Trials and Tribulations

Summary: Harry Potter knew he was going to get shocked when he visited his parents graves. He knew that'd he'd see family he never met; like grandparents, uncles, and aunts. But one thing he didn't know was that he was going to meet his sister.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making any profit off of this fanfic.

Chapter Nineteen: The Galleon

Lily opened her eyes, unsure where she was. All she knew was that the room was incredibly white and she had a pounding headache. She touched her head, wincing when her eyes became adjusted to the light. She closed her eyes quickly and slowly opened them, giving them time to actually adjust.

After a moment she began to panic, totally confused as to where she was. She was alone in a totally white room, well, there was a wooden chair beside the bed, and it contrasted greatly. She looked at the gown she was wearing and didn't recognize it. She had been in the Infirmary at Hogwarts before, and these were definitely not pajamas from the school, and besides, the Infirmary didn't have private rooms.

As the panic began to rise higher, she noticed that the doorknob on the other side of the room turn. She laid back down and pulled the blankets over her head. She heard the door open and her heart beat faster. She thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe, that she wasn't getting enough oxygen into her lungs. She began gasping for breath and her headache felt like it doubled in pain.

"Lily?"

James pulled the blankets off of Lily's head and heard her gasps for breath. At first he wasn't sure if she had just gone into early labor, but then he recognized that she was having a panic attack; Remus had had one once, and it was pretty frightening when they tried to calm him down because they couldn't. It took only a few minutes for it to run it's course, and by the end they were all exhausted. But he hadn't had one since then, and it happened when they were in fifth year before their first O.W.L.'s.

James pulled Lily into a sitting position and held her shoulders, lowering his gaze to hers. "Lily, just breathe…take normal breaths." He had seen the fear and confusion in her eyes, but thought better of asking her about it at that moment. It seemed like James's words didn't meet Lily's ears because she was still looking frightened.

Concerned that something serious could happen, James slowly began backing out of the room, talking the entire time. "Lily, I'm going to get help. Just try to breathe." He reached the door. "Breathe, okay love. Deep slow breaths…Try to calm down." He opened the door and left, leaving it open.

Lily's eyes shifted around the room. Her chest was hurting from her breathing and she was beginning to feel dizzy. 'I'm somewhere with James…I'm somewhere with James…' Lily kept saying this in her head, and by the time James returned with Lily's Healer, her breathing had slowed just slightly.

"Lily, can you hear me?" her Healer asked. It wasn't Madame Jacobs, but it was a woman who looked just as nice. Lily recognized the blue robes and almost immediately she felt her fear slipping away. She wasn't somewhere where someone could hurt her, she was at St. Mungo's, and James was with her, along with a nice Healer. Lily nodded her head. She took a deep shaky breath and held it for just a second, and then exhaled slowly. She repeated this a few times and soon she felt like she could breathe again. "I'll just check your heart rate," the Healer said, pulling out something that looked like a stethoscope.

Lily held still as she put the round end against her chest and listened. She couldn't bear to meet James's gaze, so she just looked at the Healer in front of her.

"Do you have a history of panic attacks or panic disorders?" the Healer asked after removing the stethoscope.

Lily shook her head. "No…I've never had one before."

"Are you having any chest pains or dizziness? Any unusual chills or a strange prickling feeling in your hands and feet?"

"Chest pains," Lily said. "But I just started to have them…when I felt like I couldn't breathe."

The Healer nodded her head just slightly. "Well you had a panic attack, that's for sure. Do you know what triggered it? There not uncommon in pregnancy mind you."

Lily was quiet a moment. She thought back to when she woke up that morning. Then she whispered, "I didn't know where I was…I don't even know why I'm here or what happened."

The Healer nodded her head. "There's nothing to be ashamed about. It happens occasionally during a pregnancy when you're under a lot of stress, which by the workload your doing at Hogwarts, I wouldn't be surprised if stress was a regular occurrence for you."

Lily just nodded her head. The Healer smiled reassuringly at Lily, even though she wasn't very reassured, and walked towards the door. "Madame Jacobs is here to check on you for your regular appointment, so you'll just have to hang in here for a little bit longer."

The Healer left, leaving Lily and James alone. Lily played with the hem of her blanket, not wanting to look at James. James sat down beside her, making her jump just slightly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "I love you, you know."

Lily smiled and nodded her head, feeling a lot happier. "Yeah I know."

"Are you feeling better?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't mean to have that panic attack, honest. It's just…I had no idea where I was. I don't remember coming here or anything."

"That's because you passed out twice in McGonagall's class yesterday morning."

"Twice? Yesterday morning? What time is it now?"

James looked at his watch. "Nearly four o'clock."

Lily looked surprised. "I slept for that long?"

James nodded his head. "You didn't eat anything yesterday and all your food and energy that was left in your body went to the baby, so you basically passed out from exhaustion. When you got here, after the initial testing, they put you on a Muggle IV, because they're not harmless, and gave you stuff to eat or something…through the needle." James paused and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "I didn't know what was going on…I was really scared that Violet did something to you…"

Tears clouded her vision as Lily turned towards James, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "I'm sorry I scared you. I'm better now."

"I know." James hugged Lily tightly. "Merlin…I'm so happy you are now."

"Is the baby okay?" Lily asked, pulling away slightly. She rubbed furiously at her eyes.

"The baby is fine, heart and lungs in perfect condition, and hungry as ever." James smiled at Lily. "Don't rub at your eyes, you'll make them red, and you're adorable when you cry."

Lily slapped his hand. "No I'm not, don't say that."

James just smiled cheekily at her, and she glared at him. At first James thought she was serious, but then Lily lunged for him and began tickling him mercilessly. James shrieked and tried to get away without hurting Lily. After a moment he realized that that was a useless tact, and he tried to tickle Lily back.

"James don't you dare! I'll pee myself if you tickle me," Lily said, grabbing his wrists with both her hands. She was nearly laying on top of him, breathless.

James was quiet a moment, and then he easily slipped his hand out of her grasp. He grabbed her right hand and looked at it. "Did you really like this ring? Honestly?"

Lily looked at the ring and then smiled at James. "I don't think like accurately describes it."

"Really?" James asked questioningly.

Lily smiled. "The best almost engagement ring I've ever had." They hadn't talked about the ring since Christmas, and they never talked about what was in the letter. James's features softened almost immediately. Lily leaned down and kissed James quickly on the lips.

When they pulled away, James still held Lily close. "Who else has almost proposed to you?" Lily looked questioningly at James. "You said this was the best almost engagement ring you've ever gotten. That has to mean someone else has proposed."

"You know what I meant," Lily said, pulling out of James's embrace and sitting up. He laid beside her a moment. "How'd we managed to fit on this small bed and roll around?"

James shrugged his shoulders. He sat up and rested his head on her shoulder and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her middle. "I don't know…I don't care."

Lily and James just sat for a few moments in complete silence, James gently stroking Lily's hand. Lily leaned her head against his chest and felt like she could drift off to sleep when someone knocked on the door. James fell off the bed and scrambled into the chair beside it. Lily tried not to laugh. "Come in," she called to the person who was knocking on the door.

The door opened and Madame Jacobs walked in. She took one look at Lily's sparkling eyes and James's tousled hair, and didn't want to know what was happening before she came in. "Well," she said, walking towards Lily's bed. She lifted Lily's chin and looked into her eyes. "I heard you had a panic attack earlier."

Lily nodded her head. "I know what triggered it too."

"And you have no history of panic attacks?" she asked, putting a finger in front of Lily's face. "Follow my finger."

"No I don't have a history of panic attacks," Lily said, resisting the urge to just move her head to follow her finger.

Madame Jacobs smiled. "We've already done enough testing in the passed twenty-four hours, and I don't want you to be exhausted by the end of the day, so we'll just reschedule your appointment to test you for gestational diabetes." Lily nodded her head. "But we can check for the sex of the baby if you want to."

"Five months already?" Lily asked, surprised. "It's really been five months?"

"A little over to be exact," Madame Jacobs said. "Do you want to know what you're having so you can prepare or do you want to have a surprise?"

Lily looked at James, and he smiled and tilted his head just slightly, indicating that it was her decision. Lily chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and then nodded her head. "I want to know."

"Okay," Madame Jacobs said. "This'll be just like your other sonograms, except it'll be here instead of at Hogwarts." Lily nodded her head. "I'll find some pajama bottoms for you to put on, and then I'll show you to the room you need to be in, okay?"

"Yeah," Lily said. She was beginning to feel a bit giddy. James got up from his chair and sat down on the edge of the bed. Madame Jacobs smiled and left the room, leaving the two of them alone.

"I'll bet you a galleon we're having a girl."

Lily rolled her eyes. "This baby has an appetite like you. It's a boy."

"I don't think so," James replied.

Lily held out her hand. "You're on."

xoXoXoXox

Lily held onto James's arm as she walked down the corridor, following Madame Jacobs. Since she had been in bed for the passed day and a half and she was still a bit low on energy, she was unstable on her feet. They had been walking for nearly two minutes when Madame Jacobs stopped and indicated that they go into the room with the open door. When they walked in it was dark, but there was enough light from the hallway to see where they were going. Lily saw a bed and she walked towards it.

"Yes, that's where you sit," Madame Jacobs said, shutting the door behind her. The room was dark for a second, and then the only blank wall in the room lit up. "I already put the spell on the wall, all I need for you to do is relax like always. It'll take a bit longer than it usually does at Hogwarts."

Madame Jacobs pulled out her wand, and Lily pulled up her shirt to above her protruding stomach. James had never seen Lily when she took a sonogram, so his interest was piqued. A moment later Madame Jacobs handed Lily a florescent vial. "That's just to make the picture clearer and a good dose of her prenatal vitamins James. No harm will be done to Lily or the baby."

Lily drank it, licking her lips afterwards. That potion was always flavored like blue raspberries. When Lily settled back down into the bed, Madame Jacobs tapped her stomach and muttered an incantation. Then she pointed at the wall with her wand, and a picture of the baby appeared on the wall.

"That's it?" James asked, leaning closer to the wall. He was in awe at how he realized that the little thing in Lily's stomach was actually alive. He could see the little heart beat, and he could hear it too. He turned back to Lily and saw that she was smiling fondly at him. He smiled back.

"Well, to be precise, it's a girl," Madame Jacobs said.

"A girl?" James asked.

"A girl?" Lily repeated. "With an appetite like that?"

"It's a girl. See right there," Madame Jacobs said, pointing to the picture. "That's how you can tell."

All of a sudden Lily burst into tears. "We're having a girl!" she cried, covering her face. "We're having a girl."

James smiled. "You owe me a galleon."

xoXoXoXox

BB/N: Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I was going to update earlier this week, but I went to ATF this weekend and I haven't had much time throughout the week.

Thanks for the reviews!

Gasp! Only 14 more chapters to go! I should have finished this story months ago. :)

Well, I must get ready to eat breakfast. Probably when I actually post this, it'll be time for lunch. J

Have a Great Day!

Love,
Bob Bennit