true loves poison • james potter

84

Two more weeks went by.

Lorelei was currently at four failed attempts to tell Liz and Melissa about the baby.

And she couldn't stop getting emotional over small, mostly insignificant things.

Such as when she was cleaning her room on Christmas morning, and she found a small shard of glass underneath her bed.

Similar to the feeling she felt at Pandora's wedding, Lorelei felt an overwhelming sense of realization. The Noisiv Globe had been pushed to the back of her mind since October, but the small shard of glass that clearly came from the rounded object brought it to the forefront of her mind. And like a wave her emotions poured out of her through her eyes as hot tears began streaming down her face.

"Oh my Godric," She whispered to herself as she lowered the glass to hang limp in her palm. The vision came to the forefront of her mind faster then any normal memory could have.

It knew about the baby.

Still kneeling on the floor holding the small shard of glass in her palm, staring despondently at the floor, Lorelei didn't hear the knock on her door.

"Lori?" Melissa asked as she peeked her head in. "Are you coming? Liz wanted to do gifts before everyone else got here."

Blinking rapidly, Lorelei began wiping her tears and standing, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Lorelei answered with a painted smile, "I'll be right there,"

Giving her an odd look, Melissa nodded and closed the door again.

Taking a deep breath, Lorelei grabbed the two small red bags she had tucked away underneath her bed. Since words continued to fail her, Lorelei had blank greeting cards with the announcement written inside. Along with the notes were two flasks, and small bottles of firewhisky.

After she walked to the kitchen with a nervous smile, Lorelei announced as she set the bags on the table, "They're cheesy."

"Oh hush, that's the spirit of Christmas." Melissa argued, reaching forward for the first bag.

Liz hesitated, giving Lorelei an odd look before also grabbing a bag. "I would suspect you of foul play if you weren't such a wet blanket when it comes to pranks."

Rolling her eyes in impatience, she gestured for them to get on with it.

Actively resisting the urge to rub her stomach, Lorelei waited with baited breath as they both pulled out the flasks, matching chuckles coming from her fellow ravenclaws. Then the bottle of firewhisky, which prompted Liz to ask, "What about alcohol has you so worked up?"

Wishing she could drink firewhisky herself, Lorelei tried shoving her anxiety down. "Nothing, I just want you to read my letter before the excitement wears off."

"Now you've really got me curious." Melissa said wryly before pulling the card from the otherwise empty bag.

Lorelei nearly wet herself - quite literally, as her baby already seemed to be sitting on her bladder at all times - as she watched the girls break the seal on the envelopes.

Just as they were about to pull the letters out, their floo dinged with the arrival of someone, "It's probably James," Melissa muttered as she nonchalantly pulled the letter out of the envelope.

The tension was killing her so much she barely cared. James could wait.

It took about four seconds for Melissa to read the letter once she properly opened it. Lorelei was focused on reading their expressions down to a twitch, and Melissa made it easy by bulging her eyes so wide Lorelei actually worried they might come out of her skull.

A millisecond later, she screamed, followed shortly by Liz who began staring at Lorelei like she'd revealed that she was actually an alien princess sent to destroy the earth.

Either way, both girls rushed at her so quickly with a hundred screamed questions. "How long have you known?"

"How far along are you?"

"What's the gender?"

"Is it James's?"

And so on.

Lorelei hugged them back before stepping away, "I'm nearly eight weeks now. I don't know the gender, and of course it's James's."

Liz leaned close and whispered, "I don't know, it would be quite the finale to your little project to date James and then get pregnant with someone else's baby."

Whacking her friend on the arm, Lorelei glanced at the door and hoped James hadn't heard. "That was a long time ago."

Shrugging, Liz leaned back, "Well, congratulations either way."

Rolling her eyes, Lorelei couldn't quite stay upset with Liz. After all, everything had worked out. Her project had been harmless.

Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of guilt poking her in the chest, Lorelei walked out of the kitchen to the Living Room, where to her everlasting surprise Peter Pettigrew stood.

"Oh, hello Peter." Lorelei greeted warmly despite her confusion, "The others aren't due to arrive for a few hours, but you're welcome to hang around if you'd like?"

The boy with dishwater blonde hair shook his head so violently she feared it would all fall off. "No need, I just came to drop this off for you." Extending his hands, he held out a small red box tied off with a silver bow. "I won't be able to make it tonight, w-work called me in you see."

Smiling, Lorelei accepted the gift, "That's very kind of you Peter. Wait just a moment, I'll grab your gift before you go."

Peter actually appeared surprised, "You got me a gift?"

Frowning, Lorelei accio-ed the yellow wrapped package from her room. "Of course I did, your practically family the way James cherishes you."

Sucking his head between his shoulders, Peter kept his gaze on the ground until she extended the gift, "I only hope you like it as I wasn't exactly sure what to get. But considering what I knew of you I decided to risk it."

His eyes seemed to double in size as he unwrapped the gift. "Lori," He breathed out, making the girl beam with pride at her choice.

It had taken a great deal of hunting, but Lorelei had found a copy of an ancient runes textbook that was a great many centuries older than either her or Peter. Along with the book, she'd gifted him a leather bound journal and magically imprinted his name in sloping cursive letters.

For a moment, as Peter stared at the two books cradled in his hands, Lorelei half expected him to cry. And then he blinked a few times and looked up. His expression shocked her, as along with gratitude, something akin to guilt also lurked. "This is very thoughtful, and lovely of course." He paused, looking down at the book, then back up at her, "Thank you."

Slightly confused, Lorelei just smiled, "Of course. Are you alright?"

Peter had begun staring rather intensely at the books. At her question he physically shook, "What? Oh yes, I'm alright. Well, I'd better get going, but thank you again for the gift."

Not knowing what to say, Lorelei just watched as Peter disappeared into the floo.

A few hours later, once everyone was gathered opening presents, Lorelei quietly asked James about Peters abstraction.

"He's been acting a bit odd lately." James whispered back while Sirius unwrapped his new leather jacket, courtesy of Remus.

As the two hugged, Lorelei asked, "Is he alright? Does he work some where particularly involved with the war?"

"No, he tests potions for one of the shops in Diagon Ally. He's not even particularly at risk of being targeted as he's a pureblood."

Leaning her head on his shoulder, Lorelei tried puzzling out the oddities of James's shy friend.