ENCHANTED ⇒ jegulus

THREE

After adjusting his jacket, James reaches to adjust his glasses, the frames hanging loosely off of the bridge of his nose. He glances towards his living room, where Lily is curled up; wrapped in a cashmere blanket, reading a book on potions or something or other.

"Hey, Lils?" James calls.

"Mmh, love?"

"Do you wanna grab lunch before we go to St. Mungo's? I was thinking The Leaky Cauldron would be nice," James offers, approaching the living room.

Lily glances up from her book, furrowing her eyebrows. "St. Mungo's?" She repeats, confused. "Why are we going to St. Mungo's?" She inquires, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

James swallows. "Lil, you know that Regulus' appointment is today. So do you want too have lunch or not?" He utters.

Lily gazes between James and her book. "Fuck," She murmurs. "I can't do today. I agreed to come in and do some more test samples with this new potion we're testing at the shop for allergies," Lily reveals. "Do you think he could reschedule his appointment for us?" She bats her long eyelashes, minorly hopeful.

"Lily, the appointment is in an hour, no, Regulus probably can't reschedule," James shakes his head. "Can't the shop wait? You knew you'd be needed at the appointment, why would you take on extra work?" James inquires, arching an eyebrow. He doesn't want to sound accusing.

Lily huffs, throwing her hands up. "I forgot, James, I'm allowed to forget things!" She scoffs. "Besides, my work is important to me,"

James sighs, not wanting to argue. "Alright. I'll see you this evening then," He hums. "I'll grab a sonogram for you if you want?" James offers, hopeful.

Lily simply nods, humming quietly as she returns to her reading. James sighs once more in response to this, leaving for St. Mungo's, alone.

When James reaches the hospital, he sees Marlene immediately, decked out in her nurse attire, lavender colored scrubs and a white coat over them. Her long, blonde hair is brushed back into a loose, low bun; wispy pieces surrounding her face.

"Marls, hey," James greets.

"James!" Marlene beams as soon as she spots him. She has a clipboard in her grip. She extends her arms to hug him. "How...how are you? Sirius and Remus mentioned the uh...the baby?" She arches her eyebrow. "That's great! Really, I'm happy for you and Lily..." She trails.

James frowns a little bit. "I'm good, Marls, how're you doing? Um, yeah, yeah. We're going to adopt a baby,"

"Sirius' brothers baby," Marlene says softly. "Dorcas and I visited Remus and Sirius yesterday, we chatted a little bit with him. He's...he's a little withdrawn but he's funny, y'know,"

James rolls his eyes. "He's a daisy, alright," He sighs a little. "You didn't hear how it happened then, did you?" He inquires, nervous for Marlene's response.

Marlene nods, her expression faltering, her bright, infectious smile dimming noticeably. "I didn't want to bring that up," She says, warily. "How could you do that to him?" She utters. "It...it's so unorthodox, James,"

James runs a hand through his hair, adjusting his glasses. "Marls, I...I didn't do it. Lily....she just blurted it despite telling me that she didn't want to even consider it. Regulus just....he reacted badly to it, I think, so he had to act out. Try to scare us, I think," He hesitates. "I think he thought we wouldn't go for it. But Lily went for it," James huffs.

Marlene nods once more. "I...I hate to say this to you, James," Marlene pauses, her expression guarded. "I think we did her a disservice after the miscarriage."