As she scribbled the name, hoping it would be illegible, she heard James's swift intake of breath, and she could feel him tensing beside her. "I will kill him."
"I don't see any reason for you to, James. If you're going to snoop, you might as well do a thorough job of it," she snarled at him, scrawling another name, and then thrusting the clipboard at him in disgust. "Go tattoo it on your arm, you pretentious git."
James grabbed it eagerly and read it, not at all ashamed. However, he was entirely shocked to see the form.
Father's Name: Regulus Black
Mother's Name: Alaina Wilkes
"What the crap is this?" James asked in indignation.
"I believe it is a medical form, Mister Healer. If you don't mind, I believe I'll go give it to the desk now." Lily actually had to wrestle it away from him to return it to the witch who was looking on curiously. She grabbed the front of James's robes when she sat back down, and snarled at him rather violently, "If you say a single bloody word about this to anybody, I swear to whatever higher form there is that I will kill you with my own wand. It won't be pleasant either. Do not make me lose Celeste."
"Why would you lose her? She's our daughter, isn't she?" James asked coolly. "I think you miss-marked the form; shall I go get it again?"
Lily stared at him, shock evident on her face. He would do this for her? "I…Please."
James nodded, and he walked quickly back up to the desk and began talking emphatically with an older witch there, who was shaking her head. He stayed for several minutes before he walked back. "It's no good, she already processed it. The old hag, what the hell is she doing? Sitting on her hands until someone walks up?"
"Evidently."
"You should have said something to me, Lily. You could have lied, you know."
"So you just want to claim random children? I can probably scrape up a few for you."
"I wanted to do it for you."
"Penelope would not have liked it."
James shrugged, "I'm moving out."
"How nice," she said indifferently, sliding down the wall and burying her face in her hands. "Are they going to take Celeste from me, James?"
"They'll probably try."
"Why couldn't you have just said no?"
"I thought you wanted the truth, I very seldom lie to you. Don't worry about it, though, Lily. You just have to wait and see if any child services are alerted…or The Daily Prophet. If they are, we'll make the next step."
"James…just stop it."
"Stop what?"
"Stop acting like you care, like you want to help…it's too late."
"Fine. May I ask why you are taking care of two Death Eater's child?"
"Regulus is dead. Alaina is a spy for Voldemort and doesn't have time to take care of a child. I was a random female trying to get over the loss of her own baby, it made sense. James, why does no one say his name anymore?"
"They're scared of him. He is terrorizing people, no matter who they are, and you don't know who is next. Some people thought that they could just ignore him, so if they didn't recognize him, it would just all go away. You know the saying, all it takes is good men lying down."
"What about you? How do you feel about it?"
"I think I have the right to say someone's name if they took my wife away from me. I'm not going to run down the street shouting it, but he doesn't scare me anymore. I believe he's done the worst he can do to me."
"Have you ever seen him?"
"Yes, I have. Twice."
"Why?"
"Just because. Maybe I'll tell you sometime over dinner."
"Wouldn't that be wonderful conversation."
"I thought it might draw you to dinner."
"I don't really think that would appropriate dinner conversation. I don't actually think dinner in itself would be appropriate."
"I'm not exactly one for the rules of society."
"As I'm well aware, but I am, as you are well aware. James, are you uncomfortable around me?"
"Pardon?"
"Are you uncomfortable being around me when we have no definitive relationship status? We're not friends, we're soon to be ex-spouses, and we don't really have a common factor. Personally, I've never been in that situation with you, so I'm uncomfortable and I want to know if it's a mutual feeling."
James sat for a minute, staring at the floor between his feet. "No, I'm not uncomfortable. I just feel happy that you're not dead and that I have a chance."
"You don't have a chance, James."
"I didn't have a chance with a dead woman. This situation is filled with possibilities. Lily, there's a chapel on the fifth floor if you would like to go."
"I don't pray anymore, James. I'm just as lost as you are."
"Somehow, I don't believe that. I think we could have a great talk once Celeste is well again. Since she is the reason we're here, why don't I go check on her? I'll see if I can get you in to see her."
Lily nodded and rested her chin on her knees, feeling the adrenaline that kept her going trickle away. Looking curiously down the length of the corridor, she saw many people doing the same, young and old alike. Most of the people were looking around with a disheartened expression, appearing as if the entire world had been thrust on their already-sore shoulders. Several were crying, a few in sobs, most just had tears trickling down their cheeks. Some were talking quietly, a few fervently. An old woman was fingering the beads of her rosary, her head bowed and her lips moved without words. It was that old woman who caught her interest, looking so calm and assured that Lily longed for the same feeling.
Very quickly, a young, tired looking man sat down next to her, handing her a small cup. The lady, because this was undoubtedly a great woman, didn't pause.
Lily's curiosity was piqued by now; she couldn't keep herself from staring. She began concocting reasons for their appearance at the children's ward, and she had decided that the woman's grandchild, the young man's child, was there.
"May I help you?"
She jumped guiltily, blushing because she had been caught staring. "I-I'm sorry. I just…you seemed…content."
"I can't change what is going to happen, it's out of my hands," she said quietly. "Do you have a child here?"
"Yes…my daughter. Her name is Celeste. She's three, and I don't know what's wrong with her."
"What is your name and I'll add you in my prayers."
"Thank you…that's wonderful. My name is Lily Evans."
"Lily?" the man hissed, looking absolutely shocked.
This made her look again at the man she had initially dismissed, his tired countenance blending in with all the rest. The thick, brown beard offset her, but then she noticed his classic aqua eyes, and a grin flitted across her face. Lily sighed in pure happiness, "Amos Diggory? It's you, right?"
"As always."
Lily jumped up seconds after Amos and met him in a hug, forgetting her disgust of being touched for the friendly comfort of his enfolding hug. "Oh, God, I've missed you so much."
"Not half as much as I've missed you. I thought you were...dead."
"Haven't you seen the paper? I'm really back, I wasn't dead, just captured, but I'm okay. I kept expecting either you or Millie to come and visit me, but nobody besides James's friends ever came. Even Peter has visited me by now. I guess this is why, though, right?" she asked, pulling away from him to watch his face. The gentle planes of it were so familiar, but changed.
"It's Dominic's wife, Jilly. She's pregnant, but there's something wrong. We've been here for the past month."
"Where's Dominic?"
"He was killed…two months ago, it was You-Know-Who. The Healers don't think Jilly or the baby will live, either one. Tessa is taking care of Cedric for the time being."
"Who's that?"
"Their other child. Little boy, the cutest thing ever. But that's my sad story, and I can only guess how revolting yours is, so you don't need to hear the drama of my life."
"I don't mind, Amos, I know how it goes. It's just nice to have a friend with me…it's very nice." Lily smiled as she hugged him again, but his arms didn't go around her a second time. "I'm sorry."
"No…don't be. It's just that…" Amos trailed off, looking over her shoulder, and Lily turned to do the same. She saw James glowering at them mutinously, a cup of coffee in his hands. To say the least, James had never approved of her relationship with Amos, and vice versa, so it was only a mild surprise. It was rather unbelievable that he would have the sheer nerve to even have an opinion of any sort of friendship she may or may not have.
"Diggory," James said tersely, nodding in Amos's direction. "They're doing one more preliminary test before they give a definite treatment and you can see her. So basically, by the time you walk down there, you can go in."
"Thank you! Amos, I've got to go...do you have something to write with?" Lily procured a Muggle pen from her own purse and a slip of paper from James's endless pockets and hastily scribbled on it. "This is my address, owl me or stop by or anything."
"I will."
Lily walked a few steps behind James as he led her down a series of corridors, noticing he still had the barest of limps. She knew that she would see an angry-colored red mark diagonally across his knee. "Is she going to be okay?"
"Ask the Healer."
"I assumed you knew."
"Do I look like was in there treating her?" he asked coolly, not turning to look at her. "I was sitting out there with you."
"You do realize I don't care that you're mad at me."
"I am not mad at you."
"So why are you acting like a complete ass all of a sudden…wait, that's not a sudden development, is it?"
"I'm ignoring that crass comment."
"Whatever. How far do I have to walk? Do they keep her in the north forty?"
"She's contagious, you dimwit."
"Excuse me? Contagious? What in the hell is wrong with her?"
"Dragon Pox."
"But I can see her?"
"Death Eaters are given immunity to it with the Dark Mark."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"That you were treated like a Death Eater. Listen, Lily, I am not going to walk on eggshells around you, so you might as well stop expecting it. Can't you just go in there and do your 'I'm a good mother' thing?"
"Go to hell."
"Just go in there."
Lily did go in there, and she saw Celeste swathed in warm blankets to her chin, still shivering uncontrollably. There was a MediWitch hovering over her, handing her a small cup of something. "Celeste?"
"Mummy!" the small child said with a weak sort of mewling sound. Lily rushed forward to hug her daughter, but a sharp, loud voice interrupted her.
"Mrs. Potter, please step away from Celeste Black."
*~*~*
A/N: For anyone who hasn't figured this out, kudos to Nicole for being the first, The Haphazard Ruse is a sequel to When Dawn Breaks The Night. At the moment it is independent, but to know how Lily and James got together, and their history for future sidelines, reading WDBTN is necessary.
For anyone who is interested, I have a new fic, The Trouble With Being Perfect. It's an OotP based fic from James's POV. I personally like it, it's rather funny.
Anyway, my birthday was great, thanks for all the well-wishers. I can see my writing is going to slow down considerably; I am so busy with school and volleyball right now. I do have some exciting news though, I got those awesome neon lights under my car, they are magnificent.