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 Twenty-Six: Emergency Drill

Lily shifted, groaning quietly. '36 weeks. I'm 36 weeks…and I can't get comfortable now.' She tried not to make a lot of noise, James was sleeping beside her. She had been laying in bed for probably hours, trying to get comfortable. She went from one side to another, tried sleeping on her back, sat up for a bit, and nothing worked. She punched her pillow and attempted to fluff it. Being pregnant now was too hard.

"Lily?"

"I can't get comfortable," Lily said, looking at James. He yawned and opened his eyes tiredly.

"Can I do anything for you?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I doubt it," Lily said. "My back is killing me and my legs hurt." She dropped her head. "I'm just never going to sleep again."

"Roll over," James said, resting on his elbows. Lily sighed and did as she was told. If James could magically take everything away so she would be able to sleep for a few hours, she'd call him Merlin and give him all the money in the world. "I remember Madame Jacobs said putting a pillow between your knees would help," he reached for his pillow and groped around for a moment until he found his wand. He firmed it up a bit and then handed it to Lily. She put it between her knees and then James lifted up her t-shirt. She was sleeping in shorts and his t-shirt. He began rubbing her back, careful to not press too hard. He knew her due date was getting closer because she complained a lot of her back and stomach hurting.

"Oh," Lily whispered, stretching slightly. She now had to call James Merlin and give him all the money she owned. She dropped her head and covered her mouth when she yawned.

"Does that feel better?"

"Loads." Lily yawned again and felt herself drifting off. If she could fall asleep for just several minutes she would be satisfied. James grinned when Lily fell asleep. He continued his ministrations for several more moments before pulling her shirt back down. He laid his head right behind hers, sharing a pillow. Lily didn't wake up and James yawned, drifting back off to sleep.

They didn't wake again until the alarm clock went off. Lily's eyes snapped open, but she still felt tired. James stretched slowly and rolled onto his back. Lily rolled to her side and rested her head on his chest. "I think I should start maternity leave," she whispered. "I don't want to get out of bed."

"Lily," James said, trying to contain his grin. "You have the rest of this week, which means Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Astronomy on Saturday, and then maternity leave starts."

"I can start early if I want," Lily said. Never before had she denied school or going to classes, but right now that was the last thing on her mind. James kissed her forehead.

"Love, if you want to start early, start early, but I can't start until next week." He ran his hand through her tangled hair. "Besides, if you go to school for the rest of this week, you're qualified to take your N.E.W.T.'s."

"I don't care about those tests!" Lily said, sitting up. "I just want this thumping little girl out of me! All she does is move, and I think she's trying to puncture my organs with her little toes." She rubbed her stomach. "Try carrying a kicking machine James, I dare you."

James reached for Lily. Her moods sometimes changed faster than time. "Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You never do," Lily said, falling against him. She sighed and stared at the hangings of his four poster. James stroked her stomach, trying to soothe her. He could tell her nerves were high. Lily stopped his hand and pressed his fingers in one spot. "Feel that?" she asked quietly. He nodded his head slowly. "Remember when you first felt her? At my parents house?"

"She's grown more insistent."

"She has feet now. With little toes and she has little hands," Lily giggled when James said,

"I hope so." James kissed her temple. Maybe today they weren't going to go to classes. He felt the baby kick again and he pulled away. "Is she playing that game? The one where you kick the black and white ball around?" He had the name right on the tip of his tongue.

"I hope not," Lily said, laughing. She turned in James's arms and looked at him. "Let's go to classes, get this week over with."

xoXoXoXox

"ACK! SHE'S IN LABOR! SOMEONE FIND JAMES! BABY ON THE WAY! THE BUN IS DONE IN THE OVEN!" Sirius screamed, running from his bed to the door. He threw it open and nearly flew down the stairs, screaming his lungs out. After several seconds he walked back into the room, grinning to himself. He looked pleased. "That's what I would do if I found Lily in labor."

James was trying to resist the urge to laugh. Lily was reduced to tears and she was laughing, holding her sides. Frank and Peter insisted that they hold emergency drills so it wouldn't be chaos when Lily went into labor. Remus shook his head at Sirius as he marched to his bed and sat down. Everyone had shown examples of what to do if Lily were found in labor. Lily didn't act out any parts, but Sirius was the most impressive with his examples.

"Oh wait! Prongs, how are you going to react when Lily goes into labor?" Sirius asked, standing up. "It'll probably be something like this," Sirius cleared his throat. "Lily's in labor? OH MY GOODNESS!" He collapsed to the floor, hand shielding his eyes. Lily wiped away the tears that were in her eyes and sent a side long glance at James. He was laughing but shaking his head.

"I wouldn't do that," James said, taking a deep breath. "I'd probably let out a wail that would rival a banshee, and then I'd fall." Sirius stood again and walked towards Remus. Remus looked at him, eyebrow arched.

"With me screaming my head off, running through the castle, and Frank and Peter probably going to see Madame Pomfrey, Moony will be the only one to tend to Lily's needs." Sirius elbowed Remus. "You'll be the first one to find out if the baby is Prongs' or if you and Lily's little affair created that bundle of joy! Yeah?" He elbowed Remus again as Lily and James laughed.

"Shut up! I thought those rumors died," Remus covered his head, trying not to laugh. Sirius had been teasing the mickey out of him with those rumors.

"Who's taking care of Lily again?" James asked, looking at Lily then Remus. "I can't remember the score of our quidditch match. Who won?"

"How can you take the mickey out of me?" Remus asked. "She's your girlfriend."

"I kind of want to know too," Lily said. "Will the baby have sandy blonde hair or untamable black hair?"

"You never know," Remus said, looking at Lily. "It could have red hair."

"You were with a Weasley?" James asked, shocked. "I thought they were my friends!" He put a hand over his chest and sighed dramatically, causing everyone in the room to laugh. Lily shook her head and leaned it against James's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"You know, I still have no idea as to what to do when she goes into labor," Frank said, scooting to the edge of his bed. "With Sirius screaming, James unconscious, Peter seeing Madame Pomfrey, and Remus taking a peek to see if it's his baby, what is there left for me to do? Dance?"

"Can you dance?" Sirius asked.

"A little," Frank replied. "Mostly with Alice though."

"By the way," Sirius said, looking at Frank. "When's your wedding?"

Frank rolled his eyes. "Tomorrow, at noon in Spain. I hope you can make it."

"Really?" Peter asked, confused. "I thought you were getting married in July."

"Double weddings!" Sirius said, clapping his hands excitedly. "I've been talking to James about the wedding and I want it to be in July too!"

"James…you're a poof?" Lily asked, eyebrow arched.

"Alas, I can't deny it anymore," James said, eyes downcast. "I've been attracted to Sirius for all of ten seconds."

"That is not a long enough relationship to be getting into! You need to know the person you're marrying," Lily said, shaking her head. A moment later everyone in the room was laughing, unable to contain it anymore. It seemed like someone had put a spell on them because this conversation was just too unbelievable.

"So, the emergency drill is over now," Frank said. "How 'bout a game of quidditch?"

Everyone in the room wanted to play the game. James looked at Lily and saw her nodding off a bit. "Yeah we can play, just give me a minute," James said. He looked at Sirius. "Get the keys for the shed. They're in my quidditch robe pocket. I'll be down in a minute." The guys left single file from the room, Sirius twirling a set of keys around his finger. James looked at Lily and lifted her chin. "Tired?"

"Exhausted. Any type of physical activity makes me that way."

"Laughing is a physical activity?" James asked, standing up from the bed. Lily slowly crawled to the head of the bed and laid down. She took off her robes and used them as a blanket.

"It is now," Lily said, yawning. She smiled at James and then closed her eyes. "I'll see you in a bit. Don't stay out too late," she added, hearing him going towards the door.

"I won't. Love you," James said, slowly closing the door behind him. Lily mumbled something in her sleep and then rolled over, falling into a deeper slumber.

xoXoXoXox

Lily sat up quickly, ignoring the stitch in her side. It was dark in the room, no noise whatsoever. She quickly patted down her body, making sure all her body parts were there. Sweat covered her brow and she was sure she'd never catch her breath. She felt as if she had just finished running a mile.

She leaned her head against the headboard and took a deep breath, holding it in and exhaling slowly after a second. 'That was a terrible dream.' She scrubbed at her eyes. 'More like a nightmare…' She couldn't get the vivid images of her best friends, Alice and Elizabeth, out of her mind. Lily swallowed hard and crawled out of bed. Her robe was laying on the floor, and Lily picked it up. The room was remarkably clean, the Marauders believing that a dirty room was a safety hazard for Lily.

Lily pulled her wand from her robe pocket and whispered, "Lumos." She tiptoed to the window ledge where a pitcher of water was. She used the only glass that was there, and after examining it to make sure it was clean, she poured the cold water into it. She drank it slowly, allowing her mind to drift away from her nightmare. She tried to stop the urge to run from the room to make sure that her best mates were okay, but she knew they were.

Finally, after taking another deep breath and finishing her glass of water, she traveled back to her bed. No one was in the room, but it was dark outside. She looked at the clock and saw that it was only nine o'clock. She sat down gingerly on the bed and took another breath. She sat for several minutes, breathing and looking around the room. No one was in there with her, and she hoped that the Marauders weren't outside still, playing quidditch.

As if they heard her thoughts, the door to the dormitory flew open. James backed into the room slowly, and it seemed like he was carrying a large box. Sirius followed next, carrying the other side, and Remus and Peter brought up the rear carrying bags.

"What's going on?" Lily asked, eyes darting from James to the parcels he was carrying. She could see just the shadow of his grin before the lights turned on in the room.

"We just did a bit of shopping," James said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "I was wondering, after you have the baby, where is it going to sleep?"

"That was a bit of Padfoot's idea too!" Sirius said. "Because I said it can't sle-"

"She," Lily corrected.

"She can't sleep in your bed because James would roll over her," Sirius said. "But it was James who bought it."

"Bought what?" Lily asked, still confused.

"A cot-"

"You bought her a cot!" Lily exclaimed, jumping in the air. She stepped closer to the big box they brought in and examined it. She could feel tears stinging at her eyes.

"And some clothes," Remus added.

Lily tried not to cry. She ran her fingers down the side of the box and then she returned to the bed. She sat down gingerly and Remus and Peter handed her the bags. She just carefully set the bags on the floor. James maneuvered the box so it leaned against the wall, and then he sat down next to Lily on the bed. She was overcome with her emotions, the pure joy from James, and her horror from her nightmare.

"Right! I don't want to be here any longer, I'm going to party!"

Sirius grabbed Peter and dragged him out of the room. Remus followed suit and shut the door behind him. James turned to Lily and grabbed her hands. "Is something wrong?"

"No-Yes-I don't know," Lily whispered in one shaky breath.

"What's up?" James asked, stroking the tops of her hands. He watched as Lily took a shuddering breath. "Are you angry at me and the other Marauders?"

"N-no." Lily shook her head for emphasis. "I'm glad that you guys bought her a cot and things, really." She sniffled. "It's just…before you guys got here, I had a nightmare and then you guys came in with all these things…" She pulled her hands out of James's grasp to wipe at her eyes. James moved a little closer to her.

"Do you want to talk about your dream?" James asked.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. She looked at James and sent him a very watery smile. James moved a bit closer again and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I was with Alice and Elizabeth," Lily whispered. "And we were just walking when we went under attack. I don't know who it was or anything, but…they killed Alice and Elizabeth, and they were still attacking me…" She closed her eyes. She believed that summarizing her dream made it better.

"What about your other dreams?" James asked.

"Other dreams?"

"Lily love, you haven't been sleeping well since you fell. Are you okay? Maybe you need to see Madame Pomfrey again."

Lily shook her head. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. The dreams…they'll go away eventually." Lily hastily wiped at her eyes. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Are you planning on partying with the other guys?" She could see his torn look on his face. For a while now he hadn't been with his best friends, and she knew he wanted to be with them. "Because, personally, I believe the Head Boy needs to be there or else it'll get out of hand."

James smiled at her. "Are you sure?"

"No drinking! A drunk James Potter is a dead James Potter," Lily said, squeezing him tightly. It felt nice to allow James to do his own thing.

"I wasn't planning on it," James murmured, kissing the top of her head. He kissed her eyelids and then a very chaste kiss on the lips. Lily pulled away first and wiped at her eyes. She rested her hands on her stomach and watched as James got up from the bed. He grinned at her before going to the door. He turned off the lights at Lily's request, and then he shut the door.

Lily winced just slightly as she climbed back into bed, pulling her blankets over her head. For a few days now her stomach had been hurting. 'Oh well. It's just getting closer and closer to the day!'

xoXoXoXox

BB/N: Hello! Man, I need to update more. I promise I will! I pinky swear!

I hope everyone had a good V-day, no matter how lame it is (or was). :)

Love,
Bob Bennit