Author's note:
Dear readers,
thanks for taking the time to read my new story. This story bunny wouldn't leave my mind for some days now, so I have decided to give it a try and write a fanfiction about it. I love to read Tonks x Severus stories and I like the possibilities non-canon stories offer to fanfiction writers. I hope that you will like my story outline. As I'm a non-native English speaker, constructive criticism regarding my grammar and/or spelling mistakes or my writing style is always appreciated. I try to improve my writing skills due to writing stories, so everything will be helpful. Therefore, just leave me a review or PM with some pointers of what I should improve. Positive reviews or PMs are naturally also appreciated ;-). As this is a "work-in-progress" and I post right after writing a chapter, I don't know where this story idea takes me and when I will finish it. Hence, any suggestions for my plot, character development or writing topics are greatly appreciated. If you come up with something, please leave me a review or PM.
I will try to post new chapters weekly, although I'm currently quite busy with my other three stories. I guess it would have been more intelligent of me to finish them first, but this plot bunny somehow wouldn't leave me alone. Sorry ;).
This story is rated M because it contains adult language, themes, and suggestions. It is non-canon and plays in the Golden Trios Hogwarts time, especially in Book 6 and 7 and will orientate itself on some canon plotlines.
I don't own any characters, they all belong to J.K. Rowling.
Have a nice Sunday and a Merry Christmas,
Vani12
Prologue – Dreams can come true!
Fertility Clinic, London, August 1996
Nymphadora Tonks chewed nervously on her neon-pink nails, looking around anxiously in the white surgery. She lounged in the comfortable dark-grey leather armchair, faced the bright oak shelf with tomes on Healing Spells, Fertility Potions, Fertility Enchantments, and Magical Pregnancies and tried to focus her gaze on the adorable pictures of newborn babies. Her usually bubblegum-pink hair was muted into a normal dark red and her knees shook in anticipation. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be alright. Your magical in-vitro fertilization worked. You are pregnant now and will be welcoming a beautiful baby in nine months. Your dreams will come true," a hopeful voice encouraged her in her mind. "Don't kid yourself, Nymphadora. It didn't work. All your Fertility Charms, hormone therapy, and balanced diet were for naught. You will never be a mum," an evilly-giggling voice taunted her in her thoughts.
Tonks tried to stay positive. "I feel different. My magical signature feels slightly off. I must be pregnant," she tried to reason with herself. Three months ago, she had decided to undergo in-vitro fertilization in a specialized magical St. Mungo's institute. The magical community had opened up to Muggle sciences a decade ago, and especially their methods to enable couples with fertility issues or infertile couples to welcome children into their lives were in high demand, for many pure-blooded couples couldn't conceive healthy and magically powerful babies without the help of science. Their genes were too inbred so that the sperm quality of some men was bad or some women weren't able to produce fertile eggs. The biggest issue was that many pure-blooded wives couldn't carry their fetuses to term and suffered physically and emotionally painful miscarriages. The birthing rate was dropping down rapidly, and if the fertility issues and infertility in the magical community would continue at this rate, their community would slowly die out.
Thence, gynecologists at St. Mungo's had researched methods of how to combine Muggle sciences with magical sciences to increase the chances of healthy magical offsprings. One result of this inter-science cooperation was the foundation of the St. Mungo's Fertility Clinic that offered in-vitro fertilization, hormone therapy, Fertility Charms and Potions, and even surrogacy. Naturally, it had been a long fight to establish this clinic, for many witches and wizards distrusted Muggle sciences and regarded it as "unnatural" to get pregnant on a scientific way. Merlin, surrogacy was still a frowned-upon topic, for all witches and wizards knew that the fetus shared a magical blood system with his surrogate. Hence, although the egg might be extracted from its genetically mum and inseminated with the sperm of her husband, the fetus shared some magical traits with his surrogate mum. Sure, the newborn baby was genetically the child of the egg cell donor and the sperm cell donor, but it still formed a close magically bond with its surrogate.
Another frowned-upon topic was the in-vitro fertilization with anonymous sperm cells and egg cells, for the wizarding community was fiercely protective of their bloodlines and heritage. Hence, a child who didn't know their biological parents was a huge issue. Therefore, the Wizengamot ruled that every sperm or egg donor had to disclose their personal information on a sheet that would be revealed to their children if they wanted to know about their roots at seventeen. Naturally, they wouldn't have a right to inherit anything from their biological parents, but they could try to establish a relationship with them. Many married couples bypassed this issue by blood-adopting their newborn babies regardless of their genetic heritage. Thence, they were acknowledged as their heirs and heiresses and even shared some physical traits with them. Although this blood ritual was considered to be dark magic and potentially risky for the health of the newborns, many couples took the risk to guarantee that their child was a true member of their bloodline.
Tonks scoffed loudly. "Count on the pure-bloods to risk the health of their newborn child to pass their bloodline on. Merlin, they are really some first-class bigoted fools who are obsessed with blood-purity. Naturally, a pure-blooded married couple only chose eggs or sperm from a pure-blood and only trusted a pure-blooded witch to birth their child. This whole talk about "toujours pur" really pisses me off," she thought enraged. "Sure, I have also selected my sperm donation based on certain criteria but I have focused on securing a close match between his magical energies and mine, for matching magical energies increases the chances for a healthy fetus and reduces the risk of miscarriages. According to my gynecologist, matching magical energies often exist between Half-bloods, Pure-bloods and Muggle-borns and Half-bloods and Muggle-borns. Hence, selecting a pure-blood sperm donation could possibly damage your fetus' health. But most Pure-bloods seem to trust in the effectiveness of the Prenatal Potions, Protection Spells and Baby-Monitoring Charms. Hell, they mostly really are some crazy racists."
Tonks looked at the baby pictures to calm herself. She had always wanted to be a mum and dreamed of a happy marriage, three cute babies and a nice home. Naturally, she had originally planned to meet the man of her dreams, marry him after a whirlwind romance and welcome some children into their lives in her thirties, for she wanted to establish her career as an Auror first, make some money and experience magical adventures around the world before she settled down. But Lord Voldemort's return, the building war and the rising death toll of her close friends and family changed everything. Naturally, she knew that she was needed as an Auror in the fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters and that pregnancy would interfere with her work for the Order and her Auror duties but she wanted to become a mum before it was too late.
Some of her friends had scolded her for her selfishness and reckless actions, for you shouldn't bring children into a world of war, death, and darkness in their opinion. Her close female friend Xenia Green had even called her a self-obsessed lunatic, for she wouldn't be able to juggle the duties of a single mum, Auror, and Order of the Phoenix member. Her mum, Andromeda Black Tonks, had argued with her to postpone her pregnancy for two years because they would have surely won the war till then, survived it and lived in a magical world of peace, happiness, and hopes. But Tonks had whipped away their doubts and argued that she felt deep inside her bones that this year was the last chance for her to become a mum before everything only went darker. Thankfully, her best female friend Adrienne Fairchild understood her decision and vowed to support her in her pregnancy and as a single mum. Merlin, even her parents had vowed to babysit her toddler and support her financially.
Although she knew that her dad, Ted Tonks, had been the driving force behind their declaration of support, she was grateful for their help. For she knew that baby clothes, supplies and toys were extremely expensive and that she couldn't quit her work as an Auror. Sure, she would have to reduce her workload during her pregnancy and thereafter, for she wanted to be a hands-on mum, but she couldn't imagine quitting her Auror duties entirely. She would have to work in office duty and reduce her dangerous field trips, but she aimed to work half-time again six months after the birth of her child. Hell, she knew that Alastor Moody would call her out for her selfish actions and ban her to office duty during her whole pregnancy, but she couldn't sacrifice her dreams to this hellish war.
Merlin, she knew that she was fairly young with twenty-three years and that people in the Order would undoubtedly judge her negatively for her decision to get pregnant by a stranger and raise a child alone in war times, but she longed to be a mum above everything. Sure, she would have to make a testament right after the birth of her child, citing her parents and her best female friend Adrienne Fairchild as the guardians of them and passing her whole possessions on to them, but Tonks couldn't wait to experience unconditional love and nurture a tiny little being into a brilliant adorable toddler. Naturally, she realized that her life as a single mum would be hard, especially considering the rising power of Voldemort and his followers. She could possibly die and leave an orphan behind. Thence, she vowed to keep herself out of dangerous situations, foolish reckless actions, and unorganized attack plans. She could help the Order to win this war by spying on Death Eaters in different disguises thanks to her Metamorphogus' abilities, by developing defense strategies and attack plans thanks to her Auror training and by inventing spells to break security wards without setting off an alarm thanks to her supreme Charms skills.
She could still be a useful asset to the Order as a pregnant woman. Besides that, during the First War, many female Order members had been pregnant and fought on the sidelines. Sure, they had mostly had the support of a loving husband during their pregnancy and baby duty years, but she was a strong woman and could handle her Auror duties, a baby and her Order work. She wasn't all alone, for she had the support of her parents and friends.
Two and a half months ago, she had started with her hormone therapy, balanced diet, and Fertility Potions. Her first check-up with her gynecologist, Dr. Helena Rosenstein, had shown that she was a healthy woman who should have no problems to conceive and birth healthy children. But she needed to take some Fertility Potions to heighten her chances for a fast easy-going pregnancy and up her diet to battle her vitamin and iron deficiency.
Two months ago, she had selected her sperm donor, for she was currently single, not into one-night stands and didn't want to burden some man with an unwanted child. She hadn't any romantic love-interests at the moment and decided to use the St. Mungo's sperm bank to become a mum. The sperm bank had been founded a decade ago, used an anonymous sperm donor index and guaranteed to only use high-quality sperm and the newest scientific methods. There sperm donor index was a magically organized register that included sperm from Pure-bloods, Half-bloods and Muggle-borns aged 18 to 50. Although it was anonymous, it gave away basic personal information like physical traits, age, profession, and hobbies. And it also needed to hand out an identity verifying sheet that disclosed the identity of the sperm donor to his children, if they wanted to get to know him at seventeen. The donors could also decide how often their sperm could be used and if they wanted to be informed of a successful in-vitro fertilization and birth.
They were categorized according to the dominant element in their magical signature. All magical cores were composed by a unique mix of the four magical energies air, water, fire, and aether. According to their highest percentages, all witches and wizards were categorized as "Air magicians", "Water magicians", "Fire magicians" or "Aether magicians". A closely matching magical signature between the sexes was considered to secure healthy and magically powerful children. Thence, the fertility clinic scanned the magical signature of their female patients and tried to find an optimal match for them in their sperm bank. A list with four "best matches" was magically produced in every selection process. It ranked the donors according to their matching magical energies.
Dr. Rosenstein had presented Tonks with her own list of best-suited sperm donors two months ago. Her magical core was composed to 60% of fire, 20% of aether, 15% of air and 5% of water. She had decided to select her perfect match, for she wanted to increase the chances of a healthy child. Thence, she didn't select her baby's biological dad according to his physical traits, blood status or profession. She had only considered to select him based on his physical traits, profession, and hobbies if two possible donors had a tie according to their magical compatibility with her. Luckily for her, her case was pretty distinct because her best-suited sperm donor had a 90% compatibility with her magical energies whereas the other three were only a 70%, 60%, and 50% match. Hence, Tonks selected sperm donor 5799. His information sheet disclosed that he was a dark-haired brown-eyed pale Half-blood in his thirties who worked in the education sector, loved Muggle English literature and sketching and was interested in Potions, Spellcrafting, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He only permitted the sperm bank to use his sperm for one successful in-vitro fertilization and birth and wanted to be informed about the birth of his child.
Three weeks ago, Dr. Rosenstein had extracted four egg cells from her, mixed them with the conditioned seminal fluid of donor 5799 in a nutritive fluid and put them in an incubator. She selected three fertilized egg cells under the microscope, grew them in an incubator for four days and inserted two embryos into her uterus. Today, roughly two weeks after the transfer, she would find out if she was pregnant. And thanks to her Virtual-Ultrasound Spell, Dr. Rosenstein would even be able to detect how many fetuses she carried.
Tonks thoughts were interrupted by the tall blonde blue-eyed Dr. Rosenstein who walked with an encouraging smile into her surgery. "Good morning, Miss Tonks. I hope that you are feeling well. Have you experienced any complaints or spotting after our procedure? Or is there anything else wrong?" She asked in a friendly voice, looking into her indigo eyes and studying her patient records with one eye. Tonks returned her smile and answered, "Good morning to you too, Dr. Rosenstein. I haven't had any physical complaints after my procedure, although I must confess that my Metamorphogus abilities seem slightly different. I can't change my hairs into my signature bubblegum-pink, only in a more muted dark red. Do you think that this is a positive sign?" She questioned with a hopeful sparkle in her eyes.
Dr. Rosenstein beamed at her and exclaimed in an optimistic-sounding voice. "It could very well be a first sign for the early stages of pregnancy. Although magical pregnancies of Metamorphoguses are very rare and I haven't had a Metamorphogus patient before, I have studied some tomes about the effects of pregnancies on metamorphogic abilities and learned that they can clog them to some degree. You won't be able to change your hair and eye color as well as facial features into extremes during your pregnancy. And after your second trimester, you should stop your changing altogether, for it could possibly affect the fetus negatively or initiate a premature birth. I will hand you out a brochure about Metamorphogus pregnancies later on if you are indeed pregnant. But let's check this out first." She motioned for Tonks to step up from her armchair and to lie down on her examination table.
Tonks took a deep breath, jumped up from her armchair and lounged herself on the examination table with a tense knot inside of her stomach. "The next few minutes could change my life forever. I hope that my dream will come true and I'm an expectant mum," she thought in an emotional tone. Dr. Rosenstein waved her wand above her abdomen and uttered the Visual-Ultrasound Spell. A huge ultrasound picture of her uterus appeared above them. Tonks couldn't discern anything, but Dr. Rosenstein zoomed in on her uterus, encircled two tiny spots with her wand and beamed at her. "Congratulations, Miss Tonks. You are pregnant. The two encircled little blisters are your two fetuses. You are expecting twins. You can't hear their heartbeats today, but you will be able to hear them on your next appointment."
Tonks didn't hear her next words, for she was too overwhelmed by her emotions. She shed some happy tears and caressed her abdomen softly. "It worked, I'm really pregnant. I'm so happy. Although twins will be double trouble, I vow to love you unconditionally. You are going to be two adorable happy munchkins. Thank you Muggle sciences. Thank you sperm donor 5799. I'm going to be a mum in nine months," she thought touched. Sometimes dreams could really come true.