Happily Ever After

Jenny Marlik was the kind of person who loved to help people. Directing them, informing them, talking and sympathising with them. She was proud to be a receptionist for the local hospital. And she was well on her way in her studies to becoming a nurse. Simply put, Jenny was a people person. So when a small battered looking boy crept inside the front door, a gurgling bundle in his arms, Jenny's heart broke.

He summoned up all his nerves and slowly walked through the doors. His eyes darted from side to side and he held the little newborn closer. He was cold, dirty, hurt, scared and hungry. And the baby had been whimpering for food for a while now. The ratty stained blanket he'd tucked round her was no real protection from the weather, nor was the old robe that he'd wrapped round his own naked body. He needed help, but suddenly he was unsure if he wanted it. This place was huge, and there were far too many people staring at him. He shook his head and closed his eyes, taking a big breath. His little girl needed help. He looked towards the big desk and started walking towards it. The woman behind it met him half way.

'Hello there, my name is Jenny'.

He stared as she knelt down to his level and gave him a smile. Giving a quick glance to the baby he made a decision.

'I need some help please' he whispered.

Jenny's heart was aching at the display of bravery. She carefully stood up and nodded.

'I'll call a nurse for you. Why don't you come and sit with me until one arrives. You can tell me who this little one is and where you came from'.

She waited patiently as he thought about it, then smiled as he nodded and followed her behind the desk, where she offered him a comfy seat. Around her people were giving the little boy looks of horror, shock and pity. Another member of staff quickly rushed off and came back a few minutes later with a bottle of warm milk for the baby and a cup for the boy. Jenny offered to feed the tiny girl but the boy shook his head and carefully positioned the baby and held the bottle to her lips. She drank greedily.

'So then sweetie, who might this little cutie be?' Jenny asked as one of her colleagues offered to call a nurse. The baby wasn't properly positioned and the boy was a little unsure, but she was impressed at him taking on the responsibility for the little one. She gave him some advice on how to feed a baby and he seemed to eagerly listen and do as she said.

He squirmed slightly. He didn't think anyone would believe him if he said he was the one to give birth to the child barely a day ago. For one thing he was only ten years old, and a boy. So before he came in, he'd made up a story.

'A lady…there…there was screaming and there was blood and the baby came out. The lady fell asleep and I tried to wake her up but I couldn't. I…I had to leave her' he whispered.

Those who heard the boy had to look away as they wiped their eyes. Jenny included.

'I see. Do you know where you were when you were with this lady?'

He whimpered.

'Bad men. Daddy gave me to a bad man and he hurt me in his bedroom. Then he moved me to a dirty room and let other people hurt me. I told them to stop but they didn't' he whispered.

Jenny heart froze. Hurt him in a bedroom! Good lord please don't say they raped the boy! And his father gave the boy to the men!

'What is your name sweetie? And what age are you?'

He blushed slightly and looked away, concentrating on his baby.

'T…ten, I think, and I don't have a name'.

His parents didn't want him, told him he was a mistake, already had his older brother as an heir, so why should they want to care enough to give him a name? He didn't really understand what they meant, couldn't understand why the man he should have called dad kept telling his mum that it was her fault, and that if she hadn't been such a wanderer this would never have happened. He only knew his age because he overheard them talking about him, about how they should just be rid of him.

When he was younger, for a short time, he had thought his name was It. They always called him It. Dipsy take It away from here! It is in the room again, Dipsy remove It! Dipsy was the House Elf that served the family. The Elf said he was a nuisance, always was. Only when he started teaching himself to read did he realise It wasn't a real name. The man, or Lord Voldemort, as he liked to call himself, called him Whore, Slut or Boy. Most of the men called him the same. The woman, Bellatrix, liked to call him Little Kitty when she tortured him. The only person who didn't hurt him, or call him bad names, was a man called Severus. Voldemort always called in Severus to heal the Boy if they'd been too rough. No one realised that he had a baby growing inside him, not even him. Not until the night where he gave birth. He thought he was dying. He was telling the truth when he said there was screaming and lots of blood. But when the baby finally came out, when he realised it was a baby that was causing the cramps for all those months, something inside him snapped. He just knew his daughter would be killed if they stayed. That thought gave his magic the strength it needed to break the chain around his neck and heal him enough to get up. He'd picked up his baby, grabbed the blanket and pulled at the door until, surprisingly, it opened. He crept through the house until he found a way out and, stealing a robe, he rushed out the door and ran. He passed a sort of shield around the house, a ward, but it didn't stop him. Neither did the sound of the people who'd woken up in the house. He ran and ran and ran, ignoring his own blinding pain and that he was dripping blood from giving birth. He ran until he reached a muggle town, and the hospital within it.

Jenny's reply was interrupted by a nurse arriving. A few weeks later the little boy, who they'd named Julian due to his vivid jewel like turquoise eyes, and the little girl he'd named Evangeline, because she was his little angel, were healed and placed into a foster home, which barely a month later became their new home.

An investigation was launched to find out where the children had come from. A couple of eagle eyed, magic born detectives who'd spoken with the boy had realised he was unconsciously using magic to help his healing, and thus had discreetly taken their search to the wizarding world. A bit of pressing revealed the boy, on a few rare occasions, was forced to call his parents Master and Lady Heartright. A search into the names found that the two, and their eldest son, had been killed a few years prior, and the rumour was they had been deatheaters. A bit more pressing had Julian tell them that both his parents handed him to You-Know-Who. Upon realising that it was the Dark Lord himself that abused the boy, the detectives had the case dropped. Julian was sadly just another victim of You-Know-Who and his deatheaters, and there was little they could do about it except add it to the ever growing pile of cases caused by the Dark Lord.

They couldn't find a thing about the woman who died giving birth. Eventually they were forced to drop the case entirely.

Jenny smiled behind her desk. Mr and Mrs Meadow seemed the perfect couple to adopt the little boy and the baby who had wormed their way into the hearts of everyone in the hospital.