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-Eight: Soundless

"Get the Marauders map," Remus said, looking over his homework at Sirius. Sirius was concerned because James hadn't come back from his meeting with McGonagall. He had called a Marauders meeting, and he knew he couldn't perform the meeting with a fourth of his audience missing.

"You're a genius! Why didn't I think of that?" Sirius asked. He launched from his chair and went up the boys dormitory staircase. He was humming to himself and stopped short, remembering that Lily was sleeping.

Lily tried sitting up but then she felt pain. Laying back down, she tried to ignore the fact that she was alone. 'I'm a witch. I can think and move on my own. I can't move on my own, but I surely can think!' She looked at the alarm clock and saw that three minutes had passed since she woke up. She knew she could die, alone, if she couldn't get up or get someone's attention. She was quite sure that no one was in the room with her.

After another failed attempt at sitting up, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to get out of the bed. She leaned against her pillows and took a deep breath. She had no idea why she wasn't screaming and shouting, someone would be bound to hear, but she felt too calm. 'Calm! I'm going insane in my head.'

Another minute passed.

Then she heard the door open. Her eyes opened wide and she looked out, very thankful that her hangings were open. She saw Sirius walk in and towards his bed. 'Better than Peter I suppose.' She took a deep breath and said clearly, "Sirius."

"Huh?"

"Sirius, don't panic."

"Why would I panic?" He was looking for the Marauder map, and didn't look at Lily.

"Sirius don't panic," Lily said again. "Something happened, I don't know how, but I'm bleeding." Sirius looked up from his trunk, eyes open wide. "I need you to calmly yell for someone downstairs to get Madame Pomfrey, and if possible, Madame Jacobs. Then, if you could please ask someone else to find James, I'd appreciate it. Just don't leave me alone."

Sirius stood up quickly and looked at Lily. She was pale and not looking good. Lily could tell he was going to panic. "Sirius, remember, don't panic."

"I'm not going to panic," Sirius said, his voice shaking.

"You're panicking." Lily watched as he made a mad dash to the door. She swallowed and closed her eyes. 'As long as he gets the job done.'

"SOMEONE FIND JAMES POTTER! AND SOMEONE ELSE GET MADAME POMFREY! TELL THEM THAT LILY HAS--" he looked at Lily. "You went into labor?"

"Of the sorts."

"TELL THEM THAT LILY HAS WENT INTO LABOR…OF THE SORTS!" He turned back to Lily, and she sent him a small smile. He walked back to her bed, and looked at her. "Do you need anything? Water? Food? Compliments?" His hands were shaking and he was beginning to sweat. By what he saw, he could tell something had seriously gone wrong.

xoXoXoXox

James was walking at a leisurely pace through the corridor carrying a bowl of green beans. He knew he'd never understand why she liked to eat such random things at random times of the day, but he was fine with that.

Just as he was nearing the secret passageway that would take him from where he was, outside of the kitchens to the Gryffindor Common Room, someone burst out of it.

"James!"

"Moony?" James asked, stopping. He was out of breath, gripping the Marauders map tightly in one hand and a two way mirror in his other.

Remus took a second to catch his breath, and then he shoved the map into his pocket. "Something happened, Lily's bleeding pretty heavily. She needs you."

James dropped his bowl of green beans, ignoring the shattering of the porcelain. He couldn't move for a moment, and then Remus tugged on his arm, pulling him forward. That's all it took for him to break from his reverie, and then he was running, faster than Remus. He couldn't remember ever running so fast. There were cobwebs and James pushed them out of his face. He burst through the other end of the passageway and was face to face with the Fat Lady. He shouted the password and she swung open. He scrambled through the portrait hole and into the Common Room. It was deathly silent in there and the people who were sitting in there were doing nothing. James ignored them and ran towards the stairs. He nearly tripped up them, but managed to keep his balance. Just as he was nearing the top, Sirius came out of the room, looking pale and sick. "Get in there," he demanded, walking down the steps. The way he said it made a shiver go up James's spin.

It didn't sound good.

He ran into the room and skidded to a halt. Madame Jacobs was in there, and it looked like Sirius had cleared one wall. Madame Jacobs pointed her wand at Lily and then at the wall. She was doing an ultrasound.

James rushed to Lily's side, and gasped when he saw her. She was deathly pale and her face was screwed up in pain. He dropped to his knees and looked at her. Lily looked at him and attempted to smile, but grimaced instead.

"Why didn't I catch this earlier? We're going to have to deliver the baby now," Madame Jacobs turned from the wall and looked at Lily.

"I'm not having contractions," Lily said, her voice shaking. She realized something was wrong, and it scared her. She wasn't feeling as calm as she was earlier. She wanted to grab James's hand, to squeeze it for comfort, but her hands had blood on them. She felt James's hand on her forehead, he was stroking her skin and pushing her hair out of her face.

"I know, but there's a problem sweetheart," Madame Jacobs looked nervous. "The umbilical cord is wrapped around her neck, and she's not getting any oxygen."

James swallowed and looked at the older Healer. "But she's alive? Why is Lily bleeding? Isn't that a sign of miscarriage?" Saying that out loud made James frown and Lily gasp.

"That's why we need to get this baby now."

"Where?"

"Here. Right now. We can't transport Lily anywhere and she's at high risk right now."

James looked at Lily. Tears were pouring out of her eyes and he could see she was trying to suck them back in. He leaned in and kissed her on her forehead. "It's okay Lily," he whispered. He smoothed her hair back and wiped away her tears. Lily sniffled and held James's gaze. "Everything's going to be okay."

"James, you're going to have to step out."

James tore his gaze away from Lily's. "I can't. I really can't. I have to be here for her." He looked back at Lily and she looked relieved that he wasn't going to go. Madame Jacobs watched them for a moment, and then she sighed.

"Stay, but this isn't going to be an easy process."

xoXoXoXox

Sirius, Remus, Peter, Frank, Alice, and Elizabeth were sitting at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for the cries of a newborn baby, but none came. They heard screaming, the room hadn't been charmed silent, but that was just about the only sound there was. The younger boys of Gryffindor tower stayed back from the stairs, nearly all of them sitting by the couch. The only person who had gone upstairs was Madame Pomfrey, and she had two bags and blankets.

Several minutes had passed and then Madame Jacobs came downstairs, a pink bundle in her arms. She walked towards the fireplace, when she first arrived she asked that the fireplace be kept lit so she could floo out. She grabbed floo powder and put it in the fire. She stepped into the green flames and spun away.

"Did you hear anything?" Alice asked, her eyes watering. She swallowed a lump in her throat when she saw Frank shake his head.

xoXoXoXox

BB/N: Argh! Why did I write this? It's so sad!!!

Love,

Bob Bennit