Author's Note: Hi everyone, it's a double update day, there will be a new chapter of "Prophecy and Destiny" up later as well. There should be one more chapter uploaded before I go into the hospital, and then there will be a short break. There are only seven chapters left, and then the story of Anwen and Sirius really will be over. I'm feeling quite melancholy about leaving them behind. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. Mutt
Chapter 27:
Origin
March 2005
Anwen POV:
"Keep concentrating," I reminded Ginny. "Okay, just work through anything that you might feel, but keep your concentration centered." I sent a tickling hex at her, but other than a slight smile crossing her face, there was nothing. "Good job. You do that well when you're in the delivery room, you'll be able to bypass most of the potions."
"I hope so, I know that I'll recover faster without them," she stated, relaxing her shoulders and reaching for her glass of water. Ginny was only five weeks away from her due date, and trying very hard to learn a modified version of my visualization techniques, like the ones that I had taught Lily when the girls were born.
"A little, but if you need them, don't be too proud to take the potions. The goal here is to deliver a healthy baby, nothing else," I reminded her.
"Yeah, but I'm tired of listening to Fleur talk about how she delivered without any help," Ginny complained.
"Well, she was unconscious for Victorie, so, you know, don't think she should be so proud of that," I reminded her and that made her smile.
"I keep forgetting that you were there. I just want to do this right, Harry was telling me horror stories about when Lily gave birth to Evan. He remembers it and it makes him cringe. I don't want to be like that," she explained.
"Yes, well, Lily was a bit of a nightmare when she delivered both Harry and Evan, but to be truthful, I think that had more to do with the rather volatile nature of her relationship with James. They have always bickered as some form of foreplay," I explained.
"Oh," she replied and then you could watch the bits come together in her head. "Ooooh, I get it, so when she was all wonky about how James put the plates on the table the other night, it meant that they..." I nodded at her. Sirius and I had long ago learned that we had about an hour after one of their bickerfests to get away from them.
"Yeah, that's their sort of 'tell.' Tonks is always horny, but, if you see Remus pushing the hair around behind her ears, they need to be left alone," I told her and she blushed.
"I still see him like he's my professor," she explained and I nodded in understanding. "So, what's the tell for the Blacks?" she asked, looking very sweetly at me.
"I will trace along Sirius' eyebrows with my fingers, and he will caress the small of my back, but it's quite different with us, as you're well aware. We can be across a room, and make eye contact and...well we need to be leaving, immediately." I explained and she smiled.
"I know that you'd told me that it would be like this, but I honestly thought that it would abate some with time." I reached over to grab her hand.
"It doesn't, it really only intensifies. To be without Sirius now, after we've been bound for almost twenty years, it would..." I stopped to try and imagine it, what I found made goose bumps erupt across my skin. "I wouldn't want to live that way, empty and alone. I don't think that I could live without him." Ginny and I both contemplated what that meant.
"I have one more thing to talk with you about, before Harry and James get back. I still can't believe that they got Uncle Sirius to go with them today. He doesn't strike me as the golfing sort," Ginny changed the subject.
"Oh, he's not. The fact that James and Harry play without magic as well, it will drive my husband nuts. This most definitely will be a one time thing, I can't imagine him ever going back. Now, what did you want to talk with me about?" She took a deep breath and looked away.
"I'm worried about my Mum and Lily in the delivery room with me," she blurted out. I tried very hard to hold back my smile, but I really couldn't.
"Yes, I can see that. Lily can be a little overbearing, but in the end I think that she will be an asset. You Mum..." I stopped to think about how to word this. "Ginny, you're her only daughter, and like Lily will undoubtedly do, she left all of your sisters-in-law when the birthing process really got going, except when Fleur was unconscious. This is her one chance to see her grandbaby being born. She will try and smother you, but your healer and the medi-witch will take care of her, trust me. Your Mum just loves you so much, always has, that she needs to be with you when you're doing this; like I needed to make sure Ethan had everything he needed when he left for school, and why I still don't sleep through the night of a full moon, because my baby is going through so much that night. In the end, you'll be glad that they are both there."
"Will you come too?"
"At the beginning, but you'll come to a point when you really will want it to just be you and Harry, and that's the way it should be," I told her and she smiled and leaned over to hug me, best as she could over her belly.
"You are the best, Winnie. Thank you so much."
"Anytime child, anytime." As if on cue, the front door opened, and we heard the men come in, carrying their gear.
"You really spend every Saturday morning out there? Just swatting at those little balls and walking?" I heard Sirius' voice questioning his best friend.
"Yes, we do, Sirius. It's relaxing," James replied.
"You know what else is relaxing? A very long ride on the bike along the coast. Very, very relaxing," he added as he walked into the room, the other two in tow, laughing at him. He made a bee-line for me. "Winnie, have no fear, you will never become a golf widow."
"I already knew that dear," I replied, tilting my head up to kiss him. "Come on, I have errands that I need to run today, and things I need to get to send up to school for Ethan's birthday."
"What did you get him?" Harry asked.
"New broom. Went with the new Firebolt Spark, but then had a few customizations done on it. His twelfth birthday seemed like the best time to buy him a real broom," Sirius replied, letting a knowing glance pass between him and James and then gently kissing my cheek.
"It certainly does. That was..."James answered and then stopped, clearly thinking about the calculations. "That couldn't have been thirty years ago, could it?"
"It was, and please don't remind me. Ethan will have everything he does at Hogwarts be thirty years behind when I did," I told him and they both nodded.
"What don't Ginny and I know here?" Harry asked, he was standing behind his wife, his arms around her mid section, massaging the baby.
"For my twelfth birthday, your Dad and Uncle Sirius bought me a broom, and it wasn't just any broom, it was this amazing custom build. Lilyan is still riding it, since I outgrew it like my third year I think, but it was one of the best birthday gifts I ever got. Your Uncle Remus had to keep it with his stuff, since first years can't have their own brooms."
"We decided we liked it so much, that we're going to give each of our children their own brooms on their twelfth birthdays," Sirius concluded, and then Ginny yawned. "I will take that as our cue to head home. Guys, I appreciate the invite today, but don't ask me to go again. Winnie, my love, shall we go home and take a ride, we've got a few hours before the girls will be back from Lily's and the boys will be back from their day with Haf?"
"Sure, my love, but please change your clothes before we go. I'd hate for you to ruin the one pair of khaki pants that frame your bum so well," I told him with a wiggle of my eyes, and both the guys groaned, while Ginny just had a happy smile on her face.
Sirius POV:
"You really don't know what's going on tonight?" I asked, as we were preparing to floo to the Ministry this evening for a performance from members of the Grimmauld House School.
"Sirius, I know that two of our children are in the show and that another one has a project in the displays, beyond that, I know nothing. However, if it's anything like a Muggle school musical performance, you might need to charm your ears later on so that you can't hear them," she explained.
"Why?"
"Because I have never heard anything so completely awful than listening to my younger brother play the violin in fourth grade. It was..." she stopped and I watched a shiver pass over her. Great, this is something to look forward to.
"And we're here because?" Her response was a slap on my chest and her pulling the littlest two up closer to her and walking through the floo to the school. I had taken Lilyan and the twins over about a half an hour ago. We went in, and found James, Lily and Harry. Hope was standing with her parents, just like our two youngest, who were not in the performance tonight.
"How's Ginny feeling?" I asked Harry.
"Like a beached whale. She's hoping to make it over here tonight, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't. I'm not sure that she can get off the couch on her own," he explained and I watched Lily and Anwen both study me to see if I would laugh at the thought of her. Clearly I know better.
"I know that she's ready to have that baby get here, and she's quite well prepared for it," Anwen said and Harry nodded.
"I'm ready too, the baby is already summoning foods, and then kicking until Ginny eats them," he said shaking his head.
"Well, at least their not blowing bubbles or making their mummy shoot sparks," Lily retorted and she and Anwen laughed.
We walked around looking at the art exhibits, and there were quite a few of Harry. He was much less recognizable now, he hadn't had his glasses in years, and he wore his hair much longer now, his fringe completely covering his scar. I loved watching Lily when she'd see him, she'd pick the end of his hair up, or brush it off his collar, and sigh. Harry was quite good at ignoring his mother when need be. I thought that it looked good on him.
A few children recognized him, and Lily talked with her students and the parents as we roamed the displays. I was impressed with how calm Lily was tonight, but she explained that Luna and the parents organization had taken care of everything, and all that she had to do was walk around and smile, and do a general greeting at the beginning of the performance. Several of Anwen's former students found her as well, and they were happy to see her. I knew that she missed the children, but I also knew that she was happy to be back in the Auror department even more.
Hope, Eddie and Stella kept finding friends, and it was quite intriguing to watch them introduce us to their classmates. Anwen cringed every time someone called Edmund, Eddie, but I hoped that she would eventually get used to it. He preferred to be called Eddie, and clearly, his friends at school called him such.
We found John's art work, it was a painting of a wolf, and I suppose that I could make out that it was a wolf, if I squinted very hard. In the description, he wrote that it was for his godfather, who could turn into a wolf, and he thought that it was cool and it made him tough. I guess at some point we need to tell him the truth about Uncle Remus. Lilyan and Emma had done a sculpture together, and it was quite lovely. The sculpture stood about four feet tall, and it was of a rose bush that they had taken wires and twisted them and then tucked bits of paper into to make the flowers. Someone must have enchanted it for them, because the buds seemed to open and close.
"That is," Anwen started and then her mouth just hung open. "It's truly lovely. I wonder who did the enchantments on it?"
"They did," James responded and Anwen looked at him puzzled. "I swear, they did it themselves. Emma came to me, telling me what she wanted to do, and we went and did the research on what spell would work. I came to school one day and watched as she and Lilyan did the enchantment work themselves. Your daughter got your Charms skill, Padfoot."
"And yours got Lily's nose for research," I quipped back, and I got swatted for the second time tonight.
"Well, I am impressed. Oh, I want them to make one for our ballroom, Sirius. I just think it's beautiful," my wife sighed, her fingers ghosting over the delicate tissue blooms.
"We'll talk with them tomorrow. Come on, lets go get some seats. Hopefully this concert won't last long," I added under my breath. Eddie sat on my lap, and Stella sat on Anwen's. Hope was on her Mummy's lap and Lily and Anwen were sitting next to each other. Even though there was a year between them, I couldn't help but think that they were as close to each other as Emma and Lilyan had ever been.
A few minutes before the start of the concert, Lily excused herself, and Hope went to sit on her big brother's lap. He was chatting with her, and she'd look up at smile at him and then laugh. I nudged Anwen in the ribs and pointed it out to her.
"He's going to make a great Dad," she sighed.
"Yeah, he is, although, I still think that his little sister has him wrapped around her little finger," I replied.
"Oh, because your daughters don't have you the same way?" she quipped back.
"Never said that darling, never said that. I would give any of them the world if I could. Little Eva too," I reminded her of our beautiful granddaughter. Anwen had happily taken the door opening to being an active part of Eva's life, and we had our little girl one night a week, usually Friday, so that her Mum and Dad could have some time alone. It was something that we'd always appreciated when our kids were little.
"I know love, and I love you for the way that you love them," she told me, and then leaned over to kiss me. Stella started laughing but Eddie just made a disgusted noise.
"Aww, Mum and Dad, do you have to do that in public? I mean, my mates from school can see you. Stop it, please!" he complained.
"They won't," Harry consoled him. "They're still in love, and Eddie, that's a good thing for your Mum and Dad to be in love, just try to ignore how embarrassing they are."
"Great," he moaned and slumped down in my lap, trying to hide from anyone who might see him.
The lights dimmed and Lily came back to her seat, Hope sliding over to sit on her Mummy's lap. There were going to be instrumental and vocal groups from the eight, nine and ten year old classes. It started out with the eight year old instrumentalists and within moments, I understood why Anwen had suggested that a silencing charm on our ears might be appropriate. I knew the song that they were playing, or at least I thought that I did, and yet, it was nearly unrecognizable. Thankfully the piece was over soon.
The eight year old vocal group came out, and they were far more pleasant, then the nine year olds joined them and sang another song all together. Then they all left the stage, and the nines instrumental group came out. It was better, and the teacher had the good sense to call it 'variations on' the name of the song.
We watched as the ten year old group came out, Emma and Lilyan in front, and they played some sort of stringed instrument that I didn't even know my daughter could play. Then the whole group stood and sang a few songs, and then went back to get their instruments and played another one.
The ten year olds left, and the nine year old group came back out. Anwen and I found John right away, horsing around in the back row, but Jamie wasn't where she had been standing before. Anwen looked at me concerned, and then we both looked at Lily. She was very pointedly staring to the front, with no expression on her face. Then we saw Jamie, she came to stand in the very front of the group, next to the piano that was playing the accompaniment. The music teacher started the song, and the chorus began singing, but about halfway through, our daughter opened her mouth, vocalizing the solo.
Her voice was magical. She sounded like her mother.
I turned and looked at my wife. Her mouth was hanging open and tears were flowing down her cheeks, but her eyes were trained on our middle daughter. I could tell that Anwen knew nothing about this, and from what I was feeling from her, she was as surprised as I was about this hidden talent that our daughter possessed.
Her little voice soared, and I wondered if she could indeed sing as high as her Mummy could. The piece ended, and the entire room of people were clapping, much more excitedly than they had for any of the other songs tonight. Lily slipped from us again, and went and thanked the parents and others who were there, and wished them a good night while the nine year olds left the stage area.
"Aunt Winnie, Jamie could give you a run for your money," Harry commented and Anwen nodded.
"Harry, you've no idea. That was..."James started. "It reminds me of the first time that we saw you in that concert at Christmas."
Anwen still wasn't saying anything, she was just standing there, in shock. "Winnie, are you all right?" I asked, to which she absently nodded. I didn't think that she was, but I was unable to ask her more, as Jamie came bursting through the crowd, running toward her mother. Anwen knelt down, placing Stella's feet on the floor, and opened her arms to our twin daughter.
"Mummy, Mummy, were you surprised? I wanted to surprise you, and sing like you do. Did you like it Mummy?" the blonde child chirped at her mother. Anwen wrapped her arms around our little girl's frame and lifted her in a great hug.
"You most certainly did my little angel. You sang so beautifully. How did you keep this from me?" Anwen questioned.
"I paid John five Sickles to keep it a secret, and I practiced at school or at Aunt Lily's house. I wanted to make you happy. Are you happy Mummy?"
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm more than happy. I am over the moon with love and pride. You have a beautiful, beautiful voice."
"I wanted to sing like you, Mummy. I wanted something that was just for us," she whispered and Anwen held her tighter. I could feel how proud and how heartbroken Anwen felt in this moment. Need to talk with her about this later. I know Jamie doesn't mean to make her sad, she's not implying what I think that Winnie is thinking she is.
Several people stopped to congratulate Jamie. Our family was soon headed away from the school. We decided to take the kids out for ice cream, flooing out to the Three Broomsticks for some of the amazing treats that Madame Rosmerta made. By the time that we flooed home, Stella was asleep on Anwen's shoulder, and Eddie was fading quickly on mine.
After the kids were in bed, Anwen and I were curled up on the love seat, in front of the fire in our private sitting room. We'd covered the pictures of my brother and her sister, as we had heard snickers from them in the past.
"You want to tell me what that was that you were feeling when Jamie told you about her singing tonight?" I asked.
"Sirius, I was so..." Anwen started and then paused. "I am proud of her, immensely proud, she has a lovely and angelic voice; but when she told me that she did it so that we'd have something special, I felt like," she stopped, her voice quivering and breaking. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her to me, kissing her face and her tears away. "Sirius, have I been a good mother?"
"Anwen Llyn Hodgson-Black, how can you ask that question?"
"I didn't know that my daughter could sing, and what if," she shuddered again. "What if I haven't paid enough attention to them? What if they get to Hogwarts and they're upset that Mummy wasn't around more? What if I haven't done the best that I can with them?"
"Anwen, oh my sweet Winnie, nothing could be farther from the truth. You're an amazing mother, and our children, despite everything that they have lived through, are wonderful and happy. You couldn't have been a better Mummy for them. Jamie wasn't trying to make you sad today, she was telling you that she was proud of you, and wanted to be like you. Anwen, our children love you and..." I rambled until she silenced me with a kiss.
"Thank you, thank you for being the father of our children and for loving me."
"Anwen, I didn't have much choice. The first time I heard you sing, you captured my heart. I've just been following you ever since," I whispered back.
"Then follow me to bed, love." She didn't need to ask twice.
Anwen POV:
I slipped from the hospital room, to a waiting area full of expectant eyes. "Any news yet?" James asked.
"She's still working at it, but they're much closer now. I decided to leave her alone with her Mum, Mother-in-Law and husband. They don't need me in there," I explained and went to sit with Sirius. "We can leave, I'm sure that someone can send us word when the baby is born."
"Not on your life, Winnie. I'm about to become a grandgodfather." I looked at him in confused wonder.
"That's not even a word, dear. Who ever heard such a thing?" I shook my head while I spoke.
"Yeah, well, I'll make it one. I missed out on some things with Harry, I won't with this baby," Sirius said and I went back to being flabbergasted.
"Whatever, love, just remember the baby will have their own godparent."
We went back to our waiting game. Remus and Tonks were at the Manor with all of the children. Thankfully her mother was coming over to help, which made me feel a little better, but it was a whole lot of children to keep an eye on at once, even if the only ones that were little were the Tonks girls.
James and Sirius passed the time talking about Quidditch and which teams would have the best chance at the championship this year, and who they thought might make the World Cup Team next year. Arthur and Ron were playing chess and Hermione was reading something that reminded me of a report from her department at work. How does she review legal materials when her best friend is giving birth? I laughed internally at the fact that Hermione was staying out of the delivery room. We all knew that she was trying to get pregnant as well, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the whole delivery process was frightening her a bit. Of course, it didn't help that Tonks was spouting off her horror stories of giving birth to Lara and Andie the other night when we had girls night. Honestly, neither of them will be giving birth to children with Metamorphic talents, therefore, fear of them having either a horn or webbed feet won't be an issue. Come to think about it, I still don't understand how the babies would have been able to know about those things, unless they tapped into their Mummy's brain or something. That's just weird. The thought made my insides laugh.
"Anwen, are you all right?" Sirius asked me, and I looked up from the magazine that I wasn't really reading to find all of their eyes on me.
"Fine, why?"
"You just snorted." I could feel the blood drain from my face and my jaw drop.
"Oh, um, sorry," I mumbled, hiding my face in my hands which produced great rolling laughter among James and Sirius. I very quickly hid my face in the magazine again, getting engrossed in an article about proper wand polishing techniques. Yeah, that's really important for a woman who does wandless magic.
Time seemed to drag on, and there was no news from the other side of the door. I was starting to debate if I should head home and take care of my kids and the Potter children, when Harry came out, carrying a little blue blanket.
"Hey, everyone, I want you to meet my son," Harry announced, never taking his eyes off the child. "This is James," Harry lifted his eyes to meet his father, "Sirius," and moved them to his godfather's, "Potter. He's named for the two men that I most want him to grow up and be like." With that Harry's eyes returned to the newborn. As badly as I wanted to see the baby's face, I couldn't tear my eyes away from my husband. Sirius had tears streaming down his face at this declaration of not only the baby's name, but the reasoning behind it. James wrapped an arm around his son and stared down at his grandson; but Sirius pulled me to him and held me tightly.
I wrapped my hand around his head and cradled it to my shoulder and held him for a minute, and then whispered in his ear, "Would you like to meet your grandgodson?"
"That isn't a word," he whispered back.
"Then we'll make it one."
Sirius pulled away and we both looked down at the infant that Grandpa James was now holding. There was only the faintest fuzz on the baby's head, and his eyes were startlingly newborn blue. Guess we're going to have to wait to see who he looks like. We were all gawking at the baby when a noise from down the hall interrupted us. The whole group turned to see Remus running down the hall.
"Remus, what's wrong? Is it one of the children?" I called to him. He started shaking his head rapidly.
"No. Everyone is fine. I just got an international letter from Ewan, he's on his way back to see us," he explained, panting as he got closer to us. Did he run through London to get here?
"Why is he coming?" Sirius asked.
Remus stopped, hands resting on his chest as he panted. "He's found the cure."
