Just an Ordinary Afternoon

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done by LilyPrincess on fanfiction.net

Diagon Alley had been buzzing with excitement that morning, mostly from the children just returning from their previous term at Hogwarts.
On that beautiful day in May, Lily Potter woke with the sun in an empty bedroom, slightly disappointed. She knew she shouldn't have been. After all, there were many mornings such as these that she'd wake up alone- she'd done the same thing yesterday, as well as a few of the days prior to that. Her husband had just finished his auror training for the Ministry last year, and ever since then, there were more than a few times James had taken on assignments that took excessive amounts of time to complete; that meant he was home less often. She knew all this, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She only put up with it because James had dreamed of being an auror well before she met him.

This time, James had been gone for five days now, and had made sure at least Remus or Peter checked in on her once during those days. Unfortunately, both had busy jobs and weren't able to stay very long after they made sure she didn't go into premature labor or anything.

Meanwhile, Lily would find out about the details of James' assignment after he had completed it, as usual, but she knew it somehow involved Lord Voldemort and his despicable supporters. These days, the dark lord was the focal point of the Ministry. It worried her each day that that was the day he wouldn't return home safe, and the only comfort she got was the fact that Sirius worked alongside James as his partner. Knowing the two all her Hogwarts life, Lily was somewhat confident that those two together would be hard advisories to face.

Not wanting to spend the day couped up in her home again- like she did for the past week- Lily got up and ate breakfast, showered, and fixed herself up. Unless Dumbledore summoned her to an Order meeting, Lily planned on spending her day shopping down at Diagon Alley. The odds of any summon were slim to none, however, as James made it perfectly clear to Dumbledore that he didn't want her in any perilous situation for the time being (nowadays, the Order was keyed in on action rather than strategy, so the option of Lily staying out of dueling fire and keep to the Order was very unlikely). Lily had argued indignantly, but her heart hadn't been in it, for inwardly, she agreed with him; she didn't want to put her baby at risk.

With a smile, Lily looked down at her bulging belly, softly caressing it. Another wave of impatience and anxiety swept through her. She was seven and a half months into her pregnancy, and it was obvious. When the baby came, James had promised to take a leave of absence to spend some well-earned time with them. She couldn't wait.

After she was ready, Lily scribbled a quick note to Remus, and then to Peter, so neither worried about her absence should they show up that day. Then, she grabbed her cloak and put it around her shoulders before apparating away. It was the perfect chance to purchase the remaining items still missing from her son's bedroom.

She ended up spending only half her day out; it was around noon when she tired herself out and decided to head back home. It was a productive trip, in any case. The toys for her son had just ran up a pretty high bill, not to mention the new maternity robes she purchased. Most of the ones in her closet were for the winter, and with James gone so frequently nowadays, those purchases were something of a treat to herself.

Apparating back into the living room, Lily flicked her wand and soon all the bags she had acquired over the past few hours had gone to their proper place. It was only then that she took a good look at her surroundings. Instantly, a chill shot through her.

It was a disaster.

Chairs were knocked over; pictures on the ground with the framework shattered all around; the muggle television set James had eagerly purchased last year was blown to smithereens. There was nothing in the room that had been spared destruction.

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