Lily Potter waited at home for her husband to return. She was sitting in her two room apartment. The first room was where her and James ate. There was also a fire place in this room where they would sit and talk late into the night. The other room was a bit smaller. It had their bed in it, as well as a desk to write on. She was reading the Daily Prophet by the fire. No, reading was the wrong word. She was sitting by the fire with the Daily Prophet opened, staring blankly at it. She was thinking. She was thinking of how to tell James that she was pregnant.
Few people wanted to raise children in these dark times. Most people had trouble hanging on to the family they already had. What made it even worse was that she and James were involved in Order-related activities so often, there would be nobody to care for the child. To top it all off, they lived in a two bedroom apartment! Where would the crib, the changing table, or the baby’s toys be put? No, they were not in proper living conditions for a baby. And yet, something told Lily that having a baby was the right thing to do. It was as if the giant hand of fate had been guiding her down this road forever, and she was now ready to fulfill her purpose in life. I’ll just have to tell him, she thought, besides, it’s not like he would have to stop working for the Order or anything. The baby would not be coming for another eight months. According to the spell she checked with, the child would be born around the end of July. Who knew, maybe the war would be over by then.
Lily could have sat there in thought for hours, but presently the door opened and in came James. “Hey, sweetie,” he said as he entered.
“Hello, honey,” she said, getting up and hugging him in the doorway. “How was the meeting?”
“Boring,” said James bending down and planting a kiss on his wife’s lips. No sense in worrying her until I know there will even be a baby, thought James.
“James, did you get something to eat?” asked Lily.
“No, I haven’t had the time,” said James, sitting down at the kitchen table. Lily sat down across from him and fumbled for her wand in her pocket. “I got it,” said James. He took out his wand, waved it, and a plate full of chicken appeared in front of him. James stared at his plate as he ate. Lily drummed her fingers on the table. The only noises were James’ chewing and Lily’s drumming. They were both keeping secrets, and worse, they each knew that the other one was keeping a secret.
“So, what did Dumbledore want to tell you?” asked Lily.
“Dorcas was killed.”
“That’s horrible. Did he say how?” If Lily had found out that a close friend had been killed before the war had started, she would have been in tears. But these days, death was a part of life itself.
“Voldemort killed her himself when she would not give him information. Dumbledore wanted to tell me face to face because I was there.”
“But so was I. I was there too. Why didn’t he ask me to come?”
“You’re asking the wrong person,” said James. He finished his chicken and made the remains disappear with a wave of his wand.
“Well, at least we know she is dead for a fact, I guess. It’s not like when people disappear and you don’t know what happened to them,” said Lily, getting up and going into the room that served as their bedroom.
“That’s an interesting way to look at it,” said James, following her. They dressed for bed, James putting on his pajamas and Lily her night dress. They got into bed, and lay there for a few minutes. Then, all of a sudden Lily decided that she could not keep it inside her any more.
“James, I am pregnant,” she said blankly.
“What?” asked James softly.
“I said I am pregnant,” said Lily softly. This was it. He was going to blow up. Would he be mad, angry, or sad? She braced herself, knowing that she could calm him down. She would tell him what she had thought about, how she planned to keep the baby safe, and still being all right financially. But first, she would have to survive the hurricane that was slowly brewing under his skin, a trait that had rubbed off on James from being around Sirius too much.
“That’s…That’s amazing!” he exclaimed, sitting up scooting towards her.
“Really?” she asked, sitting up too.
“Yes, of course. I love you, and I will support you through anything. Lily, I want to have a baby with you. But I have something I need to…”
“Oh, I am so happy!” she cried, squeezing him and then kissing him lightly. “I was so worried that you were going to be angry. I thought that you may not want me to have a baby.”
“How can you think that?” he asked her. “Lily, I love you,” he said, kissing her passionately. She kissed him back, and they fell onto the bed together. The prophecy will have to wait, thought James.
***
Lily woke up and put her hand on the bed next to her. It was empty. She reached around, determined to make contact with a body. Nothing. She opened her eyes and looked at the part of the bed next to her. Empty. She sat up and searched the room. Then she saw him, sitting with the family owl at the desk, fumbling for a quill. She got up and stood behind him. “Who are you writing to?” she questioned.
“Dumbledore,” said James, taking out the quill and dipping it in the ink well.
“About what?” asked Lily.
“I will tell you in a second,” he said.
Lily leaned over his shoulder to look at the parchment. She just caught the words “yes, what should we do?” written on the parchment before he folded it up and tied it to the owl’s leg. The owl flew out the open window, and James stood up, knocking Lily’s jawbone with his shoulder.
“Sorry, are you all right!” he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her jaw. “Wait a minute,” she said quietly, extending the other hand and placing it on his bare shoulder, “you are cold, and wet. James, are you sweating? Honey, what is wrong?”
“Nothing…” he said.
“Come on, don’t try to lie to me! What is the matter?”
“Sit down, and I will explain,” he said. It took him a whole 10 minutes to get out his story: about the meeting, the prophecy, and the letter he had just sent. When he finished, Lily sat there observing at the beautiful sunrise through the open window.
“So, will our child kill Voldemort?” she asked blankly.
“Maybe. Or it may be the Longbottom child, or both, or neither. Lily, it may just be the seer trying to impress Dumbledore!”
“But there is a chance?”
“Yes, so we have to be ready to go into hiding.”