Couple featured: James and Lily Potter. Muggle AU.
"James, would you chop some onions for me?" called Lily Potter from the kitchen to her husband.
James, who had been sprawled on the sofa in front of the TV after a long day hard at work, yawned and called, "Oh, do it yourself," but flipped off the switch and made his way to the kitchen, where his wife was stirring a large pot of something that smelled delicious.
"I would, but you have glasses. They protect your eyes from the onion fumes," Lily smiled. James groaned exaggeratedly as he opened a drawer to grab a cutting board and a knife.
"So who's rendez-vous'd yet?" asked James, as he peeled the onion expertly and quickly chopped the bulb into minuscule pieces.
"Frank and Alice haven't yet, but Mary and Marlene said they'd be here at seven on the dot. I think the surprising thing here is that Sirius called and said that the lot of them would be on time—"
"—which means they'll be late," James said as he rolled his eyes. "No matter how hard Moony tries, Padfoot will distract them."
"I never really understood why you call Remus Moony."
"Ahhhh, that's because in secondary school he was right in love with this younger girl—what was her name—Nymphadora Tonks—what a horrible name, don't you think? She went by Tonks. He'd moon over her something terrible."
"So why do you call Sirius Padfoot?"
"Have you ever heard him when he's tried surprising you?"
Lily shook her head.
"That's exactly why. It's like footsteps were uninvented for him. He's ridiculously silent when he's on the prowl for either ladies or food."
"All the better to sneak up on them, I suppose," laughed Lily, rolling her eyes. James nodded.
"And we call Peter Wormtail because—well, you do know worms aren't another animal's tails, don't you—"
Lily scoffed. "As a biology major, I hope I'd know that."
"Well, Wormy over there was so convinced that worms were the tails of birds. Why? Because he'd once seen a bird with a worm in her beak, and he'd mistaken the beak for the bird's bum. We all made awful fun of him. And I'm called Prongs because—Lily, don't get mad—but once I poked the seat of this boy I hated with the prongs of a fork, and—well—it just caught on."
Lily laughed, intrigued as always as she was by the stories of James's schooldays. She had met her now-husband and fallen in love with him in Cambridge, one of the most prestigious universities in England. James had been studying to be a lawyer, and Lily to be a doctor. He had asked her out with a bouquet of roses and an infectious smile, and she hadn't been able to resist his boyish charm.
Now she was pregnant with his child, and the couple had called all of her friends and his over to their house for a potluck baby shower. It was to be a very informal occasion, for friends and friends alone.
Lily pointed at the onions that James had cut and asked him to put them into the pot while she stirred. Lily's french onion soup was the best, and she was always asked to bring a pot to any party.
Just as the soup had entered its finishing stages, the telephone rang. "Ah, that must be Frank and Alice," said Lily. "James, do you mind terribly—I'm nearly done with the stew—"
James picked up the corded phone on the kitchen wall and spoke into the mouthpiece. "Hello? Frank, it's great to hear your voice again! Ah, sounds great. Lily's doing fine—I believe the baby's doing fine as well. He's kicking and everything! Alice—she's pregnant too?! Congratulations!"
Lily dropped the ladle into the pot and turned to face James, her eyes shining. "No! Really? Oh, this is wonderful! The baby will have a playmate!"
"I'm sure our baby and yours will be the best of friends!" James said, and spoke for a few more minutes until he hung up.
"Oh, James, I didn't know Alice and Frank were expecting too! This is lovely!"
James grinned at his wife and dipped a spoon into the soup.
"James, it's not done yet!"
"Tastes great to me," James said.
"It just needs a couple more minutes." Lily glanced at the clock. "Jesus, it's already 6:30? We'd better get tidy, we don't want to look like heathens when they arrive."
"I don't think either of us are in danger of that, thank you very much," said James, but went upstairs all the same.
A couple minutes later, the soup was done, and Lily turned off the stove and went upstairs. She changed into her prettiest maternity dress and fixed her hair and makeup. Ten minutes later, she was ready. Her foot had just reached the ground floor when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," she shouted at James, who was still upstairs, doing God knew what.
She opened the door and was greeted by the smiling faces of Marlene Stewart—McKinnon, now—and her husband, Adam. They were accompanied by Mary MacDonald. Lily was supremely happy to see three of her childhood friends, and tried to hug them, but her baby bump got in the way.
Laughing, Lily escorted the three into the living room. Marlene hastened to answer the door the next time the doorbell rang, but was beaten by James Potter, who had finally come down the stairs.
The shouts and hearty laughter told Lily that Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs had been reunited at last. James led the small crowd into the living room, and excitedly told Lily that Alice and Frank were there, too.
The evening went by too fast for Lily and James' liking, but it was lovely to be surrounded by friends they hadn't seen in months, years even. Alice was planning on naming the child Sasha if it was a girl, Neville if it was a boy; Lily gushed over the adorable names and said she was partial to the name Grace for a girl or Harry for a boy, and James cut in, announcing that Elvendork was the most suitable, additionally, it's unisex.
The evening was full of laughter, of teasing, of joy; and it was with heavy hearts that Sirius, Peter, Remus, Marlene, Adam, Mary, Alice, and Frank left, well past midnight, wishing Lily and Alice the best of luck with their pregnancies.
Lily turned to James and smiled, and he walked over to her and hugged her, a warm, gentle, loving embrace that put into words both of their emotions. The two of them were extraordinarily lucky, having so many people who loved them and supported them. But each was the most lucky in having each other, for Lily without James, and James without Lily, was nothing.