Author's Note: The world of Harry Potter or the characters are not mine and were not created by me. They are the soul property of J. K. Rowling. Adam and Lenora are all mine, and I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I did writing it.

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Heart Song

by Sweet Nightingale

Prologue

The woman lay on the birthing table, sweat pouring down her face as she bore down. This was her first child – or children, as she was having twins. Soon, they would enter the world.

"That's it, Lisa! One more push!" The voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. She had never been in so much pain in her life, physical, that is. Mental pain was another story, for she wasn't new to loss and suffering.

She grunted and rose up, her husband supporting her as she cried out. Her muscles and insides seared with pain as she felt something slip from between her legs. "It's a girl," she heard the voice say. "One down, one more to go."

"Gerald! I can't do this," the woman said, tears running down her cheeks. She was laughing and crying at the same time, overjoyed when she heard her new baby girl cry. Even that joy couldn't mask how tired she felt. It had turned out to be a rough labor and delivery, her labor lasting over twenty-four hours. She had been pushing for what seemed like an eternity when finally, the first baby had emerged. Now, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

"You can, Lisa. Don't quit on me," the man said. He stood by the woman's bed, a damp cloth in his hand, and was wiping his wife's sweat soaked face. His large hand shook slightly as he ministered to her while his dark eyes shone with an exhausted excitement at knowing he would soon have two little daughters.

The tiny woman whimpered and brushed away a few damp tendrils of golden blond hair that clung to her face. She was about to protest again when she felt another contraction grip her. Her husband supported her as once again she cried out, her flushed face screwing up in concentration and effort as she pushed.

She was rewarded moments later when another slippery baby made her entrance into the world. Lisa laid her head back, the tears now flowing freely from her blue eyes when a tiny bellow of protest greeted her ears. The first baby was being cleaned up while the second waved her tiny fists in the air, telling everyone in her baby way that she wasn't sure she liked this new and different world that she had been thrust into. It was cold, and she didn't have her twin curled up beside her anymore.

"Are they alright?" she asked weakly and through a veil of tears.

"They're fine, Lisa." The face that belonged to the voice she'd been hearing now came into view. He was a kindly looking black haired man who sported green hospital robes, the skull and crossbones symbol pointing out his status as a Healer.

"Michael," Lisa gasped. "I…I…are…?"

Michael's brown eyes twinkled as he squeezed Lisa's hand. The two of them had been colleagues for some time now, and he'd felt honored that she'd asked him to deliver her twins. He would never feed her lines of bullshit and would always be straight forward with her. "Lisa, sweetie, relax. Your twins are beautiful, healthy little girls. They're perfect."

"I…want to…see them." She was still panting from the exertion she'd gone through. Her pale face now took on a flushed look while sweat still trickled down her skin.

Lisa began to cry softly as a baby was placed in each arm. Gerald was grinning from ear to ear as he looked down at his tiny daughters, who had now stopped crying. He swore they both seemed to have intelligent blue eyes, and even now, he could see the resemblance they shared with both of their parents. They both looked similar to Lisa in many ways, but they had Gerald's slightly turned up nose and chin. A light down of fuzz, which had evidence of becoming ringlets, was visible on their heads while tiny fingers were curled up in little fists. "They're so beautiful," she repeated, her eyes studying them intently.

Gerald could only nod as emotion overwhelmed him. He and Lisa were practically newlyweds, and now, they had two beautiful twin babies. They were starting the family they had always wanted. The babies were healthy and Lisa was alright. Tears leaked from his dark eyes as he kissed her tenderly, their tears mingling together, symbolizing the love they felt for one another.

"Mom and Dad…and James and Lily…"

"They'll come in soon."

"Gerald, I love you," Lisa whispered through a constricted throat, never dreaming that life could be so good to her again.

"I love you too…and I love our angels. They're our angels…both of them."

The next month passed in bliss for the little family as they began to get used to their new life. Sure, there were sleepless nights, sometimes incessant crying, and some postpartum depression, but that was to be expected. Lisa loved being a mother, and she knew her twins were special, even in the Wizarding World. Even by magical standards, she knew that her twins would one day be powerful witches, for they possessed a rare gift.

"Lenora has a slight cold," Lisa informed her husband one night when he'd come home from the evening classes he was taking to further his education. He wanted to be a Transfiguration teacher one day, and he was well on his way to reaching his goal. "I'm not worried very much. I've seen this before in other babies, but I think I'll have Michael look her over."

Chuckling, Gerald kissed the top of Lisa's head. Having a baby, let alone twins, had been an adjustment for both of them, but as a whole, they were both loving it. Lisa was a very attentive, doting mother and was always seeing to Lenora and Carrie's needs. His wife was a gifted Healer and would have told anyone that a little cold was really nothing to worry about, but as a new mother, she worried about her babies. "I'm sure Lenora is fine, but if it will make you feel better, then go ahead."

"It will," Lisa said without hesitation.

As it turned out, Lenora's cold became worse during the night, and the new parents brought her to the hospital due to a high fever and raspy breathing. Lisa's mouth was set in a worried line as Michael examined the baby.

"We should keep her for observation for twenty-four hours," Michael informed the couple. "It's a chest cold, but since Lenora is a young infant and a twin, she should be watched more carefully. She is more susceptible to illnesses because of her smaller size from not being carried to term."

"I understand," Lisa replied, her voice carrying a strained quality to it. "She…"

"She'll be alright." Michael's voice was calm and compassionate. "Both Lenora and Carrie are healthy and strong. I don't see anything to contradict that."

The sound of an emergency alarm awoke Lisa from her doze. Her head had been resting on Gerald's shoulder while they'd sat next to Lenora's crib to watch over her. Their friends Lily and James Potter, who'd come for a visit, was keeping an eye on little Carrie in the waiting room. Somehow, Lisa knew without a doubt that the alarm was about Lenora. A spell had been cast over the baby so that a warning bell would ring at the desk where the Healers filed paperwork if the baby's condition changed for the worst. With a whimper of dread, Lisa checked Lenora only to find that her breathing had ceased and she lay dreadfully still.

"Help me!" the new mother shrieked as fingers of iced ran down her spine.

Everything seemed to swirl around her as Healers came from all directions. Lisa was normally a level headed Healer herself, but she was reduced to being a hysterical mother at the sight of her baby daughter lying so unnaturally still.

She clung to Gerald as despair and desperation took over her senses. "No! Not my baby! Please, Merlin, not my baby!" She repeated these words, uttering a heartrending plea for the life of her daughter, who was barely a month old.

"I'm so sorry," came a kind voice from far away, dragging Lisa back from the void of her own terror. "We did all we could, but—"

It took a few seconds for it to register in Lisa's brain. Lenora was dead! Her beautiful baby girl was gone, taken away in the blink of an eye. Her mouth formed the beginnings of a scream while her breath came in ragged gasps, her lungs feeling as though they were going to cave in. Then, she did shriek, the sound of immeasurable grief welling up from her very core and exploding in geysers of incredulity and desolation. "No! No, no, nooo!" Her knees buckled, and she would have hit the floor if Gerald's arms weren't about her.

Gerald looked at the Healer in perplexed astonishment before the horror of it reached him. "Lenora!" he choked out as his grief-ridden wife sobbed brokenheartedly in his arms. He bowed his head, burying his face in his wife's golden hair as his own wracking sobs took him over. "Not Lenora! No! No!"

The next thing Lisa knew was that she was lying down somewhere. Yes, this had been a nightmare and she was in bed, and Lenora and Carrie were safely tucked in. She would have sincerely believed it except for the nagging feeling of wrongness she felt. Groaning, she opened her eyes to see blurred visions of faces swimming above her. "No," she squeaked. "Please, no!"

"Shhh, love. You fainted," Gerald said in a hoarse voice filled with sorrow.

"Lenora," Lisa whispered before she broke down.

"I know, I know," Lily crooned as she reached for her friend. "Such a horrible tragedy. I'm so, so sorry." What else could she say? Mere words were hardly enough to comfort a mother who'd just been left bereft. Instead, she reached for Lisa and pulled her into a comforting, sister-like embrace as both of them began to weep copiously.

"Why? Why?" Lisa asked, unable to articulate anything else.

"I don't know," Lily sobbed as she rocked her friend.

The sound of a clearing throat brought them up short. "I'm sorry to interrupt you at a time like this, but...do you want to see her?" A tall woman entered the room, looking a bit uncertain. Lisa pulled away from Lily's embrace and shot up from the hospital bed she'd been placed on to confront the woman. "What do yu mean?" She looked slightly demented as her burning eyes met the brown ones of the taller Healer.

"I mean, do you want to see your baby before…arrangements are made?" The woman was trying to be as kind, but to Lisa in her present state of mine, she sounded cold. This particular Healer was someone Lisa wasn't familiar with, and that seemed to add fuel to the fire.

Lisa tried to voice a reply, but by now, she was incapable of speech. Yes." It was Gerald who had uttered that simple word.

Lisa felt as though she was in some sort of twilight zone as Lenora's limp little body was gently placed into her arms. With trembling fingers, the young mother unwrapped the blanket, revealing the still face of her baby. Shuddering, she emitted an anguished cry as more tears slid down her face.

"She had a cold, just a simple cold," Lisa sobbed helplessly. Everything was so wrong, so terribly wrong. "Why? Oh Merlin, why?"

Gerald was unable to speak, for his own grief was just as intense. He didn't know what to do for Lisa or for himself as he sat next to her, tears streaking his own face. He was a burly man, and so it was unnerving to see such a big man in this state.

"Carrie! Where is Carrie?" She couldn't lose another baby! Lisa began to panic when she realized that Carrie wasn't in sight or earshot.

"Your Mum has her in the waiting room," Lily said miserably. She cried softly while she sat on the other side of her best friend, James at his wife's side with his arm around her.

Lisa nodded, but the others wondered how much was registering. Lisa was a mess and rightfully so. Although tears continued to pour, her eyes seemed to take on a glazed look as she rocked with the still baby in her arms. This seemed to go on for hours until Gerald finally convinced his wife to consign the body over to be prepared for – Merlin, help him - for burial.

"You have done well, Augusta," the voice of Lucius Malfoy permeated the secret room as a woman, clad all in black, unwrapped a package she had brought to him. His cold, grey eyes looked at what lay inside the box, and his lips twisted into a sadistic smile. "One more for the Dark Lord."

The woman named Augusta nodded. "I had a couple of close calls smuggling the baby out of the hospital. It's a good thing I smoothed it over."

"It's a good thing you followed the plan," Lucius said crisply. "You were simply the delivery person, so to speak. It's the brains behind this operation that make all the difference."

Augusta grunted but didn't protest. She didn't like Malfoy one iota. Oh sure, he was a fine looking man with his white blond hair falling down his back and his piercing eyes so intense, but he had the personality of a blowfly. "Well, O, great one, how are we supposed to revive her?"

Lucius's twisted smile widened. "That, my dear, you will have to witness for yourself. Even I fall short of explaining this kind of magic involved."

A sharp knock sounded on the door of the dark, secret room – three short, staccato raps, two shorter ones, and then the three staccato raps repeated. "Enter!"

Another woman, clad only in black with a dark hood over her head, sauntered into the room. There were no windows, and sitting on a table in a far corner, a single candle burned. The room resembled a bomb shelter, for it consisted of only the necessities, a bed, chest of drawers, a small table, and a bathroom. It was also soundproof and concealed due to it being heavily charmed.

"Ah, Marlene, did you have any difficulty?"

"No, Lucius," the woman replied in a soft voice. She was shorter in stature than Augusta. Her figure was hidden beneath the bulky size of the robes and cloak, it was impossible to tell what color her hair was, her face was obscured by the hood, but blue eyes were clearly visible.

"Good." Lucius stood up to tower over Marlene. He stooped to kiss her lips for a moment and then straightened up almost as quickly as he'd begun. "We must accomplish this before the Dark Lord arrives."

"Of course." Marlene went to the box to pick up the lifeless baby. "She is a pretty little thing, is she not?"

"She's a fine specimen," Lucius said without enthusiasm. He breathed a silent sigh of relief that he and Narcissa would be having a nanny to look after their future children. He could never imagine himself changing diapers, and the thought of Narcissa breast feeding revolted him. He wanted a son, but he wanted a son for all the wrong reasons. "Onward."

Marlene held the baby securely and peered down into her face. She began to sing in a haunting voice, forming words in a strange language that Lucius did not know or understand. This was singing unlike anything he'd ever heard of, and it made him nervous. Strange things always happened when this woman sang – strange things for even the Wizarding World.

The air in the room began to move, picking up speed and causing the temperature in the dreary room to drop markedly. The candle winked out, and the bedcovers flew up from the bed and landed in a heap on the floor. Stranger yet was the reaction from the baby, who had been "dead" moments before. The baby's skin began to pink up with color, and her little hands and feet moved ever so slightly. There was a little gasp as her chest rose as she attempted to breathe normally. Right before Lucius's eyes, the baby slowly came to life as Marlene's enchantingly haunting song went on and on.

Lucius Malfoy watched, unnerved at what was happening before him. Bloody hell! He loved the Dark Arts, but this was taking things a bit too far. Marlene had called herself a Siren and had explained that she could do magic with singing alone. Well, she'd been right about that. She had literally brought this baby back to life right before him. Of course, Lucius knew that somehow the baby wasn't truly dead, just in a sort of deep state of suspended animation that made her appear dead. This was all part of the plan, and he'd been assigned to head up the mission, a mission that he would undertake for years to come.

The baby began to cry softly, and Marlene comforted her, crooning softly to her. "I know, I know. You've been through so much and you didn't ask for any of it. But where you're going, you'll have a much better life. You will be alright."

Lucius snorted with derision and shook his head. Honestly, women were just unbelievable sometimes. Of course, he liked his women, and Merlin knew he'd had a lot of them, even after he and Narcissa Black had exchanged their wedding vows. Everyone knew that in the position he was in, extramarital affairs were forgiven. After all, nobody in their circle married for love; they only married for status.

The same knock Marlene had used was repeated, bringing LUcius back form his reverie. "Enter!"

A man and woman came through the door and nodded at Lucius. Both of them had hard faces that looked as though a smile never crossed them. The man was beefy, sporting a brown beard and mustache that matched his brown hair. Hard brown eyes surveyed his surroundings while the woman headed straight for Marlene and the baby. The woman was largely built, and her mousy brown hair was styled in a way that was supposed to make her look elegant. However, it was quite unbecoming. Her hair was swept up in a chignon, but it made her neck look nonexistent.

"Ralph and Gertrude Evans, this is your new daughter," Lucius said without ceremony.

"Excellent," Ralph said, barely looking at the baby. Gertrude would see to that.

"The money," Lucius reminded them.

Wordlessly, Ralph extracted a bag from a charmed briefcase and handed it to Lucius. "You can count it, but it's all there."

Lucius grunted, for money truly wasn't an object for him. He had more than enough to get by, but being the crook he was, he never turned down any that came his way.

"Her name was Lenora," Marlene told the couple.

"Such a big name for such a tiny little baby," Gertrude replied. "She will make a fine addition to our family." She said this, unsmiling, as she examined Lenora close up. "No defects from the outside. You say her mental faculties are alright?"

"The baby is perfect," Marlene confirmed. She didn't like this couple, and she hoped that the baby wouldn't suffer much hardship at their hands. Oh, she would have every physical thing she wanted or needed, for the Evans couple was very wealthy. What she might lack in love, she would receive in other areas. Of course, Marlene was in no position to feel sorry for the infant. She had her own life and her own duties to attend to. There was no room in her life to take on someone else's problem.

"We are much obliged, Malfoy," Ralph Evans said, his voice emotionless.

Lucius nodded coldy and then saw his visitors out. Ah yes. He would not be seeing the last of Lenora. Once everyone left, he began to howl with maniacal laughter. Oh, he knew just what Lenora was, but he didn't spill it to those people. They would find out in their own time. Another mission accomplished.

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