Lily felt her jaw drop

Lily felt her jaw drop.

"You're what?!"

"Pregnant, Lily, pregnant!" sobbed Romeda, tears spilling down her cheeks. "And I have been for a while!"

"But-"

Lily was having trouble processing what Romeda was saying.

"But you don't even have a boyfriend!" she managed to stammer out. "Do you?"

"Remember that guy I told you I met when I went to my sister Narcissa's wedding to Lucius Malfoy…"

"Him?!" gasped Lily, astounded. "But I didn't… I mean, I wasn't aware that you two'd, you know… done it!"

"It was only once," said Romeda quietly, stroking Apple's hair softly. "I'd spent all evening talking to him at the bar where he works to help pay off his mortgage, and I really, really liked him and he said he liked me, too. Then, one thing led to another…"

"But didn't you use contraception?!"

"Of course we did!" said Romeda, looking angry and offended. "I'm not stupid, Lily! God!"

"I know, I know!" said Lily, trying to calm down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest… I didn't... this is just… Romeda, this is huge!"

"Yes, I do know!" she snapped, sarcastically.

Lily watched her for a moment and then said, "How far gone are you?"

Romeda sniffed/

"Nearly three and a half months."

Lily managed to hide her surprise.

"Okay. And have you told anyone else?"

She shook her head.

"Okay."

They sat in silence for a while, Romeda sniffing every so often, Apple quiet as mouse, having fallen asleep during Romeda's confession.

Finally, Lily came to a conclusion.

"Ok, here's what I think we should do. I-"

"I am not telling Dumbledore," interrupted Romeda flatly. "No way."

Lily gaped at her.

"Romeda, you have to tell him!"

Romeda shook her head.

"Lily, he'll expel me!"

"Wh-and don't you think he'll notice when one of his students suddenly has a baby in tow?! And not one of the fake ones, either!"

Romeda glared at her.

"You don't have to be sarcastic, Lily."

"Oh, and what do you want me to be like, Andromeda? The best advice I could you is the one you flat out refuse to take! What else can I do?!"

"You could try supporting me!" yelled Romeda, as Apple started to whine.

"I AM supporting you, Romeda! Why the hell do you think I'm here?!" shouted Lily, staring at her friend incredulously.

"I don't know!" roared Romeda, turning Apple round as she began screaming. "I'm just the stupid girl who got herself pregnant because she's too stupid a witch to do a contraception charm properly!"

Then she burst into tears.

All of the anger Lily had felt towards Romeda's suggestion that she didn't care melted away as she watched her best friend sob her heart out.

"Oh, 'Meda," she said, feeling tears well up in her own eyes as she leant forward and took Apple from Romeda and placed her in her cot. "Honey, I'm sorry! Please don't cry. It'll all be ok…"

And as Romeda sobbed into her chest, Lily tried her hardest believe it.

Meanwhile, James was still pondering (read: obsessing) over why Lily had been thinking about Snape.

"I mean," he was saying to Remus, who was attempting to read, "I don't think she fancies him or anything…"

He shuddered at the thought of anyone ever liking Snape.

"I think she just feels sorry for him, or something – the only friends he's got are, like, McNair and Crabbe. Or is it Goyle?"

He shook his head.

"But she likes me! She told me so! Well… okay, she didn't say those exact, but, I mean, we made yesterday's meeting a date, right? Right, Moony?!"

"Yes, James," replied Remus, sounding bored as he turned over a page of his book.

"But I know he fancies her," James continued, oblivious to Remus' suffering. "Ever since that first day on the Hogwarts Express. Maybe he told her!"

He gasped.

"And now she's thinking about whether she loves him, too!"

"JAMES!" yelled Remus, slamming his book together loudly. "She likes you! Lily LIKES YOU! Now be quiet so I can revise!"

"Yes, but-wait, what was that about revising?"

"James?"

James whipped round at the sound of Lily's voice, and was surprised at how tired she looked.

"Hey," he said, his voice filling with concern, "You okay?"

Lily nodded, looking agitated.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly, nodding again. "I was just wondering whether you'd seen Alice?"

"I think I saw her with Frank Longbottom," said Remus, before James could answer.

Annoyed that Remus had deflected Lily's attention away from him, James added hurriedly, "In the Library! About half an hour ago."

"Thank you," said Lily gratefully, motioning to move towards the portrait hole.

"Wait!" exclaimed James.

Lily and Remus looked at him curiously.

"What for?" Lily asked, glancing at Remus, who raised his eyebrows at her.

"I'll come with you!"

Lily smiled slightly and shook her head.

"No, no, I'll be fine on my own. I'm going to the Library, after all. But thank you for offering!"

She motioned to go again, but James wasn't finished.

"Yeah, I know that, but what if they aren't there, huh?! You'll have to look for her somewhere else, which will take you longer!"

Lily frowned again.

"Well, yes…" she said slowly, not quite sure where James was going with this, "But how you coming make any difference?"

"Because two heads'll be better than one, right? You'd look in one place and I'd look in another. Together, we'd find her quicker, and, by the way you look, I'm thinking sooner would be better."

Lily blushed as she realised she probably looked a state.

She'd cried almost as much as Romeda had, and, uncertain as to the best plan of action, she'd decided she needed to go and find Alice.

Realising that she could probably do with some help, she sighed and nodded.

"Okay, that does make sense. I'd really appreciate it if you came with me."

James grinned and jumped up, ready to play Mr Hero.

"Okay, Miss Evans, lead the way!"

Despite all her worries, Lily couldn't help shaking her head as a smile appeared on her lips.

James was such a nutter.

And that was why, she thought, as James helped her through the portrait hole, she would say yes if he ever felt compelled to ask her out again.

Sirius was busy searching through the Restricted Section, trying to find a book that might help him to write the two foot essay for Potions that he'd neglected to do the previous night and which was due in after lunch, when he saw Lily Evans rush into the Library and head straight for the table Frank Longbottom and Alice Summers were sat at.

He watched as she frantically whispered something to Alice, who frowned and then nodded.

After signalling to Frank that she'd be back in a minute, Alice and Lily headed towards the Restricted Section.

Sirius ducked as he saw this and hurried a few aisles along, trying to keep out of sight.

When James and Lily had returned to the common room after their 'meeting', both grinning like that cat from the story where the girl fell down a rabbit hole, Sirius had teased them mercilessly, until both James and Lily had thrown a shoe at him.

Not being one of Lily's favourite people right at that moment in time, he did not particularly wish to come face to face with her, especially when she looked so serious.

Unfortunately, as he straightened up, he found Lily and Alice were heading straight towards him.

Ducking quickly back down, he watched as they came closer and closer, and was relieved when they stopped in the row next to him.

He didn't pay much attention to what they were saying, due to his eyes settling on a book called 'How To Cheat At Potions'.

He had just reached forward to pull it out of the case when Alice gasped, "Pregnant?!"

He was so surprised that he jumped up and smacked his head on the top of the shelf, just as Lily hissed, "Shh! Alice! Someone could hear you!"

Sirius managed to stifle his yell by clapping a hand over his mouth and stood, frozen, waiting breathlessly to hear whether they'd heard him.

Fortunately, he heard Alice say, "Don't be silly, Lil, there's no one else in here. God, this is… this huge!"

Sirius, staring through the stacks, saw Lily nod.

"Well, yeah, Alice. We're talking about a real person here, not the fake ones McGonagall gave us!"

"Alright, Lily, there's no need to bite my head off!"

Sirius heard Lily sigh.

"I know. I'm sorry, Ali. I just… this has come as such a huge shock!"

"You've got that right! How long have you known?"

"I only just found out. Romeda's practically in hysterics."

"I'm not surprised!" exclaimed Alice, then, realising how loud she was being, she whispered, "Who's the father?"

Sirius strained to hear Lily's response.

"I don't want to say right now. If someone did overhear…"

He saw Alice nod.

"Fair enough. Does he know?"

Lily shook her head.

"Not yet."

"Well don't you think he should be told?"

"Of course he should. But I think it's better to decide what you're going to do and say, first."

"I guess," sighed Alice. "But still…"

"It's not up to you, Al."

"Yeah, I know. Have you told anyone else?"

"No, just you. I thought you should know, seeing as we're best friends and all."

Sirius saw Alice smiled slightly.

"You need help deciding what to do," she stated gently.

"I thought Dumbledore should know, but Romeda didn't think it was a good idea."

"That's stupid. She's probably just in shock; she's not thinking straight. At least two level heads are better than one. Was protection not used or something?"

"No, it was but the spell didn't work properly."

"I never thought you would-"

"LILY EVANS AND ALICE SUMMERS, OUT OF THE LIBRARY, AT ONCE!"

Sirius jumped, along with Lily and Alice, as Madame Pince's sharp tone cut through the air like a knife.

"This is not the common room – OUT!"

Lily and Alice hurried out of the Restricted Section, Madame Pince right behind them, leaving Sirius alone.

He lowered himself onto the floor, his mouth open as the full meaning of what he'd just heard washed over him.

Holy crap, he thought, Lily's pregnant!