May 15th, 1980

Being 27 weeks pregnant on my twentieth birthday was not what I would have expected a year ago. It was getting harder to see my feet by the day, but that just went that I was closer to meeting my son.

James and I had been working on changing the guest bedroom into a nursery over the past month and it was all staring to come together.

The green-grey walls had been painted a soft white, and the queen-sized bed was replaced with a crib. In place of the tall dresser was a changing table with drawers built in.

There was a rocking chair by the crib, and a bookshelf that was being to be filled with picture books.

The closet was empty except for the few clothing items we had bought or that people had gave us for our son.

Now that I was less than a week away from my third trimester the realization that I was actually going to have a baby was making me anxious.

I'm a lot less emotional than I was during my first trimester, but my back hurts a lot more.

At least my boobs got bigger.

"Happy birthday, love," James said, as he set down a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me.

He kissed me on the cheek before sitting down next to me in the kitchen.

"Thank you, darling."

I lathered butter onto my stack of pancakes before pouring syrup on top of it.

"What do you want to do for your birthday?"

I shrugged, "I don't care as long as I get to keep eating."

James laughed, "Okay, I will keep that in mind."

"Did you have something planned?" I asked.

James shrugged, "Maybe I do."

"Tell me!" I exclaimed.

"I know you never see your family that often," James began, "But what do you say we go to lunch with Sebastian and Penelope?"

I hugged James tightly, "Thank you for making this happen. How? Seb's always so busy at work-"

James cut me off with a kiss, "I have my ways."

By the time we finished breakfast, Sirius and Remus burst through our front door.

"Happy birthday, Vixen," Sirius chimed.

I went to get out of my chair to hug him, but couldn't get up because of my fucked up center of gravity.

Remus helped me up from my chair at the kitchen table, "Happy birthday!"

I hugged Remus before hugging Sirius.

"Thanks boys," I replied, "I'm surprised that you waited until after ten in the morning to slam open our front door."

Sirius shrugged, "Well, you're pregnant and it's your birthday so I figured that I'd let you sleep in."

Remus rolled his eyes, "He was up at six in the morning."

James, who was doing the dishes, scoffed, "I don't get how you can go from sleeping in until noon to waking up on your own at six in the morning."

"If you haven't noticed, I'm just built different," Sirius stated matter-o-factly.

I rolled my eyes, "You're just a drama queen most of the time."

"I will humbly admit to that," Sirius agreed.

• • • • •

The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley

After actually making an effort to get ready for the day, James and I used to the Floo Network to get to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch.

I had changed out of my comfortable pajama pants and one of James's shirts into a light blue babydoll dress. Instead of finding shoes that would somewhat go with my dress, I ended up wearing my tattered white converse.

When we walked into the Leaky Cauldron, a mop of messy blonde hair immediately caught my eye at one of the tables in the corner.

I met Sebastian's gaze and went over to greet him.

My older brother hugged me tightly, well as tight as he could over my growing stomach.

"Happy birthday, Daphne!"

I broke away from his embrace and smiled, "It's so good to see you, Seb!"

Sebastian's girlfriend, Penelope, hugged me next.

"It's so good to see you again," She said.

I smiled at her as James and Sebastian shook hands, "Yes, it is."

When the initial excitement died done, the four of us sat down at the rectangular wooden table in the Leaky Cauldron.

"How have you been?" Sebastian asked, "I haven't seen you since Dad-, well, you know."

I absentmindedly rested my hand on my baby bump, "We've been good," I looked at James and he was smiling, "We've been really good."

Sebastian smiled, "When you wrote me that you two were expecting, Penny and I were in Cabo."

"How was that?" James asked, "I've always wanted to go."

Penelope was trying hard not to smile, but interrupted Sebastian by holding up her hand.

"He proposed!" She exclaimed.

My eyes widened, "Congratulations! It's about time."

Sebastian chuckled, "Some things are worth waiting for."

"Have you set a date yet?" James asked.

Penelope shook her head, "Not officially, but we're thinking late September, early October."

A wizard, about my age, came over and took our order, and soon enough the table was filled with plates of food.

"Do you have any names picked out?" Penelope asked as she popped a crisp into her mouth.

James and I exchanged a glance.

"We haven't really talked about it," James admitted, "But I think we have some names."

I took a bite of my sandwich and nodded in agreement, swallowing my food before I talked. "I like the names Oliver and Finnick."

"I like Harry, Marcus, and Theodore."

Sebastian nodded, "Pick one that will be good for nicknames in case he gets bored of his full name. I'm speaking from personal experience."

"I like your name perfectly fine," Penelope declared.

"It's a mouthful."

As lunch was coming to an end, and all of our plates were cleared of food, we caught up some more.

"So, what have you both been doing since Hogwarts?" Sebastian asked.

I glanced quickly at James.

We couldn't tell him about the Order, under any circumstances, so I fudged the truth a bit.

"Traveling, enjoying married life, and waiting for the little one to be born," I replied, leaving out a large aspect of my life. "After we get used to having a baby, I want to work in journalism."

Sebastian smiled, "Sounds like a good plan, what about you James?"

"Uh-, well, after the baby and everything," James replied, "I want to start training to be a Healer."

"What department?" Penelope questioned politely.

"Lycanthropy."

I smiled softly at James. I had always known he wanted to do something to help others, especially those like Remus, but all of our plans were throw out of the window because of the time consuming Order.

Then there was the whole baby thing.

After the checks were paid, I hugged my older brother and his fiancé goodbye. Sebastian said he would make a point to come visit once the baby was born so that he could meet his nephew.

After a year and a half without seeing my brother, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off of my chest.

• • • • •

July 31st, 1980

As my due date was quickly approaching, James, Remus, Sirius, Jolie, and Regulus did everything in their power to help me.

None of my shoes were comfortable, I couldn't see my feet, and I had to pee practically every five minutes.

I felt helpless.

Sirius, Remus, Jolie, and Regulus came over for dinner earlier and the six of us were sitting in the living room talking.

I sat on the couch, my hands absentmindedly holding my stomach, barely paying attention to the conversation. Everything was ready for the baby, but he still hadn't picked out a name, which was debatably the most important.

What if he hates his name and people make fun of him?

It's not like we'd pick a stupid name, but kids are fucking mean.

Jolie was sitting beside me on the couch, talking at rapid speed about the new Abba album that was coming out in November.

"Ouch," I yelled, making all eyes in the room turn towards me.

"Oh god, is it happening?" James yelled, quickly standing up from the floor.

I waved him off, "It's fine, probably just Braxton Hicks."

"What the hell is that?" Regulus asked, dumbfounded.

"False labor pains," James replied, "I have a book if you want-"

Jolie scoffed, "Oh shut up, are you sure you're okay?"

"Perfectly fine," I replied, "Now go back to whatever you were just talking about."

Remus frowned, "Are you sure you're not going into labor?"

"No, but I'm not due for another week and a half," I stated.

"That's not a long time," Sirius added.

I rolled my eyes, "It's Braxon Hicks, it's normal, if I'm not freaking out then none of you should be freaking out. Plus I've had them since lunch."

"What?" The boys exclaimed.

"You heard the woman," Jolie announced, making the boys turn their attention back to their previous conversation.

Soon after Jolie and I restarted our conversation, the baby shifted and I had to pee again.

I pushed myself off of the couch, but couldn't get myself all the the way up to stand. Remus noticed and quickly helped me get up.

After I went to the bathroom, I was drying my hands when I felt a pop.

"So-, uh," I announced as I returned to the living room, "My water just broke so I think I need to go to St. Mungo's."

Everyone jumped up from where they were sitting and began to rush around.

"Oh my god," James mumbled, "Oh my god. I'm going to be a dad!"

Sirius smacked James on the cheek lightly, "You've had nine months to prepare, now is not the time to be having second thoughts."

A wave a pain washed over me as another contraction hit.

Jolie ran down the stairs with some clothes for me to change into. "Here you go, do you need help?" She asked.

I shook my head, "Nope, I'm fine, someone check on James though. Make sure he doesn't have a panic attack."

After changing into my clean clothes in between my contractions, everyone was still downstairs.

"Where's your hospital bag?" Remus asked, "I think James is too nervous to remember."

I smiled softly at Remus, "It's in our bedroom on the floor, it's a black duffel bag."

Remus rushed upstairs to get the duffel bag while James finally came to terms that I was actually in labor.

"What can I do?"

I sat down on the couch, holding my stomach, "Just make sure that you and Jolie are the only ones in the hospital room."

"What?" Sirius exclaimed. "I can help, I'll sing to help you forget about the pain."

"Sirius-"

"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"

Regulus looked at his older brother, "Is he singing Bohemian Rhapsody right now?"

"Yes, yes he is," James muttered in response.

"Caught in a landslide," Sirius continued, "No escape from reality."

Remus came back down the stairs with our duffel bag and shot his boyfriend an odd look.

"Sirius, thank for you trying-," I was cut off with another contraction, "But it's not helping!"

Sirius scoffed, "Don't you want your baby to be born to me singing Bohemian Rhapsody."

"No," James and I replied in unison.

With everyone ready, James and I stepped into the fireplace with a handful of Floo powder.

When we emerged from the fireplace at St. Mungo's, our four friends were hot on our heels.

"Hi-, um my wife is having a baby," James nervously told the receptionist.

"Name?"

"Daphne Potter," I responded.

Sirius found a wheelchair and helped me sit down in it as the receptionist sent us upstairs.

We all packed into the elevator for a quick ride up to the fifth floor.

Sirius, Remus, Regulus stayed in the waiting room while a Healer ushered James, Jolie, and I into a room.

The Healer got me all settled in, and I changed into a hospital gown, trying not to think about the fact that my contractions were getting closer and stronger.

Healer Diana came through the door, a smile on her face, "Ready to have this baby?"