hp ;; whispers of silence

WHISPERS FILLED the small room as they all waited, anxious to meet the newborns their friend was now giving birth to.

A family doctor, Mr. Sullivan, traveled into the small room with the first newborn in his arms. He smiled as she cooed and he handed her to her father.

"Your firstborn, born July 16, 1980, at 11:21 pm. Per the mother's request, the fathers will name their respective child." Dr. Sullivan looked at Erik Clark, father of the firstborn daughter.

"Emily," Erik whispered as he looked at his child lovingly, "Emily Clark."

At that moment, the lights flickered and the doctor sighed.

"The next one is on its way. I'll return shortly."

"You should be more excited, Sev! You're gonna be a father." Lily smiled brightly as she squeezed her best friend, shaking his gloomy figure. Her bumped belly was a reminder that she was also expecting her own newborn soon.

"It's rare for children to be born so premature. I wonder..."

"Oh, light up Snivel- Severus." Watching Lily give him a squinted look, James was quick to fix the name he had stuck with since their first year.

"Reggy, are you ok? You don't look so good." Sirius shook his brother's shoulder and frowned. Regulus was deep in thought and kept muttering to himself, a habit he had picked up in his third year.

"The second child, born at 11:40 pm. Would you like to hold her?" Seeing his spaced-off expression, Dr. Sullivan was cautious to hand off the child.

But as soon as Regulus saw her jet-black eyes, he was entranced and he wondered. He wondered how such a small, pure, wonderful being could ever exist in such a world. He held his child gently; he was afraid if he made a wrong move, the child would be ripped from his grasp forever and for eternity.

The baby reached for him and he let her hold his finger, tears welling in his eyes as he laughed when she cooed. She grabbed hold of his finger as if she would never let him go. Regulus didn't mind though.

With his child around, it was as if the world was suddenly brighter. Everything made sense and he knew — he knew he'd do anything for this little bundle of joy in his arms.

"Come on Reggie, you've gotta be tougher than that. Not even 5 minutes out of the womb and this little one has already got you wrapped around her fingers."

"She's so precious..." Regulus whispered.

"Yeah. Just wait till she's pulling on your hair and keeping you up way past noon." Sirius laughed but stood next to his brother, admiring the near carbon-copy of his brother. "Merlin, she looks just like you. What're you gonna name her?"

Regulus thought for a moment before answering, "Heaven. Heaven Black."

"Excuse me! Could I have Remus Lupin and Severus Snape?" A nurse ran into the room.

The two men stood simultaneously, worry written on their faces as they crossed the small distance to the nurse.

"What's wrong?!" Remus questioned.

"Is Sam ok? Are the babies- are they ok?" Severus was right behind him.

"It's- well- can- I just need you guys on standby. Mrs. Samantha is going to need an emergency C-section and we'll have to hand off the babies quickly." The nurse handed every father a paper.

"Here. This is their birth certificate; it just needs the father's signature and the godparent's. I'm not sure if you and the mother had previous talks about this but take all the time you need."

"Is- will Samantha..."

"The misses will be fine — at least I hope. She's refused the use of magic during her labor. I hope you're ready to see your children."

The nurse had a weird look as she entered the next room. As they watched her go, they wondered if this was just a common thing or if it was something abnormal.

"Moony? Moony, are you ok?" Severus looked over to the man beside him. Remus looked caught off guard and was staring at the floor.

Severus felt he should off some advice, or frankly anything to help this situation, but even he had no idea what to do. He just focused on the room in front of him and tried to find signs of if anything went wrong.

It wasn't until exactly seventeen minutes later, twelve minutes after Remus had been given his baby and when screams and cries filled the air, that Severus was sure something had happened.

Something had gone wrong with his baby... so why was it now so quiet?

• • • • •
august 25, 1981

"Lily! It's so nice to see you!" Samantha hugged her friend as James walked past them, setting 1-year-old Harry on the floor next to the others.

"BaBa!" The silver-haired baby boy made his way across the carpet, throwing a block in Harry's direction.

"I asked Narcissa if Draco could come over for the day. Naturally, she was not able to stay for too long. We'll be returning Draco to his home tomorrow."

"Understandable. Sev, are you okay?"

Severus knelt near the babies, keeping his eyes on the boy with brown eyes and messy hair. When he fell forward more than he should, Severus was quick to make sure he was upright.

"He's not a glass doll. He'll be fine, Sevy." Regulus, who had just come from the kitchen, came into the room and handed Samantha a drink. She nodded in thanks as Severus stood up.

"What if he falls again? Or- or he could get hit by one of the blocks. Or what if-"

"Alright! Let's go; we're gonna get you out of the house so your child can finally breathe without you worrying if the air is clean enough."

"W-wait!" Severus yelped when Regulus took hold of his arm, dragging him to the exit.

"Leo giggles a lot and he likes it when others giggle back; it reassures him! And he hates warm milk, only cold! Oh- and- and he hates the broccoli baby food, it makes him throw up, and the cabbage one makes him gag but his favorite is the carrots because-"

Once Severus and Regulus walked out the door, Lily and Sam began to giggle.

"Is he like that all the time?! So- so-"

"Overprotective? Yeah... but it's fine. At least each of them is loved all the same."

"Really? Taking care of four children must be tiring," Lily sighs as she falls back onto the couch, "my feet are exhausted and I only have one."

"Yeah. He knows just as much about them as I do. Alex cries in the middle of the night if she's not sleeping between Emily and Heaven but both Emily and Leo like sleeping on the edge of the pile.

Heaven cries if she isn't next to Leo. Leo only likes carrots and Heaven will eat practically anything Leo eats, but Emily hates whatever Leo likes and Alex only likes cabbage."

"Woah! That's a lot to take it." Lily laughed.

As the women exchanged baby stories, the six babies on the ground moved around. Smurfs played on a TV in front of them.

"BaBa!" Draco banged two blocks together, repeating the same name over and over again.

"Yayayayayayayayayayaya!" Leo tries his best to sing along to whatever Draco is saying, banging his hands on the carpet. Harry looks around in curiosity as he just sits with his finger in his mouth.

"BaBa!" Draco reached towards Harry, tugging on the small batch of curly hair.

"DraDraDraDraDraDra..." Leo mumbled and stood, wobbling near Harry and Draco.

"Dadadadadadada!" Leo hit the plastic spoon on Draco's head repeatedly, trying to sing along to the theme song of Smurfs.

"Bababababababa!" Draco hit the wooden blocks on the ground, sometimes throwing them at Harry.

Harry grabbed a spoon and threw it at Draco, hitting him on the arm. Alex sang along to Smurfs and Emily moved away from them, trying her best to take a nap. Heaven hit spoons and blocks on the floor randomly. A pop! sounded in the air.

"Hello Mister Snape, Madam Clark, Madam Black, Madam Lupin, Mister Malfoy, and Mister Potter. How are you on this lovely evening?"

Their House Elf stood in front of them, picking up loose blocks that had strayed from their play area. He snapped his fingers and the wooden blocks multiplied. The kids giggled in response.

"Aw, Alistair! Welcome back!" Sam waved at the House Elf, who in turn waved back. He gave her a polite smile before turning back to the children. He draped a blanket over Emily and gave Heaven her sippy cup when she started to cry.

"Alistair's such a big help. Whatever would I do without him?"

"Misses Snape, would you be so kind as to tell me when the last time Mister Snape's bandage was changed?"

"I believe Severus last changed it four hours ago."

"I see," Alistair moved towards Leo and held out his hand to him, "I shall change it just to be sure."

Leo giggled as he grabbed hold of Alistair, wobbling as he did his best to follow him to the kitchen.

"BaBaBaBaBaBaBa!!" Draco yelled louder as he noticed Leo being taken away. Harry started crawling to the kitchen out of curiosity.

"Here you go, Mister Snape. It'll just be a quick moment."

Leo only looked at him and blinked as he carefully removed the tape that held a bandage to his left ear. He took away the bandage and threw it away. Where his ear should be was just a hole.

Birth defect, they called it. Alistair knew it was because they cut his ear off when Samantha had to have an emergency C-section after Leo turned the wrong way.

Even if they tried to fix his ear with magic, there was no guarantee it would work and they had no idea what could go wrong. Samantha had banned them from using magic to try to heal Leo. It's not like he was a broken toy to be fixed.

Alistair put a new bandage on and secured it loosely.

"There you go, mister Snape," Alistair lifted him up and carefully set him back on the floor next to Draco and Harry, "now you're all set."

• • • • •
november 17, 1982

Samantha set the children down on the living room floor, glancing at the men in the living room. Regulus, Severus, and Remus sat on the couch. Evan was nowhere to be seen, seeing as he had refused to come to this meeting and was away on 'business'.

"I suppose you already know why I asked you to come here," she received a nod from each man and she smiled.

"It is time for the children to go away. Before my demise, I want you to take a blood oath. Promise me that you will be there for each other in times of need, so long as you live."

"Sam, we can't-"

"I'm trying to do something to protect my kids!" Samantha raised her voice slightly as tears welled in her eyes. Her calm composure slowly crumbled away and she took a deep breath, wiping away her few tears.

"On the night of my last born's birthdate, the Amaris-Flores curse will take action. You must promise me that until you get my kids back, you will be safe. You will protect each other and yourself until the time comes to get them back."

"Sam, please. Let us take the kids-"

"Promise me." Samantha took out her wand as the men hesitated but eventually agreed. Tied together by their words, Samantha was satisfied as she saw the blood oath take place.

"I chose you guys to be the fathers of my children because I knew you would do anything to protect them. Now I've arranged for the kids to go to a muggle orphanage. They aren't to be interfered with and shall have no recollection or memory of the wizarding world." Samantha glanced at the four children on the floor. "I want them to grow normal, muggle lives. It should be their choice once they turn 18, whether they want to know their heritage or not. Understand?"

The men nodded and Samantha smiled.

"Good. "

Samantha kneeled next to the kids, smiling at them as tears lined her eyes once again.

"Goodbye, my loves. I hope you understand why I'm doing this... and that I love you for all eternity and more." She kissed each of their heads.

"No one will know their whereabouts, only their Keepers. I've arranged for their Keepers to be Narcissa for Leo, Hagrid for Heaven, McGonagall for Alex, and Dumbledore for Emily."

"So I won't be able to see my daughter? Until she's 18?!"

"It's for the best. He-who-must-not-"

"Voldemort can come at me all he wants! He has and he continues to. I've had to fake my own death to escape him. Do you think I'm going to let him come between me and my daughter?" Regulus stood and Samantha shook her head, sighing as she put a hand to her head.

"Calm down, Regulus. I'm sure Sam already has a plan. She's only doing this to protect the kids. You know the prophecy-"

"Don't matter anyway. What's done is done. My children will be safe. I'll make sure of it... if it is the last thing I do."

• • • • •
TO BE CONTINUED