Fic: Some Hopes
The reveals are up at Bun in the Oven. Here's the little pregnancy story I've wanted to share this time.
Title: Some Hopes
Author: paulamcg
Characters: Lily & Petunia
Rating: G
Word Count: 1600
Summary: In November 1979 Lily wants Petunia to be the first one in the family to hear her news.
Notes: This was written for the Bun in the Oven fest. Thank you for the beta, Emrldapplejuice! Thank you for the fest and for the extension, Flynn!
Read here on AO3,
here in the DW community,
here in the LJ community
or right here:
Some Hopes
Focusing on the horizontal line of the riverbank that becomes visible through the bare young willows, Lily manages to steady herself. Some nausea has returned due to the Apparation, but unlike in the morning, she barely swallows, and takes a deep breath.
The smell of damp leaves hits her stronger than she's expected. Still, together with the fine drizzle on her face, it makes her feel better.
As she turns towards the playground, she hopes that Petunia has not arrived yet. Irritating her by appearing out of thin air - or out of air heavy with moisture and decomposition - would hardly open their rendezvous pleasantly.
Lily has irrationally expected to spot her by the garishness of the mini dress she was wearing when honouring her and James's wedding party with her presence for only an awkward moment. And now she catches herself searching for the sunny yellow of her big sister's raincoat from their primary school years.
The brightest colour offered by this November gloom is in the blanket of leaves under the rowans.
As she wades through, heading for the swing set, Lily feels like picking a perfect specimen: a deep red leaf. But when she thinks she's found one with all its leaflets intact and, crouching, reaches for it, they fall off at her touch.
As a little girl she used to let her spontaneous magic reattach the leaflets and paint them with improved shades of bright pink and flaming orange. Unnatural, even worse than her hair, according to...
And there Petunia is, with a black umbrella, arriving from the direction of the house, and with eyes fixed on the bus stop across the road.
"Tuney! I'm here!" Lily brushes leaves off her knee-length skirt, happy that, of course, she's not wearing robes and has no hems drenched by the tall grasses at the riverside.
Petunia eyes her with a frown in any case. "You didn't come by bus?" She takes only a few measured steps onto the gravel, and waits for Lily to approach her.
"No. I... How are you?" Hugging her big sister in the way she's imagined she'll do seems impossible now when she looks as reproachful as always and more grown up than she expected... but also somehow blossoming, with new rosiness and softness about her long face. "You look lovely! Congrat..."
"Don't make fun of me! It can't possibly show yet."
Trust Petunia to hear the worst in anything Lily says, and to try her best to sound sure of herself after not hiding that she feels she's been insulted. But today Lily doesn't want to argue with her.
"No. You're as slim as always. Just the pretty colour on your cheeks."
"Well, you look pale." Petunia deigns to assess Lily before impatiently demanding to know the reason for this meeting. "What is it?"
"Yes... I wanted to see you alone first, to let you be the first one in the family to hear..." Lily can't help smiling when revealing the precious secret. "I'm pregnant, too. Four weeks, we think."
"Why you..." Petunia purses her lips and draws in a deep breath through her nose. "Need to get all the attention! We're not impressed by your weird ways, so you have to... copy me!"
Oh! Lily's not prepared for a reaction like this. "It's not..."
"When you heard my wedding plans, you had to hurry and marry before me. Two months earlier!" Petunia looks aside, extends an arm out so as to feel the strength of the rain, and closes the umbrella abruptly. "Who marries with a short notice like that? I thought you were up the duff then."
Who? Granny. Forty years ago. There was the sad story that they as little girls found so romantic: how happy the young couple was, how bright their love in the shadow of the war, and how Mum was born in the following June just at the time of the Miracle of Dunkirk, and never saw her dad, but became a consolation to Granny.
And why has Lily not thought about that until now? She doesn't want to... at least not Mum and Dad to know why she has hurried to start a family: for fear that soon it would be too late.
"No..." is all she manages to say, and she can only hope that Petunia won't notice the tears in her eyes.
She's hoped that she could laugh together with Petunia about how she proposed to James. She couldn't possibly recount how the founding of the Order and the recruitment of them all made her decide to devote herself fully not only to the struggle against the pureblood ideology, but also to the friends she loves - to fighting at their side.
"No? But now you want to have a baby because I'm having one?"
"No."
When Mum shared the news about the first grandchild, Lily felt... relieved, less desperately keen to give her and Dad a little one to love. But the mere thought of trying to explain this now to Petunia exhausts her. Let alone talking about how she and James agree that bringing children to this world - to their magical world, too - helps them believe in a future.
"No? You want your big sister's advice on how to get rid of it? Your school of weirdos didn't teach you about birth control? Don't you have your ways of..."
It's true that Lily didn't expect to get pregnant quite so soon after coming off the pill. Of course she wants this baby, and James is over the moon, and the other Marauders and the whole of their Gryffindor gang... they all say this is the best thing ever.
She just feels a bit silly that four months after she decided to stay in London and pledged to serve the Order whenever she'd be needed, she was suddenly afflicted with such nausea that Dumbledore made the correct diagnosis and offered her a brief break. Taking this opportunity to spend a few days at her parents' seemed a good idea.
"I wanted to give my happy news to you first," she says, reaching a hand towards Petunia - whose unresponsiveness makes her words come out stilted. "And to celebrate together with you and Mum and Dad. They must be glad to get two grandchildren who can become friends."
Petunia points the umbrella at Lily and opens it, sprinkling her with bigger drops than those of the constant drizzle. "My child's not going to have anything to do with freaks like yours! Like you!"
"Shut your..." She has to bite her tongue, because Mum and Dad deserve to see their daughters united by this, and she doesn't want to give up her hopes. "I thought you and I could be friends again. I was so happy you sent me a birthday present, and..."
"I gave you a chance after you left that school and moved to London, to a normal flat with a proper address." Petunia meets Lily's eyes only for a moment from under the rim of the umbrella. "I thought you left all the weird things behind when you started travelling and all. But I should have known that you would let one of those terrible boys get you."
Now Lily can't hold back an almost hysterical giggle as she remembers mentioning to Petunia that she'd got a job at a bank. And giving the impression that her Curse-Breaker missions were holidays. Never bothering to point out that James was her boyfriend all the time while she shared a flat with a girl. With a witch - Alice, who was endlessly fascinated with some Muggle things, like the record-player and the music, including Petunia's gift: Leo Sayer's sentimental ballads (with phrases like: all that I so want to give you), which made Lily believe she might be getting her sister's love back.
Huffing, Petunia turns away, towards the road. "Go! Go tell Mum and Dad. I've done my visit. That's my bus."
Only when watching the receding stiff figure, does Lily start to wonder why Petunia did her the favour and agreed to meet her here. Perhaps...
Could it be that Petunia, too, still cherished some hopes of her own? Maybe such a hope that Lily would regret her marriage, ask for advice, and return to the world they had once shared.
They were both bound to be disappointed.
In any case, Lily regrets nothing. Not asking for this meeting, as now at least Mum and Dad were saved from hearing their daughters arguing once again. Not even her uncharacteristic meekness in this conversation, no.
Why ruin all the chances for a reconciliation in the future? Lily can't help being always optimistic.
You never know how magical a baby will be. And how close cousins will become.
Maybe in a few years there will be two little girls, or two boys, or boy and girl, playing under these rowans.
Swirling around with abandon, like when dancing in the middle of her friends' circle, Lily scans the playground - and spots some colour she missed earlier. Above the russet carpet of leaves, high on the otherwise bare branches, some small red fruit wink to her.
Before drawing out her wand, she does remember to glance towards the road and check that it is deserted.
Accio, the prettiest bunch of rowan berries! For her Summoning Charm to work, she doesn't need to say the words aloud. But she repeats them in her mind.
She'll enter her childhood home cheerful, bearing these two bright clusters on her palms, and the miracle inside of her.
Notes: The prompt I chose was # H2 from 2020: Lily realizes she's pregnant. After telling her husband, it's time to tell their parents that they're going to become grandparents. It's optional if Lily chooses to tell Petunia.
Title: Some Hopes
Author: paulamcg
Characters: Lily & Petunia
Rating: G
Word Count: 1600
Summary: In November 1979 Lily wants Petunia to be the first one in the family to hear her news.
Notes: This was written for the Bun in the Oven fest. Thank you for the beta, Emrldapplejuice! Thank you for the fest and for the extension, Flynn!
Read here on AO3,
here in the DW community,
here in the LJ community
or right here:
Some Hopes
Focusing on the horizontal line of the riverbank that becomes visible through the bare young willows, Lily manages to steady herself. Some nausea has returned due to the Apparation, but unlike in the morning, she barely swallows, and takes a deep breath.
The smell of damp leaves hits her stronger than she's expected. Still, together with the fine drizzle on her face, it makes her feel better.
As she turns towards the playground, she hopes that Petunia has not arrived yet. Irritating her by appearing out of thin air - or out of air heavy with moisture and decomposition - would hardly open their rendezvous pleasantly.
Lily has irrationally expected to spot her by the garishness of the mini dress she was wearing when honouring her and James's wedding party with her presence for only an awkward moment. And now she catches herself searching for the sunny yellow of her big sister's raincoat from their primary school years.
The brightest colour offered by this November gloom is in the blanket of leaves under the rowans.
As she wades through, heading for the swing set, Lily feels like picking a perfect specimen: a deep red leaf. But when she thinks she's found one with all its leaflets intact and, crouching, reaches for it, they fall off at her touch.
As a little girl she used to let her spontaneous magic reattach the leaflets and paint them with improved shades of bright pink and flaming orange. Unnatural, even worse than her hair, according to...
And there Petunia is, with a black umbrella, arriving from the direction of the house, and with eyes fixed on the bus stop across the road.
"Tuney! I'm here!" Lily brushes leaves off her knee-length skirt, happy that, of course, she's not wearing robes and has no hems drenched by the tall grasses at the riverside.
Petunia eyes her with a frown in any case. "You didn't come by bus?" She takes only a few measured steps onto the gravel, and waits for Lily to approach her.
"No. I... How are you?" Hugging her big sister in the way she's imagined she'll do seems impossible now when she looks as reproachful as always and more grown up than she expected... but also somehow blossoming, with new rosiness and softness about her long face. "You look lovely! Congrat..."
"Don't make fun of me! It can't possibly show yet."
Trust Petunia to hear the worst in anything Lily says, and to try her best to sound sure of herself after not hiding that she feels she's been insulted. But today Lily doesn't want to argue with her.
"No. You're as slim as always. Just the pretty colour on your cheeks."
"Well, you look pale." Petunia deigns to assess Lily before impatiently demanding to know the reason for this meeting. "What is it?"
"Yes... I wanted to see you alone first, to let you be the first one in the family to hear..." Lily can't help smiling when revealing the precious secret. "I'm pregnant, too. Four weeks, we think."
"Why you..." Petunia purses her lips and draws in a deep breath through her nose. "Need to get all the attention! We're not impressed by your weird ways, so you have to... copy me!"
Oh! Lily's not prepared for a reaction like this. "It's not..."
"When you heard my wedding plans, you had to hurry and marry before me. Two months earlier!" Petunia looks aside, extends an arm out so as to feel the strength of the rain, and closes the umbrella abruptly. "Who marries with a short notice like that? I thought you were up the duff then."
Who? Granny. Forty years ago. There was the sad story that they as little girls found so romantic: how happy the young couple was, how bright their love in the shadow of the war, and how Mum was born in the following June just at the time of the Miracle of Dunkirk, and never saw her dad, but became a consolation to Granny.
And why has Lily not thought about that until now? She doesn't want to... at least not Mum and Dad to know why she has hurried to start a family: for fear that soon it would be too late.
"No..." is all she manages to say, and she can only hope that Petunia won't notice the tears in her eyes.
She's hoped that she could laugh together with Petunia about how she proposed to James. She couldn't possibly recount how the founding of the Order and the recruitment of them all made her decide to devote herself fully not only to the struggle against the pureblood ideology, but also to the friends she loves - to fighting at their side.
"No? But now you want to have a baby because I'm having one?"
"No."
When Mum shared the news about the first grandchild, Lily felt... relieved, less desperately keen to give her and Dad a little one to love. But the mere thought of trying to explain this now to Petunia exhausts her. Let alone talking about how she and James agree that bringing children to this world - to their magical world, too - helps them believe in a future.
"No? You want your big sister's advice on how to get rid of it? Your school of weirdos didn't teach you about birth control? Don't you have your ways of..."
It's true that Lily didn't expect to get pregnant quite so soon after coming off the pill. Of course she wants this baby, and James is over the moon, and the other Marauders and the whole of their Gryffindor gang... they all say this is the best thing ever.
She just feels a bit silly that four months after she decided to stay in London and pledged to serve the Order whenever she'd be needed, she was suddenly afflicted with such nausea that Dumbledore made the correct diagnosis and offered her a brief break. Taking this opportunity to spend a few days at her parents' seemed a good idea.
"I wanted to give my happy news to you first," she says, reaching a hand towards Petunia - whose unresponsiveness makes her words come out stilted. "And to celebrate together with you and Mum and Dad. They must be glad to get two grandchildren who can become friends."
Petunia points the umbrella at Lily and opens it, sprinkling her with bigger drops than those of the constant drizzle. "My child's not going to have anything to do with freaks like yours! Like you!"
"Shut your..." She has to bite her tongue, because Mum and Dad deserve to see their daughters united by this, and she doesn't want to give up her hopes. "I thought you and I could be friends again. I was so happy you sent me a birthday present, and..."
"I gave you a chance after you left that school and moved to London, to a normal flat with a proper address." Petunia meets Lily's eyes only for a moment from under the rim of the umbrella. "I thought you left all the weird things behind when you started travelling and all. But I should have known that you would let one of those terrible boys get you."
Now Lily can't hold back an almost hysterical giggle as she remembers mentioning to Petunia that she'd got a job at a bank. And giving the impression that her Curse-Breaker missions were holidays. Never bothering to point out that James was her boyfriend all the time while she shared a flat with a girl. With a witch - Alice, who was endlessly fascinated with some Muggle things, like the record-player and the music, including Petunia's gift: Leo Sayer's sentimental ballads (with phrases like: all that I so want to give you), which made Lily believe she might be getting her sister's love back.
Huffing, Petunia turns away, towards the road. "Go! Go tell Mum and Dad. I've done my visit. That's my bus."
Only when watching the receding stiff figure, does Lily start to wonder why Petunia did her the favour and agreed to meet her here. Perhaps...
Could it be that Petunia, too, still cherished some hopes of her own? Maybe such a hope that Lily would regret her marriage, ask for advice, and return to the world they had once shared.
They were both bound to be disappointed.
In any case, Lily regrets nothing. Not asking for this meeting, as now at least Mum and Dad were saved from hearing their daughters arguing once again. Not even her uncharacteristic meekness in this conversation, no.
Why ruin all the chances for a reconciliation in the future? Lily can't help being always optimistic.
You never know how magical a baby will be. And how close cousins will become.
Maybe in a few years there will be two little girls, or two boys, or boy and girl, playing under these rowans.
Swirling around with abandon, like when dancing in the middle of her friends' circle, Lily scans the playground - and spots some colour she missed earlier. Above the russet carpet of leaves, high on the otherwise bare branches, some small red fruit wink to her.
Before drawing out her wand, she does remember to glance towards the road and check that it is deserted.
Accio, the prettiest bunch of rowan berries! For her Summoning Charm to work, she doesn't need to say the words aloud. But she repeats them in her mind.
She'll enter her childhood home cheerful, bearing these two bright clusters on her palms, and the miracle inside of her.
Notes: The prompt I chose was # H2 from 2020: Lily realizes she's pregnant. After telling her husband, it's time to tell their parents that they're going to become grandparents. It's optional if Lily chooses to tell Petunia.