out a shiver, Lily thanked James for the wallet, and turned the bicycle.
"Well, you'd better get inside. . . Its cold." Slapping his butt playfully, she mounted the bike, and pedaled off.
When she was a good distance away, she looked back, and James was still there, his hand still raised in a ghost of a wave.
Raising her arm, she waved back, and then twisted around and pedaled forward. If she wanted to reach the convenience store in time, she'd have to get going.
After about 45 minutes of riding through country lanes, watching trees zooming by, and leaves swirling through the air, she finally reached the small convenience store (Patrick's Quickie Mart) on the end of a long, relatively empty street. Only one car was parked in front the of the Mart. She could hear a Muggle highway some distance away.
Leaning her bike against the brick wall of the store, confident that no one would steal it. Her arrival into the store was announced by a tingle of bells overhead. The young, blonde cashier smiled at Lily, and then went back to her magazine. Stopping at the small, hanging directory, she made her way to aisle 4, which was labeled 'feminine needs, pregnancy tests, cosmetics.'
The aisle was packed with pads, tampons, and all sorts of makeup. Lily glanced at the tampons, hoping she would not need them for another nine months.
Down at the end, there was a skinny woman already down by the pregnancy tests. By the looks of it, she was carrying her weight in the test boxes. Lily hoped that there would be at least one left for her.
Lily footsteps were masked by the sound of falling boxes; the frail woman had dropped her precious cargo. She was muttering to herself, and picking up boxes as fast as they were falling.
Lily bent down and picked up 4 boxes, and tapped the almost familiar woman on the shoulder.
The woman spun around, boxes flying and showering Lily.
"Oh! Im so sorry, I didn't realize-" However, the woman never finished her sentence.
Lily was hit with a horrible sense of recognition.
She realized that she was staring into the pale, horse-shaped, bony face of . . . . her sister.
Petunia's mouth was agape, and angry red splotches began to form along her long, craning neck.
Her eyes were swiveling all around Lily, sucking her in, everything from Lily's hair to her hands to the test boxes in them. Lily could feel color rushing to her cheeks and heat radiating of her neck.
"P-Petunia . . .? Tuney?" Lily broke the silence first, but Petunia seemed determined to keep it going until she passed out- she hadn't taken a breath since she whirled around and showered Lily with pregnancy tests.
Petunia looked around, her eyes fearful, and as big as saucers, making sure nobody was in the already nearly deserted store. She acted as if Lily were some illegal, hideous beast that Petunia was smuggling into the country.
Then, in a high, shaky voice, Petunia leaned in and asked, "What are you doing here!?"
Venom could almost be detected in her voice, ready to spit at Lily.
"I needed to get a pregnancy test, so I rode my bike here, seeing as I live very close, in the next village over." Lily hoped that Petunia wouldn't pass out, or run away screaming.
You . . . you live in the next village over? I didn't know your kind of freaks,"-Petunia positively spat this word, and it hit Lily like a javelin- "lived so close to. . . normal people! I drove four hours out of my way in hope of not meeting any of your kind, and look what I've found! My freak of a sister! No, not even my sister!"
By now, Petunia was yelling, a note of hysteria in her pitchy voice. Lily was nearly on the verge of tears; after all these years of not talking to Petunia, was Lily still a freak?
Swallowing back her tears, Lily was determined to change the subject.
"So. . . you're expecting? Congratulations, Tuney!" Petunia winced at her old nick-name.
"Yes, I am", said Petunia rather stiffly, "Are you?" Petunia looked down, as if fathoming some disgusting sea monster in Lily's uterus.
"Well, I don't know- I figured a pregnancy test would be a quick way to tell, I didn't feel like making an appointment at St. Mungo's."
Petunia nodded, and clutched her huge lot of pregnancy tests. A baby bump was already poking through her floral sun dress. Lily wondered if the thought of pregnancy scared Petunia, and whether every time she took a pregnancy test, Petunia prayed for a little minus sign.
"Are you still with that Potter boy? Is it his child?" Petunia seemed to forget that she was invited to be the maid of honor at the Potter's wedding.
"Yes, James and I are married, and yes, it is his child . . . Now, I'm pretty sure your baby is Vernon's?" Lily couldn't think of a jab for Vernon, because Petunia was beginning to annoy her.
Petunia nodded, and Lily could see the color slowly returning to her face as she became more accustomed to Lily's presence. The conversation was dying, however. There wasn't much else to say.
Suddenly, Petunia said "I wondered where you'd gotten to after you graduated from that . . . place. We never talked, and I didn't know what to do. I wasn't sure if you were . . . alright."
Lily was completely agog at the sudden rush of affection from Petunia. So was Petunia, apparently, because she had clapped her hand over her mouth, and her eyes were widened in complete shock. The lack of support from one hand had caused more boxes to fall.
"I- I must be going, now, Vernon will be wondering where I am..." With that, Petunia turned on her heel and because to march away.
"Petunia! Petunia! Wait! Your tests!" Lily was now holding eight boxes; half hoping Petunia wouldn't turn around, but she did.
"Take those ones- I don't need them, I suppose. . . I think we've nearly cleaned out the whole shelf." Petunia approached the cashier, paid for her many pregnancy tests, and quickly walked out, as if she we trying to vacate a crime scene.
Lily listened to the engine of Petunia's car rev up, and then the sound became smaller and smaller until she could not hear it anymore. Lily took one box, and stacked the other seven back on the shelf. She began to walk away, when a moment of hesitation paused her: What if the test was defective? Or didn't work on Witches? Lily walked back to the shelf, and grabbed another box, just in case. Worst case would be that she'd have to go to St. Mungo's after work tomorrow.
Lily paid for her tests and walked out of the store. Her bike was still there, leaned against the brick wall. She mounted, kicked off, and rode off down the road.
Home seemed far away.