Chocolatey Moods

James Potter was tired. He was tired of working late hours, tired of being nervous of any sketchy-looking individual and very much tired, indeed, of Voldemort. Perhaps he could go home at lunch, take the afternoon off. It was Saturday after all, and he shouldn't even be at work. He should very much be at home with his wife. His pregnant wife.

James frowned as he once again dipped his quill into the inkpot. A baby. What do I do with a baby? He'd never had siblings, being the only son of parents who started late in the game. He never had younger cousins, nieces or nephews.

All the children he ever spent much time around were when he was a child! And he surely wasn't thinking about raising them at that age.

"Oh bugger me," he said to himself, heels of his hands digging his glasses into his face, "I'm having a baby."

It was then he became aware of somebody at his office door. "You don't look like you're having a baby, James," came Sirius Black's voice. "In fact, if compared to Lily, you could really use the extra pounds."

Ignoring the jab, James fixed his glasses and set back to writing. "I've never been around babies, Sirius. What am I going to do?"

Sirius leaned against the doorframe. James glanced up. He was dressed in his weekend clothes, not his work robes. "Get Moony to help. He's studied everything ever written. He's bound to be completely knowledgeable about babies, infants, toddlers, children - all the stages."

"Why are you at work?" James asked.

"Why are you?"

James could only blink in response.

Sirius sighed. "I saw Lily at The Leaky Cauldron and she set on me to retrieve you. She's making some sort of dinner tonight and apparently in order for it to be for the both of you, you need to be there."

"I'm planning on leaving at lunch," James replied.

Sirius gave him an unsure look and cock of his head, then Disapparated.

Lily Potter entered Diagon Alley after three taps of her wand. She needed to get some of her robes fitted once again. Seven months pregnant, she sighed, who'd have thought? Lily smiled when she took in all the sights, sounds and smells. She took in a large inhalation of air.

Oh the smells...

Where was that heavenly aroma coming from, anyway?

Lily glanced around and saw it. Beside Florean Fortescue's, Honeydukes was having an expo...

Honeydukes.

Mouth nearly watering, Lily figured that she might as well go into Madam Malkins' first and get done what needed to. She would only visit the displays after getting her robes adjusted... Just to window shop, so to say...

Yes, she thought, that sounds like a wondrous idea.

After all, she had a dinner to make. Sirius had better gotten her husband off work early.

Later that evening, James entered the small house he and Lily bought after they learnt they were to be parents. He hadn't gotten off at lunch and barely made it out before dinner time. He'd have to go in early on Monday to finish those reports.

James was in the middle of taking off his shoes when he noticed something different about the entrance foyer.

There was a small bowl of chocolates on the table.

Raising an eyebrow and still smiling, James took one, examined it and popped it on his mouth.

Ah, he thought, Honeydukes' best.

He finished taking off his shoes and hung up his cloak. "Lily?" he called into the house; the scent of dinner reached his nose.

"I'm in the kitchen," she called back.

James nodded and took only a few steps into the living room when he noticed another bowl of chocolates; this one on top of the coffee table. He frowned and glanced around. There was a small crystal plate of chocolate cookies near the window to the back, and another lidded crystal bowl filled with something that resembled chocolate upon the fireplace mantle.

"Did you have a good day, love?" James asked, eyes narrowed humorously. He walked into the dining room and sighed.

Chocolates in the middle of their dining table.

"Oh it was lovely," Lily said. She walked into the room and kissed James' cheek. "I went to Diagon Alley today."

"Did you?" James asked. "I'd have thought you went to Hogsmeade..."

Looking pleasantly confused, Lily smiled. "No, Diagon Alley."

James nodded. "What are you cooking up for dinner?" he questioned as he lead his wife back to the kitchen.

"Oh, just some chicken on top of some spaghetti. Meatballs and carrots as well," Lily told him, walking to her pot of sauce. "And I was thinking of adding some peppers and onions." She took off the lid, leaned back as the steam rose, and dipped a wooden spoon into the mixture. "Try it."

James stepped forward and gingerly took some sauce in his mouth. Tasting it, he smiled and then frowned.

"What?" Lily asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," James said immediately. "But there's just one flavour I can't seem to place..."

Lily grinned. "It's a secret ingredient," she said.

James glanced around the kitchen. "Lily, when you say you went to Diagon Alley," he began, "did you mean that you made a quick stop in Hogsmeade first?"

Lily frowned. "I really don't know why you think I went to Hogsmeade," she said with a hint of concern in her voice.

Pointing towards the bags of Honeydukes, James said, "Well, there seems to be a lot more chocolate in the house-"

"Oh!" Lily said, a smile brightening her face. "No, no - there was an expo for Honeydukes in Diagon Alley and I decided to do some window shopping."

"... Window shopping?"

"Mmhm." Lily turned back around and stirred her sauce. "I didn't expect to buy anything, really."

"Really."

"But they were so nice to me."

"Well, I'm not surprised," James muttered, eyes glancing a small bag of Ice Mice by the pot of pasta. She'd obviously been snacking.

Lily turned around, large belly touching James' stomach. She held the wooden spoon in her hand. "Why aren't you surprised?"

James smiled. "Lily, you're pregnant, of course they're going to be extra nice to you." James' smile left immediately when he saw Lily's demeanour change.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her face changing from bubbly to upset. "Are you saying they used me just because I'm pregnant?"

"No, love, not at all-"

"That I'd eat anything in sight?" A small sob escaped her lips. "You think I'm getting fat..." She put a hand to her mouth.

James' face went white. "No, Lily, you've got it wrong-"

"What?" Lily asked, gesturing with the wooden spoon and getting sauce everywhere. "Now I'm stupid?"

"Lily please, be reasonable-"

"Oh, so now I'm stupid, fat and unreasonable?" Lily began crying and put her hands over her face, effectively getting sauce to drip in her hair.

James slowly took his wife into his arms. "No love, that's not it at all..." Merlin, he was screwed. Perhaps if he'd come home earlier, he'd have been spared this situation. He cursed himself. "I was just joking around that the Honeydukes staff would think you'd buy more than a normal person..." James mentally winced. Idiot, idiot, idiot. He stroked Lily's hair and rubbed her back.

A loud crack interrupted the two, causing both their heads to shoot up.

"Excellent," a voice from the living room said. "Dinner's being made. Oh, chocolate!"

Lily's tear-stricken face changed from sad to angry. "Why does he think he can just barge in here uninvited and join us for dinner?" she asked testily.

James at least had the brains to keep his mouth shut this time.

Sirius entered the kitchen from the hallway and smiled at the two. In his hand was a fistful of Honeydukes. His smiled faded only a little when Lily's glare reached him. "Is everything alright here?"

"What do you want?" Lily asked with an edge to her tone.

With a glance to James who was biting his lip and trying to mentally send him heaps of warning, Sirius shrugged. "Just to visit my friends-"

"And eat all our food?" Lily asked sarcastically. "You work, you can afford your own-"

"But you make it so much better than I do!" Sirius cut in, handing Lily a chocolate drop, which she accepted.

Lily's emotions, once again, changed. She smiled and put a hand to her chest. "You really think so?"

"I've never thought otherwise," Sirius said suavely.

James held in a sigh of relief.

"But you're not bad at cooking," Lily told him, moving toward Sirius.

Sirius accepted the hug Lily gave him, grinning at James over her shoulder. James rolled his eyes. "No, but you have that motherly thing going for you."

Lily froze in the hug. Sirius sensed this and pulled back tentatively. "What do you mean by that? Now I'm a housewife?"

James groaned, leaned against the counter and put a hand over his eyes.

"Never said that, Lily m'dear," Sirius countered with a light tone.

"You better not have implied it, then," she said with a quick glare, before going back to her cooking.

James left the counter with a quick kiss on Lily's head and left with Sirius to the small kitchen table. He wiped some sauce from his lips.

"How're those mood swings coming along?" Sirius asked playfully.

James sat himself down slowly and said tiredly, "Oh, I really don't think we've hit that stage yet."

A sauce laden wooden spoon popped in front of Sirius's face. "Taste," Lily said.

Obediently, Sirius tasted it. Rolling his tongue in his mouth, he smiled. "Quite good. Do I detect a hint of chocolate?"

Lily smiled. "Secret ingredient."

"Perfect."

Pleased with herself, Lily left. Sirius' eyes followed her with a humoured look. She began putting the sauce atop the spaghetti and chicken that were already on the plates.

Sirius turned his head to James. "Your wife put chocolate in your tomato sauce."

"I'll be surprised if I survive this pregnancy," James told his best friend truthfully. "Sometimes I think it's just better to keep my mouth shut when I'm with her."

"In your case, that might be a good idea," Sirius sympathized.

"I did, on one particularly moody night," James told him.

"How'd that go for you?" Sirius asked, summoning a wine bottle and glasses.

"She thought I was ignoring her," James said. "I started off sleeping on the couch that night, until she came back and asked me to join her because she missed me."

Lily put the plates before the two men. "I figure we can sit here tonight, instead of the dining room."

"Good plan," Sirius told her. "You look lovely today, by the way, Lily."

James saw his eyes dart to the bit of sauce in Lily's hair. He held in a chuckle. Looking down at his plate, he once again held in a sigh. There were chocolate shavings on top of the meatballs and carrots. He held up his glass of red wine and said, "Cheers to a very unique meal and that this baby won't be a chocolate craving wizard."

"Here, here." Sirius clinked his glass with James.

Lily smiled at her husband and lifted her glass of milk to his wine. There was a chocolate drop at the bottom of her drink.