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“Honey I’m home!” - yelled Lily entering her house in Godric’s Hollow. She had spent the day at her parents’ house, but her sister’s presence had made it painfully stressful and annoying. She felt a huge relief to be back home to James.
“Hello sweetheart!” - responded a sarcastic voice. Sirius passed his head in the hall, grinning, his long black hair falling in front of his piercing blue eyes. Lily chuckled, took off her coat and walked towards him, gently putting her hands on his cheeks, and kissing his forehead.
“Did Remus kick you out again?”
Sirius gasped, looking dramatically offended. Lily made her way into the living room, taking off the pins maintaining her hair in a bun to let her ginger curls fall down her back with a sigh of relief. She heard some noises coming from the kitchen and looked over there to see Remus walking out with a chocolate cake. A large smile appeared on her face.
“Merlin bless you Moony! You are a life saver!”
He looked up at her and grinned back.
“Oh, hi Lils! I didn’t hear you come home! How was it?”
He placed the cake down on the coffee table and Sirius approached, sniffling the air.
“You guys are aware this is my house, right? Where is James anyway? He is the one I actually married, I believe.”
Remus and Sirius laughed. They lived in the house next door actually, but the two couples pretty much lived together at this point. They had decided not to split up after leaving Hogwarts. It was the happiest time of their lives, together and completely free for the first time, at least for Sirius. They were a family, now more than ever.
“He’s coming back any minute now. He just went to help Mrs Dolley down the street to set up a few shelves. Probably going to use magic behind her back, otherwise she will be buried in her books by tomorrow morning.”
Lily nodded, smiling proudly. It was typical of her husband, always ready to help and to offer his generosity to everyone. Mrs Dolley was an adorable old woman who acted a little as a grandmother to the little group, always baking cookies and cooking stews for them. She was a muggle and did not know anything about their magical abilities, and worried they were too young to take care of themselves properly.
“But anyway, how did it go? Did you tell them about the baby?” – asked Sirius hurriedly, beaming with glee.
Lily was about four months pregnant, and it was the main reason of her trip to her parents’. James was obviously the father, but she had a feeling this kid would have quite a few parental figures, and she could not be happier about it. She felt so loved by the three men of her life and she hoped her little baby could already feel how lovingly and eagerly he was expected. But hearing Sirius’s question brought back her disappointment. She grabbed a large piece of Remus’s cake and sighed.
“It did not go so well. Plus, my sister was there, so it made things worse. Basically, they think I am way too young and throwing my life away. They were already not so happy about the wedding, but they managed. Here, they just think I am sentencing myself to being a mom and nothing more. I tried to explain how I was still working and planning my career, but they did not care. Petunia was so happy to see me in trouble for once, she was giggling all over the place. As if she was not weeks away from bursting out Vernon’s fat kid!”
Sirius chuckled at the last part, but Remus was genuinely concerned. He put his hand on her back and stroke it gently.
“It is disappointing to see them reacting like that, but you know they will love their grandkid anyway! It probably just came as a shock to them, they were expecting to see you carrying on your studies a little longer, that’s all.”
“But I am not stopping anything!” – she snapped – “I am working for the Daily Prophet part-time and conducting my research on healing draughts! They just wouldn’t listen…” - she burst in tears.
Sirius couldn’t bear to see Lily crying, it physically pained him. Unfortunately for him, pregnancy hormones tended to make her emotional about pretty much anything. He was getting used to crying with her at least twice a day. His mouth twisted, his eyes watered. He leaned and hugged her tightly.
“They understand nothing, but they will, don’t worry Lils.”
They heard the door opening at this moment and they all turned towards the hall to see James’s messy hair walking inside the living room, grinning largely. His smile faded instantly when he noticed the tears on Lily’s cheeks. He was kneeling beside her in two large steps, deeply worried. Sirius let go of her and she just swept down into James’s arms, looking so small between the three of them, her crying having doubled in intensity when James had walked in.
“What happened, love? Why are you crying?”
James glanced at his friends, silently asking what the hell was going on. They tried to look reassuring.
“It’s my parents… I told them about the baby, and they were not happy about it… They think I’m throwing my life away… And Petunia had a field day of gloating around!”
James sighed.
“Oh darling… I am so sorry I wasn’t there by your side. We figured it would be simpler with Petunia and Vernon without me, but I guess we were wrong. Don’t worry my love they will understand, they’re just worrying for their daughter, it’s normal for parents.”
Lily thought about it for a while, sighed and nodded.
“I guess you’re right… But I really wanted them to be happy for me. Shouldn’t they be as happy as I am?”
Remus intervened.
“And they will, Lils! They just need to let the news sink in. Maybe they will call you tomorrow to apologize.”
Lily looked up at him suddenly, her green watery eyes full of hope. She really looked like a little girl right now.
“You think?”
Remus smiled lovingly at her.
“I can’t promise anything of course, but I’m sure they will come to their senses sooner or later. They did not react like you wanted, but you can’t let that keep you from your current happiness.”
She started to feel much better. Her emotions were really a mess at the moment, she was not used to this lack of control over herself, and she would have felt embarrassed if she weren’t with them. They understood and they supported her. Her smile came back on her face and she took another piece of cake, glancing up at Sirius wiping his own eyes now that he saw she was feeling better. She took his hand and rubbed her thumb on his palm.
“My poor Padfoot, if you keep sharing my meltdowns, we won’t make it for another seven months!”
They all laughed. Lily kissed James and whispered “Thank you” in his ear. He softly caressed her belly, his eyes flowing with adoration. “Thank you” he murmured back.
***
Remus and Sirius came back home after dinner, leaving James and Lily sleepily lying down on the sofa, watching an old black and white movie Lily cherished when she was a little girl. James had discovered cinema with her and eagerly tried to catch up on 17 years of non-muggle education. Their movie nights were a treasured tradition. But tonight, neither of them could concentrate on the screen. Lily was still feeling a bit overwhelmed, and James blamed himself for not being at her parents’ house with her. She nestled against him, her arms hugging her own belly unconsciously. She could barely tell she was pregnant yet, at least physically, but she definitely sensed the changes. Hiding her face in his chest, she mumbled:
“James?”
“Yes, love?”
“Do you think we’re going to be good parents? We’re not too young?”
James stiffened a bit at those words. He couldn’t say he wasn’t himself worried, but he considered it perfectly normal for any parent-to-be. But he was so used to his self-confident, control-freak, and bossy wife that he did not know how to respond at first. He looked down at her, stroking her hair. He noticed how she was pressing her hands on her belly, and a huge wave of affection ran over him. He sometimes couldn’t believe how happy he was. He was married to the girl he had been dreaming about since he was eleven, he was going to be a father, and he lived next door to his two dearest friends in the world who happened to be each other’s soulmates. He hugged her more tightly, put a finger under her chin to make her look up at him. He finally met her green eyes and wiped away with his thumb a single tear making its way down her cheek.
“We’re going to be amazing parents. And you know why? Because we will love that kid with everything we have and protect them with our lives. On the long run, I’m pretty sure that’s all it takes. We will improvise the rest.”
She smiled, her eyes now watery with emotion. She took James’s hand and placed it delicately on her stomach. She kissed him softly on the lips.
“You’re right. Not gonna lie, I already love them more than you” – she teased playfully.
James chuckled and leaned down to whisper to her belly.
“I guess we’ll just have to share Mommy’s love, won’t we? Luckily, she has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen, so I will have plenty of it left.”
Lily gazed at him. She was sure she had never loved him more than she did in this instant. She knew everything would always be alright, because she had married the best man she had ever met, a man who was already the best father ever. She embraced him fiercely and leaned into a deep, passionate kiss. She only pulled back to murmur:
“I love you James Potter, like I never thought I would love someone. You make be happier than I ever thought I could be.”
She didn’t give him the time to answer and kissed him again, pushing him backwards on the sofa.
***
The next morning, James and Lily were sleeping in, lying lazily in bed, enjoying the quietness, hand in hand, smiling peacefully. But they suddenly opened their eyes when they heard their bedroom’s door opening and saw Sirius shuffling in, his most distressed look on his face. He did not even bother to look at them before letting himself fall on their bed, face first, right in the middle of them both. They barely had the time to let go of each other’s hands to avoid getting crushed under the mass of black curly hair that had so suddenly appeared in their quiet morning. Lily held back a laugh, this was so typical. But James, with his eternal and limitless patience towards his best friend, stroke a hand up and down his back.
“What’s wrong, mate?”
Sirius mumbled an answer, but it was muffled by the pillow, and Lily couldn’t help but snort in derision this time. He turned his head and eyed her reproachfully, looking deeply offended, as he was three times a day on average. He answered to James while staring haughtily at Lily:
“What is wrong is I have been abandoned by the love of my life and I thought I could find some support with my best friends, but it appeared I was wrong.”
Lily shoved him playfully on his back and started tickling him in the ribs, soon joined by James.
“He just went to work, you big drama queen, he will come back tomorrow night!”
Remus had taken a part-time teaching job at Hogwarts, in Charms. His schedule allowed him to skip work every full moon without anyone noticing. He then spent about half his weeks at the school, which was always a comical tragedy for Sirius. A tragic lover who was currently red with laughter and was struggling to catch his breath, wiggling around in the bed to escape the assaults of James and Lily. They eventually let go of him and Lily hugged him tightly, her head on his chest while James embraced them both. It was a ritual that had begun since way before Remus had started working at Hogwarts. Sirius’s heartbeat had slowed down and he had fallen back to sleep, closely followed by Lily. James looked down at them both lovingly, not wanting to move for anything in the world.
***
They were all having dinner the following night, chatting agreeably about James and Sirius’s new work at the Ministry of Magic, in the department of international cooperation. Their charisma and ability to make everybody love them had gotten them into a good position in only a few years, and most importantly, they had managed to stay together along the way. It meant that Lily spent her days alone, but it was also the only way for her to advance on both her Potion research and her articles. Not that James and Sirius were a disturbing presence… but they were.
Sirius was performing a vivid retelling of an argument they had had with the German administration when Lily gasped with surprise and placed a hand on her stomach, her eyes wide. She raised her head and immediately caught James’s eyes, full of worry.
“What’s going on Lils?”
Sirius stopped talking at once and his eyes reflected James’s concern. Lily did not answer right away, hesitating, her hand navigating across her abdomen until she felt it again, radiating throughout her whole body and making her heart beat faster.
“The baby! The baby just moved! I felt it!”
The two men gasped and hurried away from their seats to kneel on both sides of her, each placing a hand on her stomach eagerly. They waited like this for a few suspended seconds until James exclaimed, beaming:
“Here!! Oh Godric, I felt it too!”
He reached for Sirius’s hand and placed it under his at the exact spot when the three of them felt a sharp kick and burst in laughter.
“Sweet Merlin, Lils! There is someone inside of you!” – shouted Sirius in disbelief, grinning from ear to ear.
“Well, I should hope so, otherwise this chicken was just not fit for consumption! – she chuckled, still trying to realize what had just happened.”
James stood up, grabbed her around the waist and behind the knees, like a princess, and spun her around the room, yelling with the purest joy he had ever experienced:
“We’re having a baby!”
She laughed her heart out, her arms around his neck while Sirius produced fireworks from the tip of his wand. Suddenly, James stopped spinning and stated with a profound innocence:
“Sirius, mate. Lily Evans is having my baby.”
The last decade seemed to be flashing before their eyes for a few seconds before Sirius responded, in a stupor:
“I know, you bastard, you did it.”
Lily was about to say something when they heard the door open. Remus appeared in the living room, visibly confused, his eyes going from Lily in James’s arms and the fireworks still coming out of Sirius’s wand. He opened his mouth to talk but Sirius was faster, running to him, flinging his arms around his neck, and kissing him fiercely. Remus stumbled back a few steps under the strength of this assault but grabbed Sirius’s waist and kissed him back with the same passion. When Sirius finally let go of him to catch his breath, Remus was finally able to say:
“Well, by Merlin’s beard, I only left this morning, what in the sweet hell happened here?”
James gently put Lily back on her feet and she went to Remus, holding out her hand, beaming.
“Give me your hand, Moony.”
He complied, a little sceptical, looking around at Sirius and James to try to understand, but they were both staring at Lily. She gently placed his hand on the left of her belly and looked up at him. He just stared back for a few seconds and opened his mouth to ask what they had been smoking tonight when he felt it. He placed his other hand on his mouth, eyes wide opened.
“Oh my God, Lils! They’re kicking already? It’s incredible!”
She nodded blissfully. He kneeled and placed his ear against her belly.
“I can hear their heart, it’s unbelievable!”
“You can?” – James intervened, surprised.
“Well yeah – he shrugged – werewolf senses and everything.”
James and Sirius immediately turned to each other and simultaneously turned into Prongs and Padfoot. Lily now had a kneeling werewolf, a stag and a huge black dog in her living room listening to her stomach, but she felt so happy she decided not to focus on that. They changed back, amazed, and shouted together:
“I heard it too!”
Lily looked down, and for the first time she could actually see that her body was changing and was growing another life. A small tear of emotion made its way down her cheek, but the guys did not notice, busy celebrating. She wiped it away and whispered to her belly:
“I love you.”