The Day Our Life Changed

Summary: On Harry's sixteenth birthday, James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus reminisce on the day they found out Lily was expecting Harry and the day Harry was born.

Lily shut the door behind Remus and Tonks as he was seeing her home and then coming back to stay with James, Lily, and Harry, along with Sirius. It was something they did after Harry's party every year.

She sighed as she entered the kitchen. Molly had stayed while Harry, Ron, and Ginny played Quidditch with Remus, Sirius, and James.

Today was Harry's sixteenth birthday and she felt that time had passed her by. In a matter of a year, Harry would be of age and an adult in the eyes of the wizarding world. She wasn't ready for that. She hoped that this year would go by slowly as she wasn't ready for next year when Harry would turn seventeen.

"What are you thinking about Lily-Flower? I can hear your brain turning from here," James said, from the kitchen table.

"I was thinking about this past year and then next year…" she trailed off.

She felt James's arms wrap around her and hug her close. "You know he's not going to move out next year when he turns seventeen. He would wait until he was of age in the Muggle world and move out when he turned eighteen."

"I know."

"Let's not live in the future, Lily," James murmured. "We still have the present to live."

Lily smiled and kissed James's cheek. She knew James could talk her down when she was feeling overwhelmed or when she was living too far off into the future.

They sat down at the table when Sirius came in from the back garden and Remus came in the front door from seeing Tonks home.

"So how are things with Hestia?" James asked Sirius.

"They're going good," Sirius said, then telling him about the last date he took her on.

Remus joined them at the table and when asked, he told James and Lily about the last date he had taken Tonks on.

"When is Hestia coming back?" Lily inquired.

"Saturday," Sirius replied.

"Been counting down the days?" James asked.

"Yes, I have."

This made Remus and James laugh. Lily shook her head.

"Where's Harry?" Remus asked Lily.

"He's upstairs," she replied. "I would say he's looking over what he got for his birthday."

"It's hard to believe that Harry is sixteen?" Remus commented.

"I feel like time has just flown," Lily stated, twirling her spoon in her tea.

"In a year, he'll be of age and will be getting ready to go out into the world," Sirius said, stopping when he saw the look on Lily's face.

"No one told me that motherhood would be like this," she whispered.

"You and James raised a wonderful son," Remus assured her, patting her shoulder. "You should be proud of Harry."

"What I meant was that Harry grew up too fast," Lily explained.

"It's not like he's leaving home tomorrow, Lily," James reminded his wife. He knew how hard Harry's sixteenth birthday was going to be for Lily. It was like there was a clock ticking somewhere and when the time ran out, Harry would be an adult and moving out on his own. Then he would be working and building him a life, hopefully, one that was without the war hanging over his head.

Then flashes of a wedding and grandchildren popped into James's mind, making him shake his head. He was getting too far into the future.

"I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Harry," Lily said. "Now it seems like a lifetime ago."

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November 1979

Lily preferred the day shift as opposed to any shift at St. Mungo's. Sure, it meant long days and on her feet for hours at a time, but Lily loved it. She had been working as a healer for a few months now and felt that this was the best decision she had ever made. But currently, she was regretting letting James cook last night.

She had been hit with a wave of nausea and had rushed into a nearby women's restroom.

She rinsed her mouth and washed her hands before stepping out of the bathroom and returning to the desk.

"Are you okay, Lily?" Jane, one of the mediwitches asked.

"I think so. James cooked last night and I don't think it agreed with me," Lily explained.

"Could there be a possibility that you're pregnant?" Eleanor, another mediwitch asked.

This made Lily pause. Could she be pregnant?

Thinking back to her and James's intimacy, they had been very active over the last few months. But they wanted to wait until after the war was over to start a family and not bring a baby into the world, not with the way it was.

Could she be pregnant? She and James were careful with protection. But then it hit her. The last month when they were active, they had forgotten to use the spell and she had forgotten her potion.

"Um, Eleanor, how do I go about finding out if I'm pregnant, the magical way?"

Eleanor explained to her the two ways that a witch could find out she was pregnant, by performing a spell and a potion.

Lily chose the potion. She waited until she was home before she made the potion. As she did, she let her mind wander to what it would be like to be a Mum. She loved babies since she was a little girl and had babysat when she a teen. She imagined a little girl with her red hair or a little boy with James's hair.

The potion was finished and now came the waiting period.

Lily was usually a patient person, but waiting for the results of the pregnancy potion was testing her patience. She paced the length of her potions lab and when the timer dinged, to let her know the time was up and she would find out the results, she paused.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around. She repeated in her head, "Pink is positive."

Any other color and it would be negative or inconclusive, which would be that she would need to see a healer.

She closed her eyes as she turned around, opening them when she was fully turned around. She approached the cauldron and closed her eyes once more before opening them slowly.

The potion was pink.

Lily lifted a shaking hand to her mouth and began to cry. She was pregnant. They were going to have a baby!

Then it hit her. What was she going to tell James?

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"I don't know why you were nervous to tell me," James said, sipping his wine.

"I think it was because it wasn't in our plans," Lily reminded him. "Do you remember how I told you?"

James smiled, "I do. I will never forget it. It was for a while my happy memory for when I needed to use a patronus."

"What do you use now?" Sirius asked, curiously.

"When I was helping teach the Defense club last year, watching Harry and how proud I was feeling. I wished there was someone else besides these two," he pointed to Sirius and Remus. "So I could point to Harry and say 'that's my son'."

"Back to the conversation," Remus called. "How did you react when Lily told you she was pregnant?"

James smiled and began, "Picture it, Godric's Hollow November 1979…"

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"Lily? I'm home," James called as he entered the front door. He and Lily lived a small cottage that was once his parent's house before they moved into the manor. He and Lily had moved in the small two bedroom cottage after they got married. It was perfect for a young couple just starting out. James couldn't bear the thought of living in the manor. Too many memories of his parents.

"I'm in the kitchen," Lily called.

"What's for dinner?" he asked, as he entered the kitchen.

"I picked up your favorite from the pub down the street. I was too tired to cook," she explained.

"Okay," James said, heading to the sink and wash his hands. As he walked to the table, he noticed a small gift bag. "What's this?"

Lily smiled, watching her husband. "Open it," she told him.

James pulled out the tissue paper. There was a baby blanket inside of it. Unfolding it, he saw that it was a blanket.

"Lily, this a little too small for me," James informed his wife.

"I know. It's because it's not for you."

"Then whose it?" James inquired.

Lily smiled and walked over to her husband. She took his head and waited until he was looking at her before she told him.

"James, I'm pregnant," Lily announced.

There was a slight moment of silence before James started laughing.

"Really?" he asked, in between his laughing.

"Yes, really," she assured him.

Lily then found herself being picked up and swung around the kitchen. She laughed along with James.

"We're having a baby!" James shouted.

"I know we wanted to wait, but…." What Lily was meant to say was cut off when James's pressed his lips against hers.

"It's okay," James whispered. "We'll manage."

Lily smiled and let herself be happy.

"James?"

"Yes?"

"We're having a baby."

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"I don't think we were ever that happy during that time then we were when we found you two were going to have a baby," Remus admitted.

"I had a dream not long after I found out I was pregnant," Lily said, bring her to the attention of the room. She never told anyone this. "I dreamed about James and I raising a son and most of it had come true, like taking him to the coast and the beach, going to the zoo, taking him to school and then taking him to catch the Hogwarts Express…" Lily trailed off.

"But we never dreamed that we would have the bomb dropped that the most evil wizard of our time would be after our son," James added.

"Despite that, Harry seems to have had a normal life, or as normal of one that we were able to give him," Lily said.

"After you told James, you called us and invited us to dinner. I remember because it was just me and Remus."

"We did, didn't we," James murmured, as he remembered the dinner when they told their best friends.

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James couldn't keep the smile off his face. He and Lily were going to have a baby. He was going to a father. He had a brief moment of thinking that he wouldn't be a good father. He knew though that he would be a good father as he had been around children before and he was wonderful with them.

Tonight Sirius and Remus were coming over for dinner and they were going to tell them Lily was pregnant. He sent an invite to Peter, but he had declined, stating that his mother was sick and he was needed at home. James didn't think much about it, but he was glad Remus and Sirius were coming over.

There was a knock at the door and Sirius let himself in.

"Prongs, Evans, anyone home?" he called.

"It's Potter, Black," Lily retorted, even though she knew she was wasting her breath.

Remus came in behind Sirius and they all headed to the kitchen where Lily was waiting and supper was on the table.

"Smell good," he commented.

Lily was a wonderful cook and everyone bragged on her cooking. Sirius had once joked that he was moving in with the Potters, but had changed his mind when he realized that Lily wouldn't let him get away with his messiness.

The dinner conversation shifted from order business, James and Sirius's work as an Auror, Remus's job search, and general catch up with each other, even though it had been a week since they were together.

"So," Lily began as the main dish came to an end and before she served dessert. She had been craving nothing but treacle tart and she had made two, knowing she would want more later.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked.

"Well, Lily and I have some news," James announced.

"What is it?" Remus inquired.

James and Lily shared a look, having a conversation in their minds. Remus and Sirius smiled knowingly.

Finally, James nodded and reached across the small table for Lily's hand.

"James and I are going to have a baby," Lily said,

There was a slight pause until Sirius jumped, laughing and approached James.

"Really?" he asked. "Really?"

"I'm due in July," Lily said, which was all the confirmation that Sirius needed.

Remus stood up and approached Lily. "Congratulations," he whispered.

Sirius and Remus then switched, Sirius, heading to Lily and hugged her gently.

"I'm happy for the two of you," he whispered.

"Thank you, Sirius."

They moved to the sitting room for tea and dessert, talking everything baby.

"I can't believe that you two are going to have a baby," Sirius chuckled.

"I can't believe we are either," James admitted.

"To think, in nine months, we'll have a little baby," Sirius said, realizing that there will be a baby around soon.

Remus summoned four glasses and a bottle of pumpkin juice.

"Since Lily can't have alcohol, we'll have pumpkin juice," he said, as poured the juice into four glasses and handed it to each person.

"What are you doing?" Sirius inquired.

"A toast," Remus explained.

They held up the four glasses. "To Baby Potter," Remus said. "May your future be brighter and not full of darkness."

They clinked the glasses and drank, hoping that what Remus had said, came true.

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"How little did we know what was going to happen," Remus said.

"I don't think any of us ever dreamed it," Sirius added.

"Despite the time we were living in, we managed. We didn't need to go into hiding until the following year and Harry was able to be born in St. Mungo's like we planned," James said, finishing his wine and getting himself a cup of tea. "It was a miracle that Lily made it through the pregnancy with no problems. I thought the stress of the war would cause her to have problems with the worry she had every time I walked out the door and….

Lily reached over and took James's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"But everything was fine," she reminded him.

James smiled at his wife and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Then we told you guys and then I announced at work," James said, smiling as his mind went back to the happy day he had announced that he was going to be a father.

"I remember that," Sirius said, suddenly. "If you could, you would have announced it from the rooftops."

"I would have," James agreed. "But the day Harry was born was one of the best days of my life."

Lily smiled. "Me too."

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July 1980

The pregnancy had gone well, but the summer heat was getting to Lily. She was done. She wanted the baby to be here, now. She was three days overdue and she was about to pull James's hair out.

She had woken up early morning on the thirtieth of July in need to go to the bathroom. When she reached the toilet, her water broke.

It was a mad rush to get to St. Mungo's. James had flooed Remus and Sirius and together the three of them got Lily to St. Mungo's and into a room. James stayed with Lily, while Remus and Sirius waited in the waiting room. What they hadn't anticipated was how long the labor would be.

Sirius had even asked, "How long does it take to have a baby?"

Remus gave him a book answer, while the mediwitch in the waiting room told him that the first baby usually took the longest.

When the tenth hour passed and no baby, everyone was wondering what was taking Baby Potter. Remus and Sirius had passed the time, sleeping, eating, and reading magazines in the waiting room, and talking about the future and some of the fun things they would do with the child as they would be like uncles to the child.

For Lily, she had been a trooper all the up to the tenth hour of labor. That was when she had hit her breaking point.

"I can't take it anymore," she whimpered.

"It's okay, Lily-Flower. You're doing great," James soothed.

What Lily really wanted was her mother to be here. But she had died in a house fire last year. All she had in terms of family was James, Sirius, and Remus. A small part of her wished her baby was a girl so she wouldn't be the only female around. But then, she thought of the advantages she would have being the only female and decided she didn't care which gender it was, just as long it was healthy.

James rubbed her back as she moved to a more comfortable position.

"It should be much longer," Healer Abbott assured them both. Healer Abbott was Lily's healer. She was who her friends recommended when Lily was looking for an obstetrician/ gynecologist healer. Lily loved her for her grandmother like nature, as she wasn't young.

It would be another nine hours before their baby would be born.

James was starting to get restless, especially when he was kicked out of the room when the healer checked Lily.

Sometimes, Sirius would wander up to Lily's room and check in with James. He would come when James was kicked out of the room and talk with him while waiting for him to be allowed back in. The healer had assured him that he would be brought back in if it appeared the baby was coming.

"We're getting closer," The healer assured him when he came back into the room. He had refused to leave the room when the healer did the final check. Good thing he had, because this was it.

Baby Potter was coming.

The noise volume in the room increased when Lily began to push.

"James Henry Potter! You are never touching me again!" Lily shouted as she pushed. Threats of hexing his bits off followed and she had at one point, declared that this was it, she wasn't having any more children.

Healer Abbott just smiled and told James, "They all say that."

Lily had squeezed the life out of his hand with each push.

Somehow, despite how exhausted she was, she summoned what was left of her energy and pushed. Finally, after twenty hours of labor, their baby was born.

"It's a boy," the healer announced. She directed to where James could cut the cord and then passed him off to a mediwitch.

James and Lily watched as a mediwitch took their baby and headed to a station in the corner, where the mediwitch checked over their baby and then wrapped him up in a blanket.

"Congratulations," she said as she handed Lily the baby.

"Thank you," Lily murmured, her eyes on her newborn baby. She and James just stared at the baby, this little being they created together.

"Good job, Mama," James whispered, kissing her head. He reached out a hand and gently touched the baby's cheek.

Lily smiled up at James and then back down at the baby in her arms.

"Do you want to hold him?" Lily asked.

James nodded. Gently, he took the baby and sat down beside Lily on the bed, both still staring at the baby.

Eventually, James handed the baby back to Lily and watched as his wife's motherly instincts began to show. They watched as the baby opened his eyes for the first time.

"He's got your eyes," James whispered.

"He's got your hair," Lily chuckled.

"Poor child, I was hoping he wouldn't."

She was gently rocking the baby when she decided to bring up an important piece of information.

What were they going to name the baby?

"James?" she said, softly.

"Yes?"

"What do you think about Harry?" She asked.

"You mean, after your Dad?" James inquired. Lily nodded.

"Instead of calling him Harold, we'll name him Harry.

James nodded, smiling. "I like it."

"What about a middle name?" Lily asked. "We still need one. You can pick it out since I picked the first name."

"James," James replied without thought.

"Harry James Potter," Lily said, trying out the name. "I like it."

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"I still can't believe he talked you into including his name in Harry's," Sirius stated, sipping his tea.

"Well, he did," Lily said. "But I was going to suggest it, regardless of the first name."

James choked on his tea. Remus pounded his back to help him.

"What?"

"It crossed my mind a few times," She admitted.

"Really?" James asked.

"Yes." Lily got up and collected the biscuit tin and sat it down on the table. She collected the tea kettle. She poured more tea into her cup and into James's and offered more to Sirius and Remus.

"You know what was the best part of the day was when James finally came out and told us it was over. Then my favorite part was when I was asked to be Harry's godfather."

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After some time with Lily and Harry, James went out to their friends as he entered the waiting room, he saw the two men he thought of as brothers.

Remus was the first to see James. He stood up, bringing Sirius's attention to James.

"James! How's Lily?" he asked.

"She's good," James breathed. Then he announced, loudly. "I have a son!"

"It's a boy!" Sirius exclaimed.

He embraced James in a manly hug.

"Congratulations, Prongs," Remus said, as he too embraced James.

"Come meet my son," James announced, leading them to Lily's room.

Remus and Sirius followed James to Lily's room. He paused outside.

"What's wrong, James?" Sirius asked.

"I'm a dad," James said, his voice above a whisper.

"Yes, you are," Remus chuckled, patting him on the back.

James smiled, nodding at Remus silently thanking him for that and pushed the door open. Lily was sitting in the bed, holding the baby.

"Hi," she greeted, as they walked in.

"What did you name him?" Remus asked.

"Harry James Potter."

"You named him after your father," Remus said, surprised.

"I did," Lily whispered.

"I figured that you would get James in there somewhere," Sirius chuckled, elbowing James in the side.

"Lily picked his first name and I picked the middle name."

Sirius's eyes were on the bundle in Lily's arms, wrapped in a light blue blanket. Lily noticed this and glanced at Remus and James. They knew how excited Sirius was for this little bundle of joy, ever since he was told Lily was pregnant.

"Do you want to hold him?" She asked. Sirius nodded.

Gently, Harry was guided into Sirius's arms.

"Hi Little Guy," he greeted softly to the baby.

James and Lily shared a look and then nodded.

"How does it feel to hold your Godson?" James asked.

Sirius's head shot up suddenly, his eyes, leaving the baby in his arms. "What?"

"Lily and I want you to be Harry's Godfather," James explained.

"Really?"

"Really," Lily assured him.

"Thank you," Sirius whispered, then louder. "I'm honored."

"You're welcome," James murmured. Turning to Remus, he said, "When we have another child, we'll pick you."

"I understand why you picked Sirius," Remus assured him.

Harry was then passed to Remus and then passed back to James, who passed him back to Lily.

"You both did a good job," Remus said, hugging Lily. "We'll be back tomorrow. You two need to get some rest."

"Thanks for coming, you two," Lily murmured.

Sirius hugged Lily. Then he leaned over and kissed Harry's forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, softly to the baby.

"I'll see you tomorrow too," Lily reminded him.

"I know."

Lily chuckled and shook her head. "Bye Sirius."

James walked down to the floos with Sirius and Remus. "Thanks for coming, guys. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Remus said, patting James's back.

"You two will be the only family that he'll know besides Lily and me."

Sirius patted James's back, knowing what James was thinking. His parents and Lily's parents will never know Harry.

They stopped in front of one of the floos, where James stopped, frozen.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.

"I have a son," James whispered. "I'm someone's dad."

Sirius then realized something and then announced loudly," I have a godson!" He was still wheeling from the shock.

"We'll come back by tomorrow," Remus informed him. "We'll pass the word to the Order."

"Thanks," James said.

Remus and Sirius flooed home to their currently shared flat. James walked back to Lily's room and found her asleep, holding Harry.

He took Harry from her arms and sat down in the armchair.

"Life as I know it has changed."

July 31st, 1980 went down as the day James and Lily Potter's life changed.

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"All of our lives changes on the day Harry was born," Sirius murmured.

"I can't imagine one day without Harry," Lily said, smiling softly as she thought her son.

"Harry is like the son I never had," Remus admitted.

"How is it possible that it's been sixteen years?" James asked.

"Time passed us by," Sirius whispered.

"It went by too fast," Lily said, softly.

Remus glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

"It's almost nine o'clock," he said, getting up from the table.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Sirius asked.

"No, I was just noting the time."

There was a slight moment of silence before James and Remus started to clean up from their late night tea. Sirius took the biscuit tin back to the counter. Lily cleaned the table and noticed that she hadn't heard a peep out of Harry.

"I'm going to check on Harry. Try not to make a mess in my clean kitchen or you will be in big trouble," she warned.

She had left the kitchen and was heading up the stairs when she met Harry coming down.

"Mum, I think I ate too much. Do we have any stomach soothers?" he asked.

"Yes, we do in the basement. I'll go and get you one. Go ahead and take a shower. I'll bring it up when I find one."

"Thanks, Mum."

As Harry headed upstairs she went to the basement and found the potion that Harry needed.

"Is Harry alright?" James asked when she returned from the basement.

"He's fine, just a little stomach ache."

She headed upstairs and entered Harry's room. The shower was running in the bathroom, telling her that Harry was in there. She left the potion on the bedside table, leaving to get Harry some water.

As she walked downstairs, she noticed the pictures hanging on the wall. All of them were of Harry at various ages. She, at one point, had them organized by age, but as she added more pictures, she noticed that she couldn't do that anymore. She looked at each one as she walked downstairs, watching as her baby boy grew into the teenager he was today.

Later, after checking on Harry on final time before going to bed, she let her mind wander back to the day Harry was born. She couldn't believe that it had been sixteen years since Harry was born and she became a mother. She thought before Harry was born what type of a mother she would be. She had surpassed her own expectations and a lot of it was because what type of child Harry was and what type of teenager he was.

She thought back to the conversation she had with Remus, Sirius, and James earlier that evening. The day Harry was born had changed their life. But none of them could ever imagine life without Harry.

Happy Birthday, Harry!