Twenty-Five Days of Christmas

Princess Lestrange

Story Summary:
A series of vignettes which chronicle the heartbreak and romance of various members of the Order of the Phoenix, during the Christmas season of the First War.

Chapter 01

Posted:
12/19/2007
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602


Twenty-Five Days of Christmas

I

December 1st

Hush, Little Baby, Don't You Cry

Anxiety, more burning and pure than she could ever remember feeling within the last few months, pulsed through her veins as nineteen-year-old Lily Evans sat in the nippy waiting room at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Ailments, awaiting the moment when her name would be called. As it was barely a few moments after six in the morning, the normally overcrowded waiting room was thankfully sparse, Lily found her frayed nerves eased ever so slightly by this notion. Save for herself, a dozing Fabian Prewett, who sat beside her with his head on her shoulder, a wheezing and disgruntled elderly wizard in one of the far corners, and a frazzled witch who was trying her best to comfort her squalling infant, nobody would know that of her impending appointment with the magical answer to an obstetrician. Unfortunately, gossip and rumours travelled faster than the Floo Network these days, and the last thing Lily wanted was someone - especially someone who might be connected to Voldemort and his Death Eaters - learning of this possibly delicate situation and somehow using this against her.

The thought of the gruesome Lord Voldemort and his vicious minions sent and involuntary chill down her spine, and Lily subconsciously gripped her wand tighter, the increase in pressure causing her already white knuckles to whiten even more. In the near year and a half since she had left Hogwarts, she had seen more death, blood, and destruction as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, than any nineteen-year-old - magical or Muggle - should be entitled to see. Just last week, Albus Dumbledore - the leader of the Order and unofficial general of the Light Side - had dispatched Lily, Edgar Bones, Marlene McKinnon, and Sirius Black to a Muggle neighbourhood in Dover as backup to the Aurors who were fighting a band of Death Eaters, but sadly, by the time the trio had arrived, the damage had been done and the Death Eaters had escaped. Even after numerous Dreamless Sleep potions and a Calming Draught from Dorcas Meadowes, one of the two Healers for the Order, Lily could see quite vividly remember the horrible angle at which the young girl's tiny limbs had been viciously snapped...the way in which the brawny father had been gutted like a pig and suspended above the frown lawn with the use of a Levitation Charm, more than likely consequences of daring to fight back...how the pregnant mother had been mutilated almost beyond recognition...

Lily felt her stomach lurch violently with nausea at the grisly memories, and quickly focused her attentions on the witch and her distressed infant in the corner. Somehow, she didn't think that the magical maintenance team would enjoy starting off the day by cleaning up a puddle of her sick. But, staring at the witch, whom Lily noticed couldn't have been more than nineteen or twenty years old, her very own age, only made her stomach lurch once more, this time out of a renewed sense of anxiety.

For almost a month now, she had quite determinedly tried to ignore the changes within her body - the small but significant hints that the admittedly magical and gratifying Halloween night that she spent with James Potter might have taken a grave turn - and it had been fairly easy. Between trying to stop on top of her coursework at Zabini-Dagworth-Granger Potions Institute, from where she hoped to earn her Potions Mastery, fulfilling her duties within the Order of Phoenix as faithfully as possible, and simply trying to keep sane, the little things like fatigue and headaches were easy, if not effortless, to overlook. After all, the stress and uncertainty of her daily schedule was more than enough cause for fatigue that left her dozing if she sat still too long and the headaches that made her feel as though someone were determined to drill a hole directly through her skull.

The nausea, as well, could be explained away by her living situation. As much as she loved Marlene and thought of her like the sister that Petunia should have been, the vivacious former Ravenclaw hadn't inherited even the most miniscule amount of her father's brilliance in the kitchen, and Lily herself would never be accused of whipping up a five-star, gourmet meal. Even when the rare evening where both Lily and Marlene were both at home to share dinner came about, the adoptive sisters couldn't find the pleasure of a home-cooked meal at the McKinnon's Aberdeen home. Faye McKinnon, who was a rather good cook herself, yet couldn't match up to her husband even with the help of magical aid, was out of the country, visiting her ailing mother in her native Jamaica, and Scott McKinnon was busier than ever with his position as Senior Healer in the Spell Damage Ward right here at St Mungo's. Lily would even try dropping in on the elder McKinnon children, Madeline and Marcus, but she felt as though she was intruding too much on Madeline, her husband Patrick, and their small daughter, Lorelai, and Marcus was quite frequently leaping about the globe as a photographer for the Muggle magazine, National Geographic. So, it was with great reluctance that Lily found herself eating take-out night after night, or suffering through whatever disaster she had concocted in their tiny kitchen, the latter of which sent her stumbling to the bathroom with a roiling stomach more often that she cared to admit.

Yet, the sensitivity and expansion of her bust, as well the erratic moods had been harder to explain away, though not impossible. Everyone within the Order had complained of aches and pains in various parts of their body after returning from a mission or partaking in a duel with Death Eaters. Lily had taken part in more than her fair share of duels in the past month or so to exhaust and sensitise her body, especially considering the amount of spells she had taken to the chest as a consequence of hesitating too long in throwing up a Shield Charm. And the dramatic shift in moods from one moment to the next - there was plenty going within her chaotic and uncertain life to warrant breaking down in tears, loosing her temper at the drop of a cloak, or muddling through a bout of depression.

But, something that hadn't been easy to overlook was the second consecutive absence of her menses.

When it had failed to appear during the first week of November, as scheduled, she had brushed of the instant feeling of suspicion and panic that sprung up, and attributed it to stress. For the past year, the emotional rollercoaster her life had been on since joining the Order of Phoenix and subsequently being thrust into the front lines of this bloody and merciless war had caused her to be late before. But, this time around she wasn't a couple of days late, as normal. She was more than two weeks late, and coupled with the undeniable changes within her body, Lily had finally decided that a visit to St Mungo's was in order, if only to relieve herself of the anxiety and fear of not knowing whether or not her one night spent with James Potter had resulted in a serious problem.

A problem which she could not afford to have on her hands at this point in her life.

'Evans, Lily!'

The clear and commanding voice sliced through her fretful brooding with ease, and Lily found herself flinching in surprise in spite of herself. Apparently, she had been deep within her thoughts, for without her noticing, the elderly wizard and his rattling wheeze had disappeared and the young witch had succeeding in calming her distressed baby, who was now asleep on her shoulder. With a slight frown, Lily switched her gaze to the opened double doors, wherein a sinewy, middle-aged wizard with salt-and-pepper hair and a stern look about him stood, gazing at her expectantly with sharp, dark eyes.

'Fabian, wake up,' Lily hissed, shrugging the shoulder on which he was leaning. With a grunt, Fabian jerked awake, and blinked blearily, his deep sapphire blue eyes blinking at her in slight confusion. Before he could open his mouth to ask, she briskly informed him, 'I've just been called. Come on.'

'About time,' Fabian replied, through a huge yawn. 'When you take into consideration that it is six o'clock in the morning and there was hardly anyone ahead of us, it certainly did take a long time for them to call you.'

'You're telling me,' Lily muttered, more to herself than her best friend.

When they met the Healer at the door, Lily heard Fabian groaned none too quietly in displeasure behind her, and tossed a quizzical look over her shoulder at him, only to find his broad shoulders slumped in despondency. Before she could open her mouth to ask what his problem was, the wizard gave a gruff chuckle, and Lily swivelled her gaze towards him, slightly confused to find his stern eyes glittering in amusement.

'Ah, Trainee Prewett,' the Healer greeted, smirking. 'Back so soon, I see? I wasn't prepared to see you again until bright and early tomorrow morning.'

'Neither was I prepared to see you again so soon, either,' Fabian retorted. All traces of sleep disappeared from his usually pleasant voice, only to be quickly replaced be a distinct petulance, which Lily was not used to hearing from him. 'Just when I thought I had escaped your slave-driving and cantankerous abuse, at least for a day...'

The gleam of severity in the wizard's eyes returned as he pursed his lips in disapproval. 'I wouldn't have to be so crotchety with you, Prewett, if you actually used that brilliant mind of yours, and listened. How do you ever expect to be granted responsibility for witches and the precious lives they carry within them, if you insist upon doing things your way? Honestly, I've never met a more stubborn trainee in all my years!'

Fabian opened his mouth to argue, but his mentor held up a forestalling hand, the sharp glare on his face advising against a reply. With one last lingering look of disapproval at the former Gryffindor, he turned to Lily, who looked torn between amusement and curiosity at why her friend was being berated.

'Now, then, Miss Evans. I am Healer Pince, and I'll be conducting your examination today.' Pince extended his hand, and briefly clasped Lily's trembling hand in a firm handshake. 'Am I to assume that the questionnaire our mediwitch conducted with you is correct in its declaration that you are here to diagnose a possible pregnancy?'

Lily felt the unmistakable heat of a blush rise in her face as she fixed her emerald eyes to the worn and nicked wood floor, nodding meekly. 'Yes, sir.'

'I see.' Discreetly, he glanced at Fabian, before scribbling something on his clipboard. 'If you and Prewett will follow me this way, we can get settled in the examination room, and get you sorted out.'

Pince turned sharply on his heel and briskly began striding down the hall. Hastily, Lily followed, but her attempt to put a slight distance between her and Fabian were quelled instantly, for Fabian's long legs matched her stride with ease.

'A possible pregnancy?' Fabian hissed in her ear. Lily did not need to look at him to know that his handsome was contorted with a combination of shock, confusion, and anger. All of the proof was in his voice. 'What do you mean a possible pregnancy? You never told me you were seeing someone!'

The burning colour in her face was surely making her appear to be doing a bad imitation of a tomato. 'I'm not seeing anyone,' she muttered.

'Then, what does he mean a possible pregnancy? You can't possibly be pregnant if you've not been fuck - '

'Shut up, Fabian,' snarled Lily, her embarrassment quickly morphing into a blistering blend of anger and annoyance. 'I'll explain later, but for now, I would appreciate your support instead of your hounding.'

Fabian inhaled deeply, as though he intended to argue, but instead sigh in frustration, and bit out, 'Alright, then.'

Without another word, the pair of former Gryffindors followed Pince into the examination room, which was thankfully much warmer and welcoming than the frigid emptiness of the waiting room. Lily found herself being instantly comforted by the cosy atmosphere of the room, despite the fact that her stomach was doing cartwheels and her anxiety was causing her hands to shake worse than ever. As Pince began to set himself for the examination, Fabian settled himself against the wall by the door with a glower, and Lily fixed her eyes on the ceiling, if only to avoid the piercing glare which was attempting to burn his way right through her. She was already nervous enough as it was, and the last thing she wanted was to see those glittering sapphire blue eyes burning with a myriad of emotions, amongst them being anger and shock.

'Now, where could I have put that...' Pince muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the open set of cabinets before him. He studied the contents of the cupboard - which mostly consisted of phials of different coloured potions - before deciding that whatever he was looking for wasn't there. He snapped his gaze over to the still glowering Fabian. 'Prewett, do me a favour and make yourself useful - take Miss Evans's vitals, while I go dash down the hallway and fetch my supply of Maternity Solution, which mediwitch Goldstein has so politely commandeered, without my permission.'

Fabian's stormy expression melted into indignation at once. 'What? I'm not on the clock!'

'There you are again with your impertinence.' Pince growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. 'Either you take her vitals as I have instructed, or else when you do return to the clock tomorrow morning, I shall quite graciously relieve Trainee Corbin from his duties for the day, and award them to you instead - in addition to your already loaded timetable. Take your pick.'

With no little amount of irritation, Fabian pushed himself off of the wall and made his way over to where Pince stood, holding out Lily's charts. The blistering glare that he gave his mentor as he received the offered clipboard had no affect whatsoever on the elder wizard, and as Pince breezed out of the room wearing a smirk of satisfaction, Lily was sure that he didn't miss Fabian's scarcely audible mumble of, 'Crotchety old bastard.'

As he glanced through the sheaf of parchment on the clipboard, he petulantly demanded, 'Hold out your arm.'

When Lily complied, he flicked his wand at her, and a thick band of blue light wound itself around her arm, instantly tightening when it hit her skin. Moments later, the light turned a red, and the ghostly numbers which revealed her blood pressure floated in the air. Fabian jotted them down with the quill, cancelled the spell, and then flicked his wand at her chest. This time, Lily had the sensation of something firm and warm pressing upon her chest, right before the steady, if slightly increased, sound of her heartbeat filled the room. She tried her best not to wince at the dull aching in her breasts, as Fabian listened for several long moments, before scrawling across the parchment once more.

A swish of his wand created a thin sheen of sparkling lavender smoke which hovered several inches off of the wood floor, and without looking at her, Fabian directed her to stand on top of it. Lily hesitated, staring at the utter transparency of it, and envision herself falling straight through it, should even hold her weight in the first place. Fabian glanced up at her when she didn't move.

'Well?' he prompted, arching a dark eyebrow. 'What are you waiting on?'

'I'm not going to fall through, am I?' she wondered, eyeing him hesitantly.

Fabian snorted, derisively, and glanced back down at the charts. 'Please. If I did something like that, Pince - not to mention Healer Martin, who is the Head of this entire division, and Healer Smethwyck, the Healer-in-Charge of the whole of St Mungo's - would have my arse thrown out of the Healing programme faster than you'd be able to point a finger at me.' He paused in his scrawling, and shuddered at the thought. 'Besides, I wouldn't do something like that to you, considering you might be pregnant. Now, step on, so that I can take your weight.'

Visibly appeased, Lily slid off of the examining table and stepped onto the smoky surface, exhaling a breathe she didn't realise she was holding when the spell proved to be quite solid. Within moments, the same ghostly numbers that had revealed her blood pressure displayed her weight, and Lily winced as she observed the numbers. Somehow, she had managed to gain an entire stone. Moments later - after a brief continuation of the spell, which took her height - Fabian indicated that she could return to the table, and dourly tossed the clipboard onto the table, just as Pince returned carrying a large phial of sparkling forest green potion.

'Done, are we?' Pince demanded of Fabian.

'Yes, sir,' Fabian ground out, in response.

'And?'

'Perfect health, save for an increased heart rate and higher than normal blood pressure.'

'I see.' Pince fixed his gaze on Lily. 'Nervous, are we, Ms Evans?'

Lily nodded. 'A bit, yes.'

Pince picked up the clipboard, and examined Fabian's markings, as he said 'Well, that is perfectly understandable. According to your charts, you are rising twenty, we're in the middle of a war, and you believe yourself to be pregnant. Anyone in your predicament would be slightly anxious, if not downright terrified. Prewett, measure out a goblet of that solution for me, and then heat it to the proper temperature.' As Fabian silently slunk over to the table in the corner, where a silver goblet and the floating phial of solution awaited him, Pince settled himself on the sturdy stool by the counter, and fixed his gaze on Lily. 'Now, if you would, Ms Evans, please explain to me your symptoms.'

'Well, for the past month or so, I've been feeling awfully tired all the time - just this constant fatigue that hardly goes away, even after a full night of sleep. I can hardly keep anything down, I get these awful headaches if I go too long without sitting down, I'm in the loo more than I'm in classes, and my moods are all over the place.'

'I see,' Pince murmured, scrawling away on the parchment. 'Have you experienced any sensitivity in your breasts, noticed a darkening of the areola?'

Despite the burning wave of heat that swept up face and submersed itself in her face, Lily refused to given to the urge to duck her head in mortification, nor did she acknowledge Fabian's strangled cough, as she responded in a thankfully level voice, 'Yes.'

Pince made a non-distinct humming noise under his breath. 'Do you believe you can tell me how long has it been since your last menses?'

Lily did a quick calculation in her head. 'Two months, exactly.'

'I see.' Pince once again declared, without looking up from her charts. Lily found the phrase beginning to wear on her nerves. 'And one final question: when do you suppose the date of conception might have been?'

This time, when the burning blush increased in intensity and made her face feel as though it were on fire, Lily did bow her head. Clearing her throat slightly, she replied, 'October 31st - Halloween night.'

As Lily expected, the supposed date of conception caused Fabian to sharply looked over his shoulder at her, and from the sudden feeling of shame, she could tell that he was attempting to burn a hole through her with his piercing gaze. She didn't have to look at him to know that he did indeed remembered where she had been that night and with whom. She didn't have to look at him to know that his sapphire eyes had taken on that familiar look of loathing and distaste she had come to associate with even the vaguest mention of James Potter.

'Well, that completes the primary portion of the exam. All that is left is for you to take this dosage of potion,' Pince informed her, beckoning Fabian to hand off the slightly steaming goblet to Lily, 'which will determine whether or not you are indeed pregnant. I'm going to need for you to drink every last drop, and then remain here for forty-five minutes, wherein I shall return to confirm if you can expect a little one in nine months or so.'

Without looking up, Lily accepted the goblet from Fabian, and brought it too her mouth, where she quickly drained the goblet as instructed. When Pince was satisfied that every lost drop had been consumed, he Vanished the goblet with a flick of his wand, tucked her charts underneath his arm, and then turned to glare at Fabian with a combination of expectance and austerity.

'As you know, Prewett, from that incident last week with Regina Crabbe, watch her carefully for any reaction at all. If she does appear to be having a reaction, fetch the antidote from the top shelf of the cabinet, administer it, and alert mediwitch Goldstein, who will in turn alert me. I have another appointment in the meantime, but I should be back by the time the potion will show its results.'

Fabian nodded in understanding, but didn't take his eyes of Lily, who had tucked her folded her legs Indian-style beneath her as she continued her scrutiny of her hands with a sensational amount of concentration. 'Yes, sir.'

The door clicked softly as Pince shut it behind him, but the sound echoed horribly throughout the quaint examination room, which was quickly becoming thick with a tense silence. Lily couldn't bring herself look up at her beloved best friend, the man who was like one of the brothers she never had, and who she was certain was highly upset at the possibility of her carrying the son or daughter of James Potter within her. She knew that she had nothing to be ashamed of - she was a grown woman, after all, who answered to nobody and certainly didn't have to justify any aspect of her love life to anyone - but, regardless, she couldn't relinquish the gnawing feeling of shame that was steadily growing within her. Here she was, thought to be responsible and wise enough to know what the consequences of having sex without having taken a Contraceptive Draught or applying the Charm, yet was sitting here awaiting to find out of her fears were indeed to become a reality.

Lily found herself blinking rapidly as tears clouded her vision. She had been so stupid - so incredibly stupid! - to allow herself to be swayed and charmed by James Potter, who was undoubtedly seeking nothing more than a physical distraction to take his mind off his umpteenth break-up with Dorcas Meadowes. She should have known better than to believe that he still wanted her, when he had made it quite clear that his once feverish interest in her had waned to near nothingness after a handful of dates and a short-lived relationship in their seventh-year. Lily didn't want to admit - oh, she loathed to admit it - but Severus Snape, the man who she had once called her best friend, had been more than right in his proclamations that the only reason that Potter fancied her was because she was practically the only single girl within Hogwarts who hadn't shown any signs of adoration or romantic interest in him.

And now, nearly two years to the date that wherein James had informed her, in an unusual show of solemnity, that their romance had indeed run its course, she was sitting in an examining room, awaiting to learn whether or not she was carrying his child.

Without her realising it, several burning tears escaped from her brilliant jade green eyes, and landed on her upturned palms. Now that the tears had begun flowing, she was fruitless to stop them, and allowed a whimpering sob to trembling lips. Unable to watch her cry, Fabian stepped forward and closed the distance between them, folding her into his protective embrace, which she gladly sank into, curling her arms tightly around his waist.

'I'm sorry,' she sobbed, miserably. 'I've been s-so s-stupid, and now look where I am...'

'Don't apologise.' Fabian said firmly. 'You've got nothing to apologise for, seeing as it isn't entirely your fault your in this situation - a situation that may or not be a situation at all.'

'Oh, c-come off it!' Lily muttered into his chest, her voice muffled and miserable. 'You've seen enough witches who have rattled off the same symptoms as I gave Healer Pince, taken this potion, and had it confirmed that they were with child. Face it, Fabian, I'm p-p-pregnant!'

Fabian sighed, deeply. As much as he didn't want to admit, she was perfectly right: in another thirty minutes, Pince would breeze through here seeking a sample of Lily's blood, and when that blood was mixed with a phial of a pre-natal potion, the phial would being to glow in a rich, bright lime green, which confirmed a pregnancy. When he didn't respond, Lily took this as confirmation, and began to sob even harder, her body shaking with the effort.

It went without saying between the two best friends that for the first time in rather a long time, Lily Evans felt as though her precariously structured world, which was being held together by threads so feeble they constantly threatened to violently snap under the stress and fear of being in the thick of a bloody, merciless, and gruesome war which was directly targeting her and those who shared her Muggleborn heritage, was quite rapidly beginning to collapse around her, piece by piece.

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