Monday 3rd August 1981

Godric's Hollow, 17:30

Lily leaned heavily against the kitchen counter, trying to catch her breath. Oh, that had been a bad cramp. It had radiated right through her from back to front like someone was both stretching and squeezing her. It was horrid and, unfortunately, she couldn't do a damn thing about it. Pregnancy was definitely not sunshine and roses, trust her. She felt awful for even thinking it but she really couldn't wait until this whole pregnancy was over. It just seemed to be an awful lot more this time around. She was bigger, her stomach was more bloated and her ankles may as well have belonged to elephants, that's how big they were. At least she hadn't got horrific heartburn like her mother reported she had with all three of them. Now that sounded truly unbearable. There were somethings that Lily couldn't deal with in a logical fashion and heartburn was one of them.

Her mother. Tears welled up in her eyes, tears that she stubbornly wiped away. She couldn't think of her mother. Or her father. Or the two of them together. She couldn't. Not right now. It just... it just wasn't that right time. Not when she desperately wanted the and couldn't have them. A sob tried to get out but she choked it back. She couldn't have them. Not now and not ever again. It wasn't fair.

Lily didn't know what it was but ever since James had pointed out that she really hadn't let herself grieve properly at all (seriously, not even a little bit), that's all she felt like she was doing. They were all she could think about some days. And she couldn't do that. She just couldn't. The thoughts would just consume her and she wasn't going to let that happen. Not when she still didn't know how to make herself come to terms with it.

Oh, this was so horrible. Except horrible wasn't a strong enough word. The tears started to come again and she stubbornly sniffed them back. No. No more crying. Crying wasn't going to sort anything.

Ow, ow, ow.

She wanted her mum.

Wednesday 5th August 1981

Dumbledore's Office, 21:00

Dora had to bite her lip hard to not immediately disagree with Dumbledore's suggestion. Not that it was really a suggestion, despite how he worded it. She didn't think that the man had ever made an actual suggestion in his life. She supposed that she should be grateful that she'd even been brought in on this conversation. Usually, the man just pulled the person he wanted off to the side or for a meeting and then the other person was left to explain to their significant other about what was going to happen.

Which was incredibly annoying because they were supposed to talk things over, discuss them, voice fears together. It was even more important for them, historically they weren't great at the whole communication thing. They had to make the effort, they had to work at it. And Dumbledore just handing out tasks and jobs and expecting them to be done really threw them off.

But this time was different. Barely. Sirius and Marlene had Teddy, who had been very put out when Cassie grabbed his hair, so that the two of them could sit with Dumbledore together about Remus' next mission.

Urgh, she hated calling them that. It gave the impression that they were doing something far grander than they normally did, which was usually trying to gather information.

Of course, it was all still the same. Just because she was here didn't mean there was any more discussion than there usually was. Well, not about whether it was going to be done or not. It was going to get done, after all. No, there was discussion. It was just around things like the best way to get the task done and who to contact during it.

Like now, Dumbledore wanted to know how Remus would go about ingratiating himself with a werewolf pack. It sounded bad but Dora was still pretty amazed that some werewolves went around in packs like actual wolves. Then again, she was used to Remus who wasn't exactly a normal werewolf by any stretch of the imagination and he did have a pack. Or maybe he did? Her and Teddy? The Marauders? Did it count if you weren't a werewolf? Something to ask him. But not with Dumbledore right there, obviously.

"I would say that this would be simpler, surely?" Dumbledore was saying.

Reid was shaking his head. "Definitely not. I've told you before, sir, that it is very obvious to other werewolves that I've been 'tainted' in some way."

"Tainted?" Dora interrupted with a frown.

What exactly did he mean by tainted? He wasn't tainted? He gave her an apologetic look.

"I mean that I show signs of living like a human. In normal society. A lot of werewolves reject that sort of mentality. They live wild, barely surviving from meal to meal."

Dora couldn't help but flinch at that. She didn't understand how someone could live like that. And by choice too. Many people. Except it wasn't by choice, was it? Not really. She supposed that she should thank her lucky stars that Remus wasn't like that. That he was different.

Except, that difference might put a target on his back. Dora frowned. They couldn't win, could they?

"So," Dumbledore steepled his fingers together. "You will have to find some way to gain their trust."

Remus was nodding along and Dora couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the direction the conversation was going. Actually, uncomfortable was too tame a word.

Frightened. She was frightened. Afraid. Fearful. This was too much. It was. Oh, sure, he had gone out to the werewolves before but, again, that had been for gathering information. Running with them, living with them. Which we dangerous enough. Some werewolves were extremely volatile during the days around the full moon.

This was different than simple information gathering. Far different. This was about trying to persuade them. Gaining their trust? The werewolves Remus talked about trusted no one. How was he supposed to make them trust him? And quickly, at that. Though that might be a separate issue to the idea of getting them to trust him.

They wouldn't expect him to something nasty, would they? Like what Death Eaters made their newest recruits do. Dora shuddered at the thought of that. She may not be a fully-fledged Auror yet but every single trainee knew the difference between a normal Death Eater crime scene and one where they were "celebrating" new recruits. It was disgusting and even the thought of it made her throw up a little bit in her mouth.

No, there was just no way that werewolves would be like that. Right?

Saturday 8th August 1981

Longbottom Manor, 11:30

"Lily should be giving birth any day now," Alice said conversationally, the thought suddenly coming to her as she finished a chapter in her book.

It had ended with a woman panicking in a hospital bed, preparing to give birth without her husband in the same country. What a horrible thought. But it did make her think of her incredibly pregnant friend. At least Lily had James with her kind of permanently at the moment so she was in a better situation than the poor woman in her book. Well, it wasn't really a book. More of a trashy romance novel that her mother would be horrified that she was reading. But oh well, her mother wasn't here, was she?

Frank coughed and looked uncomfortable with the sudden change in topic.

"Uh, should she?"

"I believe so. She said her due date was for the third week of August but it wouldn't be odd if the baby appeared before then."

"Ah. And that's good?"

Alice actually looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow at him. And then realised who she was talking to and what they were talking about, almost laughing. Whoops. She hadn't m3ant to. Pregnancy and other such related topics were definitely not something that a husband and wife talked about, after all. Well, not the details if it was her that was pregnant and not at all if it was like another woman, like now. It just wasn't proper. And really why should a man concern himself of such things? He shouldn't, that's what. He didn't need to know, did he?

"Uh, yes," she fumbled, not sure what else to share. "The baby will be fully grown already so there should be no worry there."

That news actually made Frank smile a bit. "That's good to know. They won't have to try and figure out how him get their baby medical attention while also staying in hiding."

"Yes, though they still need a midwife."

"Did they ever get a chance to talk to Molly Weasley?"

Alice frowned as she thought.

"I believe so and she said that she would be happy too but I know that she is also very pregnant so I'm not sure if she would be able to."

Frank shook his head. "I'm glad we aren't in their shoes right now." And then his eyes widened. "Not that I don't want another baby," he said quickly, stumbling over his words slightly as he tried to get them out quickly. "Of course, another baby would be great and..." He trailed off and bit his lip.

He looked so guilty and sorry that Alice found herself falling in love with him a little bit more. He was now looking at her expectantly but what was she even supposed to say?

Neville was still a baby after all and sure, having another child would be nice at some point but two babies at the same time? Or, rather a toddler and a baby? That was a lot to keep track of, even if the Elves did help a lot.

"I don't not want another baby," Alice said hesitantly. "Just-"

"Not right now?" Frank finished for her, looking relieved.

She nodded hesitantly. "Exactly. Does that... Does that make me a bad mother?"

That what she had been terrified of the entire time she had been thinking about it. What kind of mother thought that their current baby made them not want another child? Wasn't that just awful? It wasn't like Neville was a bad child or anything, nothing could be further from the truth. He was perfect, after all.

Frank shook his head. "It does not. It just means we aren't ready for another yet and do you really blame us? There's a war going on, we're in direct danger from a madman and literally nothing is going right in the world right now. Do we really want to bring another child into all of that."

Alice shook her head, heart-warming every time he said 'we'. Because they were a team. And made some very good points. Yes, it just wasn't the right time right now. There would be a right time. Eventually. When this was all over and Neville was a bit older. She wondered what a good age gap was?

Then another thought struck her

"I see how uncomfortable Lily is currently and I do not want to experience that again." she added.

Being heavily pregnant in the summer was horrendous. When they did have their next child, they were going to have to figure out a way of making sure that the end of her pregnancy fell in winter.

Frank just laughed at her. She threw her book at him.

Tuesday 11th August 1981

Godric's Hollow, 14:00

"How's your research going, by the way?" Lily asked him somewhat apologetically. "I feel like I haven't asked you that in ages."

Severus scrunched up his nose at that. That was the last question he wanted to hear.

It had come to a complete and utter standstill. Which was so embarrassing, by the way. This was important, so very, very important and he had got so excited about it and that had all come to nothing. Oh, Severus knew that that was just how research went sometimes and some pieces of research had years between working components (What a horrible thought) but that didn't make it any less infuriating when that sort of thing happened to him.

He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. It made him feel stupid and incompetent. All things he didn't like. Had he mentioned that he didn't like it? Because he didn't.

"Let's talk about something else," he grumbled much to her amusement.

Friday 14th August 1981

Godric's Hollow, 20:00

"You're having contractions?" James exclaimed, eyes bugging out of his head.

"Shh! I only just got Harry down for a nap," she hissed. "Don't you dare wake him up."

"But contractions."

Lily brushed him off. "They aren't real ones. They're those false labour ones."

"False labour?" James said in horror. "What's that?"

Lily thought for a moment on how best to describe it.

"Did that pregnancy book we got when I was pregnant with Harry mention Braxton Hicks?"

She thought that's what they were called anyway. James shook his head.

"I don't remember. Anyway, it's basically the body practicing for the real thing. It's nothing to be concerned about."

"Why does your body need to practice?" he demanded as he watched Lily wince her way through another one. "Isn't actual birth bad enough?"

"Tell that to the female body. Or, better yet, my uterus."

"It has to answer for a lot," he joked.

"It really does," she grumbled, half seriously.

Urgh. There was another cramp. She really was ready for this pregnancy to be over. Being at the latter part of a pregnancy at the height of summer was just downright unpleasant.

"How long have you been having them?" James gave her a sympathetic look.

"On and off for the past week."

"Merlin, that sucks."

"Tell me about it."

"Would rubbing it help?" He offered, holding out his hand.

Lily shrugged. "It couldn't possibly make them worse?"

James just put his hand on her stomach when she glanced at the clock and her eyes widened.

"We're going to be late for the Order meeting!"

Because of course they had an Oder Meeting when she was feeling like this.

"No one will mind if you sit it out," James offered. "They'll understand."

But Lily shook her head. Order meetings were the only time when they could get out of the house. Thy didn't happen too often recently, everyone's lives had been too busy and as every week passed there was less and less people could do to make a change. Which was extremely depressing.

But she still went. And regretted it almost as soon as she sat down. She was just feeling very uncomfortable and it got worse as the meeting went on. There was no way that she took in any of it. James would have to tell her later; she just couldn't concentrate.

"Excuse me," she said, she needed to use the bathroom.

Stupid pregnant bladder. Why did her child's foot always have to use her bladder as a football?

Lily had just locked the bathroom door behind her when she suddenly felt this dampness in her underwear and for some reason, she didn't think that it was her losing control of hr bladder.

"Um, James?" she called out.

"Yeah?"

She frowned. Why did he sound so far away? Wasn't he literally just upstairs? She shook her head. Why was she focusing on that instead of the main problem?

"Can you come up?"

"You need something?"

"Just come up please."

It was getting harder and harder not to make her voice give away her slight panic. Okay, maybe that was a bit of and underestimation but her thought process was if she didn't make a big deal out of it then she wouldn't panic as much. And she really, really felt like panicking.

This was her second child! She had literally just given birth to her first not even a year ago. She knew what was going to happen. Why was she so nervous and jittery? Deep breaths. Okay, deep breaths.

Which were kind of hard to do when fairly regular contractions were rolling through you but still, she had to try. Panicking was not going to help anything here and might only make it worse. Right. What could she do to sort things out right now?

Well, she couldn't exactly stop things from happening, could she? No. So, she wouldn't focus on that. Not right now. Oh, deep breathing through it. Deep breathing through it. Bending her needs and crouching a bit seemed to ease them. Only a little, thought.

Though, the crouching made her safe of another problem that she had conveniently forgotten about. Had she ever mentioned that she absolutely hated the feeling of even the slightest bit of moisture on her underwear? Because she did. It just felt awful. There was nothing else she could say about that because she couldn't really think of anything to describe the feeling right now. Her mind was kind of on other things. But she still had enough wits about her to know that her underwear felt far too uncomfortable. Thank Merlin for dresses, that's all she was saying.

Just where exactly was James and why was it taking him so long? She was about to call down again when she heard him come up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time like he usually did. How he had never slipped or lost his balance she would never know. He's done it at Hogwarts as well!

"Where are you?"

James pushed the bathroom door open and poked his head around it hesitantly.

"I'm here, is everything okay?"

She almost snorted at that. Almost. Was she okay? What a question. Didn't he understand what was going on? No, wait. Of course, he didn't. That's why she had called for him. Yes. That was right. Whoops. And now he was giving her an extremely concerned look.

She held up her underwear

"This might be something to be concerned about."