Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Can't Let Go
June 17, 2023
Teddy Lupin started pacing back and forth. He was nervous. He was in the hospital room with his pregnant wife lying on the bed next to him. Sometime in the next few hours either Dora Selena Lupin or Remus Alexander Lupin would be born. Victoire and he had decided to name their child after one of Teddy's parents, in honor of their sacrifice in the second wizarding war twenty-five years ago. However, they did not know if the baby was a boy or a girl, since they had decided to wait to find out. So here Teddy was, worried about his wife and their baby, pacing back and forth in the hospital room. Had he noticed his wife's irritation, he would have stopped pacing immediately because his wife not only inherited the French temper from her mother, but also the infamous Weasley temper from her father.
"Teddy Remus Lupin!" Victoire's voice rang out, "Stop that incessant pacing this instant! I'm already in enough pain from the labor. You really don't want to annoy me right now."
Teddy immediately stopped, "Sorry, love." He walked over to her bed and grabbed her hand, only to get it almost crushed when another contraction hit Victoire.
After she had squeezed his hand around twenty more times, the Healer came in and examined Victoire.
"It looks like it will only be about another hour, Mrs. Lupin," the Healer told her. Victoire smiled in thanks as the Healer left.
Teddy gently squeezed her hand, "I'm going to go let the others know how long it will be." She nodded and he stood up and left the room.
Stepping into the hallway, Teddy could see and assortment of people, Bill and Fleur Weasley, Victoire's parents, were of course there, along with Victoire's brother and sister. Teddy's grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, was sitting there next to Teddy's Godfather, Harry Potter, and his wife, Ginny, and their children, James, Albus, and Lily. Victoire's grandparents, Arthur and Molly Weasley were chatting quietly with their son Ron and his wife Hermione, while Rose and Hugo, Ron and Hermione's children were arguing in whispers over an article in the Daily Prophet. The rest of the Weasley clan was there too, George and Percy and their respective families, and even Charlie, who had been visiting when Victoire went into labor.
Harry was the first one who noticed that Teddy had come out.
"Is there something wrong, Teddy?" Harry questioned. This got the attention of everyone around him, who looked up to see Teddy standing nervously at the door. He was suddenly bombarded with questions.
"Is Victoire okay?"
"Has the baby been born?"
"Has somezing happened to our daughter?"
"Woah," Teddy exclaimed, "Calm down everyone. Everything is just fine." Everyone quieted to listen to what he had to say. "I just came to tell you that the Healer said it would be about another hour. So you don't have anything to worry—"
"Teddy!" Victoire's yell came from the room behind him, "The baby's coming! Now!"
Teddy quickly turned around and rushed inside, soon followed by some Healers whom Victoire had called for.
Teddy rushed to his wife's side and held her hand as she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. After the Healer washed the baby girl and wrapped her in a pink blanket, she handed her to Victoire. A smile lit up the mother's face.
"Hello there, Dora," she whispered to her baby, "I'm your mummy. And this is your daddy." Victoire looked over to Teddy who was staring at his child with a huge grin on his face. Seeing his anxiousness, Victoire reluctantly handed their baby over to him to hold. Teddy took the child and held his little princess like she was the most precious thing in the world, which, of course, she was.
The Healer quietly exited the room to inform the family of the child's birth, allowing only a few of them to come inside at a time. Bill and Fleur entered first, along with Andromeda and Harry. Fleur, of course, had to hold her granddaughter.
Looking up, Victoire noticed that Teddy's hair had reverted to its original color, black. She knew why, of course. His daughter had just been born with silky black hair.
After everyone had a chance to hold her, Harry asked, "What's her name?"
Victoire looked down at her daughter, who had just opened her eyes to reveal a beautiful dark blue, and replied, "Dora Selena Lupin."
Harry smiled, remembering the fun-loving woman his Godson's child had been named after. "It's perfect."
The four of them left, allowing more family to come in and see the baby. After everyone was able to visit, they left for home, leaving Victoire and Teddy alone with their child.
Victoire looked up at her husband, "We have a child, Teddy. A child. How in the world did we deserve this wonderful baby girl?"
"I don't know, honey," Teddy replied, "but she's ours. And we're going to raise her to be the best person she can possibly be."
"Don't age her too fast, now. I want to enjoy having a beautiful little girl for a while before she turns into a wonderful young woman."
"What's this about her turning into a woman?" Teddy denied, "She'll never turn into a woman. I won't allow it. She'll just have to stay a child forever."
Victoire giggled, "You'll accept it eventually."
"That's doubtful."
Victoire smiled, "Don't worry. She won't be ready for that for many years."
Teddy looked down at the now sleeping baby, "I know."
June 25, 2044
"Are you sure about this, Dora?" Teddy Lupin pleaded to his eldest daughter.
"Yes, dad," she responded, "I'm twenty-one. I'm ready to move away from home." Dora smiled at him, "Besides I'll be with Great-aunt Gabrielle. You don't have to worry about me."
"But, do you really have to train in France? Can't you just train at our ministry?" Teddy complained.
"I already did my training here, remember? Now I need to do some more training in France. As assistant magical ambassador to France, I have to know what it is like to live and work there."
Teddy made one last desperate attempt, "Can't you at least stay another day to say goodbye to the whole family?"
"Dad!" Dora Lupin exclaimed, "I already said goodbye yesterday! We had a feast and everything. Professor Longbottom let us use the Great Hall because there was so many of us, remember?"
Teddy sighed, "Right. I still can't believe Neville became headmaster. Though, he was a hero of the second war with Voldemort."
"Dad, focus."
"Right, sorry," Teddy apologized, "Your brother and sisters are really going to miss you, you know?"
"I know, dad, but I'll come home for the holidays," she smiled at her father.
"Teddy," Victoire Lupin entered the living room, drying her hands on a towel, "Leave our daughter alone. You're just going to have to accept that she's leaving home."
Dora laughed, "Mum, you know dad. He won't accept I'm leaving until I'm gone."
Victoire smiled at her daughter, "I know, sweetie. How about we gather up your siblings so you can say goodbye? Your portkey leaves from the Ministry in an two hours. You should be there early so you don't miss it."
Dora nodded, "Okay, mum, I'll go up and get them." She left up the stairs to get her siblings.
Once she disappeared, Victoire addressed her husband, "I told you that you would have to accept it one day."
Teddy looked confused, "Accept what?"
Victoire smiled, "That your daughter has turned into a confident young woman and is ready to move away."
Teddy looked affronted, "Well, I don't recall giving her permission to grow up."
Victoire smiled at her husband when they heard a shout from upstairs, "Okay! That's it!" Dora's voice drifted down, "Everyone needs to get their butts downstairs now and tell their big sister goodbye!"
They saw Dora quickly slip down the stairs before she got trampled by the six pairs of feet that followed her.
Dora smiled as her siblings pushed each other out of the way and started arguing.
"Move over, Thalia!"
"I can't, Annie. Maia's in the way!"
"Will you two stop arguing? You're upsetting Remus."
"Well then move Maia out of the way, Julie!"
"Grace, go help your sisters."
"Children," Victoire commanded, "stop arguing and come down here."
"I'm not a child anymore, mum," Juliette argued, "I'm seventeen. I'm officially an adult."
"Don't argue with me, Juliette," her mother said sternly.
All the children managed to get into the sitting room without causing too much of an incident.
The youngest child, Remus, only six years old, climbed onto his mother's lap, while Maia, only a year older, sat with her father.
Dora looked around at her five younger sisters and her little brother and smiled sadly. She was really going to miss them all.
While Thalia and Annabelle continued to argue, Juliette approached her big sister.
"Hey, sis," Juliette addressed Dora, "I'm really going to miss you. I'm glad you're going to go do what you love, though."
"Thanks, Julie," Dora hugged her.
"It's going to be really hard on them, especially Remus and Maia."
"But they still have you don't they? I know you'll be there for them whenever Thalia and Annabelle tease them," Dora smiled knowingly.
"Yes, but I only have one more year at Hogwarts, then I'll be moving away to start my Healer training."
"Then they'll have Grace, won't they? Even if she's not the most responsible person in the world," Dora glanced over to where Grace had a mischievous smirk on her face.
Juliette smiled, "Yeah. I love you Dora. Never forget that," she hugged her sister.
"Don't worry. I won't." Dora let Juliette go so she could break up the fight between Thalia and Annabelle.
Maia and Remus jumped off their parents' laps and ran up to Dora and hugged her legs.
"Pwease don't go," Remus looked up at her with the same big blue eyes she and all her siblings had.
Dora leaned down to their level, "I have to go, but don't worry," she hugged them both, "I'll make sure to write and I'll be home for Christmas."
Maia, ever the silent one, just nodded and both she and Remus started to cry, his hair unconsciously turning to a dirty blond. Out of the seven of them, Remus was the only one to have inherited their father's metamorphmagus abilities.
"Don't cry, Little Ones," Dora used the nickname she made up for them, "I will never forget about you. I love you too much to do that," she kissed both of them on their foreheads.
They wiped the tears and gave her a kiss on the cheek each, "I wove you too," Remus told her.
"Me too," Maia whispered, and they both headed back to their parents.
Grace came up next, "I guess I won't be able to prank you anymore, huh?" she smiled at Dora.
"Oh, please," Dora smiled, "like you were ever able to prank me in the first place."
"Yeah, well now I'll never get the chance," she smiled and hugged her sister, "I'm going to miss you Dora."
Dora hugged back, "I'm going to miss you too."
As Grace walked away, Dora called out, "Good luck on your O.W.L.S. this year. Oh, and prank Professor Longbottom for me, would you? We were never able to get him while I was in school."
Grace smirked, "Anything for you, sis."
Thalia and Annabelle, who had apparently stopped fighting, came up to Dora.
Thalia was frowning, "You won't be able to see me off to Hogwarts. I was hoping you would be there when I started my first year."
Annabelle sniffled, "And you won't be there when I start in two years, either."
"I know. I'm sorry," Dora replied, "But I promise I will send both of you letters as soon as you start. And you'll have to send me a letter letting me know if you end up in Hufflepuff, like me," Dora teased them.
"No way!" Thalia smiled, "I'm going to be in Gryffindor! And Annie is definitely going to be in Ravenclaw with all the books she reads."
Dora ruffled their hair, "Well, you'll just have to tell me when you find out."
Just then a there was a knock on the front door. When Dora answered it, she saw Harry Potter standing on the other side.
"Hi, Uncle Harry," Dora greeted her great-uncle, "Come in."
They walked into the sitting room where Harry was swarmed by children.
"Woah," Harry smiled, "Calm down there." He then addressed the children's parents, "Hey Teddy, Victoire."
"Hey, Harry," Teddy replied.
"How are you, Uncle Harry?" Victoire asked.
"Besides being crushed to death by your children, I'm doing just fine," Harry answered, then addressed Dora, "Are you ready to go?"
Dora nodded and picked up her bag, Harry would be going with her to the Ministry to see her off.
She hugged her parents as they said their goodbyes, and then turned to leave. "Goodbye everyone!" she called out behind her.
She heard a round of goodbyes and then closed the front door behind herself and Harry. She knew she would miss them, but she was ready to begin her new life.