Author's Notes: Thank you to my dear readers and reviewers. Now, let the fluff begin...
Chapter Eighteen
Charlie fidgeted in his seat.
He usually wasn't afraid of the Maestro, au contraire, the leader of the Order was in fact a very kind, very understanding man who was always ready to help an Order member when in need.
And even though Charlie was not exactly in need at that very moment, Scorpius' words had made him feel rather uncomfortable that night under the starry sky of Scotland.
He did have access to something that could give Lily her memory back, he did and he had never even done something about it.
Well, okay, in his defence, technically he didn't have access to it, the Maestro did, but honestly, he had never even tried to ask for a petal. A small, little petal that nobody would ever notice it was gone.
"Would you like some tea, Charlie?" asked the Maestro placidly. "I was about to have a cup myself."
"Thank you, Maestro," replied Charlie softly.
The Maestro nodded. "I don't think you're here to hear my congratulations on a job well done," he told him as he pushed a cup of steamy hot tea in front of Charlie.
"No, Maestro, you know I don't like that," replied Charlie with a smile. "I'm here to ask you something."
The Maestro leaned back against his tall-backed chair and took a deep breath. "You'd like a petal of the Golden Orchid," he told him quietly, "for your niece."
Man, he was good.
"Yes," replied Charlie. "It's only a petal, and you've just planted a new one, before this one withers, I thought we could spare… well, just a petal. That's all she needs, really…"
"That goes against the rules," he reminded him.
Charlie tapped his fingers nervously on the tea cup, not ready to give up this fight just yet. "I know, but… it's just a petal, and… she deserves it, I mean… did you hear what Gurdyroot said about her? She's fair and valiant and without greed. All the qualities that the Order had valued for centuries."
The Maestro pursed his lips, then he brought his cup to his lips and sipped silently, his dark eyes studying Charlie with attention. "I think that if there ever has been someone who deserved to benefit from the Orchid it was Lily," he finally agreed.
Charlie nodded hopefully. "And she has agreed not to reveal the identities of the Order," he reminded him.
The Maestro shifted in his chair, placing the cup and the saucer back on the table. "I'll think about it," he replied calmly, "I can't promise anything, but I'll think about it."
The Dragon Keeper bit his bottom lip. "It would be a great wedding present," he pointed out, "probably the best they will receive…"
"I said I'll think about it, Charlie," replied the Maestro, his tone always calm. "Now, tell me about you, are you going back to Romania or waiting for the wedding?"
"Going back," he replied, placing his tea cup on its saucer as well, "the wedding is in four months. Everybody thinks I was just here to spend Valentine's Day with my mother."
"Awkward," said the Maestro sympathetically.
Charlie nodded. "I probably need to find me a date for the wedding…"
"I think that would be nice."
He stood up and nodded. "I'll see you in June, Maestro," he told him. "May the Golden Orchid always bloom."
"And may the Order always protect it."
oooOOOooo
Lily grasped the sides of the toilet and felt the rest of her breakfast leave her stomach with the next wave of vomit. Why on earth had she had that pain au chocolat that Auntie Gabrielle brought her from France?
Well, because she had tried it when she was in Paris with Scorpius two months before, and because she had had a craving for it for weeks now.
"Oh Lily," sighed her mother, rubbing her back soothingly, "you're just feeling all nervous because Mrs Whittle is coming to retrieve Alfie today." She threaded her fingers into Lily's hair as she kept it away from her face. "But you don't worry, dear, he'll be alright."
She wanted to nod, but she felt all queasy and even that very motion seemed out of the question. Instead, she leaned back against the wall and looked up at her fretting mother.
"You're so pale," her mother commented, "and this is not even the first time you throw up this week, is it, Lily?"
"No," she replied dejectedly, her throat was in pain after the vomiting. "Do you think I'm coming down with something?"
Her mother cupped her cheeks and made her tilt her head back. "Maybe we should go to St Mungo's after Mrs Whittle retrieves Alfie," she told her, "just for a quick check up. You know Healer Pye is always happy to see you…"
Finally the nausea settled enough for her to shake her head. "We can't miss the fitting of the dress, Mum," she said as forcefully as she could, "Mrs Malfoy is coming too and Rose and Aunt Hermione took the day off just to come with me."
"Well, then maybe we can go tomorrow," suggested her mother.
"I'm working tomorrow, Mum," Lily reminded her. "And then I'm going to look at houses again with Scorpius. There was this very nice cottage in Wales, really close to the school, remember the one I told you about?"
"The one with the bathroom covered in blue tiles?"
Lily beamed at the fact that she remembered. "That one!"
"It must be beautiful, Lily," she sighed, "but are you sure? In Wales? That's so far from here and if something happens, I won't be able to know it until you owl me, or Floo Call or Apparate here."
Lily smiled at her. "Mum, but Scorpius and I already promised to come for dinner every night, and you're invited to stay every time you want," she told her. That was not exactly what Scorpius had said, but oh well! He surely would understand.
Her mother nodded and even though it looked like she would have liked to keep talking about it, she probably thought best to drop the argument. "Can you stand? We better go downstairs and wait for Mrs Whittle, I don't know how patient Kreacher will be with Alfie."
"Yes, I can stand," she replied as she leaned against her mother and stood up. She hurried to the basin and washed her mouth from the remnants of the sour taste of her vomit. But she felt already better as she splashed some water all over her face.
Her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she dried her face and finally they walked together out the bathroom.
Downstairs Alfie was playing with Patches and Sparky and under Taffy's and Kreacher's strict surveillance. Lily's eyes filled with tears at the very thought that his mother was finally coming to pick him up. After more than two months spent with him, for a moment there Lily had almost thought that he really was hers. She felt a knot in her throat, something that didn't let her breathe properly.
"Mum," she whined softly.
"I know, Lily," she soothed her gently, "I know. But Dad said that you can go and visit him whenever you want, remember?"
She nodded. Dad had said that. And Scorpius too. And Albus. And basically every Auror, had they been related or not to her. She had just been in tears for days when they had told her that Mrs Whittle had been cleared of all charges and that she was still at the Ministry just waiting for a new identity and a new place to stay as well as a new job, but that soon she would have come to retrieve Alfie.
And now the day had finally arrived.
"Lily!" cried Alfie happily as she entered the drawing room. He stood up from the floor, the Crups following him and barking happily as they all made their way to her.
She opened her arms wide and scooped him up to her chest. She swallowed her tears and tried to put up a brave face for him. "Is everything ready?" she asked, her voice just a little bit choked. "Are all your toys packed? Even the last ones we bought on Saturday in Diagon Alley?"
He nodded before hugging her neck tightly and placing his head on her shoulder.
Lily looked at her mother again, eyes blurred with tears. She brought a hand to his little back and patted him gently. "I'm going to miss you," she murmured, sniffling soundly, "you'll be a good boy with your mum, okay Alfie?"
He nodded softly against her neck and she noticed that she just wanted to cry.
"And I'll come and visit you," she told him softly, "no need to cry, right?" But the warmth on her cheeks let her know that she was doing just that.
She turned and walked to the armchair, sitting back with Alfie on her lap. She hastily brushed away her tears before he could see them. She tried to smile as Alfie turned to look at her. "I'll miss you, Lily," he told her quietly.
She sniffled again. "Oh, Alfie," she whispered.
But before she could proceed to shed more tears the fireplace became alive with green flames and her father walked out followed closely by Mrs Whittle.
The woman's face lit up as soon as she saw her son, and her son too smiled widely as she walked towards him.
"Mummy!" he exclaimed, pushing away from Lily to find leverage enough to stretch his arms towards his mother.
"Alfie!" she cried, taking him in her arms.
Lily's arms followed him, but closed around thin air when Mrs Whittle took him away from her.
"Oh, Alfie, I missed you so much!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "Oh my little, little darling!"
Now it was Mrs Whittle's time to shed her tears as she held her child to her heart, and it was Lily's time to stand up and pat her soothingly on her shoulder. "He was very good," she said gently, brushing away the tears, "such a nice boy. I'm going to miss him."
Mrs Whittle seemed to see her for the first time. "Oh, Lily!" she said, stretching an arm to hug her too. "Thank you so much for what you did for me! Thank you, dear! I'm so, so sorry for what had happened in the cave, so sorry! My husband – not for long now – I have no words to describe what he did. I'm so sorry, Lily dear. I'm so sorry!"
Lily tried to smile reassuringly to her. "It's okay," she replied, "it wasn't your fault. I'm… I'm happy I could help."
She released her and went back to rub her son's back.
"I… he likes milk and cereals for breakfast," blurted out Lily.
Mrs Whittle smiled at her. "I know," she said gently.
Lily nodded. "And if you put him down without his teddy bear he's going to toss and turn until you give the toy to him."
"I know, Lily," she told her calmly, a smile stretching her lips.
"And if he says that he's going to eat everything and asks for ice-cream before dinner, don't believe him."
Mrs Whittle nodded. "I know, dear."
"Lily," her mother said, "I'm sure Mrs Whittle knows her son. How about we let them go, they'll have quite a bit of things to do with the moving and with settling down in their new house."
Lily nodded, her bottom lip trembling at the thought that the moment of the separation had finally arrived.
Mrs Whittle must have seen her, because she smiled at her and stretched a hand to cup her cheek. "You come and visit us whenever you want, Lily," she told her, "whenever, okay? I'm sure Alfie is going to miss you, dear."
Lily nodded. "I'll miss him too," she confessed dejectedly.
Mrs Whittle whispered something into her son's ear and soon the boy was turning and planting a wet kiss on Lily's cheek. "Visit," he almost ordered her. "Soon."
She half-chuckled half-sniffled at that and nodded.
"Is this Alfie's stuff?" asked her father behind them.
"Yes, Harry, be careful," replied her mother, "we folded all his clothes, don't manhandle it or you'll make a mess."
Her father tried to roll his eyes subtly, but he didn't succeed and soon her mother was slapping his arm playfully.
"Oh you shouldn't have bothered," said Mrs Whittle, turning to look at them. "You've been too kind."
"We had fun," replied her mother, "and it was no bother at all."
"Well, we better go now," she said, looking at Lily's father.
Alfie looked at Lily over his mother's shoulder. He smiled at her and waved his plump hand in good bye.
"Bye," choked out Lily, waving her hand too.
He leaned his head back on his mother's shoulder and before Lily could even notice Mrs Whittle was saying goodbye too and they were leaving through the chimney and towards their new life.
When her mother hugged her, Lily hid her face in her neck. When she kissed her temple, she sighed and leaned against her.
And then she cried a bit more.
oooOOOooo
Rose stared in mild disbelief as Lily was on the verge of throwing a tantrum.
Her cousin. Her cousin who was famous for being the sweetest and nicest and most adorable amongst all the Potters and Weasleys to have ever walked that earth was about to start crying in front of Madam Malkin during the fitting of the dress.
"But last month it fitted," she whined, taking a deep breath and trying to pull her stomach back. "I swear I didn't put on weight!"
Aunt Ginny came to stand near Madam Malkin to look at the dress. "Oh no," she scolded, "if anything she's been sick for a week." She peered at the small of Lily's back where the buttons didn't quite reach their holes. "Are you sure you've got the right dress?"
"Yes," replied Madam Malkin patiently, "every dress is custom made. This is unique." She patted Lily's arm and looked at her reflection over her shoulder. "Darling, you didn't put on any weight, you don't worry. Maybe, maybe you're a bit stressed and that bloated you up a little. I mean, you're definitely not any bigger than last month, I'm sure next time you'll fit in just fine."
Lily sniffled a couple of times as she stood there with the dress all lose on the front and opened on the back. Then she turned towards Rose and gave her a wet smile. "You look beautiful," she told her with a sigh.
Rose looked at herself in the mirror. The silver dress that Lily had chosen for her maid of honour was extremely pretty and she had to admit that it wrapped nicely around her body. "Thank you, Lily," she told her with a reassuring smile, "you have good taste."
Lily smiled back, before turning to the mirror again and then turning away once more to look at Scorpius' mother. "Mrs Malfoy, I'm sorry I made you waste your time," she told her sheepishly, "I'm sure you had other things to do."
Mrs Malfoy raised a hand as if to dissolve Lily's doubts. "Oh darling," she told her, "you don't worry. After the engagement party, I've had nothing interesting to do."
"Oh by the way, Astoria," said Rose's mother, "Ron keeps pestering me about those lemon cakes that you had at the buffet. I need to ask you the recipe."
Mrs Malfoy tried to smile at her. "I'll have to ask the house-elves, Hermione."
"Oh," was all her mother could reply. She had evidently forgotten to whom she was talking. Mrs Malfoy probably had no idea what a wooden spoon was for.
Rose walked up to Lily and stood behind her. "Hey," she whispered in her ear, "you have to smile, you know, no girl should ever be sad when she's trying her bridal gown."
"I'm not a girl," sighed Lily, "I'm a whale."
Rose shook her head. "Please," she replied, waving a hand in front of her face, "if you're a whale than I'm a… actually, what's bigger than a whale?"
"The Giant Squid," supplied her mother.
Rose glanced at her askew. "Thank you, Mum," she sighed. "If you're a whale, I'm the Giant Squid, Lily." She grasped the back of Lily's dress and pulled it tight on her shoulder blades. "Here, look at you now."
Lily's back straightened as she stared at her reflection. She smiled a little since finally the dress fitted nicely around her breasts and her waist.
"Aww," gushed Auntie Ginny, "you look gorgeous."
"Scorpius is going to have a heart attack at that altar, Lily," assured her Mrs Malfoy.
"You're going to be the most gorgeous bride," said Rose's mother.
"Hey!" grunted Rose. "Hope you find something else to say to me when I get married."
"Oh Rosie, you'll be beautiful too when that happens," her mother reassured her.
She took a deep breath and looked back at Lily. The dress she had chosen was a nice pearl colour, with a lacy top that covered up to her collarbone, leaving her shoulders bare, and a slightly rounded skirt that fell nicely around her ankles. She was gorgeous now that Rose kept it tight on her back.
Madam Malkin walked around Lily like a dog would trot around a tree. "Do you like the way it falls over your hips, dear? Maybe we should touch it a bit here. What about your breasts, shall we lower the neckline a little?"
And Lily gave her direction over direction on how she wanted the dress and every time that a little change appeared the three older women started to swoon and pour compliments over the bride-to-be.
And Rose just smiled and had to admit that Lily made a pretty beautiful bride.
oooOOOooo
Miss Mitzy, the other teachers and the children were all happy to see Lily back at the school. They had even organised a little refreshment in the canteen, with a big, flying poster that alternatively flashed a 'Welcome Back' sign with a 'We Missed you, Lily'.
Lily was all smiles and laughter and she didn't know who to thank first for the warm welcome. She was just so happy to be back, even if she would have spent the last two months of that year without Alfie in her class.
"Thank you, Miss Mitzy," she beamed, sitting next to the old woman. "I don't know what to say!"
"Oh dear," said the old woman, "we missed you. Oh, but look at you! You're positively glowing."
Lily smiled at her and resisted the urge to inform her that she couldn't possibly be glowing at all. If anything she surely was a bit greenish because she had thrown up again that morning. But she didn't want to worry anybody and certainly she didn't want to jeopardise her job. She had missed the school, after all and felt absolutely ready to start teaching once more.
"Lily!" Betsy waved at her as she walked to her. "Thank you for wedding invitation. I can't wait to come. Do you have a colour for the wedding?"
She shook her head. "Oh, no, just… wear whatever you like," she replied gently.
The girl nodded. "Who's your maid of honour?"
"My cousin Rose."
"And your bridesmaids? Do you have bridesmaids at all?"
She nodded. "My other cousins," she replied, "I had to have five. I mean, I couldn't choose. They aren't too many, are they? I was a bridesmaid at my cousin's wedding and she had five too, and her sister was her maid of honour."
"Five's great," Betsy assured her. "Right, Miss Mitzy?"
"Perfect number," agreed the Headmistress. "Doesn't Lily look radiant, Betsy? I was just telling her that she was glowing."
"Oh yes, she does," replied Betsy, with a grin. "She has something like… a gleam in her eyes or something."
"I'm just happy to be here," beamed Lily. "I can't wait to start working again properly."
"Good," replied Miss Mitzy. "But for now let's have a bit cake, right dear?"
And at the mention of cake Lily noticed just how hungry she was and went right on to get herself a nice big piece and a glass of pumpkin juice.
oooOOOooo
"I'm already working on the speech."
Somehow that statement didn't make Scorpius feel good at all. He closed the door of Albus' office at his back and walked gingerly towards his Auror partner's desk. "You are," he sentenced softly. "There's still time you know."
He nodded. "I know," he replied, "I just want to make it special, you know, fun and entertaining."
Scorpius swallowed. "Can I read it before the wedding?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Nope," replied Albus with a glint in his eyes, "then it wouldn't be a surprise."
"I'm not quite sure it's supposed to be a surprise," pointed out Scorpius.
Albus snorted. "It's supposed to be fun, you're going to spoil it if you read it and then will probably want to change stuff and become all whiney and go run to my dad or something…"
Scorpius shifted on the chair. "What on earth are you writing in there?" he asked slowly.
Albus shrugged a shoulder. "Shouldn't you go to pick up your future wife and have a look at that house lost in the middle of the Welsh hills?" he asked instead.
Scorpius' eyes turned to the Grandfather Clock, yes, indeed it was time. Even though he wanted to Accio the speech from whatever place Albus had put it and read it, the thought that he would have gone to have another look at the house that Lily had fallen in love with ever since she had seen it the first time, made him slide the folder he had in his hands across the desk and stand up. "You need to sign that and take it to the archive."
"What? Why can't you do it?" protested Albus, opening the folder quickly to sign it and hand it back.
Scorpius didn't take it. He merely shrugged a shoulder. "I have my future wife to pick up and then go and have a look at the house in Wales," he reminded him, "see you later at the Burrow."
Albus grunted something, but Scorpius closed the door and before the words could even reach his ears. He smiled to nobody in particular as he made his way towards the Ministry Hall.
oooOOOooo
"Shall I leave you two alone for a bit to maybe get a feeling of the house?" asked Miss Johnson.
Scorpius nodded while Lily already wandered off into the kitchen. "Thank you," Scorpius hurried to say as he followed Lily, "we'll be right back." He found his fiancée opening the cabinets of the kitchen and peering inside.
"Is it big enough?" he asked wrapping his arms on her belly and leaning his chin on her shoulder.
She wriggled free from him and turned to look at him. "What is?" she asked, eyes wide. "Are you saying that I'm fat?" Her eyes filled with tears so swiftly that Scorpius was petrified on the spot.
"I was talking about the kitchen," he murmured, taken aback. "Hey, are you… are you crying? Why are you crying?"
She shook her head and sniffled. "This kitchen is too tall for Taffy," she whined, "she can't work here!"
"She's a house-elf," pointed out Scorpius, "she can Summon things with magic."
"And the tiles in the bathroom!" she whinged. "They are too blue."
"I thought you liked them…"
"No, they're too blue," she complained. "I… how can we wake up every morning and use a bathroom with such blue tiles?"
Scorpius' mouth opened slightly. "I… I don't know…"
She dropped her shoulders and covered her face with her hands. "This is all wrong… all wrong!"
"Hey, what… what are you talking about?" he asked, walking to her. "Are you having second thoughts? Are you getting cold feet?"
"No!" she replied almost indignantly. "How can you say that?"
"Then what's wrong?" He cupped her cheeks and made her tilt her head back to look into her eyes. He brushed away the tears and waited for her to reply.
"I… I…"
"Yes?"
"I didn't fit in the wedding dress yesterday," she finally exhaled. "It was so embarrassing, in front of your mother and Rosie and Aunt Hermione. They couldn't close the buttons on the small of my back and I just stood there with the dress hanging around me."
He took a deep breath and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Just that?"
She pouted at his insensitivity, but he just slid his arms around her shoulders and brought her closer. "But you've been sickish for days as well, Lily," he reminded her, "maybe you can go back when you're feeling better and everything will fit perfectly."
She sighed against his chest. "Really? You think so?" she asked meekly.
"I do," he replied gently. "Hmm, I can't wait to see you in the dress, you know… maybe I'll sneak into Madam Malkin's next time…"
She finally giggled and pulled back from him. "You can't!" she told him, raising a warning finger in front of his nose. "That's bad luck."
He pretended to bite her digit, before grinning. "Right, so shall we go to the Burrow to have dinner with your family?" he asked gently. "And we can come back another day, maybe Saturday afternoon. I'm sure the place will be even nicer with the sun…"
She beamed at him. "Sounds like a wonderful idea," she admitted. "I love you."
"Love you right back."
oooOOOooo
Ginny was pretty glad that she was not the only person at the table to want to feed Lily until she was completely full. Her mother kept pushing the mashed potatoes in her direction as well as the roast beef and then and the little Yorkshire Puddings and the gravy.
And weirdly enough, after a very little initial reluctance, Lily had helped herself to seconds of pretty much everything, causing her grandmother to beam and compliment her on how pretty she looked that evening.
Lily beamed back and, either the food or the compliments, earned Ginny's mother a big hug at the end of the dinner as she shooed her grandchildren and Scorpius in the living room.
Ginny waved her wand to collect the dirty dishes from the table. "Mum, you know that Lily is always happy to help," she reminded her, as she grabbed half of the plates and let Hermione help with the other half.
Her mother almost scowled her. "But I can't possibly let her help in her condition," she protested.
Hermione furrowed her brow as she placed the dishes in the sink. "What condition?"
"She's just been a bit sickish in the morning lately," replied Ginny with a concerned smile, "but she says she's alright. And she's started working again today, she was all happy. She was almost tearing up this morning."
Her mother turned to look at her, her hands twisting a tea towel. She looked surprised and Ginny couldn't imagine why, since she had told her more than once that when Alfie was gone, Lily would have gone back to work at the school.
"But darling," said her mother, "she's not a bit sickish! She's pregnant!"
Ginny placed the plates in the sink and turned to look at her mother. "Oh Mum, please," she replied, waving a hand in dismissal, "that's not possible."
Hermione Summoned the cutlery and placed them next to the plates, her face screwed up in a focused expression as if she was trying to decide whether what her mother-in-law had just said was or was not possible.
"How is that not possible, dear?" asked Ginny's mother gently. "You do remember where children come from, right?"
Ginny pressed her lips into a thin line. "I remember, Mother," she replied sourly, "what I mean is that I happen to know something that invalidates what you're suggesting."
Her mother pointed her wand to the sink and murmured a Washing Charm, before turning to face Ginny again. "Which would be?"
Ginny raised her chin. "Well, it's not like I should go around and say those things," she replied, lowering her voice, "but I happen to know that Scorpius and Lily are not sexually active."
Her mother seemed only mildly surprise. "Oh," she replied, "I'm sorry, dear. Do they hand you reports of their nightly activities every morning?"
"Mum!" exclaimed Ginny. What was wrong with her? Had she had too much Butterbeer? Why would she talk like that about her granddaughter? "They don't. But Scorpius told Albus that he had never touched Lily in that way. He's a gentleman, you know."
Hermione furrowed her brow slightly. "I'm sorry, Ginny, but wasn't that something like a year and a half ago?"
Ginny glared at Hermione. Why would she work with her mother to plant doubts into Ginny's mind? Yes, of course, Lily had had some queasiness in the morning that one may have hastily thought it being morning sickness. And okay, she didn't quite fit in the wedding dress that only a month before stuck to her body perfectly well, and okay she was eating with a bit more appetite than usual, but still! That didn't mean that—
"Has she… you know, was she regular?" asked Hermione gingerly.
"Hermione!" exclaimed Ginny. "That's… I don't think that Lily would like me to talk about her private stuff with her prying grandmother and aunt."
"Well, was she?" asked her mother.
Ginny took a sharp breath. "Well, she said that she was a bit late," she replied, "but that's normal! With the wedding, and Alfie and the Golden Orchid, and work! My poor baby is stressed. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if she missed a month or two."
Hermione cocked an eyebrow at her. "That, or your poor baby is having a baby," she pointed out softly.
"Hermione," said Ginny curtly, "I don't know what kind of relationship you have with your daughter, but my daughter tells me anything."
"Maybe she doesn't know she's pregnant," pointed out Hermione, folding her arms across her chest.
"I mean she'd tell me if she had intercourse with her fiancé," replied Ginny and even to her the words sounded pretty foolish.
Her mother walked to Hermione to wrap an arm reassuringly around her. "Of course, Hermione, just like my daughter told me when she became sexually active," she smiled.
"Oh that's what it is," snapped Ginny, "it's always because I wasn't married when I had James."
"That's not it, Ginny, dear," said her mother gently, "it's just… I mean, I've had seven children, I recognise when someone's expecting."
"I had three, Mum."
"Yes, exactly," replied her mother, "so? You don't think she's pregnant?"
Ginny opened her mouth, but she couldn't find anything to say. She wanted to say that no, she didn't think Lily was pregnant, honestly she had just repeated that over and over again, but her mother looked so sure and Hermione was just agreeing to everything she said, and… and yes, Lily had terrible morning sickness and her face was glowing, and she kept crying for anything, even the stupidest things, and… and that dress didn't quite close around her waist and she wasn't so sure that the next month it would have fitted either…
Ginny brought a hand to her mouth. "My baby is having a baby," she murmured, eyes wide and gaping.
Hermione walked to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I think she is, Granny," she told her with a chuckle.
"Hey!" protested Ginny half-heartedly. "Oh my, I need to talk to Lily! Do you think… do you think she knows? And she wouldn't want to tell me?"
"I don't think she knows," replied Hermione. "When you are trying to be sneaky about your pregnancy you don't ask your mother to keep your hair away from your face as you have morning sickness, or you don't invite your future mother-in-law to the fitting of a dress that is surely not going to fit."
"Oh my baby!" exclaimed Ginny. "We need to tell her! No, I need to tell her!"
Hermione laughed and Ginny's mother with her. "Oh I can see that going exceptionally well," she said, "Lily, I have an announcement, you're pregnant, my dear, didn't you know?"
"I'm what?"
The three women turned towards the door that led to the living room. Ginny felt her heart racing in her chest as she looked at her daughter's upset face. She wriggled free from Hermione's arm and hurried to Lily's side. She took her in her arms and closed the door of the kitchen behind her. "Oh dear," she whispered, caressing her hair, "we… we don't know. We were just talking, we were being silly. That's all."
"Why did you say I'm pregnant?" she asked softly, wiggling free from her mother and lowering her eyes to her tummy. "I'm… am I pregnant?"
"Your Grandma thinks you are," said Hermione gently, "and I have to say that you do look particularly radiant, Lily. Just as if you were carrying a life in you."
Lily's eyes widened as she probably let her aunt's words sink in.
Ginny couldn't help noticing that she wasn't protesting, or saying that that was impossible because she and Scorpius had never had sex, she was just surprised. Surprised not to have noticed that before, probably.
"I know you youngsters always go to St Mungo's to check those things," said Ginny's mother with a smile, "but I have a book with a spell that has never got it wrong once. Not even with Victoire and Remus. It's easy like drinking a glass of pumpkin juice."
Lily nodded quickly. "Yes," she replied, her hands going automatically to her tummy, "yes, yes." She swallowed hard and started a litany of, "Oh my! Oh, oh my!" as she sat at the table and waited for her grandmother to go and fetch the book at issue.
Ginny bit her bottom lip as she looked at her mother and her daughter get all ready to see if another generation of Malfoys was about to be brought to the world.
"Hey, it's alright," whispered Hermione, rubbing her back soothingly, "even if she's pregnant, it's not as if anybody except for Ron will start calling you Granny yet."
She shook her head. "You don't understand, Hermione," she murmured, "it's all my fault. I never had that talk with her. It's just that talking about sex and contraceptives with her was a bit… you know… after the brothel…"
Hermione nodded. "It's alright, Ginny," she told her sweetly, "it's not your fault."
Ginny nodded and walked forward to observe her mother taking a hair from Lily's head and then dunking it in the water and following all the other passages described in the book to finally know if Lily was—
"It should be a boy," said her mother finally, excitement in her voice, "yes, a healthy boy and you're roughly a couple of months into your pregnancy."
Lily's hands flew to cover her mouth, her eyes widening even more than before, as if she couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe it at all. "Oh," she finally said, "two months? It must have been Paris." She turned towards Ginny and added, "Oh, it was beautiful, Mum."
Ginny tried to smile to her, but wasn't sure she succeeded. Paris. Obviously. It was always Draco Malfoy's fault. Always. That idiot!
"You're pregnant, Lils," said Hermione, barely managing to stifle an excited giggle. "Congratulations!"
Then Ginny's mother was hugging Lily and then Hermione and then Lily was hugging Ginny and she was telling her that maybe it was alright if the wedding gown didn't fit, because surely it wasn't going to fit in June and blimey! She wanted another piece of cake right now and then she proceeded to giggle.
"I have to tell Scorpius!" exclaimed Lily. "Oh, I can't believe it! I'm going to have a child! You'll help me, Mum, won't you?"
Ginny grinned properly at her words. "Of course, Lily," she beamed, "of course. But we should go to St Mungo's tomorrow, just to have a proper check up – not that your grandma's methods are not absolutely reliable, but just to be on the safe side. And Healer Pye would want to know, he's surely looking forward to being your Healer during the pregnancy."
Lily nodded thoughtfully.
"And then baby shopping on Saturday," continued Ginny. "We need to buy him clothes and a cot and all those little shoes and toys and—"
"Thank you, Mum!" exclaimed Lily, hugging her tightly. "Oh my, I've to tell Scorpius! Oh my! I'm so excited! How did you know, Grandma?"
Ginny's mother beamed at her. "I just did," she replied sweetly. "I just did."
oooOOOooo
"You got my daughter pregnant!"
Astoria spluttered her tea all over the expensive Persian rug, while Draco's lemon cake went down the wrong way and his throat started to convulse around it.
Ginny Potter just stood there in front of him, Floo Powder falling from her shoulders, her finger pointed accusatorily at him and her face a mask of disgust.
"I did… I did no such thing," coughed out Draco in protest.
"Yes, you did," snapped Ginny Potter, "you sent your son and my daughter off to a romantic weekend in Paris, and now she's pregnant! As always, it's all your fault, Malfoy!"
Draco closed his eyes as he tried to cough out a bit more of the lemon cake. "You need to learn how to phrase," he spat at her.
"It's all your fault," she repeated, shaking her head and collapsing on a loveseat, then she proceeded to let out a shrilly laughter of nervousness.
Astoria shrieked in happiness. "A baby! Oh, I love babies!" she chirped.
Draco cocked an eyebrow at her before turning towards their unwanted guest. "What are you complaining about, Potter?" he asked her. "You wanted an excuse to cling to your daughter and there you have it. A baby." He furrowed his brow and focused on his words. A baby. Scorpius was going to have a baby. His Scorpius was going to have a baby. "You'll move in with them until that baby is ready for Hogwarts."
"I don't want to cling to my daughter," she grunted in protest.
"Oh I want to help too with the baby," said Astoria quickly. "Oh my, let's go, Draco, we need to go and congratulate Scorpius and Lily."
"No, no, no," said Ginny Potter, standing up before they could, "Scorpius doesn't know yet, and it would help if you could act all surprised when they tell you."
Draco shook his head. "Potter," he muttered, standing up, "you're crazy and I'm off to bed."
"But Draco…"
"I'll see you later, my dear," he told her. "Potter," he added towards his future in-law. He walked briskly past them and up the stairs to his bedroom. Finally inside he snapped his fingers to Summon a house-elf. "A Firewhiskey," he ordered, "nice and strong."
Then he finally sat on the bed and rubbed his face. "Bloody hell… a baby…" he muttered, before his body was shaking with a happy and slightly nervous laughter, not dissimilar to Ginny Potter's one.
Author's Notes: I can't stand those stories where the couple has sex and then the girl starts vomiting and then of course naturally she's pregnant but the author takes up to a gazillion chapters before they tell us that - even though it's painfully obvious! So, here you go, I just wanted to resolve everything in once chapter. More fluff to come in the upcoming two chapters!