And so, it is complete.

Written for the Battleships Competition over at Diagon Alley.

Prompt: First child.

Words: 1595

Warning: Warnings apply here. Telling you what they are would give the game away, but if you have read the previous nine one shots, or even just the first one, you probably have an inkling of what is about to happen. If the thought of it disturbs you, you probably shouldn't read this, as it is a little graphic.

Iris

Newborn babies are not the prettiest thing on the planet. Wrinkled and twisted, blue and screaming, they don't exactly shout elegance. And yet, when Lily looked into the eyes of her first born, her daughter, everything seemed to fade away in those bright blue eyes. Scorpius sat on the bed beside her so they could both hold him, together, and for a moment, it felt as though their family was complete.

"Iris," Lily said. It was one of the names they'd been throwing around, one of the final three, but looking at her daughter, she knew it was right. It just… fit.

"I agree," Scorpius said with a smile.

She was eighteen months old before she began to properly grow into her looks. Long, wild blonde hair framed her face, bringing out the light that danced in her blue-green eyes. They were almost grey, her eyes, but far too vibrant for that description.

Dinner was over, the plates cleared away, and Iris grinned adorably at her parents. She looked first at her father, and then turned to Lily.

"Mummy, chocat," she said, smiling all the while.

"See, she's lovely when she wants something," Lily remarked, making to stand with a knowing smile.

"Less so when we want know, like sleep," Scorpius replied.

As Lily handed her daughter a square of chocolate, she broke off a small amount for herself and Scorpius, too, before hastily storing the packet away. She had learned already that her daughter was a stubborn as she was, and that any potential for getting more would have her throwing a fit.

"I-is chocat," the little girl declared, destroying her own name, as she grinned.

"Yes, it is," Lily said appreciatively before turning to her husband. She placed a hand over her belly, not yet showing. "Can we give this one a name that's easy to pronounce?" she asked.

Scorpius laughed. "Sure."

After Iris, two more children graced the Potter-Malfoy household. Two boys, Lowall and Orson. When Iris was five, she welcomed her youngest brother and loved him.

"Mummy, can I change his nappy?" she asked, less than an hour after they had brought Orson home from the birthing suite.

"You can help, love," Lily told her daughter, stroking her hair before laying her son down on the changing mat. The middle child, Lowall, was only three years old, and had fallen asleep in his father's arms on the sofa. Less than ten minutes ago, he'd been adamant that he didn't need a mat.

"Do you want to bring me the wipes and a nappy from the bag?" Lily asked, and set about undressing the newborn while Iris did as she was bid. She was a happy child, always content with whatever job she was assigned, so long as she felt useful.

The mother and daughter changed the baby together while Lily taught her they needed to be as quick as possible, otherwise Orson would get agitated. Iris leaned forward to tickle her brother's face with the soft end of her hair. He didn't smile - he didn't know how to, yet - but he stopped crying for a moment, his face relaxing, as he stared at her.

"He looked at me! Mummy, he looked at me!" Iris exclaimed, excited at the prospect of a reaction from her newborn brother.

"He did," Lily agreed, content.

When the children were asleep, Lily and Scorpius allowed their brave faces to fade away. They sat at the kitchen table, him at the end and she beside him, tense and alert.

"Did you read the news this morning?" Scorpius asked, not looking up from the glass his hands were clamped around.

Lily nodded.

"They were practically around the corner, Lily. The whole family. Gone," he said, shock taking away his ability to speak in complete sentences.

"I know. I only saw her on Saturday. She was on her way to the shops. I wonder if they knew. If they had warning," Lily mused, fearing for her own family's safety.

"They were asleep. Every one of them in bed. It doesn't seem like they knew," Scorpius replied.

Neither of them had the strength to look at the other, both fearing the worst. Neither of them wanted to look at the stark reality of what, exactly, they risked losing.

"We're targets, Scorpius. We always have been, always will be. There's nothing stopping them coming here," Lily admitted, her hands beginning to shake as a lump formed in her throat.

"Don't talk like that."

"Why not? What if they do come? Do you want to be asleep or do you want to be prepared?" she shouted, her voice cracking over the words.

"I'm not an idiot. Preparing is a different thing to fretting."

Scorpius looked at her, then, with such solemnity that she wanted to hold him and never let go.

"I can't lose my children," she told him.

He pulled her into an awkward embrace, wanting comfort for himself as much as he wanted to comfort her.

It was the middle of the day when the whirring began. The remains of lunch were still on the table and the children were playing in the front room. Lily and Scorpius immediately drew their wands.

The whirring was an enchantment Lily had placed, an intruder charm, to warn them of the presence of someone uninvited. It meant someone was tampering with their homes' defences. It meant they had a minimum of two minutes and twenty seven seconds.

"Kids!" Lily called out. They'd had it all planned, of course, for years. What they would do if this moment came. "Into the cupboard, quickly!"

Lily opened the slanted door, pushing her children into the cupboard under the stairs in the living room.

"Don't make a sound, don't move, whatever happens," Lily told them with a sense of urgency the children had never seen in their mother. She shut the door tight, and turned to her husband. Sighing, she set her face hard and moved to stand beside him, wand poised and ready.

"I've sent for help. Hopefully they'll be quick about it," Scorpius told her.

"No one's coming," she said. "Tell yourself no one's coming. Fight like there's no one but us standing between them and our children."

When the living room wall blasted to smithereens, the smoke made it difficult to see. As it cleared, Lily counted the masked men. The Servants of the Dark Lord were a menacing sight to behold as they walked forward, into the room, before they even began to attack. Five. Five against two.

Lily told herself they had the upper hand. Having a reason to fight made you stronger than you knew you were capable of. That's what she told herself.

When the fight began, there was no warning. Bright flashes of light flew past and ricocheted all around. One man stepped apart from his comrades, and turned to them with a sick smile.

"Where are the children?" he asked, in an voice Lily thought she knew but couldn't place. He blasted the kitchen door off of its hinges. They weren't there. Lily threw curse after curse at the man, knowing what his plan was, but he was defended by his allies. Nothing touched him.

It was the wall through to the dining room next, and he looked disappointed when they weren't cowering under the table.

Then, he saw the cupboard. He turned to look at the couple, anxious to see their reaction as his wand arm moved, shifting ever so slowly to point at the wooden door. Lily's giveaway gasp made him smile.

"Bingo."

The next word seemed to come in slow motion, drawn out as he savoured the moment.

"Confringo." The cupboard door burst into flames. Lily heard her children begin to scream. The door did not take long to burn through, revealing three young children, ash in their hair, coughing into burned hands.

It didn't matter what spells Scorpius and Lily threw at the assailants, they did not relent. Lily and Scorpius' heightened emotions was making them careless, irrational. The Servants' joy was making them merciless. Lily sidestepped towards her children, to stand in front of them defensively. She was almost where she wanted to be when a silent spell caught Orson directly in the chest. The one year old's body flew across the room, hitting the wall with a crash before crashing to the floor beneath. His eyes were open, his hand twitching, and Lily hoped he would stay like that for long enough.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement.

"Iris, no!" she screamed, as she watched her daughter stand and run to her baby brother. Lily saw the man's spell, heard his words, and was powerless to stop them. She muttered a block, aiming it straight at his wand, but his Unforgivable cursed straight through her spell's red light.

She watched as it caught Iris squarely on the chest. She ran to her daughter's side, barely registering the fight coming to an end as the men Aparated away. Their mission was complete. She caught her daughter moments before she fell on top of her injured brother, holding her in a bone-crushing embrace. Lily stared into Iris' eyes as the life they once held left.

Scorpius was by her side in an instant, but Lily found herself unable to see past her own tears. A sickening, wracking sound filled what was left of the room. Lily wondered if it was coming from her own throat. It didn't matter.

Her daughter was dead.

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