Story BETA by hermione snape
Chapter 12: Truthful memories pt. 2
Previously on Never Too Late
Abruptly, the scene changed, leaving Remus's head spinning. He kept thinking, Why'd it end there?
Then he heard the crying and screaming, and he couldn't figure out where it was coming from until the scene before his eyes become clear.
…..To be continued……
~*~
Anna's birth
October 18, 1999
When the scene before him came into complete focus, Remus felt his heart stutter and clench tightly. Oh God, he thought, I don't want to see her go through this alone.
Hermione stood hunched over the stove in her kitchen, one hand clutching at her prominent stomach, the other holding on to the stove door. Her face was pale and pinched with pain as she let out small screams of pain as tears coursed down her face.
When it had passed, she slowly stood up straight and started to walk towards the living room and the fireplace. She had to stop several times, gripping the wall or other random object as the contractions hit her.
Finally, she made it to the living room and to the fireplace. She reached it, easing herself down to the floor and onto the rug. She scooped up some floo powder from the little dish that sat on the hearth and threw it in, calling out, "Malfoy Cottage."
As the flames turned green, the head of a woman appeared and cries and wails could be heard from the background. "Kristen? Are Draco and Severus there?"
"No, they're at the office. What's wrong?"
"I think it's time. Tell one of them to get here; I don't know how long this baby will wait."
At her words, Kristen started nodding and said, "I'll get them, don't worry. Just stay calm and don't move."
All Hermione could do was nod.
As Kristen's head disappeared from Hermione's view, she lay down on the rug as another contraction hit her. About ten minutes later, the flames roared to life and out stepped Severus.
He bent down to pick her up off the rug and promptly carried her up the stairs and to her bedroom. He laid her down on the bed before he began to rush around getting all of the things they would need for this birth to be successful.
As he was getting the things, he heard the sound of the fire roaring to life and feet rushing up the stairs, as Hermione worked through another contraction. The footsteps grew closer to the door and then Draco was running through the doorway, panting slightly. He looked for Severus and saw him near the table that held all of the needed supplies.
Draco then walked quickly to Hermione, taking her small hand in his larger one. She squeezed it tightly while another contraction crashed over her. He brushed her sweaty hair back from her face while he looked for something to tie it back with.
Severus came hurrying back to them, arms filled with supplies and potions. He handed one to Draco, saying it was a pain potion for Hermione. Draco gave it to her and she drank it down gladly, once she had caught her breath. Severus then handed him a hair tie and instructed him to sit behind her, supporting her back. After Draco had done that, he used the tie to pull her back and out of the way. Then they placed a sheet over her bent legs and vanished away her clothing before they put her in a gown.
Once everything was laid out and ready, Severus looked up at Draco and Hermione and said, "Hermione I'm going to check to see how far along you are. Alright?" After she nodded her head, he bent his head to peer under the sheet that covered her. He saw that she was fully dilated and that shocked him some, since it normally wasn't that quick.
He looked up to see Draco watching him and that Hermione had her eyes closed, resting while she could. He nodded to Draco and said, "Hermione you're fully dilated and it's time to push."
She opened her eyes and looked down at him and he saw only determination in them, no fear. He felt a small smile form on his face at that look, something he was sure Lupin, Potter, and Weasley would be proud of. She said, "Okay, I'm ready. Tell me when. And Draco, I'm sorry if I hurt your hand in the process of this."
"It's okay, Hermione. I understand completely after seeing Kristen go through this earlier this week. No hard feelings." he gave her hand a gently squeeze and she returned the favor.
"Hermione, I want you to push on three. Alright?" when she nodded, he said, "One…two…three. Push."
And Hermione did. She sucked in a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could, until Severus told her to stop and rest for a moment.
God, Kristen wasn't lying when she said this hurt like hell! Hermione thought after a few more pushes.
She continued pushing for awhile, until she felt an intense pressure and burning and she thought maybe the baby was crowning.
Severus' next words confirmed her suspicions. "The baby's head is crowning. Now I know it's hard, but don't push now Hermione, the baby's head needs to stretch the tissue gradually so as to lessen the risk of tearing. Try to pant through it."
Hermione did as she was told, squeezing Draco's hand all the while. After awhile, Severus told her that the head was fully through and that now a shoulder was next and when it was out the baby was already half-way out. Then she felt the oddest yet most amazing sensation as the baby was finally born.
As soon as it was out, Severus wrapped it in a blanket. He stood and walked to where the birthing supplies were and began to clean the baby and clear her airways. When she was ready, he brought her back and said, "It's a girl!" with a big smile on his face.
He handed her to Hermione, then handed Draco a steaming beaker-full of Skele-Gro, since some of his fingers had gotten broken while Hermione squeezed his hand.
Severus asked, "What do you want to call her Hermione? I need to put it down on the birth-certificate."
Hermione thought for a moment over the name she had chosen, trying to decide if it fit this new little baby girl she held in her arms and if Remus would approve of it. He should have a choice in the name but, due to the circumstances, he wouldn't get that chance.
Small tears formed in her eyes and as she thought this over she closed them as a wave of pain and longing washed over her. She hated that he wasn't here or even Harry or Ron. But she had Severus and Draco and Kristen, even though she wasn't there, and they would have to do since they were like her new surrogate family.
When her eyes opened, she looked down at her baby girl. To her shock she saw that her eyes were open and that the irises were a brown color and that they held small traces of amber like Remus' did. She had a small sleepy smile on her face and her eyes looked tired too, and before she could look longer, she had drifted off to sleep.
Hermione chocked out something between a sob and laugh, and as Draco hugged her from behind and Severus squeezed her leg comfortingly, she knew that the name fit her daughter.
Hermione looked up at Severus and said, "I want my daughters name to be Anna Lovel Granger-Lupin.
Anna meaning grace and charm. Also from the novel, Anna Karenina by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. The book opens with one of my favorite quotes, "All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."And it's also after the woman in the bible who was one of the handfuls of people to see Jesus when He was born.
Lovel is a variant of Lowell and means young wolf. I found it fitting what with her being Remus's daughter and all."
As she finished, she looked back down to Anna and noticed that she had a small dusting of freckles on her face and the small amount of hair she had was light brown in color and seemed to be curly.
"She's perfect Hermione. Her name is beautiful as well, and I have a feeling it will fit her perfectly." Severus said, while Draco nodded behind Hermione in agreement to his words.
"Remus would be proud of you Mione." Draco whispered quietly while he gave her a tight squeeze around the middle. In answer to his words, Hermione began to cry softly and brought Anna up to her chest to hold and hug her lovingly.
***
Anna's First-
Transformation
One month old
Anna's first transformation after she was born was hard on her little body, and was even harder for Hermione.
She was forced to sit and hold her baby girl as she cried as her small bones were forced to break and shift, changing shape into that of a small cub. Listen to her screams and wails of pain as her muscles ripped apart and as claws appeared out of her nails, a tail was formed, and her face elongated into a snout. It was hell on earth for Hermione and she hated every moment, minute, and second of the transformation.
It was worse though, when she was small since she couldn't take the Wolfsbane potion to at least keep her in the right mind. And since Hermione couldn't even touch her for almost and hour after the transformation, since Anna's skin was raw and sensitive and even the smallest of motherly, comforting touches causes unbearable pain. That at least got slightly better as she got older, but it was still slightly irritating to her.
Bath In Big Tub
Seven months old
Her first bath in the actual tub was eventful, to put it mildly. Severus, Draco, and Kristen were all gathered in the Malfoy's spacious bathroom, gathered around the large tub. It was filled with bubbles and warm, scented waters. The adults were going to try and wash Scorpius and Anna at the same time to try and save time. That was the plan anyway; it didn't go that way, not at all.
The kids had both been playing in the water and with the bubbles for some time, while the adults tried to hold them still so the rest could get them clean. Severus had just put some shampoo on Anna's thick curly hair, when some ran down into her eye. She began to cry loudly, face turning red quickly, as she rubbed at the eye. Scorpius, seeing and hearing that his friend was in distress, began to cry too.
Severus blanched, eyes widening slightly as he stared at the mess he had caused. The other adults stopped their motions, each looking at the small children with looks of horror on their faces. Anna and Scorp had been good all day so far, unlike yesterday when they wouldn't stop crying.
Hermione turned one of her death glares on Sev and he visibly flinched away from the angry mother. She was showing some of her Gryffindor like protective motherness she exhibited when someone upset Anna. She also very much resembled the lioness that represented her old school house.
Just as she opened her mouth to start in on him, the door to the bathroom opened and in walked Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, the latter limping slightly from an old war wound.
"What is going on in here?" Lucius questioned, as Narcissa moved to pick up Scorpius and he bent to pick up Anna. They didn't seem to care that their fine expensive clothes were getting ruined by the water, as the good outcome on the war had loosened them both up, giving them a new outlook on life. Not to mention the fact that Scorpius was their only grandchild and Anna was like the other they wanted.
"Oh you shouldn't bother yourselves with them you guys. It was merely a little bit of soap getting into Anna's eye. Severus was washing her hair while Hermione held her still and some just ran down." Kristen said.
"Oh nonsense, Kris! It doesn't bother 'Cissa or me to help out with the grandkids, does it love?" She didn't speak her answer, just shook her head, since she was too busy cooing at the little boy in her arms. "See? It doesn't bother us a bit. We enjoy it and I view it as making up for lost time with Draco as a child. We lost so much precious time with him because of our beliefs and actions that it's nice to be able to experience it again."
He looked down at the small child in his arms and saw that she was whimpering quietly and small tears were still leaking from her eyes. One eye was also a little reddish looking and irritated from where she'd rubbed it. "Anna," he said quietly and she looked up at him with curious eyes, "I know your eye hurts but you mustn't rub it. It will only irritate it more. I'll make it stop hurting though, alright? Just hold still for Grandpa and it will all be over in a moment." He spoke as if she could understand exactly what he was saying.
The groups of adults, minus Narcissa, were watching him work.
Lucius took a soft wet cloth and washed the soap out before wrapping Anna in her little pink fluffy towel. He checked to make sure that Scorpius was covered as well and then left, taking Anna with him. Narcissa followed behind him, with little Scorp tucked safely in her arms. His little head peeked over her shoulder and he smiled goofily at the adults still standing at the bathtub, before nuzzling into his Grandma's neck.
Once the Grandparents and grandkids had gone, Severus bent down to look at the soap he'd used on Anna. He saw that it wasn't the No More Tears one that they had been using on the baby's but Kristen's.
You could say that Severus Snape learned a very valuable lesson that day. To first, check the soap before using. Second, judging from the surprised cry from Narcissa down the hall, that you should put a baby in a diaper before moving them. And last but not least, don't wear your nice clothing when dealing with small children.
Word
Twelve months old
"Mama!"
Hermione jumped at hearing the loud squeal from behind her. She turned away from the stove and around to find Anna toddling towards her. She held up her arms, so Hermione bent down to pick her up.
"Now how did you get in here, princess? I left you in the living room in the playpen. Did you climb out?"
Anna's answer was a loud giggle and Hermione smiled down at her and began to tickle her tummy. Anna squealed and began to wiggle, trying to get away from her mother's fingers.
After a few minutes Hermione put her back down on the floor, and she toddled off to play with her toys. Hermione watched her go with a small smile on her face but her heart was hurting that Remus wasn't there.
Cold
About Three and a half
Hermione woke up to see a pair of little eyes staring at her. She jumped, startled but calmed down when she saw that it was only Anna. She sat up, wrapping her arms around Anna's waist so she wouldn't fall. Anna sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
Anna sniffed again and said, "My nose is stuffy mummy."
"It is? Well let me make sure you're sick so we can get you some medicine to get better."
"Medicine? Yucky." her little face scrunched up at the words and she stuck out her tongue.
"You get ice-cream when you're sick Anna, remember?" her face brightened instantly and Hermione said, "Now hold still, alright?" Anna nodded and Hermione preformed the test. "Well, it looks like you are sick Anna."
Anna frowned then said, "Can I have ice-cream please now?"
Hermione chuckled and said, "Sure Hun. What kind?"
"Chocolate!" Anna screamed.
***
The Cooking Incident
Four years old
Today was Mother's Day and Anna wanted to make something special for her mum. She'd decided to make her something with her Easy-Bake Oven. She set her alarm clock extra early so she would have time to make her a cake and some cookies; those where her favorite desserts.
Anna got out all the ingredients she would need to make the desserts and set to work, following the instructions on the paper. After the cake was done, she took it out and saw that it was burned. She glared at it, trying to figure out where she'd gone wrong since the cookies had turned out fine.
Deciding to just scrape off the burned part and still give it to her mother, Anna did that then put the food on a small plate and went to her mother's bedroom. She found her to be fast asleep since it was only eight and she always got up around eight-thirty. She sat the plate down on the table then climbed on the bed and began to jump up and down.
Hermione woke to find her bed was bouncing. She opened her eyes and saw Anna jumping on it and that a plate of cookies and a small cake sat on the table and that it was only eight.
"Anna? What are you doing?"
"Jumping."
"I can see that but why are you up? It's only eight."
"Cause Mummy. It's Mother's Day."
That's right, Hermione thought, it was. Draco, Kristen, Severus, the children and herself had all planned to go out and spend the day together. Lucius and Narcissa were to join them for dinner at Sev's place later that night.
"Did you make this?" Hermione asked after Anna had stopped jumping, indicating to the food.
"Yep, I did. Sorry it got a little burned."
"That's fine sweetie. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome, mum." and with that Anna gave her mum a kiss and crawled out of the bed to go and pick out an outfit for the day, leaving Hermione to her cake and cookies.
*****
Hermione and Remus pulled out of the memories then the Pensive with a small 'pop'. They each then sat down on the chairs nearby, thinking over what they had seen.
Finally Remus said quietly, "Thank you for showing me those Hermione. I needed to see them."
"You're welcome Remus. I'm sorry that they had to be thorough the Pensive and that you weren't there to see them in person."
"I won't say that it's okay, but I at least understand now. And I forgive you."
"You do?"
"Yes, I do."
They sat and talked for awhile until the clock struck twelve. Then they got up and went to Hermione's room. Remus transfigured his clothes into pajama's and Hermione went into the bathroom to change, since neither was yet ready to be faced with the siren call of the others bare bodies.
They wanted to wait and see what happened next and how everyone would take the news that they were at one time together and would hopefully be together again. They didn't care if the Weasley's approved or not since it wasn't any of their business but Remus knew that it would hurt Hermione deeply if they rejected her for it.
They both climbed into the bed, their bodies molding to the other as if they had never left. They held each other, basking in the glow of finally being able to lie together again. Their actions and intentions were innocent towards the other involved and they slept peacefully through the night.
End Chapter 12: Truthful Memories pt. 2
______________________________________________________________________
Authors Note:
I apologize that not much happened in this chapter but I felt there were more memories to be viewed. Next chapter more interesting things will come.
Please remember to read and review and send me some love! It honestly does help me write better and faster.
Thanks,
Ms. Marauder-Cullen
P.S. Here's the link to information about the novel, Anna Karenina-
http: // en. wikipedia .org / wiki / Anna_Karenina
Remember to take out the spaces!
