A/N:
I've never done this before, just a little note to keep in mind as you
read. Any way, enjoy! (I hope!) Oh, and a quick thanks to the Grey
Company for making it so easy to translate the Elvish language.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, just the plot, Neenuvar, and Morwen.
Prologue
"Are you sure, Doctor? I mean...are you sure there wasn't a misprint, or...or something!?"
"Yes, Mrs. Potter, I double checked the results myself. I'm afraid that there's nothing we can do about your condition."
At this Lily turned to her husband, James, and began to cry in great, heart- racking sobs. She couldn't believe that this was happening to them, especially so soon after their marriage. This was the kind of thing that she had read about, but she had never actually expected anything like it to ever happen to her.
"Doctor," James said, cutting into her thoughts, "is there nothing at all that we can do? I mean, we've wanted children since, well, since we were old enough to even THINK about having kids! We can't just give up hope because of Lily's inability to have a child. Isn't there SOME kind of alternative?"
The doctor seemed to ponder this for a few moments before replying. "There is one choice," he began, "but not many people choose it because of its...unreliable outcomes."
"Well," said Lily when it began to appear as if he wouldn't continue, "what is it?"
He stared at her for a minute before answering. "There is always the choice of a surrogate mother for the child. The two of you would, of course, be required to visit with her during the pregnancy, or she could even live with you if you became comfortable enough with her. Aside from that, the paperwork, for confidentiality, oath to treat the child as your own, etc., would be the only other thing for you to even worry with. Except for the delivery, of course."
Lily and James merely stared at him after he finished. Both were, unknowingly, thinking the same thing. 'Could this really work, and if it could, who could they ask for such an immense favor?'
Aloud, however, James said, "Where can we find a woman willing to do this? No one, that I know, at least, would do this willingly."
"No one that I know would either," added Lily.
"Well there are many places, actually," supplied the doctor. "However, your best bet is one of two things. You could either ask one of your friends, or," he added quickly as they both began to interrupt, "you could fill out a form here at my office, specifying your requirements for an appropriate mother, and we could find someone suited to your criteria for you."
"Not to offend your office or anything," Lily began, looking very uncomfortable. "...but we know just who to ask for help," James finished for her. "We have an old friend whom I'm sure we can rely on to help us find a wonderful mother," James said. He was thinking of Albus Dumbledore as he said this, and remembering all of the times he had helped them out before. 'Surely he'll help us now, when we need him the most.'
'I wonder if he's thinking of Albus Dumbledore,' Lily wondered to herself as they thanked the doctor for all of his help, and promised to get in touch with him as soon as they had chosen someone. 'It wouldn't be the first time that he helped us out of a problem,' she thought with a smile as they left the doctors office.
Later that week...
"I do believe that I know just the person to help us with this dilemma," Dumbleore stated to the very tense couple seated before him. At his words he could visibly see them relax. 'Interesting,' he thought to himself. 'They're even more nervous now than I do believe I've ever seen them. Interesting indeed.' "She's a very reliable woman. She is also very loving towards children of all ages, which, if I'm not mistaken, is a very important trait to you both. To the best of my knowledge, she fulfills all of your requirements, and is therefore your best choice. However, she does...differ somewhat from your idea of a typical surrogate mother."
"Well, I personally think she sounds like EXACTLY who we're looking for," stated Lily. "So you might as well tell us what your not saying, Albus, because our minds are already made up," finished James.
Dumbledore looked between the two before finally saying, "She's an elf. A CalaQuessir, or high elf, to be exact, and is therefore highly thought of among her people. She is equal to that of princess to us, so I trust that when you meet her you will show her due respect." He stopped here to smoke on his pipe and sat watching their reactions to this new bit of information. Lily, as usual, was the first to respond.
"A real elf? I've never met an elf. I wonder what they're like? Are they really as beautiful as books credit them for?" She looked so much like she had just discovered an extra present on Christmas, that Dumbledore and James couldn't help but laugh. After a few seconds she just shrugged and began to laugh with them.
When the laughter had finally died down, James turned and said to Dumbledore, "We'd LOVE to have her as a surrogate mother, Albus. And don't think we're questioning your judgement or anything, but when can we meet...um?"
"Her name is Morwen, and she requested to meet you as soon as possible. How about you three meet here tomorrow, say noon, and we can all have a picnic down by the lake while you get acquainted," suggested Dumbledore.
"Why, Albus, a picnic sounds wonderful! Maybe," Lily said, more to herself than the other two, "just maybe, she would answer some of my questions. Not that I won't have time later, but there are so many..." Absently Lily waved goodbye and slipped out the door, still mumbling to herself about the next day.
"Well, Albus, I had better go catch her before she gets herself lost again. We'll see you tomorrow, and thanks again!" And with that they were gone, leaving a very amused Dumbledore standing in the middle of his office, staring at his door.
Ten months later...
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I LET THAT MAN TALK ME INTO THIS!" Morwen screamed, not for the first time, as another contraction hit her. 'Twins,' she thought. 'That means I'll have to go through this TWICE! It hurts just to think about it!'
"AHHH!" Another scream was torn from her throat as the doctor yelled "Push!" at her again. This time however, she was rewarded for her efforts when she heard the ear-splitting cry that could only be a baby's. "It's a boy," said the doctor as she handed him into the waiting arms of a nurse.
"He's so beautiful." Morwen turned to the speaker, her new friend Lily, and graced her with the first smile that anyone had seen from Morwen in the past nine hours. Their little bubble of happy parenthood was burst seconds later, however, as the contractions began for the other twin.
'At least I get to name this one,' thought Morwen as she screamed along with the next contraction. 'I hope they have at least something to make them like their father.' This she thought because, to her knowledge, half- elf/ half-human children that she remembered from home generally tended to look like full-blooded elves. Very few of them ever had any physical appearance to their human parent.
She was shaken out of her revere, quite suddenly, too, when she felt another contraction coming. She managed not to scream when this one hit her, but her victory was short lived due to another one immediately after it.
"Come on, Morwen," urged the doctor. "When this next contraction comes, I want you to give me a big push. This should be the last one. Do you understand?"
Morwen nodded mutely. Going on the doctor's instructions, when the next one came, she gave a big push. Once again, she was rewarded with an ear- splitting scream, only this one was slightly higher pitched.
"This one's a lovely little girl," said the now smiling doctor as she handed her to another patiently waiting nurse. Mrs. Potter, Ms. Tinuviel, if you have any questions, just press the nurse call button." And with that she left.
"Oh Morwen, they're so beautiful! They have James' hair and your eyes (yes, Morwen has green eyes, just like Lily). I have to tell James. He's probably beside himself with worry! Will you be okay by yourself for awhile?"
After all of Lily's words had finally unscrambled themselves in her head, she smiled and nodded. Lily gave a quick kiss on the forehead, told her bye, and had just reached the door when Morwen fell asleep on her suddenly very comfortable pillow.
In the waiting room...
"James! Stop pacing! You're driving me mad!"
'Sirius, always the great comforter,' thought James even as he sat down again.
"What he's really trying to say," started Remus with a glare in Sirius' direction, "is that you need to try and calm down. You've been pacing on and off for the past few hours, and if you don't stop soon you're going to have a panic attack."
"Thanks guys," began James, "I probably wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't here to help keep me calm."
"Hey, no problem," said Sirius as he put an arm around James' shoulders. "We know that you would have been here if any of our places had been switched. I mean, just think about what my kids will be like."
At this, James and Remus looked at each other with matching looks of horror. "Hey," said Sirius, actually managing to sound halfway hurt, "they wouldn't be THAT bad!"
This caused James to burst out laughing. Remus soon followed him, and then Sirius joined in last.
This was the scene Lily walked into seconds later as she came to tell them the good news.
One year later...
'You would think we were feeding an army with how much those kids eat. It's a miracle that they aren't the size of small whales,' Morwen thought with a sigh. She was never one to complain when it came to Harry and Nee, but seriously, how many times should one have to go to the grocery store in a week.
She was smiling as she walked out of the store. Her smile died, however, as she was brought to her knees in pain. 'It feels like my hearts exploding,' she thought desperately as she sat on her knees outside of the grocery, doubled over in pain, clutching at her chest and absently rocking back and forth.
'I don't understand,' she frantically thought. 'I'm very young for my people, and I'm in perfectly good health!' She was unaware of the scene she was making and the people coming towards her, doing their civic duty to make sure the small lady didn't need any medical attention. She was frantically searching her mind when suddenly she remembered a conversation that she had had with her father on the day her mother had died.
FLASHBACK
"Father, why are you crying?" Morwen hated to see her father cry. It always made her feel that, somehow, it was her fault. She knew it wasn't her fault, not every time, but that's how it ALWAYS felt. "Where's mother?"
At the mention of her mother he began to, if it was possible, cry harder. "Your mother..." He let his words trail off as her face swam before his eyes.
Morwen, upon seeing her father in such obvious pain, did the only thing that seemed normal at the moment. She ran to his chair where he was seated and hugged him. "It'll be okay, papa. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was merely curious. You can tell me when you feel better, okay?"
He couldn't help but smile at the top of his daughter's head. 'So much like her mother,' he thought to himself. "No, Morwen. You must understand the pain that I suffer, so you may be prepared." At her questioning look, he merely pulled her into his lap and let her get comfortable.
"Morwen, we, elves, are a unique people. Other races of creatures, such as the Rahedan{Centaurs} and Edan{Humans}, do not feel the oneness with living things as strongly as we do. This is a great strength for us, mind you, but it is also a great weakness. Because we bond so closely with other living things, when they are hurt, we feel it deep within ourselves, within our hearts."
Morwen pondered this for a moment before slowly replying. "So what you are saying is that...their pain...is...our pain?"
"Yes, and no," explained her father. "The closer we are bonded with it or them, the greater the pain becomes, thus making it harder to bear. Take our different bonds with your mother for example. Your bond, which was not very close, therefore making it very weak, left you with little pain, if any at all. My bond, however, was much closer, thus much stronger, so I will feel the pain from her death for a greater period of time. Do you understand, now, daughter?"
"I think so," she replied.
They sat like that, watching the sunset, and were merely content to be a father and daughter for awhile.
END FLASHBACK
'But who could it be? I know its not Albus; he can take care of himself too well. That only leaves...' "THE CHILDREN!" She was up and running towards their house before she knew what she was even doing.
'Damn Muggles! Always causing everyone trouble. Always right where they would be better off not being to start with, and causing me to have to run instead of just be there! Damn!'
Her anger quickly dissipated, however, as she got closer to her destination. She began praying to all of the gods that she had ever heard of, each time asking for their safety. 'Please let at least one of them have survived. Please...'
As she rounded the last corner she stopped cold in her tracks. "No," she whispered. Where there had once been a beautiful little home, there was...nothing. A few piles of wood here and there were all that remained.
Morwen numbly began searching through the remains for anything she could find that even resembled the once loving, little home. She was standing in the 'kitchen' when she heard it, a soft mewling noise, like that of a baby's laughter. 'It can't be possible,' she thought. 'It just can't be. Nothing survived that, so there's no way...'
Her thought trailed away as she moved a particularly heavy piece of wood, and uncovered a dirty, but smiling baby. "Nee, is it really you?" Morwen reached for the child slowly, afraid that it was just her overactive mind playing tricks on her, but burst out crying when she touched the soft, squishy baby skin.
As she hugged the child to herself, she slowly became aware of a noise. It sounded like a Muggle's motorcycle, but there were no lights coming down the road. "I don't know what that is," she spoke aloud, "but I don't want to be here when it arrives!"
With that said, she did the first thing that came to her mind. She teleported herself and Nee to her fathers home in Silmataurea{Neverwinter Woods}.
However, if she had merely continued looking through the stack of rubble she had been looking through, before she had heard Nee's mewling, and had moved one more piece, she would have discovered Harry, fast asleep. Well, at least he was asleep until a strange, scratchy thing picked him up and put him on a noisy, flying red object.
A/N: Well there it is! Sorry it was so long, but there are two reasons for that. One, if I didn't explain it like this, you wouldn't understand the rest of the story. Two, I like long chappys!
Please review, and flames are welcomed, too (but I would rather you didn't).
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, just the plot, Neenuvar, and Morwen.
Prologue
"Are you sure, Doctor? I mean...are you sure there wasn't a misprint, or...or something!?"
"Yes, Mrs. Potter, I double checked the results myself. I'm afraid that there's nothing we can do about your condition."
At this Lily turned to her husband, James, and began to cry in great, heart- racking sobs. She couldn't believe that this was happening to them, especially so soon after their marriage. This was the kind of thing that she had read about, but she had never actually expected anything like it to ever happen to her.
"Doctor," James said, cutting into her thoughts, "is there nothing at all that we can do? I mean, we've wanted children since, well, since we were old enough to even THINK about having kids! We can't just give up hope because of Lily's inability to have a child. Isn't there SOME kind of alternative?"
The doctor seemed to ponder this for a few moments before replying. "There is one choice," he began, "but not many people choose it because of its...unreliable outcomes."
"Well," said Lily when it began to appear as if he wouldn't continue, "what is it?"
He stared at her for a minute before answering. "There is always the choice of a surrogate mother for the child. The two of you would, of course, be required to visit with her during the pregnancy, or she could even live with you if you became comfortable enough with her. Aside from that, the paperwork, for confidentiality, oath to treat the child as your own, etc., would be the only other thing for you to even worry with. Except for the delivery, of course."
Lily and James merely stared at him after he finished. Both were, unknowingly, thinking the same thing. 'Could this really work, and if it could, who could they ask for such an immense favor?'
Aloud, however, James said, "Where can we find a woman willing to do this? No one, that I know, at least, would do this willingly."
"No one that I know would either," added Lily.
"Well there are many places, actually," supplied the doctor. "However, your best bet is one of two things. You could either ask one of your friends, or," he added quickly as they both began to interrupt, "you could fill out a form here at my office, specifying your requirements for an appropriate mother, and we could find someone suited to your criteria for you."
"Not to offend your office or anything," Lily began, looking very uncomfortable. "...but we know just who to ask for help," James finished for her. "We have an old friend whom I'm sure we can rely on to help us find a wonderful mother," James said. He was thinking of Albus Dumbledore as he said this, and remembering all of the times he had helped them out before. 'Surely he'll help us now, when we need him the most.'
'I wonder if he's thinking of Albus Dumbledore,' Lily wondered to herself as they thanked the doctor for all of his help, and promised to get in touch with him as soon as they had chosen someone. 'It wouldn't be the first time that he helped us out of a problem,' she thought with a smile as they left the doctors office.
Later that week...
"I do believe that I know just the person to help us with this dilemma," Dumbleore stated to the very tense couple seated before him. At his words he could visibly see them relax. 'Interesting,' he thought to himself. 'They're even more nervous now than I do believe I've ever seen them. Interesting indeed.' "She's a very reliable woman. She is also very loving towards children of all ages, which, if I'm not mistaken, is a very important trait to you both. To the best of my knowledge, she fulfills all of your requirements, and is therefore your best choice. However, she does...differ somewhat from your idea of a typical surrogate mother."
"Well, I personally think she sounds like EXACTLY who we're looking for," stated Lily. "So you might as well tell us what your not saying, Albus, because our minds are already made up," finished James.
Dumbledore looked between the two before finally saying, "She's an elf. A CalaQuessir, or high elf, to be exact, and is therefore highly thought of among her people. She is equal to that of princess to us, so I trust that when you meet her you will show her due respect." He stopped here to smoke on his pipe and sat watching their reactions to this new bit of information. Lily, as usual, was the first to respond.
"A real elf? I've never met an elf. I wonder what they're like? Are they really as beautiful as books credit them for?" She looked so much like she had just discovered an extra present on Christmas, that Dumbledore and James couldn't help but laugh. After a few seconds she just shrugged and began to laugh with them.
When the laughter had finally died down, James turned and said to Dumbledore, "We'd LOVE to have her as a surrogate mother, Albus. And don't think we're questioning your judgement or anything, but when can we meet...um?"
"Her name is Morwen, and she requested to meet you as soon as possible. How about you three meet here tomorrow, say noon, and we can all have a picnic down by the lake while you get acquainted," suggested Dumbledore.
"Why, Albus, a picnic sounds wonderful! Maybe," Lily said, more to herself than the other two, "just maybe, she would answer some of my questions. Not that I won't have time later, but there are so many..." Absently Lily waved goodbye and slipped out the door, still mumbling to herself about the next day.
"Well, Albus, I had better go catch her before she gets herself lost again. We'll see you tomorrow, and thanks again!" And with that they were gone, leaving a very amused Dumbledore standing in the middle of his office, staring at his door.
Ten months later...
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I LET THAT MAN TALK ME INTO THIS!" Morwen screamed, not for the first time, as another contraction hit her. 'Twins,' she thought. 'That means I'll have to go through this TWICE! It hurts just to think about it!'
"AHHH!" Another scream was torn from her throat as the doctor yelled "Push!" at her again. This time however, she was rewarded for her efforts when she heard the ear-splitting cry that could only be a baby's. "It's a boy," said the doctor as she handed him into the waiting arms of a nurse.
"He's so beautiful." Morwen turned to the speaker, her new friend Lily, and graced her with the first smile that anyone had seen from Morwen in the past nine hours. Their little bubble of happy parenthood was burst seconds later, however, as the contractions began for the other twin.
'At least I get to name this one,' thought Morwen as she screamed along with the next contraction. 'I hope they have at least something to make them like their father.' This she thought because, to her knowledge, half- elf/ half-human children that she remembered from home generally tended to look like full-blooded elves. Very few of them ever had any physical appearance to their human parent.
She was shaken out of her revere, quite suddenly, too, when she felt another contraction coming. She managed not to scream when this one hit her, but her victory was short lived due to another one immediately after it.
"Come on, Morwen," urged the doctor. "When this next contraction comes, I want you to give me a big push. This should be the last one. Do you understand?"
Morwen nodded mutely. Going on the doctor's instructions, when the next one came, she gave a big push. Once again, she was rewarded with an ear- splitting scream, only this one was slightly higher pitched.
"This one's a lovely little girl," said the now smiling doctor as she handed her to another patiently waiting nurse. Mrs. Potter, Ms. Tinuviel, if you have any questions, just press the nurse call button." And with that she left.
"Oh Morwen, they're so beautiful! They have James' hair and your eyes (yes, Morwen has green eyes, just like Lily). I have to tell James. He's probably beside himself with worry! Will you be okay by yourself for awhile?"
After all of Lily's words had finally unscrambled themselves in her head, she smiled and nodded. Lily gave a quick kiss on the forehead, told her bye, and had just reached the door when Morwen fell asleep on her suddenly very comfortable pillow.
In the waiting room...
"James! Stop pacing! You're driving me mad!"
'Sirius, always the great comforter,' thought James even as he sat down again.
"What he's really trying to say," started Remus with a glare in Sirius' direction, "is that you need to try and calm down. You've been pacing on and off for the past few hours, and if you don't stop soon you're going to have a panic attack."
"Thanks guys," began James, "I probably wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't here to help keep me calm."
"Hey, no problem," said Sirius as he put an arm around James' shoulders. "We know that you would have been here if any of our places had been switched. I mean, just think about what my kids will be like."
At this, James and Remus looked at each other with matching looks of horror. "Hey," said Sirius, actually managing to sound halfway hurt, "they wouldn't be THAT bad!"
This caused James to burst out laughing. Remus soon followed him, and then Sirius joined in last.
This was the scene Lily walked into seconds later as she came to tell them the good news.
One year later...
'You would think we were feeding an army with how much those kids eat. It's a miracle that they aren't the size of small whales,' Morwen thought with a sigh. She was never one to complain when it came to Harry and Nee, but seriously, how many times should one have to go to the grocery store in a week.
She was smiling as she walked out of the store. Her smile died, however, as she was brought to her knees in pain. 'It feels like my hearts exploding,' she thought desperately as she sat on her knees outside of the grocery, doubled over in pain, clutching at her chest and absently rocking back and forth.
'I don't understand,' she frantically thought. 'I'm very young for my people, and I'm in perfectly good health!' She was unaware of the scene she was making and the people coming towards her, doing their civic duty to make sure the small lady didn't need any medical attention. She was frantically searching her mind when suddenly she remembered a conversation that she had had with her father on the day her mother had died.
FLASHBACK
"Father, why are you crying?" Morwen hated to see her father cry. It always made her feel that, somehow, it was her fault. She knew it wasn't her fault, not every time, but that's how it ALWAYS felt. "Where's mother?"
At the mention of her mother he began to, if it was possible, cry harder. "Your mother..." He let his words trail off as her face swam before his eyes.
Morwen, upon seeing her father in such obvious pain, did the only thing that seemed normal at the moment. She ran to his chair where he was seated and hugged him. "It'll be okay, papa. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was merely curious. You can tell me when you feel better, okay?"
He couldn't help but smile at the top of his daughter's head. 'So much like her mother,' he thought to himself. "No, Morwen. You must understand the pain that I suffer, so you may be prepared." At her questioning look, he merely pulled her into his lap and let her get comfortable.
"Morwen, we, elves, are a unique people. Other races of creatures, such as the Rahedan{Centaurs} and Edan{Humans}, do not feel the oneness with living things as strongly as we do. This is a great strength for us, mind you, but it is also a great weakness. Because we bond so closely with other living things, when they are hurt, we feel it deep within ourselves, within our hearts."
Morwen pondered this for a moment before slowly replying. "So what you are saying is that...their pain...is...our pain?"
"Yes, and no," explained her father. "The closer we are bonded with it or them, the greater the pain becomes, thus making it harder to bear. Take our different bonds with your mother for example. Your bond, which was not very close, therefore making it very weak, left you with little pain, if any at all. My bond, however, was much closer, thus much stronger, so I will feel the pain from her death for a greater period of time. Do you understand, now, daughter?"
"I think so," she replied.
They sat like that, watching the sunset, and were merely content to be a father and daughter for awhile.
END FLASHBACK
'But who could it be? I know its not Albus; he can take care of himself too well. That only leaves...' "THE CHILDREN!" She was up and running towards their house before she knew what she was even doing.
'Damn Muggles! Always causing everyone trouble. Always right where they would be better off not being to start with, and causing me to have to run instead of just be there! Damn!'
Her anger quickly dissipated, however, as she got closer to her destination. She began praying to all of the gods that she had ever heard of, each time asking for their safety. 'Please let at least one of them have survived. Please...'
As she rounded the last corner she stopped cold in her tracks. "No," she whispered. Where there had once been a beautiful little home, there was...nothing. A few piles of wood here and there were all that remained.
Morwen numbly began searching through the remains for anything she could find that even resembled the once loving, little home. She was standing in the 'kitchen' when she heard it, a soft mewling noise, like that of a baby's laughter. 'It can't be possible,' she thought. 'It just can't be. Nothing survived that, so there's no way...'
Her thought trailed away as she moved a particularly heavy piece of wood, and uncovered a dirty, but smiling baby. "Nee, is it really you?" Morwen reached for the child slowly, afraid that it was just her overactive mind playing tricks on her, but burst out crying when she touched the soft, squishy baby skin.
As she hugged the child to herself, she slowly became aware of a noise. It sounded like a Muggle's motorcycle, but there were no lights coming down the road. "I don't know what that is," she spoke aloud, "but I don't want to be here when it arrives!"
With that said, she did the first thing that came to her mind. She teleported herself and Nee to her fathers home in Silmataurea{Neverwinter Woods}.
However, if she had merely continued looking through the stack of rubble she had been looking through, before she had heard Nee's mewling, and had moved one more piece, she would have discovered Harry, fast asleep. Well, at least he was asleep until a strange, scratchy thing picked him up and put him on a noisy, flying red object.
A/N: Well there it is! Sorry it was so long, but there are two reasons for that. One, if I didn't explain it like this, you wouldn't understand the rest of the story. Two, I like long chappys!
Please review, and flames are welcomed, too (but I would rather you didn't).