Author's Note: With every chapter, a song plays along. I highly recommend listening to the song posted on my profile (under each chapter's name) while reading each particular chapter.
Many thanks to my beta Justine!
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Today is Lily's Birthday:
"Your daughter did not cry immediately after her birth, Sir. We fear that the child may have swallowed some liquid. As a precaution, she will be monitored in the 72-hour ICU for her own safety."
Samuel Evans was stunned; his nervous habit of tapping his foot suddenly stopped mid-tap as he stared at the nurse in shock.
Petunia drooled.
He didn't notice.
Mouth dry and throat parched, Samuel struggled to reply. "It—wife—Lily—I—"
"Your wife will stay with us too, in case we need to run some tests."
Samuel licked his lips to no avail, feeling the moistness disappear almost immediately after it had arrived. "C—Can I see my child?"
The nurse, dressed in white clothing, pointed to the ward behind him. "She's right in there, Sir. You can look through the window, Sir, just don't go inside."
Before Samuel could manage a "thank you" to the nurse, she click-clacked away through the near-empty hallway, turning the corner and disappearing from sight.
He turned, slowly, painfully, towards the window and scanned the room for his daughter. His eyes stopped over a white tag labelled 'Name: Lily Evans; Gender: Female; Birth Date: January 30th, 1960; Weight: 2.89 kilograms.'
"Look, Petunia," Samuel whispered, carrying his eldest daughter on his hip as he pointed through the window. He kissed her soft cheek tenderly, holding her warm and small hand in his cold, cracked one. "That's Lily, your new sister."
Petunia reached a hand out as if to touch her baby sister through the window; she made an excited gurgling noise as her hand curled into a light fist and she brought it down as fast as she could, smacking her thigh.
Suddenly, quite suddenly, Samuel made eye contact with his youngest daughter, feeling a shock of familiarity hit him as he watched her dark eyes mirror his own.
Lily winked.
He gasped.
"Samuel Evans to Room 325 please...Samuel Evans to Room 325."
Samuel barely heard his name over the loudspeaker, still not quite over his shock. He took one last, adoring look at his younger daughter, and turned to walk to his wife's hospital room, the next words tumbling out of his mouth in a murmur.
"Happy Birthday, Lily."
***
Lily flew into the sky, whisking herself around with laughter of pure glee resounding throughout the skies.
***
Today is Sirius' Birthday:
Orion Black stormed into the dark room and felt a wave of cool air surround his tense body, engulfing his alert mind and causing his dark robes to billow behind him. His feet, recently placed in a potion designed to soften and revive tired feet, shook off custom-made slippers and stepped into plush carpets, slowly sinking into the softness. His critical eyes surveyed the room, watching glass prisms sparkle colorful rainbows onto the ground and create patterns on the curtains. The crescent moon shone through an imported window to create a shadow on the carefully-positioned telescope.
Walburga's screams broke the ethereal silence, and Orion slammed the door shut with a flick of his wand, scoffing at the indecency of the vile noise. He walked to the gold-plated telescope, glancing back once to make sure that the French doors had fully closed.
His nimble fingers flicked the familiar knobs back and forth, until the clear sky studded with roaring balls of fire came into focus. As a rare smile of amazement bloomed across his face, Orion watched for the constellation for which he was named, drawing imaginary lines to connect the stars.
"Orion?" Alphard knocked on the door twice, breathless. Orion stepped quickly from the telescope and smoothed his robes, drawing the curtains open further as if he were looking outside. "Orion--"
"Come in, Alphard." His interruption was curt, swift. Orion did not move to greet the man; his eyes remained fixed upon the dancing prisms. "Have you any news?"
"It's a healthy boy. Orion, we have an heir to the Black name!"
"Very well." Orion allowed himself finally to make eye contact with Alphard, a brief smile flitting across his face. "Make any necessary arrangements to tend to the boy."
"I will tell Kreacher to do so; he is tending to Walburga's late supper now."
"Whose eyes does he have?" Orion asked, his own grey eyes showing the slightest bit of interest. Alphard caught the change of tone in Orion's voice, watching him tap his slender fingers on the windowsill.
"Yours. He seems to have my lovely nose and Walburga's face shape, though." Alphard grinned, despite himself.
Orion nodded, and sensing that the conversation was over, Alphard moved to walk into the hallway.
"Orion," Alphard questioned thoughtfully, turning back from the door, "What will his name be?"
"His name is Sirius, of course." Orion's eyes shifted slowly to meet Alphard's as a grin spread across his face, and even after Alphard had left the room, the smile was still there.
Orion had great expectations for this boy, the heir to the Black name and fortune. He would uphold prestige, become a master at dueling, rise to every occasion of grandeur, and above all, learn to share his father's interest in the stars.
***
Sirius twirled his wand between his fingers as he lay in the soft grass, creating sparks in the dotted sky.
***
Today is Madhuri's Birthday:
Complete silence filled the room, a welcome yet sorrowful change after the hustle and bustle of doctors rushing in to help the struggling mother. Nurses clothed in white aprons slowly slid a clean linen sheet and slid it over the dead body, as hollow pits in the bottom of their stomachs pounded like two steel pans clanging together.
Sounds of sobbing came from the corner, where a man sat hunched over and twisted with pain. He shook his head in remorse, refusing to look up and greet his newborn. With a mute exchange of glances, two nurses brought the man to his feet and helped him out of the room.
"It'll be all right, sir, it'll be all right--"
The father of the newborn collapsed to the glittering floors with a padded thud, his body crumpled in the fetal position. Instantly, cries for help were answered and he was placed onto a stretcher, whisked to the nearest empty room.
The few doctors that remained in the room with the child did not speak as they anxiously looked to the baby girl, the only petal left of a newly blossoming tulip. Silently, one doctor propped her up in his arms, watching her with the powerful emotion that comes with watching a couple die.
"Madhuri, a sweet girl." He paused, allowing the meaning sink in as he looked at her tiny spurts of black hair. "Let's check her vitals."
They checked her five senses, tapping on Madhuri's healthy knees and snapping by her ears. She reacted to having her hand rest on an alphabet block carved from oakwood. Madhuri had already cried upon birth, and her eyesight was—
"She's blind. Oh God, oh God! She's blind!"
***
Madhuri splashed her bare feet around in the thunderstorm, hands rising in tune with the dance of the rain.
***
Today is James' birthday:
"Harold, look—isn't he beautiful?" Annabel smiled softly, gently placing James into his father's arms. She stroked James' rosy cheek, gazing tenderly at the sleeping child. "Happy Birthday, dear."
"Want another one?" Harold joked, rocking James back and forth. Annabel glared at him, swiping her long, greying adobe hair out of her eyes. "O—only joking, love."
"He looks like a perfect mixture of our features, don't you think?" Annabel grinned, repositioning herself in the hospital bed. I'm so glad he has your eyes—mine are plain mud."
"Mud is speckled, dear. With lots of dots and round white things and plants." Harold said absentmindedly, pulling at a stick-straight tuft of hair at the rear of his head. "So it's pretty."
Anna, as Harold had nicknamed her, glowed with the same happiness that had brought them together. She laughed, but quickly sobered at the thought of bringing up a child. "I hope we raise James well."
"I'm sure you will. I have an awful feeling that I'll be the one spoiling him. Besides, I'm sure you'll straighten the boy out if he gets out of hand."
Anna nodded and fell back onto the hospital bed, grinning. Her hands settled behind her head as she relaxed into her own thoughts. Her eyes began to flutter closed, as she thought of all the work she yet had to complete...
***
James grinned, rising to the power of glory.