One
When one is born, they enter this world covered in blood, crying while their bringer of life screams in pain. Only through suffering may there ever be light, just as only through pain will there be life. A new life is often celebrated, but sometimes that light dims from the darkness of the world it entered.
～★♪★～
***The Grangers***
Early February, 1979
“Caelus, I have something to tell you…” Maia says as she comes out of the bathroom after throwing up for what feels like the tenth time this morning. Morning sickness has been horrific, and she feels light headed. Not to mention just how fatigued she is.
“Yes love? What is it?” He asks as he rushes from the kitchen where he was getting his lunch for work ready. He grabs her hand and looks her over worryingly, he had been worried about her lately.
Maia leans against the bathroom door frame and smiles tiredly at him. “I think I’m pregnant,” as she tells him she feels a small smile creep up her cheeks.
He looks at her in bewilderment for a second before responding. “No, you’re lying,” he says. When she only just shakes her head at him, his eyes light up. A laugh falls from his lips and he looks at her with so much joy Maia can’t help but start giggling. “I’m going to be a dad? Oh my lord, I’m going to be a dad! Maia, you’re going to be a mother! I can’t believe it! We’re going to have a child!”
As the man Caelus is, he starts laughing and pacing around excitedly. “WE’RE GOING TO BE PARENTS!” He yells so loud he's sure their neighbors heard him. Excitement pounds in his chest, butterflies form in his rib cage to join the flurry of emotions. His storm blue eyes fall back on his wife and in an instant he grabs her and spins her around in the air.
Her giggles turn into laughs that are so sweet Caelus can almost taste them. They’re as sweet as honey and as perfect as a stormy night. He puts her down where she sways slightly, she looks back at him with chocolate eyes full of fondness and affection. He can’t believe he was lucky enough to meet such a woman as magnificent as her, and now they’re going to have a baby together.
Maia stops laughing and only stares at her husband with a smile. This is all so new, and she’s not sure how to feel. Caelus’ words ring in her head, “we’re going to be parents”, and it makes delicate hope fill her soul.
“Parents,” Maia whispers to herself. The word almost feels foreign in her mouth, the very thought of her being a mother is so new. However, even if it’s new and odd, it feels right. “We’re going to be parents,” she says with a whole new laugh bubbling out of her.
“I’m going to be a mother, Caelus! Can you believe that! We’re going to have a baby!” And in an instant they start laughing in sync again. Caelus pulls her in for a kiss and then they start gushing over the prospect of being parents in the little time left before he must go to work.
The world seems so vibrant once again, instead of the dull heart throbbing grey. Maia, for the first time in months feels as if it will all be alright. Caelus hasn’t felt so carefree in so long, but now he feels new again. Everything will be fine, rings through their heads, lulling their thoughts like the ocean waves against the cliffs.
Everything will be alright
—
A few days later the couple goes to the doctor to see if Maia really is pregnant, and when the answer is yes they celebrate. They can officially tell everyone, and Maia already knows who will be the first to know. The two people in the world she’d want to know first.
Maia knocks on the door and takes a step back, she holds a bouquet of iris flowers close to her chest. Her skin golden in the sunlight. Caelus wraps an arm around her waist as they wait for the door to open. Finally the door opens, a young woman with golden brown skin, brown eyes and loose curly hair opens the door.
“Thalia, how have you been?” Maia asks.
“I’ve been good, it’s good to see you both. Mum has been saying your visit is long past due,” she smirks.
“It has been, hasn’t it? We’ve been quite busy,” Caelus smiles.
She regards them for a moment before opening the door and ushering them in. The house smells of freshly baked cookies and has a distinct feeling of home. A doorway near the front door has lines marked on it with Thalia and Maia’s names, it marking their height as they grew. If you look closely sometimes you’ll see the artistic scribbles of children dancing across the walls, as they have never been washed away. The walls and tables lined with photographs and frames.
As Maia goes down the hall she stops at a picture. A man with short brown hair, chocolate eyes, tan skin, and square spectacles stares up at her. He’s wearing a suit, has a flower crown made of dandelions and two young girls are wrapped up in his arms laughing. Their dresses covered in grass stains and hands dirty.
Maia runs her fingers along the bottom of the frame and bittersweet sadness pulls at her chest. If only she could have one more minute with him, she’d tell him just how much she loves him, but you can’t get back the time that you lost. Oh, how she’d love to smell his cologne one more time, or curl up in his arms like she did as a little girl. Only if he was still here and she could see the excitement on his face when she told him she was pregnant.
Caelus and Thalia stop to watch Maia. Thalia watches her sister and pain fills her, she knows all too well how the grief has and always will eat Maia alive. Caelus sighs and runs his hand down Maia’s arm before hugging her from behind. “It’s alright love, everything will be fine.”
“Maia, Caelus, is that you?” A kind woman's voice calls from the sitting room.
That seems to snap Maia out of her daze and she starts going down the hallway again. Thalia follows after them. Maia feels a smile come to rest on her face at the sight of her mum.
“Mum, how have you been?” Maia asks as they enter the room. Jean is sitting in a chair with a book curled up on her lap. Maia notices the deep set wrinkles in her mothers face, and how she’s lost a bit of weight. She feels a pang in her chest as she looks at the woman who raised her.
“As good as a sick old lady can, love. Are those irises?” Jean’s hair is frizzy with lack of care. The woman pushes her reading glasses up into the mess of hair and smiles warmly at them.
“They are,” Maia says as her husband and her take a seat on the couch across from her mother.
Maia hands the flowers over to her mum who puts them to her nose and smells them. Jean smiles before opening her eyes. “I would ask why you bought me such a random type of flower, but I know they aren’t random,” Jean says fondly.
“Maia and her symbolism,” Thalia smiles. “I can’t remember a single time you’ve bought someone something without it having a meaning behind it.”
“I remember on our wedding day Maia insisted we had peony flowers because they symbolize a happy marriage, romance and good fortune, was it?” Caelus teases.
Maia laughs, she really is a person that cares a lot about symbolism. “At least I’m easy to get things for,” which is true, she is. Just get her something that represents or means something to her and she’ll cherish it.
“I could give you a spoon, and say it represents me and you’d keep that thing on your nightstand for the rest of your life,” Thalia says fondly.
This makes Caelus laugh because he’s got to see first hand the crazy things Maia keeps just because they mean something to her. She still has a scribble drawing a kid from her childhood made. They haven’t seen or spoken to each other in 12 years.
“Well, you Thalia, are the hardest person to shop for,” Maia retorts.
“I am not,” Thalia says in mock offense.
“Honey, when you were a kid your father and I would shop for hours just trying to find something you’d like. Half the time I’d give up and just get baking supplies for you,” Jean laughs.
“See, baking supplies, that’s an easy gift. I’m not that hard to shop for.”
“Thalia, you already have a stupid amount of baking stuff. It would be irresponsible of us to get you more,” Caelus laughs.
“Oh, shut it,” Thalia replies. “Anyways, what was so urgent that you two decided to show up unannounced?”
Maia smiles immediately, and a laugh bubbles out of her. They’re the people she’d want to know first in the whole world aside from Caelus. However, there’s still a small amount of sadness in her heart that she will never be able to tell the man who raised her.
“We have some very exciting news to share with you,” Caelus tells them. He has so much untethered excitement that you can feel it radiating off of him.
“Go on,” Jean says with a smile. “If you came all the way here to see your old lady it must be important.”
Maia puts a hand on Caelus’ thigh and smiles. “Mum, Thalia, I’m pregnant.”
“Really!” Thalia squeals, she immediately crushes her sister and brother-in-law in a hug. “I’m going to be an aunt!”
Jean lets out a laugh of pure joy. “I’m going to be a grandmother! I’m going to have a grandbaby! My dear is going to be a mother!” Jean slowly gets out of her chair and hugs them when Thalia gets out of the way. Her hug is more sweet than Thalia’s bone crushing one.
“Oh wait! You two are going to be parents! My dear older sister will be a mother! You are getting quite old, aren’t you?” Thalia says as she pulls away to let Jean hug them. “In no time you’ll have grey hair,” she says with a smile.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you’re only so much younger,” Maia replies.
“Well honey, you’d look dashing with grey hair,” Jean says amused. “Children are great at giving you grey hair, so Thalia, cherish your black hair while it lasts.”
“I’m not the one having a child.”
“Maybe not, but we both know you’re going to kidnap Maia’s child every chance you get.”
“I can’t help it, children are too cute not to spend time with.”
“Don’t worry Thalia, we’ll let you see our child whenever we can, so there will be no need for kidnapping,” Caelus laughs.
“I’ve always wanted to be a grandmother, did you know that?” Jean says as she pulls away finally. “I’m going to spoil them rotten and tell them all the embarrassing stories of your childhood,” Jean smirks.
Maia laughs, but she feels her eyes start to burn. How can her mother be so sure she has enough time left? Time and life slips away so quickly, you never know when your time will come. “I know you’ve always wanted to be a grandmother,” Maia smiles.
Jean’s eyes look at her with such understanding it hurts. Jean has always been able to see through her facades, always knowing when Maia’s in pain. “Oh Maia, it will be alright. I won’t stop fighting till the very end, and I will meet your baby. So please, my love, don’t be sad.”
Maia smiles and wipes away the tears that form in her eyes. “Yeah, you’re right, it will be alright,” she nods. Thalia and Caelus start talking about baby name ideas, and betting on if it’ll be a girl or boy. Maia and Jean pull out some yarn and start making baby hats.
The house soon fills with the sounds of laughter, and joy. They eat the cookies Thalia made and gush over the baby to come. Later they all go down to the graveyard where Maia’s father lays to rest and tell him the news. They share some stories with him before leaving.
Everything will be alright.
— September 19, 1979
“Caelus!” Maia yells from their room.
Caelus comes running in. “What is it, my love?” Worry is evident on his face.
“My water, it broke. The baby, it’s on its way,” Maia cries.
“Oh shit,” Caelus rushes out of the room to the landline. He dials Thalia immediately, and when the phone picks up he hears crying on the other end.
“Thalia! The baby, it’s on the way,” Caelus says into the phone, not wasting time on pleasantries.
“Oh no, this is horrible timing,” Thalia responds through tears. “Mum is being rushed to the hospital right now by paramedics, she’s not going to make it.”
Caelus feels a pang in his chest, this really is horrible timing. He can’t tell his wife though, it’ll ruin her. She’s already in pain, he shouldn’t burden her with the emotional turmoil as well. Hopefully Jean will stay with them long enough to meet her grandchild as she had been fighting to do.
“Which hospital?” He asks her.
Thalia tells him, and he decides he’ll take Maia there. Hopefully Jean isn’t too far gone yet. Thalia tells him she was just leaving for the hospital and that she’ll meet them there. He hangs up and goes back to Maia. He carries her out to the car and rushes her to the hospital.
Thalia is already there when they arrive. She rushes to her sister's side as they roll her into the hospital, whispering reassurances the whole way. When they get to the room Thalia kisses her sister on the forehead and tells her she’ll be back soon. As she leaves she stops one of the nurses and tells her to come and get her when the baby is almost here.
Thalia slips out and runs down the hallway. Her shoes click loudly against the floor and her hair a complete mess from tugging at it in stress. She finally finds the room her mother is in and slips in. The doctors are working frantically to keep Jean with them just long enough.
Jean is a complete mess. “Please, please, I can’t go yet! It’s not time! I— please, I beg you, keep me alive long enough! I can’t go yet!” She begs.
“Mum, I’m here, breathe,” Thalia says as she rushes to her mothers side. She kneels down next to the hospital bed and grabs Jean’s hand. She feels the tears falling down her face, but she pays no mind to them.
“Thalia, my dear. Please, tell me, is Maia alright? Please tell me she’s okay,” Jean asks frantically.
“Yes, she just got here. The baby is on its way, not too much longer. Caelus is by her side at the moment. Just keep on fighting, not too much longer,” Thalia says as she fights back tears.
“Thalia, my body, it’s— it’s shutting down,” Jean says, sorrow coating her voice. Thalia wants so badly for this all to stop. She just wants her mum to have her final wish, but her body is failing her. Most of her organs have already shut down, and she’s on oxygen. Her breathing is so shallow and all her energy is almost drained.
Only a few hours before Jean was up and cooking a meal, and the next she was dying. Thalia thought maybe she was getting better because that was the first time in months she’d had energy for anything, but it was all a lie. She should have known that was common right before a person passed, she should have.
“I know Mum, just keep fighting. You can do it, I know you can. You’ve been fighting for almost a year, I know you can keep going just a bit longer,” Thalia doesn’t know if she can though. There’s a high possibility this is the end, and Jean won’t make it.
“I’m not ready to go yet,” tears are falling down her face, and Thalia goes and wipes them away with her handkerchief.
“I know Mum, I know.”
“I want to meet my grandbaby, that’s all I want Thalia. I want to say goodbye to Maia, I want to tell her it will be alright. I can’t go yet, I can’t.”
“Just a bit longer Mum, just a little longer. You’ll get your final wish, I promise. Just don’t give up yet,” Thalia starts begging, but she’s not sure if she’s begging her mum to stay, or if she's begging herself to believe the words leaving her mouth.
“I’m trying,” Jean says brokenhearted. “I can’t keep fighting for much longer, I just want my babies. Thalia, I want my babies for one last moment.”
Thalia doesn’t even have to ask who her mother’s babies are. She’s talking about her, Maia, Caelus and Maia’s child. However, she wants her daughters more. Just wants to say goodbye to Maia and be with her children for one last moment.
“Mum, I’m so sorry. Just a little longer, I promise. You’ll get to say goodbye, and meet your grandchild. Just, don’t give up yet.”
“Thalia, I— my body. I can’t keep going much longer,” her mothers breathing has become more harsh. Thalia looks up sharply and sees her mothers heartbeat is even slower.
“Please!” Thalia suddenly yells to the doctors who're still working frantically. “She can’t go yet! It’s not time! She has to say goodbye! Please, you have to keep her here only a bit longer!”
“We’re trying,” a young woman replies. “However, her body is ready to go, ma’am. We can only do so much, she’s almost gone,” the woman has so much pity in her eyes as she watches Thalia it makes her feel as if salt is being rubbed into open wounds.
Thalia's eyes fall back down to her mother and her breath catches. Her mother is still crying, but her eyes are closed. She looks so old and tired, it hurts. The same woman who raised her and taught her how to bake now lies in a hospital bed dying, and having her final wish die with her.
Thalia stands up and holds her mothers hand to her chest. Her hair falls forward and stops right above her mothers face. “Please Mum, don’t leave me, not now. I need you to stay just a bit longer, please. I can’t lose you yet, you still need to meet your grandchild and say goodbye,” Thalia's tears fall onto her mothers face, but she can’t find the energy to care.
Jean opens her eyes, brown eyes red and glassy. Her eyes unfocused, and filled with tears still yet to fall. She gives Thalia a small smile that makes Thalia choke in despair. No, this can’t be happening, Thalia can not be about to lose her mother, not while her sister is in labor.
“I’m sorry my dear, but I can’t fight anymore,” her voice is weak. The fight is no longer in it, and the fire is gone from behind her eyes. She really is about to let go. “I love you, and tell Maia that I’m so proud of her, of you both. I was so lucky to ever have the pleasure of being your mother.”
Jean’s eyes close and her head falls to the side. The machines around them start to beep loudly. Thalia only distantly hears the doctors scrambling to try and keep her mother alive for a bit longer. All Thalia knows is that her heart is breaking, slowly and quietly.
Jean’s hands suddenly go slack in Thalia's hands, and that’s when a scream of despair leaves Thalia's throat. “Mum, no, please, not now!” Thalia barely chokes out. This can not be real, it just can’t. She only distantly realizes that she has fallen to her knees, her mother’s slack hand still in hers.
This absolutely can not be real. Her mother is gone, her mother is gone, her mother is gone. Maia is in a whole other room, not even aware of what’s just happened. Nobody, but Thalia knows that Jean has just died, died while holding her hand. Maia didn’t even get to say goodbye, didn’t get to hear their mothers last words. Thalia now has to be the messenger of her mothers final words to Maia instead of Maia hearing them herself.
Suddenly a hand softly grabs her shoulder and shakes her slightly. Thalia looks up through her tear filled eyes to see the doctor she had spoken to earlier kneeled down beside her. Her eyes are a soft blue and her brown hair cut to her shoulders. She looks at Thalia in sympathy.
“Ms. Blake, your sister's child is almost here. The nurse has just come to inform you,” she says softly.
“Maia’s child is almost here?” Thalia asks through her haze of grief.
The doctor nods in confirmation. It takes Thalia a second to fully process before she’s freaking out again. “Oh no! I have to go! I can’t miss it!”
She quickly lets go of her mothers limp hand which sends a whole new wave of grief through her. Her mother will never get her final wish, she fought for so long just to lose it all. She so desperately doesn’t want to leave. However, she can’t just sit here and cry, she has to be there for her sister. Maia is her number one priority right now, it’s what Jean would have wanted.
A hand is suddenly in front of her. She looks up to see it’s the doctor offering her a hand to help her get up. Thalia gives her a weak smile before grabbing her proffered hand and allowing the doctor to pull her up.
“Go on, go be with your sister. We’ll take care of your mother till you come back, I promise,” she says softly.
Her mother may be dead now, but hearing that still makes Thalia feel slightly better. They’ll take care of Jean, and she’ll still be here when Thalia comes back. She gives the doctor a nod before sprinting out of the room and back to her sister. She accidentally runs into someone, but she only just throws an apology over her shoulder.
When she gets to the door that leads to her sister she pauses. She takes a deep breath and wipes the tears from her eyes. She can cry later, but right now she needs to be strong for Maia. She stands up straight and knocks on the door. A nurse opens the door and Thalia slides in silently.
Maia is crying and Caelus is holding her hand and whispering to her. Thalia hears Maia say something about waiting for her, so she rushes forward and takes Maias other hand. She wipes her sister's tears and smiles at her.
“You’re here,” Maia says through pain.
“I’m here Maia, I’m here.”
After a few minutes that felt like forever the sound of a baby’s cries filled the room. Maia’s body completely relaxes and Caelus continues to whisper compliments and reassurances to her. Thalia just holds her sister's hand in silence while watching the delivery nurses clean up and wrap the baby up in a hospital baby blanket.
“A beautiful baby girl,” one of them announces as they lay the crying baby into Maia’s arms. “You did amazing Mrs. Granger.”
“A girl,” Caelus says as he stares at the baby. He looks at her in awe, as if she’s the most precious thing he’s ever seen or known. “We have a daughter!” He rejoices.
“Hello little one,” Maia says quietly, her neck bent down to stare at her child. “You’re so beautiful,” she smiles.
“What are you guys going to name her?” Thalia whispers. They have gone through dozens of names and have settled for two boy and two girl names. Caelus and Maia had decided they’d choose the most fitting name when they were born.
“Hmm, Hermione, I think Hermione is right,” Caelus tells them.
“I think that’s very fitting,” Thalia smiles. Hermione is the female variant of Hermes, and Maia is the name of Hermes mother. Thalia is the one that mentioned the name.
Maia doesn’t respond for a while, she’s just staring at her baby girl. Her child. She’s a mother officially. She feels so much unbridled love for this human she brought into the world. The same child she had carried for nine months is here, finally. She never thought becoming a mother would feel so lovely.
“Hermione,” she whispers before a large smile sets on her face. “Hermione Jean Granger, that’s your name,” she smiles.
“I love it, such a lovely name,” Thalia says. “Mum would have loved to hear it.”
That’s when it hits Maia. Her mother isn’t here, where is she? Shouldn’t she be here with Thalia? They lived together after all, so she should have arrived with her sister. Why was that sentence in past tense? No, no, no, her mother must still be alive, she must be here. Maia looks up at her sister and sees the tear streaks running down her face, and the look of absolute misery in her eyes even as she smiles at her niece.
“No,” Caelus says. When Maia looks at him she sees heartbreak in his eyes.
“Thalia, where’s Mum? Please tell me she’s alright,” Maia says as her throat and eyes start to burn.
“Maia, I’m so, so sorry. She fought, she really did,” no, this can’t be. Thalia is starting to cry again, and Maia can feel her own tears start to form. “She was rushed here right before you went into labor. She— oh Maia, I’m so sorry. She—she… she died right before I came back here. Maia, she wanted to meet Hermione so badly, she wanted to see you one last time. She tried so, so hard to make it just a bit longer.”
“No, Thalia, this is a lie, please tell me you’re joking,” Maia cries out. “Mum can’t be dead, she can’t! She— she fought so hard, it couldn’t have all not mattered! Please Thalia, tell me you’re lying!” Maia starts crying hysterically.
Thalia just meets her eyes and cries. She doesn’t say a word, but Maia knows what she's telling her. Thalia’s not lying or joking, she’s telling the truth. Their mother died while Maia was in labor, so close to having her final wish fulfilled, only to have it ripped out from under her. Maias mother is gone, gone.
She can’t stop herself when she begins to wail. She just wants her mum, that’s all she wants. She had always dreamed her mother would be with her while she gave birth, and would be one of the first to hold her baby. She cries out for her mother even though she won’t hear her nor come to her aid.
Maia holds her child closer and buries her face into her baby's side. She just cries while Thalia rubs her arm, and cries with her. Caelus running his hands through her sweaty hair and whispering words of comfort to her, but they fall on deaf ears.
Little do they know that a snowy owl sits outside their window peering in. When the owl spots the baby the soul relaxes and lets out a joyful hoot before soaring away and disappearing into the sky.
Everything will be alright
～★♪★～
***The Weasleys***
— Late June, 1979
“I have some exciting news!” Molly yells when her husband enters through the door. He’d been at work on another double shift, but now he is home. Charlie and Bill are playing with the twins while Percy is playing with some toys.
Arthur immediately smiles in understanding. He has deep set eye bags, but they almost disappear with the smile he gives her. “You’re pregnant again, right?” He asks.
“Yes! And I have a good feeling it will be a girl this time, I can feel it!” She says excitedly. She’s always wanted a girl, she really has. They’ve tried for one for a while, but haven’t been successful yet. Although, she’s still happy about her boys.
“I’m just happy to have another kid. I’ll have to pick up some extra shifts though…” Arthur says. He loves his job at the ministry a lot, but it doesn’t always pay the best. It pays enough to where he can put food on the table and they have clothes, but baby supplies cost a bit more than what’s in their budget. Granted he can reuse some of their stuff, but he’ll also need to hire a home delivery healer and they aren’t cheap.
“Mum, we’re going to have another sibling?” Bill asks slowly.
Bill loves his mother dearly, but he doesn’t think another child is a good idea. She gets so tired taking care of them all, and he’s her main helper, but he’ll be going to Hogwarts in a year and a half. Arthur is always busy with work and his side projects so he usually doesn’t have time to take over. Instead, when his mum gets tired, Bill (and Charlie recently) take care of his siblings instead.
“Yes! Aren’t you excited? I’m excited,” she tells him.
Bill hesitates for a moment before responding. He’s not sure if he should lie or tell the truth. “Yes, I’m excited. We’ll have so much fun,” he opts for lying this time. In truth Bill is dreading it, he doesn’t want to help with another baby, they are so hard to take care of. He just wants to be a child again.
“Sibalin’?” Fred asks from his spot on Bill's lap, pausing from tugging at his brothers hair for a moment.
“Good job George! You learned a new word!” Arthur says excitedly. He’ll never not get excited of hearing his kids say a new word.
“Ah, Dad, this is Fred…” Bill corrects.
“Oh Merlin! How could I not have noticed! Sorry Fred,” Arthur says. He really cannot tell the two apart.
Charlie leans forward with George in his lap and starts moving a baby toy in front of George so he can grab it. George starts giggling and reaching for the toy.
“Will it be a girl or boy?” Percy asks, his interest peaked.
“We’re not sure yet. The spell to tell only works after the first trimester, so we’ll have to wait a bit. I’m almost positive it will be a girl though,” Molly tells him.
“Treemester, what’s that?” Percy asks.
“When a person is pregnant there’s three stages, each stage is a trimester. The first trimester is like the first stage,” Molly tells him. Percy thinks about it for a bit before nodding.
Arthur looks at Charlie who is still playing with George. He hasn’t said anything yet which is weird. Every time Molly’s gotten pregnant he’s had something to say, usually just expressing his excitement to have another sibling, but now he’s quiet. His face scrunched up in thought, and what looks to be slight annoyance.
Molly answers the questions Percy has, while Arthur watches Charlie and Bill. Bill also doesn’t look very pleased either, he looks tired if Arthur had to take a guess. Finally, Charlie sighs.
“Mum, why are you having another kid?” He asks. Charlie doesn’t understand why their parents are having another child, it doesn’t seem wise. Bill will be leaving for Hogwarts in a little more than a year, that means their mother will only have Charlie and Percy to help. Percy is also too young to take care of a baby, he should be able to be a kid.
“Because I wanted another one, why?” That’s really the only reason? She just wanted another child, that doesn’t sound like a good reason. Charlie looks at her for a moment before sighing, there’s nothing he can do.
“No reason, just wondering.”
Later that night as they head to bed Bill pulls Charlie to the side. They go to Bill's room and Bill sits Charlie down. He checks outside his room before closing the door and turning to Charlie.
“Charlie, I wanted to ask for something from you,” Bill says.
“Yeah, what do you need?” Charlie asks.
Bill bites his lower lip before answering. “Can, er, can you take care of the sibling Mum is pregnant with when it’s born? I know it’s a lot to ask, but I have my hands full with the twins. They’re still really young and take a lot of work, and I’m really tired of taking care of our siblings,” Bill admits.
Charlie stares at him for a bit before responding. It’s true, the twins do take a lot of work, and Bill and their Mum have been the main caretakers of them. Charlie also helps with them, but not nearly as much as Bill. It would only be fair to be the main helper for the baby to be born.
“I’ll help with the baby. I get not wanting to take care of another child on top of the twins. I’ll also help and pay more attention to Perc, ” Charlie tells Bill as he gets up. “I’m going to bed now, goodnight,” he says as he walks past Bill to leave.
“Thank you Char, goodnight and sleep well,” Bill replies.
— March 1, 1980
The Weasley boys sit outside their parents room patiently. Bill and Charlie converse quietly while they both have a twin in their laps. Percy plays with his stuffy, making it do tricks. Time felt like it was lethargic from the speed it was going. Charlie couldn’t help but be worried about his mum, he really hoped it was going smoothly.
“Do you think Mum’s alright?” Charlie finally asks, his gaze falling back to the door their parents and healer are behind.
“Yeah, it takes forever every time. Dad will be out soon though, I think,” Bill responds.
“Dada,” George babbles.
“Yup, Dada will be out soon,” Bill says in response.
“What taking them so long?” Percy asks, concern on his face.
“Well, it’s a lot of things,” Charlie says. He’s a curious kid so he had followed Molly around for possibly a week at some point asking questions about birth and pregnancy. He didn’t understand a lot of it, but he has a good idea of what’s happening.
“Like what?” Percy prompts.
“Well…” how does he explain? “They have to make sure Ronald is alright, and it will take a while for him to arrive. They also will give Mum and Dad some time to meet him before we’re allowed in,” Charlie explains.
Percy eyes him for a moment before sighing dramatically. “Okayyyy, I guess that makes sense.”
After a bit Charlie feels the silencing charm fall, and they can hear people moving around beyond the door. He mainly just hears the healer because their parents must be whispering. Finally, the door slowly opens.
“Come and meet your new baby brother,” the man, who is the healer, says with a smile. He opens the door for them and Charlie and Bill get up with the twins perched on their hips. Percy follows and rushes in.
Percy pushes past the healer which makes the man laugh and bounds for their mother. “Mum!” He yells as he jumps onto the bed and hugs her.
“Hello Percy, how are you my sweet boy?” She asks, her red hair plastered to her face. She’s slightly pale and looks exhausted.
“I’m good, you took ages to let us in though,” he pouts.
“I’m sorry,” she says with a chuckle. “However, you’re here now, aren’t you?”
“I guesss,” he says.
Bill and Charlie walk over to her bed and place the twins on the bed with her. She smiles and scoops them up into her arms. She starts cooing to them and they laugh and pull at her hair.
Charlie’s eyes fall to Arthur who is standing to the side with a bundle in his arms. He’s smiling down at Ron and whispering to him. Ron is holding his finger and Arthur is wiggling it around. Arthur seems to feel Charlie’s gaze on him and looks up to meet his eyes.
Arthur gives him a smile before speaking. “Care to meet your baby brother, Charlie?” He asks softly.
Charlie nods and walks forward. He doesn’t notice, but Bill and Molly are watching him with fondness. Bill usually is the first sibling to hold a new member of the family as he’s the oldest, but he’s letting Charlie this time.
When Charlie is close enough Arthur slowly lowers the bundle into Charlie’s outstretched arms. Charlie takes the baby and adjusts so his brother is close to his chest and he can look at his face. He’s a good weight Charlie notes as he holds him.
The moment his brother's eyes open and meet Charlie's, his breath catches. Bright blue eyes stare back at him and they’re magnificent. Charlie reaches a tentative hand forward and strokes the baby’s face. The baby grabs his finger which makes Charlie smile broadly.
“You’re quite cute, did you know that?” Charlie whispers. It feels like if he talks too loudly it will ruin the moment.
Ronald stares back open mouthed which makes a laugh leave Charlie. It’s really adorable and funny seeing the very clueless expression of a baby staring back at you. He doesn’t know why, but this feels different from the other times he’s met his siblings. He remembers meeting Percy and the twins, but it never felt like this. This, this feels special somehow.
He leans forward slightly and presses a kiss to his brother's forehead which makes the baby look ever more confused. The baby stares at him like he’s not sure what to think. Everything he does makes Charlie smile or laugh, he doesn’t know why.
“It’s nice to meet you Ron, I can’t wait for the days ahead of us,” Charlie whispers so only Ron can hear him. He knows his brother won’t remember this, but he can’t seem to care. He’s just overwhelmed with the joy of meeting his brother.
“I want to hold him too!” Percy’s voice sounds from behind him. Charlie laughs at Percy’s forwardness and turns to hand Ron to Percy.
The twins look at Ron like he’s the oddest thing they’ve ever met. Bill helps Percy hold Ron and Percy expresses how their brother looks odd. Bill looks at the baby with fondness, but it’s not the kind of fondness he felt towards the twins when they were born. He loves his new brother, but he really doesn’t want to help with him as he did the twins.
They stay like that a while, all perched around Molly on her bed holding and talking to Ronald. Arthur sits next to his wife and speaks to her. Charlie is the one that ends up holding Ronald after everyone gets their turn.
In the corner of the room sits a beautiful swallow. The Bringer of Souls preens as it watches the souls of the family bind the new member to them, but it feels pride in knowing it reunited two souls. The souls of Charlie and Ronald Weasley have a soul bond so strong it reaches beyond the realms.
However, it clicks its beak disapprovingly at the weak bond the mother is forming with her new child. Disappointment floods her soul as it sings the song of mourning. The swallow already knows this is not the last soul it will be bringing to this family.
— March 4, 1980
“Charlie!” Molly yells from the kitchen.
“Yes Mum?” He asks as he pokes his head in. Molly has Ron on her hip as she cooks and she looks exhausted.
She relaxes at the sight of him. “Honey, do you mind taking Ronald for a bit? I need to finish lunch and then I would like a nap. Can you help? Bill is already entertaining the twins,” she says.
“Yeah, I’ll take him,” Charlie says with a smile.
He walks up and Molly places his brother in his arms. He cradles the baby against his chest, and walks out. Molly tells him thank you on his way out. He wanders over to the table where he was helping Percy colour something in.
“How does this look?” Percy asks as he holds his page up for Charlie to see.
The colours are all scribbled in and not in between the lines, but he must admit that Percy has a good colour palette. “It’s amazing, Perc,” he tells him.
He takes a seat next to Percy and puts Ron against his chest. Percy and him get started on a new colouring page and work together on it. It's a unicorn and the outline moves when you flap the paper. Percy claims the unicorn and makes Charlie do the background which he’s fine with.
Eventually Bill comes in with the twins stumbling after him. He’s laughing and urging them on. The twins had started walking months ago, still not the best though. Bill was actually the one to see it.
“No Char Char! Don’t use that colour! That colour is boring!” Percy yells at him.
“What’s wrong with brown?” Charlie asks.
“It’s the colour of dirt and poop! It’s not fun! Don’t use it!” Percy claims which just makes Charlie laugh.
“Fine, fine I won’t use it,” he says as he puts the colour back.
“How dare you use such a colour on Percy’s masterpiece,” Bill says with a smile.
Charlie sticks his tongue out at Bill which just makes him laugh. Charlie starts colouring again, but apparently he’s doing it all wrong so Percy makes him stop helping.
Molly comes out quickly after and gives them their lunch. They all thank her and dig in. She sits and eats with them and feeds Ron once she’s done. As Charlie watches he sees sadness in her eyes as she stares at the new member. He frowns, but doesn’t say anything. When she finishes she hands the baby off to him and goes to have a nap.
He knew she wanted a girl, but he didn’t know Ron being a boy would be so devastating to her…
～★♪★～
***The Potters***
—November 1980
The Potters have been in hiding for a little over a year now and Lily has begun to grow restless. She hates being so helpless and unable to go and fight for her family’s safety. She wants so desperately to go and hunt down Voldemort and his followers. Lily has never been one to sit back and watch, but now that’s all she can do.
It’s late one night and all she can do is toss and turn, unable to fall asleep. She needs to do something, anything. Finally she sits up and swings her feet off of the bed and stares out into the star streaked sky. She feels trapped in this cottage, like a caged animal. She takes a few calming breaths, but it doesn’t work.
She wants to scream at the top of her lungs and claw at the walls. The grief and guilt seep deep into her bones and all she can do is feel it. Dorcas and Marlene are dead, and she couldn’t do anything about it. Remus is off dealing with full moons on his own and she can’t even treat his wounds. Severus is off with the Death Eaters doing god knows what for a psycho Dark Lord.
She feels so useless. She has to get out of this house, do something, anything. She wants to help in the fight against the man that threatens her son's life. She wants to help track down his followers again, but here she sits doing nothing. Well, not nothing, but not enough either.
She takes a look at James and her resolution resolves. She loves her boys, but she can’t just stand back as innocent souls are taken ruthlessly. She takes one last breath before she gets up and grabs her clothes and sneaks out of the room to get dressed.
With black jeans, a hoodie, mask and tactical boots on she makes towards the front door, her wand secure in its holster attached to her thigh. A gun sits on the hip opposite her wand. With one last look back into the dark house she unlocks the door and disappears into the night.
Luckily for Lily, she knows who her target is and she put a tracking charm on them long ago. The thing the Order won’t tell you is that out of all of its members, Lily is the last one you want to be targeted by. She is the only Hit Witch in the Order, and the one who isn’t above using muggle weapons.
When she flicks her wand and mutters her target's name, coordinates pop up in red letters and she smiles before Disapparating a few Kilometres away from their position. She lands in a small muggle town and she immediately gets a sickly feeling. She swallows it down and begins to quietly make her way towards her target.
Lily wanders into the outskirts of the town and hears her before she sees her. Lily disappears into the undergrowth and follows the voices. Finally she catches sight of three figures. She hides behind a large Oak and peers around the trunk. Among them is Desdamona Andilet, the woman who killed Marlene and her parents. The other two are also well known Death Eaters.
The idiots hadn’t put up anything, no spells or wards, they were completely exposed. Lily slips the gun out of its hollister and cocks it, the silencing spell on it rendering it completely silent. She aims the gun around the tree and lets the barrel fall into line with Andilet’s head. She takes a steadying breath to steal herself then pulls the trigger.
As the bullet makes contact with her skull she’s already aiming at the next one, ‘bang’ she says in her head as the next bullet cuts through the air. The third one has sadly had enough time to throw up a shield, not like it matters though, almost no Wixen have shields powerful enough to block bullets.
The man makes eye contact with her and her evergreen eyes bore into his wide fearful ones. She winks at him before pulling the trigger one last time. As the bullet hits the shield the shield shatters into a waterfall of magic, his blood and brain matter splattering onto the grass covered earth with his allies.
She lowers the barrel and steps out from behind the tree and makes her way towards the bodies. She squats down next to them and digs through their pockets. She finds their wands and promptly snaps each one, and the money she finds she pockets. Once she’s done looting them she stands up and stretches, her joints popping satisfyingly.
Suddenly she hears a rustling and she looks up into the trees. A raven stares back at her, its void eyes trained on her, head tilted. She doesn’t know why she does what she does, but she holds her arm out to the bird and clicks her tongue. The bird must understand her as it glides down and lands lightly on her offered arm.
The moment they make contact she feels the hum of magic radiating off of the creature, and hears quiet whispers in her mind. “What are you?” She asks the raven softly as she moves to scratch its neck with her other hand. The raven tilts its head before opening its beak and speaking. “The Seeker of Souls,” it croaks harshly.
“Seeker of Souls, ay? Well then, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Seeker,” she says with a smile. She knows this bird isn’t a normal raven, she can feel it in her magic. Her mind whispers to her that she shouldn’t welcome the creature so openly, but she ignores it.
She doesn’t fear being seeked by a bird made seemingly of magic. How does she know it’s her it’s looking for? She doesn’t know, it’s as if she’s known since the moment she laid eyes on it. As she looks into its eyes again she realises they aren’t voids, but look like they were made of space itself.
The raven moves up her arm till they are beak to nose. She stares into its universe eyes and it into her poison ivy ones. The bird then stands taller and taps its beak to her forehead before flapping its wings and disappearing into the shadows of the night. She smiles softly at where it disappeared before turning on the spot and Disapparating to Godric's Hollow.
The next morning she gets a letter from Dumbledore warning her against such reckless conduct and instructing her to stay hidden. She simply burns the paper with a wordless, wandless incindo and James looks at her with curiosity. She just shakes her head and he goes back to bottle feeding Harry.
—October 31, 1981
It was Halloween and Lily and James were celebrating in their own way. Lily had baked some sweets and James had carved pumpkins with Harry’s “help” which was mostly just the boy giggling and grabbing at James. In typical James fashion he had put some pumpkin guts on the boy's nose which made the baby scrunch up his nose in disgust.
Around 17:00 Lily got suspicious as her husband had gotten quiet which was never a good sign. He may have matured a bit from his school days, but that doesn’t mean he stopped being a troublemaker. With Harry in her arms she stalked up the stairs and saw their bedroom door cracked. Thankfully Harry was a pretty quiet baby so James wouldn’t hear them coming.
She peered in and saw her husband swishing his wand around making the furniture float and rotating it then using a sticking charm to stick them to the roof. As he moved the dresser a drawer slid open and she saw the clothes charmed into a horrific shade of orange. The man was snickering to himself and she couldn’t help the fond smile that creeped up her lips.
She feels with her magic and feels the hum of a silencing charm, but no detection ones. He never did learn how to be completely competent in that regard. She points her wand at the door hinges and mutters a silencing charm. She quietly pushes the door open and sneaks up on him. The moment she passes the charm he put up the sound of chuckles and moving furniture fill her ears.
She stands right behind him and leans her head forward so it’s right next to his ear, holding her breath so he doesn’t feel it against his neck. “Boo,” she whispers and the man jumps a solid foot off the ground, a scream escaping his lips. She laughs at the sound and starts to laugh harder when he almost drops the night stand he’s levitating.
“¡Puta madre! You almost gave me a heart attack, Lils!” The man yells with his hand to his chest and a relieved expression on his face. Harry sits in her arms giggling at his father as he holds tight to a lock of her red hair.
“Well, maybe you should get better hearing if you don’t want to be snuck up on,” she says with a playful smile.
“Better hearing?! You’re practically a cat! I could have the ears of an elephant and you’d still find a way to sneak up on me! You and your Hit Witch skills,” he says with a pout.
“I mean, we could test your theory,” she smirks as she takes her wand out of its holster.
James’ eyes blow wide as his eyes fall to her wand. “Lily, what are you doi—” before he finishes his sentence she casts the spell and his ears change to those of an elephant.
Lily almost doubles over at the sight from laughing, tears collecting in her eyes as he begins to wiggle his new ears. Harry giggles and James lets out a booming laugh after he looks into the mirror on the wall.
“I think these new ears are quite charming, wouldn’t you say Prongslet?” He asks with a smirk, Harry just stares at him with a smile.
“Oh, so dashing you are indeed,” Lily forces out between laughter.
Her husband strides over and takes Harry out of her arms and the boy reaches for his ear and tugs. James chuckles and starts moving them and winces when Harry’s grip tightens.
“Ow, ow, ow, are we sure his Animagus form won’t be a gorilla with this grip,” he says with a pained expression.
“Maybe if you didn’t move them he wouldn’t be gripping them so tightly,” she says with a sniff as her laughter had finally died down.
“Please get him off, he’s going to tear my ear off,” James whines.
Lily sighs and coaxes her son into releasing his father. She then straightens up and looks into those chocolate eyes. Her expression softens at the love swimming in them and leans forward to place a soft kiss on his nose which makes him smile like an idiot.
“Now… do you think I could get my ears back?” He asks as he wiggles his eyebrows.
“Hm, I’ll think about it,” Lily chuckles as he goes back to pouting.
After some time she finally casts the counter curse on him with the agreement he puts the furniture back in its rightful place. As the time passes they eventually move down to the sitting room and begin to relax. They pull out some toys for Harry and they sit on the floor with him.
Today Peter was supposed to visit, but he hasn’t come yet. She doesn’t think he will, but James keeps looking up at the hallway with a frown. He always worries that his friends are hurt or injured, especially when they’re late or no show. Once the clock hits 21:00 they decide to turn in for the night.
James gets up and stretches before he throws his wand on the couch and leans over to pick Harry up. She watches with soft eyes and he throws Harry up into the air and the boy giggles. She stands as well, and James leans over to place a soft kiss to her lips. She smiles against his lips and kisses him back.
Suddenly they hear a knock on the door and James looks up with a smile, Peter must be here. He hands Harry over to her and heads to the door, she’s right behind him. She wonders quietly why he’s so late.
However, as she turns the corner she sees her husband standing rigidly in front of the open door. She sees the tall figure of Voldemort and her blood runs cold, Peter betrayed them. “¡Lily, toma a Harry y corre! {Lily, take Harry and run}” James suddenly yells and Lily moves without hesitation.
Lily sprints back into the sitting room towards the kitchen where the back door is. The sound of the madman’s cackles, and James begging him to leave Harry alone following them. However, his pleas fall on deaf ears and she hears Voldemort cast followed by the sound of a body falling.
James, I’m so sorry. She fights back tears as she slams the door open and dashes out into the garden. She stops at a bush at the end of the yard and places Harry softly into it. When she looks up she sees a raven staring at her from the trees and desperation claws at her.
“Seeker,” she calls to it, “please protect my son.” The raven stares at her for a second before it hops off the branch and soars down to the bush Harry lies in. “Thank you,” she whispers before she turns around in time to see the door get blasted off its hinges and the cloaked figure of Voldemort stepping out into the garden.
“Voldemort,” she snarls as the man’s lips curl up into a cruel smile.
“If you just stand aside I’ll let you leave with your life,” he tells her diplomatically. She feels the urge to beg him to leave her and her baby alone, but she knows it will do nothing.
“Over. My. Dead. Body,” she spits.
“Very well, Avada Kadavra,” Voldemort says before he sends the Killing Curse flying towards her.
She snaps her wand out of her holster and slashes it through the air, the earth in front of her rising to make a barrier. You may not be able to block the Killing Curse with magic, but the same is not true for physical barriers. The curse crashes into the earth causing dirt to cascade.
“Cleaver witch,” Voldemort croons. “You would do great things by my side, why don’t you join me? You could climb up the ladder in no time and become my second in command. I’ll happily ignore your blood for your skill.”
“And let you kill my everything? I don’t need you for power, I already have it,” she says coolly, her wand never leaving him.
“‘My everything’, how sweet. However, if you don’t step aside you’ll both die, isn’t one better than both?” He says as he cocks his head to the side.
Lily lets out a harsh laugh, the sound of it tearing through the night brutally. “Who do you take me for? A coward? I’ll die the same way I came into this world; to the screams of another and covered in blood,” she says before she casts a spell at Voldemort.
The wizard flicks up a shield lazily, and smirks as the spell sizzles out of existence. However, Lily doesn’t feel trapped or at a disadvantage. She’s been stuck in this damned cottage for two years, she learned a thing or two, many of which the Order would disapprove of. She doesn’t care however, magic doesn’t have morals, people do.
He retaliates, but she isn’t surprised. Suddenly they’re in a battle, but Lily doesn't dodge once. She is the only thing standing between her fawn and a madman, and she’ll be damned if she gives him an opportunity to kill her child. So instead she shields, dispels and redirects.
Her wand work is clean and elegant, it’s something Professor Flitwick has always admired about her. However, it doesn’t even begin to compare to Voldemorts. The man is skilled and precise, and if she hadn’t spent the last two years refining her skills she would not be able to stand her ground.
However, she’s not blind. She can see that Voldemort is barely trying, she can feel her magic depleting. She can see he is gaining the upper hand, and she will lose, but the question is how does she end this? His shield is strong, but not once has he used a shield that can withstand the darkest of magic.
She can use dark magic and throw him off, but it’d only work for a few seconds before he’ll adapt to the change. Along with that she’ll need to lower her shield and take on a more offensive stance in the fight like he is. That will leave her more open for injury, but will also give her the room to get a fatal hit in.
As the cries of a baby fill the air she takes a deep breath. Out of the two lives sitting in the balance between life and death she’ll happily walk the tightrope and risk her life if only to take Voldemort with her and leave Harry alive. She steals herself and drops the shield, a spell cutting through her flesh.
The encounter doesn’t last more than a few seconds, but to her it feels like eternity. Her eyes fall to his chest on instinct and her hand follows her line of sight. She ignores the warm blood dripping down her face and torso, blocking out the blaring pain. The rest of her magic collects in her wand hand and she focuses it. When she opens her lips and whispers the spell it’s as soft as a song in the wind.
“Avada Kedavra,” the flash of green light reminds her of Harry’s eyes and she can’t help the small smile that kisses her face. Voldemort looks into her ivy eyes with his own wide crimson ones, and she just continues to smile.
The spell blasts through his shield like a bullet as he gives her the same look as so many before him. However, instead of the usual sight of blood as the bullet hits, the lights in his eyes only dim before his muscles relax and he falls. It’s a kind death, one free of pain. It’s the only mercy the man has ever bestowed upon his victims.
She drops her wand and rushes to her crying baby. When she gets to the bush she lifts him up and cradles him to her chest as she collapses into the soft grass. She buries her face in his hair and starts to cry, her whole body trembling.
“Shhh, it’s okay— it’s okay Harry,” she gasps between sobs. “You’re alive, oh god you’re alive. My baby, my baby, my baby. I’m so sorry, I— I should’ve done more. I am so so sorry, Harry, I’ve failed you,” she cries.
The guilt rips through her as she shushes her boy. Why did she listen to Dumbledore? Why did she just stand back till the threat came to them? How did she not see the signs? Why hadn’t she checked on Peter more? Why did she let James face Voldemort without a wand?
“Oh God, James,” she whispers as realisation crashes into her.
She stumbles to her feet and clutches Harry tight as she runs across the yard back to the house. She rounds the corner into the hallway and her breath catches as her legs give out beneath her. She slides down the wall till she’s sitting on the ground centimetres away from the unmoving form of James Potter.
“Jamie,” she says as a sob rips through her body. “Please Jamie, let this be a prank. Get up, please, you can’t be gone, not yet. I said get up, please James. GET UP!” She screams, but he doesn’t so much as twitch.
Harry begins to wail again, but she can’t find it in herself to care. She slides across the floor till she’s sitting right next to his limp body. She places a shaking hand on his shoulder, the other clutching her fawn. His coffee eyes stare unseeing at the ceiling, the sight makes something break inside her.
“JAMES! James! Jamie, please wake up,” she chokes as she shakes his body, his head falling to the side. “You promised me! On our wedding day, you promised to never leave me! Why? Why is this our fate? We were supposed to grow old together.”
She drops her head onto his chest and clutches his shirt as tears stream down her face. “This is all my fault, all of it. I’m sorry my love, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything, I should have kept you safe.”
His chest stays unmoving and she screams, the thing a broken sound. It pierces the air and echos down the street from the open door, drowning out the wails of a baby. Outside, people gather and the scream makes the hair on their necks stand, shivers run down their spines.
“You’re gone, you’re truly gone,” she says brokenhearted. “My Jamie, my Prongs is gone. The holder of my heart, dead. I— I’m sorry my sun, this is all my fault,” she says through a tight throat.
She lets go of his shirt to stroke Harry’s hair, her forehead still pressed to James’ unbeating heart. She can still feel the steady trickle of blood on her skin, the feeling of dizziness growing more prominent as the seconds tick by. She knows she should go try and stop the bleeding, but she’s afraid to leave her suns side.
Suddenly the breath of feathers grazes her cheek and she turns her head to the side to find the raven with universe eyes staring back at her. It stands on the ground beside her, and only now does she realise just how big it is. The bird moves and nudges her arm that is holding Harry, the boy is still crying but it’s softened with time.
“Protect,” it croaks before turning and flying away.
Something resolves in her and she pushes herself away from James’ corpse and stands. She holds Harry closer and locks her knees when her vision swims. Finally she walks into the kitchen and places Harry in his high chair before scouring the cabinets.
She finds what she needs and walks over to the sink. She pulls her jumper off over her head and winces as it catches on the torn skin. She grits her teeth as she pours a disinfectant potion into her wounds and it begins to burn. She then takes a deep breath and bites her tongue before she reaches into the deepest wounds and looks for the major veins she’s bleeding out from. After identified she shoves gauze into the wounds against the veins.
Usually you could just use a spell to do this, but these wounds were caused by dark spells and healing spells won’t work on them. They’ll have to heal naturally, but till she can stitch herself up this will have to do. She also can’t use healing or medical spells at the moment because her wand is currently lying out in the grass near the corpse of a psychopath.
As she’s putting a bandage on the cut on her face she hears someone coming towards the house. “Prongs! Lily!” Sirius Black yells desperately before she hears him come to a halt in the entryway.
“Sirius!” She yells from her spot in the kitchen, before downing a bottle of Blood Replenishment Potion.
She hears him start to move again, this time his steps are quick. He bursts into the kitchen and when she lays eyes on him she can see the grief, shock and anger written across his face.
“Thank Merlin you two are alive,” he says in relief, but then his expression turns concerned at the sight of her. “You’re hurt,” he says.
“Indeed. You came just in time though. I need you to watch Harry while I go after a rat,” she says, fury dancing in her eyes.
“In that condition?! No, I’ll be getting revenge,” Sirius growls.
Lily scoffs at his stupidity. “You’re a Black and our supposed Secret Keeper. Do you think you going after Peter is a good idea? I may be injured but he got my husband killed and put my son in danger, he’s mine.”
Something in her eyes must make Sirius back down. “Fine, but come back alive and in one piece,” he says reluctantly.
She nods as she flicks her wrist and her wand comes flying back to her. She puts it back in its holster and heads to the stairs to go get her hoodie, mask and gun. When she lays eyes on the clothes charmed orange she feels tears run down her face and angrily wipes them away before using the counter charm.
——
Of course Peter was taking refuge in London, she wasn’t even surprised. It made it to where no one could attack him with magic, which wasn’t a bad idea, if it wasn’t for Lily surviving, that is. The rat probably didn't think she’d make it out alive, but she’d make sure he felt the full fallout of his actions.
She prowled the streets of London, following his magical trace to a street corner. He sat on a bench fidgeting, his brown eyes flickering from side to side. No matter what people thought, Peter was smart, he knew someone would be coming after him. She also had a feeling he thought it’d be Sirius and already had a plan set in stone to frame him. He was the Marauders plan editor after all, he had a trick or two up his sleeve.
She leaned against the wall of a building, the shadows of the night hiding her. All she had to do was take aim and shoot, but that would be a mercy. The man had endangered her fawn and killed her sun, she would make sure he suffered to the highest degree. She only had to get a hold of him.
The woman with fiery red hair and lethal eyes pushes off the wall and steps forward into the street lights. The rat's eyes immediately flick to her and she watches as he goes three shades paler. She must be a sight with dried blood smeared across her face and matted into her hair. Half her face may be covered, but a lot of the blood was still noticeable.
The man twitches like he’s about to transform and make a run for it. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you Peter,” she calls out, her voice emotionless and cold. “Even if you run I’ll find you again, there’s not a corner of this world that you can hide from me in. So, as a friend to a traitor I advise you to do as I say while I’m feeling generous.”
He freezes and watches with fear filled eyes as she stalks closer to him. His eyes dash around looking for an exit and she sees when he spots one, but she keeps her eyes trained on him. He then looks up at her and begins to spout nonsense about how he didn’t have a choice, she ignores him.
When she steps directly in front of him she can see the hair starting to form along his body as he prepares to transform. She pulls out her gun and presses it to his temple as she cocks it and his body goes rigid.
“Peter, do you think I care for your excuses?” She asks as she leans forward to whisper in his ear. “My husband is dead because of you, you killed your friend of a decade. You almost killed Harry and you seriously injured me. I was there for you when no one else was and Harry is a child. There is not an excuse you can make that will validate your actions.”
“I— I didn’t kill James, the Dark Lord did,” Peter cries out. “I’m not t-the o-one who attacked you.”
“But you’re the one who sold us,” she states. “You’re the one who sent him to our home, so it is all your fault. James’ blood is on your hands and you’re the reason Harry will grow up without a father.”
She sees his eyes dart again and she releases her magic. The magic turns sharp and cuts his Achilles tendons to make him unable to run in rat and human form. The man opens his mouth to scream but her magic immediately gags him. He stares at her with watering eyes, his eyes widening with dawning horror.
“You know you could have ran, asked for help, stood your ground, but instead you decided to be a coward. We would’ve helped you my dear Wormtail,” she says as she cups his face with her free hand. “Me, James, Remus, Sirius, Dumbledore even, but you didn’t ask. You know, your lord offered me a position in his Death Eater ranks, said I could step away unharmed in exchange for Harry’s life. However, I revoked him and used my body as a shield between him and Harry. You on the other hand sold your friends and their one year old son for your life. You made your choice my lovely Pete, and I’ll make sure you pay for it,” she croons.
She takes the gun away from his temple and he lets out a relieved sigh before it turns into cries of pain as she shoots him in both thighs and shoulders. She may not be able to kill him, but she can make sure he’s rendered completely useless. Besides, he deserves to be in pain for his sins. When he looks to meet her eyes he flinches at the coldness.
She puts the gun away and looks around to make sure no one’s watching. When she’s positive no muggles are around she takes her wand out and casts the Patronus spell. She thinks of Harry and the beautiful doe forms and bows low to her. She smiles fondly before giving it a message.
“Go to Albus Dumbledore and tell him: Peter Pettigrew has been caught and is at coordinates *****. He was our Secret Keeper and sold us,” when she finishes the doe nods before prancing away and disappeared into the night
She waits till she hears the sound of Apparition to turn away from Peter. Her eyes meet those of Kingsley Shacklebolt. She nods at him before turning on the spot and Disapperating back to Harry.