April 27th, 1980
"Welcome Peter Pettigrew, I trust you will be a most loyal servant."
The rat like man clutched his left arm as he bowed to The Dark Lord, a gleam in his eye.
May 5th, 1980
Euphemia bit her lip, leaning forward as her hands moved the knitting needles methodically, following her pattern exactly as she started weaving the soft white yarn into what would be a blanket for her grandchild.
They, she and Fleamont, had both been rather bummed when they couldn't go help James and Lily move into their new flat. Though they did understand why they couldn't go, there was a Dragon Pox outbreak downstairs and the nurses were trying to keep everyone healthy by not allowing anyone in or out of their rooms unless absolutely necessary. Fleamont still voiced his very strong opinions about them not being able to leave while still being visited by nurses (who smelled strongly of antiseptic) twice a day as usual. In his eyes, if the nurses could still come, they, Euphemia and Fleamont, should be able to leave or have visitors.
Luckily, he agreed with Euphemia when she pointed out that they would not want to risk even the slightest chance of spreading something to James right now. It wasn't as if they had no contact with their son either, they could still send and receive mail, they just had to use cleansing charms on anything they sent or received. Then they also had access to a phone if they wished to use it.
Not that Fleamont had known how to use a phone at first, Euphemia bit her lip stifling the giggles that threatened to burst out of her, she may be a pureblood but she had been raised in a muggle house. There were certain everyday things in the muggle world that the wizarding world knew nothing of. Like telephones, for example.
May 13th, 1980
Lily yawned, flicking off her bedside lamp, glancing at her alarm clock as she did so. 12:45 A.M.
They had near every pillow they owned in the bedroom with them. Lily had her usual two, one under her head while she hugged the other, James had four, one under his head, one supporting his back, one between his legs, and one supporting his stomach.
xXx
"Where are you going?" Lily muttered, waking up as she felt James struggle out of bed.
"This child keeps kicking my bladder." James said in answer, shuffling to the bathroom.
Lily stretched, groaning as she rolled over to glance at the clock. 2:07 A.M.
xXx
"Boy or Girl?" Lily asked suddenly at 3:53 A.M. rolling over to look at James through the dark.
"What?" James asked, startled at the suddenness of the question.
"Do you think it's a boy or girl?" Lily clarified.
James hummed, thinking. "…boy." He answered slowly.
"Really?" Lily asked, "You think we're having a boy?"
"I'm guessing you're thinking girl?"
"Yeah." Lily answered. Maybe it was what she actually thought, maybe it was the influence of wishful thinking because of the prophecy. "Wanna make a bet?" Lily asked, if she was lucky, she would inherit her mother's knack for knowing.
May 21st, 1980
"They need this."
"Do they really, Sirius?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows.
"It has lions on it!" Sirius exclaimed, "It's a tiny sleeper. With tiny lions on it. Yes, they do."
May 31st, 1980
Sirius stared at the list of names Lily and James had stuck to the fridge with magnets. Written on what was obviously a piece of scrap parchment in Lily's cursive with James left-handed mess he called handwriting mixing in occasionally (Tough to his credit, it had gotten much better since Lily started making him use pens instead of quills):
Girl
Amy Nicole
Euphemia Rose
Abigail Irene
Emma Lee
Liliana Mae
Boy
John Robert
Dylan Matthew
Oliver Mark
Harry James
Elliot Fleamont (I love my father Lily, but no)
Sirius grinned, grabbing a pen from the counter and adding an extra category in his chicken scratch:
Unisex
Elven dork
Even separating it into two names to match the first name, middle name system the two seemed to have going.
June 7th, 1980
Unisex
Elven dork
For the last time, Sirius, we are Not naming our child Elven dork!
June 13th, 1980
"We need to think about godparents soon too."
"We do." James agreed.
"I think godfather's probably a given though." Lily continued. Eleven year old Lily would never have thought she would marry James Potter, let alone consider Sirius Black of all people, one of her closest friends.
"Sirius?"
"Sirius."
"Well, if godfather was that straight forward, godmother should be as well." James said, he knew who Lily had had in mind this entire time, and he couldn't say he disagreed.
"…Marlene?"
"Marlene."
They were the obvious choices as they were both like siblings to Lily and James.
June 19th, 1980
"You mean I get to be-"
"Don't you dare, Sirius." Lily snapped.
"- dogfather?"
June 25th, 1980
Lily sat in a booth at the hogshead, leg bouncing as she glanced down at her watch again. 1:15. Marlene was supposed to meet her there at 1:00.
She waited until 1:30 before sighing and standing to leave, throwing payment and a tip on the table for the butterbeer she had ordered while waiting.
Lily walked briskly out of the pub, apparating as soon as she crossed the wards, to the small cottage Marlene shared with her parents and siblings. It was surrounded with by trees with a dirt trail through the trees up to the house, with a small lake in the backyard and the family dog barking and growling from where it was leashed to a metal pole in front of the house.
Walking pass the dog she went up to the door and knocked, only for the door to swing wide open at the slightest touch.
"Marlene?" Lily called pushing the door further open and peeking inside. She slowly stepped into the house, feeling like an intruder as she always did when entering their house uninvited, despite Mrs. McKinnon insisting that Lily was like a daughter to her and always welcome. Insisting that Lily was like the sister Marlene had never had, as the eldest of five and only girl.
Lily crept through the living room, careful not to wake Mrs. McKinnon, as the middle age woman was sleeping slumped back in an armchair, a book held loosely in her lap.
"Marlene?" She called out again, stairs creaking as she climbed them. She reached the top of the stairs, the house was silent as she walked down the hallway toward Marlene's bedroom, wanting to respect privacy as much as possible, she carefully avoided looking into the boys' bedrooms, despite the doors being wide open. She could hear Michael's, Marlene's youngest brother, owl hooting and flapping frantically in its cage. Lily shook her head, no one knew why that boy had a fear of letting the poor thing fly free.
Reaching Marlene's door, she didn't even think twice before invading her privacy by twisting the doorknob and throwing the door open, "Honey, I'm ho-" she started, only to cut off with a scream at the sight that awaited her inside the room.
The house was silent as numbly, she stared at her little sister, laying on her front, one arm stretched above her head, on the floor in a pool of her own blood, wrists being the source.
Once dirty blonde hair now stained red, as well as the white towel wrapped around Marlene's lanky form. Once bright brown eyes now blankly staring up at the two way mirror Marlene had been reaching for.
The two way mirror Lily knew for a fact that Sirius had the match to.
Lily didn't know how long she stood there, seconds, minutes, hours? Days, even? She turned and bolted back pass the boys' rooms, not daring to look into their rooms as she passed. Down the stairs, through the living room, pass Mrs. McKinnon's sleeping form (No, not sleeping, no way would Lily's blood curdling scream not have woken her if that were the case. Undoubtedly de-), and back out the door.
It wasn't the best idea to apparate when not calm, but, against her better judgement, Lily did it anyway. Straight to the Ministry of Magic.
July 1st, 1980
"Did Vernon ever call you?" Lily could practically hear her mother beaming over the phone.
"Uh, no?" Lily answered, leaning against the kitchen counter, "Should he have?"
"I thought he would have." Rosalie sighed, he had called Rosalie, but apparently couldn't call his sister-in-law. "Dudley Vernon Dursley was born at 10:53 June 23rd."
There was a loud insistent banging on the apartment door.
"I'll get it!" she heard James call from the living room.
"Petunia gave birth." Lily stated more than asked, eyebrows raising. Almost a week later, and Lily was just now finding out.
"Yes." Rosalie confirmed, nonetheless. "She had a C-Section, I wouldn't mention it if you see her anytime soon, though, she's a bit bitter about it."
"Got it." Though Lily doubted she would be seeing Petunia anytime soon.
She whipped around, to stare into the living room when she heard her name mentioned along with 'murder', 'McKinnon', and 'evidence'. "Uh, Mum. I need to go." She rushed out, interrupting her mother, and hanging up without giving Rosalie a chance to respond.
Thinking they must have answers other than 'war related crimes' or 'suicide', she came to stand beside her husband. "I'm here." She said, announcing herself to the room.
"Lily Potter?" One of the Auror's asked.
"Yes." Lily confirmed, fiddling with the seams of the black dress she was still wearing from the McKinnon's funeral that morning. She stared up at the aurors eyes red rimmed, with dark bags under them, exhausted despite not working much recently, as Lucy had given her several days off ever since everything had happened.
"You're under arrest for the murders of Mrs. Eva McKinnon, Mr. Gregory McKinnon, Michael McKinnon, Derrick McKinnon, Ian McKinnon, Adam McKinnon, and miss Marlene McKinnon."
"What." Lily breathed in shock, feeling as though she couldn't breathe as the auror cuffed her with magic suppressant handcuffs. They started walking her to the door. "No! No, I wouldn't, I wouldn't! I wo- I di- why? I didn't! I didn't!"
"Whoa. Whoa wait a minute!" James interrupted, hands held up in a placating manner. "You can't just arrest her for something she didn't do."
One of the aurors turned to look at him. "Potter, you were an Auror. You know damn well, even if we thought she didn't have a part in the murders, we could and would still arrest her."
James looked to what was obviously the leader of the group of Aurors. "Look, is this about that time I threw away your fish? Because, trust me, I was doing everybody a favor there."
"Cuff 'im, Cole." The Auror demanded gruffly.
Lily's eyes widened. They couldn't! These were magic suppressing handcuffs, that could seriously harm or even kill their child!
"I'm… not so sure that's a good idea, boss." One of the other Aurors, Cole, said, looking down at James' distended belly.
"Wait! No. No, I'm going." Lily exclaimed, walking toward the door with the Auror that had a hold on her.
xXx
"All you have to do, is agree to take the truth potion, and answer their questions. If what you're telling me is the truth, you should be free to go by the end of the
day."
xXx
Minister Millicent Bagnold shuddered at the look Lily Potter aimed her way as the younger woman marched her way out of the Ministry, beside her husband. She knew how Peverells worked! She should have had her Aurors investigate more instead of jumping to conclusions. The life of her career as Minister flashed before her eyes. Maybe she should just resign before she had the humiliation of being forcefully removed from her position. The Potter's may not be the most loved family in the wizarding world, but the Peverells were definitely among the most respected and powerful.
Several families were already up in arms over the Peverell matriarch being wrongfully accused, especially one able to carry the family magic. Usually being a muggleborn would immediately discount the very idea of carrying a family magic, but just the very fact that her husband is carrying their child told everyone what they needed to know about her. She was very capable of carrying and utilizing the family magic.
Then the child! The deputy head Auror's threat against the Peverell Heir via magic suppressing hand cuffs would only bury them both deeper. You just didn't threaten any Heir. Especially a defenseless infant.
The gasps of the Wizengamot when they learned that detail still, even hours later, rang through Millicent's head.
July 9th, 1980
"I get to be godmother?" Lily asked shocked, staring across the table at Alice. The two of them were at The Three Broomsticks for lunch, the pub bustling with activity around them.
"If you want to be." Alice answered, lips curling into a small smile.
"I would love to be godmother!" Lily squealed.
July 15th, 1980
Lily sighed in satisfaction as she stepped back from the wall, having hung the last picture they had for the nursery. It was a small sketch Marlene had given them bef- it was a picture of a thestral standing proud with its wings outstretched. Most people were surprised when they saw the Potter family crest and saw thestrals instead of lions. The thestrals were a simple, but needed, reminder of their family's connections to the house of death, the Peverell family.
She looked around the nursery, anxiety filling her as she watched James sort through the few clothes they had, all in white and yellows and greens, putting them in the dresser. They were twenty. They were twenty and had a baby on the way. They were in the middle of a war, and would be parents by the end of the month. Their friends, and even parents, had started taking bets on Prongslet gender and when they would be making an appearance, something that had started the day the first real contraction had happened.
Around that same time, they had been called and told that Euphemia and Fleamont had been taken to Saint Mungoes with Dragon Pox. Immediately having been taken to the ICU due to their ages. On top of that, Saint Mungoes was (rightfully) strict on who was allowed into the ICU, No one sixty-five or older, no one under the age of twelve, no one that was sick or had a compromised immune system in any way, and no pregnant women or bearers.
Then there was the prophecy that she got the feeling they didn't even know in full, she wasn't even sure she believed in that sort of thing, there was a reason she hadn't taken Divination in school.
Lily sighed, shaking her head as she grabbed the small white blanket her mother-in-law had made, and draped it over the side of the crib.
July 21st, 1980
"I don't know, Petunia, Ethan doesn't want James traveling that far right now."
"Couldn't you just come? It is for our parents anniversary after all."
"I- Do you realize what you're asking me Petunia?" Lily asked, switching the phone from one ear to the other. "Because it sounds like you're asking me if I could come to Cokeworth over night. And leave my husband who would either be still heavily pregnant or recovering from giving birth." Lily explained blandly.
"Couldn't you just… pop… back and forth?"
Lily huffed, "I wish. Sadly, it doesn't work like that." There was a pause before she continued. "Look, James and I, we could book you and Vernon and Mum and Dad hotel rooms. Our apartment may not be big, but we couldcook and host dinner there."
July 27th, 1980
Lily wasn't surprised when Rosalie called late the evening of the twenty-seventh.
"Has that baby come yet?"
"Not yet." Lily answered, laughing slightly at her mother's enthusiasm, "Trust me, you'll be one of the first people to know."