Chapter 1
"No, James, that is not what I'm saying at all!"
Lily Potter glared at her husband. How could he twist her words so out of context? Surely she'd been clear in her meaning.
"I'm saying that those rules are in place for a damn good reason, and I simply think they should be applied equally to EVERYONE who wants access to your family vaults. Everyone! I only brought up our marriage contract to remind you that allowing unrestricted access to the Potter family vaults for anyone outside your family is simply not done! I'm not asking you to change that for me, I'm asking why Albus Dumbledore is not being held to the same rules!? Why should he be permitted to simply take whatever he chooses from your vaults without even so much as informing you first?"
"Lils... this is Albus! We need to win this bloody war, and if he needs funds to do it, well, why shouldn't I help him?"
Why couldn't he just see how short-sighted and stupid his latest stunt was? Yes, they needed to win the war, but planning for a future after it was won was equally important.
"Gah! I'm not saying don't help him, James, I'm saying keep track of-"
"pfft. Gringotts sends me a statement every month. There, tracking taken care of. Honestly, Love, you get worked up over the littlest things right now. Maybe you should go have a bit of a lie-down."
"Grrr.... You accuse me of losing my mind just because I'm pregnant, but I can't help but wonder what your excuse is, seeing as you're not!" She walked off, unwilling to beat her head further against this particular wall.
But any arguments she made as to why Albus Dumbledore didn't need full access to the Potter Vaults were brushed aside as being the result of pregnancy hormones.
(And, granted, she did cry a bit more easily than usual, but that didn't mean she was suddenly incapable of logic!)
But honestly, Albus' level of interest in her pregnancy was actually rather creepy, and she had been wondering, lately, just what had happened that he wasn't telling them.
And now, he'd gotten James to hand over a key, and give him permission to take 'whatever' expenses were needed by the Order directly from the vault, without needing James to sign off? Something was fishy, and it seemed she was the only one to think so.
(She had the nagging suspicion that James' indulgent dismissal of her concerns also stemmed from something the elderly Headmaster had said. No proof, of course, which left her wondering whether she was paranoid, or truly seeing something worthy of concern.)
Hmmm... well, she'd almost been sorted into Ravenclaw, and a great many people had called her quite clever. Maybe it was time to put her brain to work and look for a loophole rather than try to convince her rather hard-headed husband to see things her way. She rested a hand on her swollen belly. She had a child to provide for, after all.
"...on't worry about it Prongs. I think she's probably just ... what's the word.... nesting."
Sirius' voice drifted from the kitchen.
"Ya know, got a kid coming, wants everything all peachy keen, can't stop the war on a wish so she wants to make sure everything else is buttoned up nice and snug. Vault access is one of the few things you have complete control over. She probably just wants that ... that assurance the war won't take that, too. If I had access to the Black vaults, I'd be more than happy to help finance the Order - can't think of a better use for the Black fortune than to stick one in the eye of the Dark Wanker they all adore."
"Heh, thanks, Pads. I know it's just the hormones talking, but I'm getting tired of the fighting. I mean ... it just feels like we're fracturing. Peter's off spying more than not, Moony's trying to make nice with the werewolf packs, we lost the Prewett twins last week, there's apparently a mole in the Order and we have no clue who, Albus is trying to keep us all moving despite it all and Lilypet and I are constantly at loggerheads. It's ... I'm just so tired, Pads."
Lily pulled back from the kitchen and retreated slightly up the stairs. 'Just the hormones talking', indeed. The git.
Truthfully, she was tired of arguing, too, but Albus' actions the last couple weeks after he'd wheedled a vault key out of her husband had only been making her more leery of the man's intentions. His interest in her pregnancy had not abated and he'd begun suggesting they go into hiding. Which made sense, in a way, as she'd be less able to flee, much less duel properly as her increasingly swollen belly did make her more ungainly. But his suggestions were for complete isolation, not merely a secure bolthole to retreat to. She was one of the primary brewers for the Order, despite some valid restrictions that came with being pregnant - there were several potions she had to be extremely careful with brewing and a few she'd had to stop all together due to potential effects on her health or the baby's. For her to be out of communication, practically out of reach, for the months he was suggesting was simply untenable.
And that wasn't even touching the other little things she'd started to notice. The little signs that Albus was playing a deeper game than they knew.
At the last meeting, Pettigrew had dropped some less-than-subtle hints that he thought Remus was the mole - which was ridiculous - and Albus hadn't said anything against the idea, had even nodded sagely before responding with a genial 'yes, yes, we need to be careful of whom we trust in these dark days.' before deflecting the conversation.
(Before Sirius could object, like he'd obviously wanted to.)
If her suspicions were true - and she hoped not! - that James' stubbornness and recent tendency to dismiss her concerns out of hand were Albus' fault, she couldn't see any explanation but that their old Headmaster wanted distrust and dissent in her family (for 'The Marauders', as they still called themselves - silly prats - were family.) And none of that addressed her concerns what Albus' unrestricted access to the Potter vaults meant for their future.
Clearly, though, the whole situation was wearing on James, and she wasn't quite sure she'd manage to win a war of attrition against his attitude. Not in the way she'd like, with James actually listening to her. Taking her concerns seriously enough to actually discuss them without the waffling twaddle of 'but it's Albus' to dismiss and justify it all.
She didn't fully agree with a lot of the Pureblood Rules she'd had to learn, but the financial restrictions on a spouse marrying into the family did make sense. No one wanted to think they were in love only to have the family fortune squandered by a gold-digger of the worst sort. She'd understood that, agreed with it, even. She had a nice allowance for her personal needs - well in excess of what she actually spent. As one of the Order's brewers, the majority of her potions ingredients were covered under the Order's umbrella rather than taken from her personal funds, and her needs and wants were few and straightforward. She'd grown up frugal and hadn't bothered changing most of her habits simply because her husband had been raised to wealth. She simply couldn't understand why James hadn't given Albus a similar set up. You'd almost think James' parents hadn't taught him about balancing a chequebook, budgetting or managing a household or business at all!
(and no, James, it wasn't that she was jealous!)
Still... she needed to take a different tack. If James refused to curtail Albus' access to their vaults, she'd just have to see about protecting their baby's future another way. Maybe Sirius would be more amenable to listening?
Lily Potter glared at her husband. Again. For the nth time. How dare he accuse her of deliberately undermining the Order?
Shaking her head, she deliberately let her anger go. She had a specific goal for this discussion today, and James' illogical allegations were not going to derail her.
"That was exceptionally unkind of you, James. Could we at least set up a trust vault for the baby? The Potter vaults aren't bottomless and we don't know how much the war will cost or how long it'll run, and I'd feel better if I knew for sure he'll be taken care of. Pretty please, Papa Potter?"
She batted her eyes at him, with an exaggeratedly playful pout. James sighed, visibly setting his own anger aside as well, clearly just as done with the whole thing as she was.
"Fine! And then this whole issue is closed!" He looked so close to cracking. "I'm serious, Lily. No more complaining about funding the Order. It's not like Albus is going to strip our vaults bare just because he has a key."
"I've never been against helping the Order, James. You know this. My complaints have always been that you're doing nothing to ensure we have a future after this war is ended. Setting up a Vault for the baby - and only for the baby - addresses that complaint. You and I can scrape by, make things work, if needed, but the thought of not being able to care for our baby... I can't stand for that. I'd do anything for our baby, and that includes standing up to Albus Dumbledore. Or you. Once the baby's vault is set up, I won't bring the matter up again. I promise.
"If you'd write me up a letter to Gringotts allowing me to transfer ... say 10 000G? to a new vault specifically for the baby's care and education, I can take care of it tomorrow when I go to Diagon to stock up from the Apothecary."
James deflated and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up so adorably. "Fine. Was it really that simple all this time?"
"Yes, James. It was. You just ... got stuck on what you thought I was saying instead of hearing what I was trying to explain." She moved closer, giving him a small smile and running a hand up his arm. "I love you, Papa Potter."
His arms came up around her, tentative in a way she didn't like as he rested his chin on her head. "Love you, too, Lilypet."