Thorns
The Marauders' Era
Chapter 29: Rosier-Black
September 1977…
Tessa was helped to her room by Amalia who held her arm to get her up the stairs. In the time it took for Tessa to return to her room, Ivy and Apple had worked quickly to strip her bed of its original linens to sturdier fabrics in preparation for childbirth.
Tessa paled as she fell back against her pillows. "Oh God." This was happening. She was having Sirius's baby.
"Mrs. Potter has been informed and she is on her way, mistresses," said Ivy while she rung her small elf hands. She looked back and forth from Amalia to Tessa. "It is a Maeve witch trait to have wee ones so young."
Tessa glanced at the older house-elf then at her mother who simply nodded. "It's true. I had just turned twenty when I had you, my mother had me at eighteen."
"I'm seventeen," Tessa reminded her mom.
Amalia smiled gently and pressed a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead. "You are on the younger end of motherhood in the Maeve line."
Tessa glanced at the clock on her wall. It was 9:15 in the morning; the Hogwarts Express had just begun its journey to Hogwarts. Tessa frowned, and her frown quickly became a wince as another contraction racked through her body.
As if reading her mind, Amalia asked, "Do you want to find a way to contact Sirius?"
"Yes! No. I'm not sure." More than anything, Tessa wanted Sirius there, telling lame jokes, telling her she was still pretty, and telling her she could do it, but she didn't want to ruin his Seventh year. Tessa remembered a time when she sat with the boys at the Three Broomsticks, before she found out she was pregnant, and they joked how they would rule the school; the Marauders would be the kings of Hogwarts for their final year.
Tessa sat up, using her pillows as a backrest, and reached for her wand on her nightstand.
"Accio two-way mirror." Moments later, Sirius's two-way mirror flew into the room and landed on the bed beside her.
"It's a toy Sirius and James use at school," Tessa said when she noticed Amalia's and Ivy's skeptical look. She then looked down at the mirror in her hands, looking into her own reflection. Tessa took a deep breath.
"Sirius. Sirius Black, answer me." Tessa felt foolish talking to her own reflection. She was beginning to believe the mirror didn't work when a flash of familiar grey eyes filled the corner of the mirror, and soon she could see Sirius's face. He grinned wildly, like he always did after a particularly good prank or story.
"Miss me already, Princess?"
"Sirius, the baby is coming." Tessa hated the way his smile fell from his face at her words.
"Tess, I thought it wouldn't be here until the end of the month! Did you get hurt this morning?"
"No, I'm fine, but soon after you left, my water broke and…" The doorbell rang at that time and both Amalia and Ivy exited the room to greet Mrs. Potter. The door closed with a soft click behind them. "Mrs. Potter just arrived to help me deliver. Sirius, you don't have to come if you don't want to. You need to go to Hogwarts."
"Tess wait. Tess, please don't cry—"
Tessa smiled bitterly. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Tessa repeated, as her tears fell freely. "We made one mistake, and I've ruined everything. I—" Tessa shook her head. She had grown to love the bump that kicked her stomach at night, but she and Sirius were only seventeen. She wanted to be Slytherin's quidditch captain and study to be an auror more than she wanted to be a mom!
"Nothing is ruined, Tessa," said Sirius, his grey eyes bright and his tone hard, allowing no room for argument. "Just, I don't know, cross your legs or something and wait—"
"Cross my legs! Sirius Orion Black that is the most sexist thing you have ever—"
"Okay, no time for a feminist rant, Princess. Just Lamaze until I get there!"
"What's Lamaze," a voice for Sirius's end asked. It was Peter. Tessa rolled her eyes. She saw Sirius's face wink at her before she saw only her reflection again. She wondered how Sirius would get there. Tessa rubbed her stomach.
"Alright, Sirius spawn," Tessa said in a stern voice, she then softened, even if it was Sirius's baby, threatening an infant probably wasn't the way to go. "Please," she said in a more normal but tender tone, "please wait for a little bit. Until your father gets here, okay?"
X
Sirius arrived nearly an hour later in Tessa's sitting room through the Floo Network. Immediately, he raced upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, and burst into her bedroom. He expected a wailing infant, but was greeted Mrs. Potter, Amalia, Apple and Ivy, and Tessa, sitting up in bed.
"Sirius," Tessa greeted, a look of relief crossed her features when Sirius entered the room. Sirius walked over to her side and took her hand. He could tell Tessa was uncomfortable by the way her jaw was set—like a person trying not to cry after stubbing their toe.
"I made it," Sirius said with a smirk as he kissed her hand. "It was quite a journey too. Turns out the Express has a Floo connection, even when travelling! The conductor wouldn't let me use it, even with James and Remus trying to convince him that it was an emergency. So we had Peter distract him by setting off a dung bomb in one of the loos so I could escape."
"Sirius, the escape artist," Tessa laughed.
"Just in time, Sirius," Mrs. Potter greeted him with a kiss to his forehead. Sirius felt his tense shoulders relax at her familiar face. Sirius was about to ask about to ask what she meant by that when Tessa suddenly gripped his hand hard.
"The contractions are closer together," Tessa hissed through her teeth as she controlled her breathing.
Immediately, Amalia was at Tessa's other side pressing a cool cloth against her forehead. Sirius breathed out a sigh of relief when Tessa's grip on his hand loosened. For the sake of his circulation, he hoped this birthing process would be short.
"Should I prepare a cot for you? You look as though you'll faint!"
Sirius glanced up from Tessa to see Amalia's fair face watch him with an amused expression.
"I have a heart of steel," Sirius said.
"He really does, Mum," Tessa encouraged. She turned a charming smile on Sirius. "But you are looking quite pale, love."
Sirius rolled his grey eyes and looked to Mrs. Potter for help; the old woman simply chuckled and shrugged her shoulders and left Sirius to defend himself before she quietly sat in a rocking chair in the corner with a book.
"You women are ruthless," Sirius tossed his hands into the air dramatically.
"It's a Maeve trait, Sirius," Amalia laughed. "You better get used to it, especially if you have a daughter."
Sirius glanced from Tessa to Amalia, his eyes narrowed. "Perhaps. What else should I know about the Maeve and Rosier bloodlines? For future reference?"
Tessa looked at her mother, interested in a history lesson as well. So rarely did Amalia talk about her Maeve blood.
"Well," Amalia started, "the Rosier side has French origin, but the Maeve side is mostly Northern Irish with Welsh ancestry."
"Earlier you said you gave this house to the Rosier family when you married into it," said Sirius as he leaned forward to listen to Amalia's history lesson. "The Maeve family is not among the Sacred Twenty-Eight, so how did you come into your wealth?"
"Brains and beauty," Tessa poked fun at Sirius' avid interest with a smile. Sirius stuck his tongue out at her.
"I'll have you know I get top marks, Princess! Anyway, please continue Amalia."
Amalia stole a glance at her daughter who made a face at the back of Sirius' head. She smiled before continuing.
"The Maeve family dates back to the time of Merlin. Maeve was a witch who served in Arthur's castle while Merlin was there."
"Merlin?" Sirius's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "He's one of the greatest wizards of all time!"
"And a Slytherin," said Tessa.
"The rest of us try to ignore that," Sirius muttered.
"Merlin," Amalia confirmed. "The legend goes that there was a young girl, Maeve, maybe slightly younger than Tessa who began to work in the castle while Arthur was king. Maeve was from Belfast and she found herself pregnant by a young man who promised to wed her but fled the next day. As Maeve came from a very poor family, to save her beloved family from ruin she left Northern Ireland for Wales to starts over as a servant for a wealthy family. Somehow she managed to find a job as one of Queen Guinevere's ladies—which is said to have been possible because of her beauty and diplomatic personality despite her lack of formal education. When Maeve began to show, Guinevere had compassion for her favorite lady in waiting and promoted Maeve to the overseer of the wet-nurses and nannies who took care of the children of nobility that both lived in and visited the castle. This gave Maeve considerable status and a chance to raise her son, Basile, among royalty."
"Wow," both Tessa and Sirius said in unison.
"It was then that Maeve met Merlin. Merlin had fathered a daughter around the time Basile was a young infant. His daughter was born during a time when many of the royal babies were unconsolably colicky, but somehow, their colic improved within a day after spending time with Maeve. When Merlin inquired further, he discovered Maeve preforming wandless magic and had actually placed soothing charms on the babies! Merlin confronted Maeve about her use of magic on muggles and was shocked to discover Maeve had no idea she was a witch. She just knew that her mother had passed the natural skills of charms and potions to her and she thought they were all old wives tales and remedies."
"For curing his daughter of her colic, Merlin offered to teach Maeve magic and about the wizarding world in secret as it was incredibly dangerous to be a witch or wizard at this time. Maeve was a quick-learner and highly intelligent and quickly became Merlin's trusted confidant in his plans to protect muggles from dark witches and wizards. Together, they were an unstoppable force."
"Were they ever together?" asked Tessa.
"No," Amalia smiled. "Merlin was much older than Maeve and they shared a deeply respected mentor and mentee relationship. Unfortunately, Morgan Le Fay's hatred for Merlin extended to Maeve. Morgan Le Fay never realized Maeve was a witch until Maeve injured the dark witch in a duel to save Merlin's life. From that moment on, Merlin honored Maeve for her bravery and promised that any fame he had would be her fame, and Maeve promised the same."
"And Basile," Tessa asked, her voice small. Sirius glanced at Tessa. Her eyes were as dark and guarded as the sea as she touched her stomach through her thin robes.
"Basile grew up to marry Merlin's daughter. I suppose that's why the women in the Maeve family have always been favored, as a way to pay homage to Merlin. Both were exceptional witches and wizards following in their parents' footsteps, though Merlin's daughter is said to have been gifted with The Sight. Oh, and they had twins. Twice, actually."
"Twins." Sirius's eyes widened.
"Twins and triplets run in this family," Amalia shrugged. "My great-gran was a triplet. We haven't had a set in a while."
"Oh God," Sirius paled at least seven shades and looked like he was about to be sick.
"There's only one in here, Sirius, calm down," Tessa said and patted Sirius's hand. "I would know, and I can assure you, I only feel one."
"What if the other is asleep and ready to pounce upon leaving the birth canal?!"
"You're mental," Tessa rolled her eyes. "There is only one baby in here and—"
Sirius held on tightly to Tessa's hand when pain crossed her beautiful face. Sirius winced slightly as he watched Tessa bite down on her lip to keep from yelling out.
"You were so engrossed in the story, dear, that you didn't notice your contractions were getting closer together," said Mrs. Potter, putting away her book and rising from the rocking chair. She crossed the room and checked under Tessa's blanket that was propped up over her lower half. Finally, Mrs. Potter made a murmuring sound and glanced up at Tessa. "You're ready to start pushing, Tessa."
The next three hours went by in strange lurches. Sirius would later say that it went by in a blink of an eye where Tessa would have sworn that it felt like a lifetime.
Amalia helped tie Tessa's long hair in a knot atop her head and Apple and Ivy assisted Mrs. Potter by brining in hot water. Sirius alternated between feeding Tessa ice chips and telling her dumb stories to make her laugh.
"For someone who wants to come so early," Tessa said on a break from pushing, "she sure is taking her sweet time coming out!"
"She," Sirius murmured with a laugh as he wiped the sweat from Tessa's brow, "what if it's a he."
"That's very…possible," Tessa breathed and pushed again. But Sirius knew, somewhere in his heart, Tessa was right that that baby would be a girl.
"Keep pushing, I see a head!"
"You're doing well, sweetheart," Amalia crooned.
"One more big push, Tessa," Mrs. Potter urged.
There was a flurry of movement and sounds as Tessa grunted with one last push and for a few heartbeats, everyone was silent.
Then the shrill cries of a newborn pierced the night. On the first of September in 1977, Sirius Black's daughter was born.
X
The skies started to turn to a grey color a few hours later signaling the start of a new day.
Mrs. Potter, Amalia, and the house elves had cleaned Tessa, the baby, and even managed to clean the bed so that Sirius could lie beside Tessa.
Quietly the two stared down at the baby who had just fallen asleep after nursing. Carefully, like a quiet dance, Tessa passed the baby to Sirius who moved his arm under his daughter's neck just like Mrs. Potter taught him to. It was still an awkward movement.
Sirius looked absolutely terrified, but Tessa could see that he was a natural at holding their baby. Tessa and Sirius stifled laughter when the baby had a huge yawn and seemed to sigh with contentment.
"She knows that there are fewer joys in this world than a nap after a good meal," Sirius said, his voice soft. "This is my offspring!"
"She has your hair," Tessa murmured, touching the soft, thick black down that covered the baby's head.
"And your lips," said Sirius.
"My mother's nose," said Tessa, "and she's rather small, kind of like a Rosier…"
"She'll grow still," said Sirius, "and she is lovely as is. I think I'll keep her in a cupboard."
"Excuse me?! Maybe I should hold her instead…"
"No, I mean," Sirius glanced up at Tessa and offered a cheeky grin. "Look at us, look at her. She's going to be a heart-breaker!"
Tessa laughed, but she had a feeling Sirius would be right. "She needs a name."
"Bathsheba," said Sirius. "Elvendork is already taken."
"You don't get to name her, you're terrible with names," Tessa laughed. She gently stroked her daughter's face. "I've given this a lot of thought. How about Suri Ariel? Ariel as a middle name."
Sirius silently looked down at the baby, so Tessa continued talking.
"Suri sounds kind of like your name, and it has several different meanings. In one language it means princess, in another it means red, and in another it means thief. Ariel, because I kind of like that your family has star and constellation names. Ariel is the brightest moon on Uranus, which is my favorite planet because it is a planet of new beginnings—and Ariel means little lion."
"Little lion," said Sirius after a moment's thought. "My little lion stealing hearts." Sirius gently stroked his finger down his daughter's black hair. "Suri Ariel…" Sirius paused on the last name.
"Black," Tessa supplied.
"Rosier-Black," Sirius decided. For a moment, Tessa and Sirius locked eyes. Sirius looked like he wanted to say something more, but he shook his head.
"Suri Ariel Rosier-Black," Tessa murmured as she rested her head on Sirius's shoulder. It was a rather long name, but somehow, it seemed to suit the little bundle wrapped in a pale pink blanket in Sirius's arms.
Author's Note:
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