Chapter 10: Lullaby
[March 2012]
--- --- ---
Not for the first time, Charlie contemplated the small green vial Shin had given him before leaving the demon plane for the first time. He hadn't given it much thought after Janice refused to take it, but he'd been thinking about it quite a lot since returning from the demon plane almost two weeks ago.
It was a fact that demons generally outlived humans. In many ways, for a human to become a demon was giving them a taste of immortality, or at least a greatly increased life span. True, demons were still mortal, and could die just as any human could, but their lives were measured more in millennia rather than decades. It was the difference between that of a human's life and that of a gnat's. Many humans would kill for the chance to live for thousands of years. Charlie knew that the rationale behind that wasn't so much that they wanted to live, but because they didn't want to die.
It was also a fact that living such a long time had a heavy price. When surrounded by those who would live such a short life in comparison, life would be full of pain and grieving. He remembered all the funerals he'd attended right after the Battle of Hogwarts when Voldemort was finally defeated. While he didn't know the majority of the people buried, he still felt the loss. When his brother Fred died, he barely had time to grieve before it was discovered that he was alive after all. He later learned that Fred had been given a second chance at life, but he still hadn't felt the loss as acutely as he would have if more time had been given between the initial shock and subsequent relief.
Charlie wondered if he would be able to live in a world surrounded by people he knew he would outlive. He knew his parents would likely die before he did, and maybe some of his siblings. Or he might be killed by a dragon (or demon), and they would be the ones grieving him. That wasn't quite the same, though. Assuming everyone lived to the end of their natural life spans, he would be an old man when he attended the funerals of his family.
It was a fact that death was inevitable. Burying loved ones was unavoidable. That alone shouldn't be used as a deciding factor in such a life-altering decision. Maybe he should ask Tracy what the main factor in her decision to remain human was when she had the chance to live for thousands of years. Fred and George also had the same chance, and both opted to remain human. Tracy was closest to her original demon form, though, retaining her memories and a slightly altered mentality. He hoped it wasn't something as simple as not wanting to lose her loved ones to time, as that wasn't much better than wanting to cling onto life because one was afraid of death.
He knew he had no real reason behind his contemplation of the small green vial. He realized that Ryou had basically told him that while he theoretically could use it to become a demon, there was no promise that anything might develop between them. From what Charlie knew of him, he had to agree with that assessment. Ryou avoided relationships for a reason. He had the chance to live in the demon plane, but preferred to live in the human realm. Having a relationship with a human was doomed from the start, and it was possible that no other demons interested or understood Ryou enough for him to bother with. Ryou acted more 'human' than most demons they'd encountered. It was possible that he found traditional demon courtship to be just as strange and bizarre as Charlie did. Ryou obviously wasn't interested in casual sex, or else he wouldn't be a virgin. While it was possible Ryou might go for someone equally long-lived and of a similar mindset, it was possible that he really was happier alone.
Charlie sighed as he took a drink from his pint while staring at the vial in front of him. There was a lot he had to think about, and he was no closer to figuring things out than he had been before.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Charlie turned around in his barstool to see the voice that interrupted his musings. He could tell that Ryou wasn't very happy to see him there in the Ogre's Lair, especially since Charlie was drinking a liquor with a toxic green color. "Thinking," he replied before turning back to his drink and the vial.
Ryou's gaze followed Charlie's to the vial. "Don't be an idiot," he said, sitting down on the stool next to Charlie. "That isn't for you."
"Janice won't do it," Charlie replied, taking a sip of his drink. It didn't taste as bad as he thought it would. It almost tasted like Mountain Dew with a kick.
Ryou just looked at him for a few moments before he said, "Neither will you. There isn't a single compelling reason for you to do so." When Charlie looked over to him, he continued. "Theoretically, I could convince Janice to take it. I'd have to use methods that go against what I believe in, but I could convince her to take it."
"How?" Charlie asked.
"She's in love with me," Ryou said simply, looking at the drink menu. "Not the type of love you might be used to, which is all about satisfaction of your own lusts and desires, but the kind of love where the other person's happiness matters more than your own. The kind of love where it's fine if you're not together so long as they're happy, but where you'd pledge forever with the other person if you could." He looked to Charlie. "If I promised to be with her always, she would take it."
"But you don't feel that way about her," Charlie said.
"Not to that degree, no." Flagging down Merle the bartender, Ryou placed a drink order. "I wouldn't pledge forever with her. I want to see her happy, yes, but I also know that I can't make her as happy as she could be. Even without any obstacles, I wouldn't be able to love her the way she wants or deserves. If I were to pledge forever with her, it would be nothing more than a lie."
"And you don't want to lie to her," Charlie said, downing more of his drink. "What makes you think that the only kind of love I know is about sexual gratification?"
Ryou snorted. "You equate love and sex with one another. Don't think I don't know why you're staring at that vial with a pensive look on your face. You're thinking about it. Maybe you're hoping that if you did it, I would reciprocate whatever it is you're feeling for me." He leaned toward him. "Except you're not even certain of what it is you want, so to do anything irreversible right now would be the highest act of stupidity."
Charlie sighed and palmed the vial, putting it back into his pocket. "I want to remain friends with you, and for whatever awkwardness there might be to go away. I want things between us to go back to the way they were before this entire mess started in the demon plane."
"That's not what you want," Ryou interjected. "From my vantage point, that you had an erection over me and called my name out when having sex with someone else tells me that you're sexually attracted to me. If you just wanted to be 'just friends', you wouldn't have those thoughts about me." His drink arrived, and he took a long swig of it. "What you really want is to be with me, but you're saying that you'll content yourself with whatever scraps I give you for now."
Charlie's eyes widened. "That's not--"
"If I offered to take you to my flat and fuck you like you want me to, we both know you'd take me up on the offer," Ryou said. "You'd want things to go back to 'normal' afterwards, but you'd still take that one night if that's all I gave you."
Charlie shook his head and looked down at his glass. "I wouldn't want things to go like that! Maybe I'm curious, but I wouldn't want to throw away our friendship just for a one night stand with you. It would degrade us both."
"Why would it?" Ryou asked. "You have no idea what I want. Maybe I'm just as curious as you. For all you know, I could be looking for a glorified fuck buddy to satiate my carnal urges, and just haven't found anyone worth my time. I told you before not to worry so much about what other people want and focus more on what you want."
"It would be degrading to me, then," Charlie said. "I'm not some sort of dog that will wag its tail at whatever 'scraps' are given. I'd rather keep things the way they are now if I can't have it all."
Ryou was silent for a few moments before he smiled and took a drink of his beverage. "At least you're starting to figure it out. Think about it, though. It would be selfish of you to ask for all of me when I can only give you scraps, just as it would be selfish of me to ask for you to give up everyone you care about just for the slightest chance that you might actually want more than a shag."
Charlie was silent for a while, not sure of how to respond. He was saved from having to react when Ryou's phone rang, practically at the same time his own rang. Paige was safe at home, so that assignment should be over. He briefly wondered if Karin had another mission for them. "Hello?" he answered.
"Come to St. Mungo's," George said on the other end. "Janice is in labor."
--- --- ---
Charlie paced the waiting room, wishing that someone would emerge from Janice's private room to tell him what was going on. She wasn't due to give birth for another eight weeks, and nobody would tell him why the Healer in charge let Karin and Hermione into her room while he was forced to sit in the waiting room. From what little he knew, Tracy was in there as well.
"Would you sit down already?" Fred asked as he held his youngest daughter Olivia, who was just a month shy of her first birthday. She squirmed, trying to get out of his hold so she could explore the waiting room. "Just calm down and stop pacing."
"I'll calm down when someone tells me what's going on," Charlie said. "Why is she in labor? What happened? Why were Karin and your wife let in when I'm not?"
Fred sighed. "They're probably transferring spirit energy. Sit dow--" He stopped as Ryou's Ice Chain shot out, wrapping around Charlie's waist and wrangling him into a chair.
"What the fuck?!" Charlie protested, ignoring the dirty looks he received from some of the passing Healers for swearing. He let out another string of swears when Ryou let go of the chain, which wrapped around him and the chair, effectively tying him to it.
Ryou shrugged. "You never were able to sense spirit energy." He turned to Fred. "What drained her so much?"
Fred shook his head. "All I know is what George told me over the phone when he called for Hermione. From what I can tell, Janice had the Glove of Transference, and tried to use it with Tracy. It shorted out her remaining spirit energy, and here we are."
Charlie had no idea what he was talking about, but apparently Ryou did, as he was shaking his head and muttering 'idiot' under his breath. "I don't understand," Charlie said. "What is this glove thing?"
"It's a relic from the Underworld," Fred said, bouncing his daughter on his knee to try to calm her. "It lets magical ability transfer from a witch to a Muggle. Tracy used it years ago to give Janice her magical power."
"It also consumes a tremendous amount of spirit energy," Ryou said. "It forced Kuroi to take her demon form when she used it, and it flash-fried her kid."
Fred shot him a surprised look. "What kid?"
Ryou shrugged. "She was pregnant at the time, but didn't know it until after she miscarried. Janice is damn lucky it didn't do the same thing to her kid. That's probably why she's in labor. Kid's probably afraid that their mum is going to do something else stupid and wants out now."
Charlie looked between them. "So they'll be fine?"
Fred paused. "If we got to them in time. Janice was pretty drained before Hermione got here. Tracy said she was down to just her life force by the time they got here."
Charlie put his head in his hands. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but it sounded bad. All he could do was hope that Janice and the baby pulled through. He didn't know what he would do if he lost them.
"George is upstairs in the tearoom with the kids," Fred said as he stood up, readjusting his hold on Olivia. "Shall we join them?"
Charlie shook his head. He wanted to be there when one of the Healers emerged so he could get an update on their status. Apparently Ryou declined as well, since Fred left by himself to the staircase.
"I thought she wanted to live," Charlie muttered after Fred was gone. "She was planning on applying for the position of Charms professor at Hogwarts in the autumn. Why would she give up her magic power if she knew it would weaken her this much?"
Ryou just shook his head. "You haven't spoken to her since you broke up last month, have you?" At Charlie's silence, he turned to him. "She's accepted that there's pretty much nothing she can do for herself. She might prefer to live, but at the same time she understands that isn't likely. Giving Kuroi her magic back was just one of the things she needed to do."
Charlie stared off in the general direction of the wall. "But why would she risk it if she knew Tracy miscarried for doing the same thing?"
"I'm not sure that she ever knew," Ryou said. "Kuroi was the one who told me about her miscarriage because I sensed something was wrong with her. I don't know who else she told. She obviously didn't tell Fred if this was the first he heard of it. I'm guessing George doesn't know, either."
"Why did you tell me, then?" Charlie asked. "It wasn't your place."
Ryou was silent for a few moments. "It's better not to dwell on 'what might have been', but if Kuroi ever does tell George, you deserve to know why George will most likely act even more irrationally around you."
Charlie gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean by that?"
Ryou remained silent for an even longer amount of time before he sighed heavily and stood up. "It was your kid," he said before walking towards the staircase. He didn't even pause or look back as he lifted a hand and the Ice Chain wrapped around Charlie vanished.
--- --- ---
When Karin had first told him that he'd impregnated a woman who'd miscarried after a couple of weeks, Charlie had decided then that he was better off not knowing who the mother had been, or when it had happened. Ignorance was bliss, as the saying went. He didn't let it weigh too heavily on his thoughts most of the time, although he had taken time to privately grieve for what might have been. Not knowing the specifics had helped to prevent it from weighing him down.
He supposed that Ryou had left plenty of hints previously when mentioning Tracy's miscarriage. The demon had said that a 'powerful wizard' had impregnated Tracy, and that her oldest daughter Chloe would never have been born had she not miscarried. Had he stopped to think about it, Charlie could probably have figured it out on his own. The timing was right, as only a couple of weeks separated their one night stand from the time she entered Fred and George's lives as a criminal wanted by the Underworld.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked Karin as she walked toward him in the waiting area outside Janice's room.
"Tell you what?" Karin asked, tilting her head. She took a deep breath. "We're going to try to administer the antidote. Janice is in labor, and there are ways to speed it up before the antidote affects your child. If we don't administer it now, Janice probably won't survive. She's running off her life force alone, and it's growing steadily weaker despite Hermione's best efforts."
Charlie nodded mutely as he stood up. "Will my daughter be all right if you do give Janice the antidote?"
Karin paused. "I don't know. It takes a couple of hours to take effect, but--"
"I can't lose her," Charlie cried. He slumped back down into his chair, his legs unable to support the rest of him. He was aware that tears threatened to fall, but didn't care. "I-- You should have told me."
"Told you what?" Karin repeated.
"That Tracy was the one who miscarried the child I might have had before," he said, feeling a tear slide down his face.
"Oh." Karin sat down next to him. "You never asked for details, and I didn't want to complicate things by bringing them up."
"Then why bring it up in the first place?" he asked in disbelief.
"You asked," she said softly. She sighed. "I don't always think about the consequences of what I say. But if you really stop to think about it, did you honestly expect that out of the hundreds of women you've slept with in the past twenty-five years, only one would end up pregnant? Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned any past miscarriages, but how would you have wanted me to reply when you asked me if Janice was the first woman you impregnated?"
"You could have lied to me," he said, wiping away a tear tickling his cheek as it fell.
Karin nodded slowly. "Do you want to go in there? The Healer isn't too happy that we're in there, as she says no visitors are allowed and we should leave her to do her job, but you have the right to be there."
Charlie slowly stood up, grabbing onto Karin's offered arm for balance when he almost stumbled. "Do you think they'll be alright? Janice and the baby, I mean?"
Karin paused. "Do you want the truth, or should I lie to you?"
Charlie just wiped away the evidence that he'd been crying, not saying anything in response.
As they walked toward the door, Karin quietly said, "I think they'll both be perfectly fine. Janice will make a full recovery, and your daughter will be perfectly healthy and ready to go home in just a couple of days. Everything will work out, and you'll all live happily ever after."
"Karin?" Charlie asked as he reached for the doorknob. "You're a horrible liar. But thanks." He opened the door and walked in.
Karin smiled at him as she followed. "Any time."
Charlie hadn't known what to expect when he walked into Janice's room. He'd never been in the room when any of his nieces or nephews were born, and while he had been present for the births of some of his younger siblings, that had been so long ago and he'd been so young then that he didn't remember much beyond being sent out of the room a number of times. The Healers back then had been rather touchy about him trying to bring stray animals into the room. He still believed that his mother would have been cheered up when she was in labor with Ron by the dog Charlie found roaming the streets outside St. Mungo's, mangy or not. But visitors were discouraged while a woman was in labor, as his father explained. And animals certainly weren't allowed.
He hadn't expected to see Janice looking so weak as she lay in bed, surrounded by magical apparatuses that monitored the vital statistics of her and their baby's. She looked incredibly tired, and stray clumps stuck to her sweaty face.
The Healer in charge glared over at Karin and Charlie as they entered the room, but said nothing to them. The stern-looking woman turned back to wave her wand a few times over Janice's swollen belly, letting sigils appear in the air over her. "The baby's in distress. We need to induce labor. Get me a Calming Drought for the mother," she barked to a pair of trainee healers.
"Distress?" Charlie repeated. "What does that mean?"
Hermione didn't glance up from her position stooped over Janice, one hand hovering over her forehead and another over her chest. "It means your baby has to be born now."
"Is it working?" Karin asked as she went over to Hermione, who shook her head.
"Still no trace of Reiki," she said. "Her lifeforce is depleting more rapidly than I can replace it."
"Try harder," Charlie said as he mechanically walked closer to Janice's bedside. He knelt down by her, shocked to see her in such a state. He'd thought she was doing better than she appeared now.
"What are you trying to give her?" the lead Healer snapped at Karin, who had taken out a small bottle of a milky white substance.
"As I told you before, I'm her primary health care administrator," Karin said, uncorking the top of the bottle. "Just do your job, and don't interrupt me."
Charlie was surprised when Janice opened her eyes and glanced at him. "You came," she said before grimacing in pain as a contraction hit. "Where's Ryou?" she asked once she recovered from her contraction.
"Upstairs with Fred and George and their kids," Charlie said. "Do you want me to get him?"
"I'll go," Tracy said as she stood up from the corner where she'd been sitting.
Charlie hadn't even noticed that she was in the room until she spoke. He looked away from her, not knowing what to say now that he knew she could have been the mother of his first child had circumstances been different. His thoughts were just too jumbled at the moment, so he simply nodded. He briefly wondered if she knew that he fathered the child she lost, but quickly dismissed it as something that she obviously would have known, as Ryou would have no way of knowing otherwise.
"I'm sorry," Janice whispered, bringing Charlie's attention back to her. "I should have listened when she warned me about what would happen."
Charlie reached out to take her hand in his. Whatever might have happened in their relationship, she was still the mother of his child, and they were still friends. He hoped. "Save your strength," he said. "Focus on getting better." He glanced to Hermione. "How do you transfer spirit energy, anyway?"
"Unless you have the training to do so, don't attempt it when she's in this state," Karin said, handing Janice the bottle of what Charlie presumed was the antidote.
Charlie nodded mutely as he watched Janice down the antidote before making a face and crying out as another contraction hit.
"She's dilated enough," the lead Healer said. "Let's get the little one out of her."
Charlie was pushed aside by the Healers that would deliver his baby. While the Muggle world had progressed to the point where expectant fathers remained in the delivery room with their wives (or girlfriends), the magical community was not that progressive. Men were still expected to remain in waiting rooms, pacing around nervously until someone emerged to inform them that they had a son or daughter, and then celebrate with other family members waiting for the same news. It was obvious to Charlie that the head Healer wanted to kick him -- along with Karin and Hermione -- out of the room.
Seeing Janice in such discomfort in her haggard state was almost enough to make him want to go outside, but not enough. He was determined to be there for her and their child, and leaving now was not an option in his mind.
To avoid being in the way, he found himself a nice patch of floor by the wall. After sliding down it, he hugged his knees to his chest, trying to settle his racing mind and heart.
--- --- ---
Charlie woke up when he was unceremoniously kicked in the side by a familiar-looking boot. He glanced up at Ryou, who just scoffed at him before walking over to Janice's bedside. Charlie blearily stood up, wondering just how long he'd been asleep.
He hadn't missed the birth of his daughter, as Janice was still in labor. Janice was looking even more exhausted than before, panting heavily in between contractions. The contractions seemed to be closer together than they were before he'd fallen asleep. He didn't think he'd slept for too long, though, as she wasn't showing any signs of the antidote taking effect yet.
Janice looked to Ryou as he approached. "Ryou…" she greeted as he stood by her. "I'm glad you're here--" She screamed out as another contraction hit her.
"Don't push just yet," the Healer commanded. "Let's wait a couple of contractions." She glanced to the magical sigils in the air, which moved and re-shaped themselves every now and then.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Ryou asked as he glanced to the sigils, trying to understand them.
"I was worried," Janice said.
He turned to her in amazement. "You were worried? I was worried! What were you thinking with such a dangerous stunt?!"
She smiled at him. "What's the point of living if you don't live dangerously?" She started to chuckle, but stopped as another contraction wracked through her body.
"Idiot," Ryou said. "There's a time and place--"
"Will you protect her?" Janice interrupted. "I don't care if it's allowed or not, but I'd like you to be Sophia's godfather." At Ryou's surprised look, she smiled. "Or godmother, as the case may be at times."
"You're naming her Sophia?" Tracy asked from where she'd gone back to her previous position in a nearby chair, her eyebrows raised.
"We never talked about names, but I think it fits," Janice said right before another contraction hit. Charlie took a few steps closer to her as the lead Healer instructed her to start pushing while the trainees tried to usher everyone outside.
Karin and Hermione put up a fuss at being asked to leave the room. Hermione threatened to have all the Healers fired if she had to leave, while Karin started naming random dates and horrible-sounding fates that she claimed they would suffer from if she was forced to leave. In the end, nobody was forced to leave the room, although Tracy left quietly to help Fred and George gain control of their broods, who were getting very loud in the waiting area.
Charlie turned to Ryou, who stood next to him against the wall they were regulated to if they absolutely 'insisted on staying'. "What's the deal with the name Sophia?"
"It was their mother's name," he explained. "Well, it was actually Sophie, but I guess it's her way of honoring the mother she lost as a child."
Before Charlie could reply, his attention was snapped away by the sounds of Janice screaming and a loud wailing that joined shortly therafter.
The few times Charlie had seen newborns, they'd already been cleaned. He briefly wondered how the tiny goo-covered red mass in the Healer's arms could possibly be a baby, but quickly chided himself for his own stupidity as a Severing Charm was cast on the umbilical cord. In a stunned stupor, he went toward the Healer wrapping his daughter in blankets, wanting to get a better look at his goo-covered daughter.
"Sir," one of the trainees said, placing a hand on his arm. "We have to take her to the adjacent room to clean and examine her."
He was about to protest when Janice screamed again. The lead Healer had given her some sort of potion and was stepping away with the empty flask. Janice's face contorted in pain before she fell silent, looking as though she was sleeping. Fearing the worst, his insides clenched for a moment before he noticed she was breathing.
"You idiot!" Karin exclaimed, glaring mutinously as the Healer.
The Healer sniffed. "I am following procedure of giving a standard Calming Draught to my patient before and after childbirth. She didn't have such a reaction before, and no allergies were mentioned. You, on the other hand, have been giving her substances of unknown origin and generally being a nuisance."
Karin glared at her for a few seconds before joining Hermione in transferring her spirit energy to Janice. She placed her hands over Janice as well, a soft violet glow emitting from them.
"Will she be okay?" Charlie asked, his eyes wide.
Ryou walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. He waited for the other trainee Healer to follow the first into the adjacent room with Sophia before he muttered, "Her life force is extremely low."
"It was low before!" Charlie proclaimed, batting Ryou's hand off him.
"Not this low," Ryou said in a somber tone. He looked to Janice with an inscrutable expression on his face. Tracy was trying to prevent the Healer from interfering with Hermione and Karin, claiming that they knew what they were doing and any further potions given or spells cast would only diminish their efforts.
Charlie turned to the door as it opened. Before the lead Healer could protest, Ginny stormed up to her, ordering her out while wearing an expression that made it clear she was not to be disobeyed. The Healer in charge shot her a defiant look before walking out of the room.
Ginny turned to Hermione and Karin. "Sorry I'm late. I came here as soon as I got the message." She walked over to Janice. "Things would have been so much easier if I'd been here. I hope that twit didn't interfere too much. Where's the baby?"
"The other Healers took her into the other room to be cleaned and examined," Charlie said as he sat down in a chair, not knowing what else he could do. He hoped that his sister -- who had become a Healer after completing her schooling and getting her NEWTs -- would somehow be able to fix this. She knew about spirit energy, and would occasionally employ its use in some of her cases.
"I'll deal with them later," Ginny said. "First we need to get her energy up and stabilized."
--- --- ---
In the end, all that could be done was for Janice's energy level to be stabilized. No amount of transference of spirit energy seemed to work while the antidote coursed through her system. Charlie had never realized that the antidote would take as long as it had, but Karin explained that the longer the poison had to run through her system, the longer the antidote would take to counter it. The Healer having administered a potion after the antidote was given only delayed the process. While the antidote continued to course through her body, Janice remained in a coma at St. Mungo's.
Three weeks after she was born, Sophia was declared healthy enough to go home. Charlie had to admit that he had no idea what he was doing. When he'd first learned he was going to be a father, he hadn't expected that he'd be alone in it. His family helped, but he knew they had their own lives and children to take care of.
All the time he'd taken off work was catching up with him and his boss was threatening to find a more reliable replacement soon. He quickly realized that working with dragons was far too dangerous when he was almost gutted by an angry Welsh Green. Looking for a new job when he had a newborn to take care of wasn't the ideal situation, but it was better than the alternative.
"You can always work for me," Fred suggested as he mixed up a bottle of formula while Charlie rocked Sophia in his arms. Charlie had left Sophia with Fred for the day while he did post-recovery administrative duties on the reservation, and had returned just in time for Sophia's feeding time. "I think there's a few part-time openings at the Diagon branch of Wheezes. I know George is looking for someone to replace Tostada at the Hogsmeade branch. Where he finds people with such weird names, I'll never know."
Charlie made a non-committal sound. "I'll think about it. Not exactly my dream job, though. No offense meant."
"None taken," Fred said as he handed Charlie the bottle. They sat down on the couch, lapsing into silence for a few minutes while Sophia suckled on the bottle. "Will you be allowed to live where you are now once you're no longer working at the reservation?"
"It belongs to the reservation," Charlie said. "Employees can live there with their families or whoever, but I'll have to clear out by the end of next week. Mum and dad offered to let me crash with them for a while." He wiped away a bit of formula that had dribbled down Sophia's chin. "Slow down, would you? You'll make yourself sick."
"I got an owl from Hogwarts the other day," Fred said conversationally, leaning back. "More of the usual about Jess getting detention for sneaking out of the castle, but she and Chloe somehow dragged Kyle with them. Maybe it was a good thing they snuck out when they did, because a couple of demons tried to attack the shop in Hogsmeade. I guess they didn't get the memo that George wasn't in that day."
"Are they alright?" Charlie asked, startled.
Fred nodded. "Nobody was hurt. Surprisingly, Kyle was able to subdue the demons while the girls alerted the proper authorities. I didn't realize he'd become that good with fighting and using Reiki. He was lucky that he wasn't hurt, though, because some of the wizards on scene did more to hinder him than help him when they tried to hit the demons with spells. Idiots should know that magic doesn't work against demons properly, and trying to 'protect' the one person present who can deal with them will just make the situation worse."
"The demonic community is hidden from us, much like ours is from Muggles," Charlie mused aloud as he took the bottle from Sophia and shifted her in his arms to burp her.
"I asked Karin about that," Fred said. "She said that aside from the possibility of mass panic, there's no real good reason for demons to stay hidden. Hermione was saying that it might be a good idea for Hogwarts to teach a class on magical beings, as there's already one for creatures. Maybe if there was a class like that, people could get used to the idea of demons existing and there wouldn't be a mass panic. Demons could slowly integrate themselves in the world. Or at least they wouldn't have to hide from us."
"Demons aren't 'magical beings', though," Charlie pointed out, gently patting his daughter on the back. "They're in a class of their own. Not to mention that there are so many different types of demons, that you couldn't cover even half of them in one year's time."
Fred shrugged. "So maybe they could have something like Demonology as an elective. Ryou could teach it. I don't think he has an actual job or anything, and he might be able to keep some of the more destructive Gryffindors in line. McGonagall has been talking about adding more electives to the curriculum. I heard she wants to drop Divination. It's become popularly known as the class that awards those with the wildest imaginations who put in the least amount of effort."
Charlie smiled. "Ryou as a professor. That's a bit scary, actually."
Fred chuckled. "Tracy is on the Board of Governors, you know. It lets her feel useful while she stays at home with her kids. She could make it happen." He placed his hands behind his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You know, Koenma's not happy that some guy in Japan made a fictionalized account of one of my predecessor's time as an Underworld detective. Some of the stuff I did made it into the manga, although was twisted around and credited to my predecessor. Next thing you know, someone will be writing books about us. Maybe even make a few movies."
Charlie chuckled. "We're not interesting enough. They'd write the books about Harry, because his story is far more entertaining."
Fred nodded. "We'd be regulated to side characters."
Hearing Sophia let out a small burp, Charlie moved her so that she was once again cradled in his arms. He placed the bottle back to his daughter's mouth, who greedily started sucking on it again. "I probably wouldn't have much on-screen time at all. I'd be lucky to get a few brief mentions."
Fred nodded. "Side characters never get the girl, though. Whoever writes Harry Potter's story would probably end up sticking Hermione with Ron or something like that. I'd probably just be left dead or something."
Charlie chuckled. "I think I've read the manga you were talking about. Wasn't your predecessor named Yusuke or something like that?"
Fred nodded. "There was also an anime series, and yes."
"I never realized it was based on a real person's life," Charlie said pensively. "I suppose I should have known with the way it went on about spirit energy and demons and all that."
"Koenma's 'trusted ogre' Jorge leaked out a bunch of stuff to some guy in Japan," Fred said. "He went with it, changing a few details here and there to make things more interesting and entertaining."
Charlie was silent for a while. Noticing that Sophia was dozing off, he took the bottle from her and placed her on his shoulder again. "Thanks for watching her today, Fred. I honestly don't know how I'd manage if it wasn't for all of you."
Fred smiled. "It's no problem. I forgot how tiny they were at that age."
"She's tinier than most," Charlie said. "Newborn clothes and nappies are still a bit big on her, although she's grown a lot since she was born. I'm just glad she's healthy."
"Strong, too," Fred said. "I can sense her spirit energy. She's got potential. I hope she doesn't end up fighting, though."
Charlie nodded somberly. "I hope she doesn't, either."
--- --- ---
Charlie didn't have work the next day, so took his daughter with him when he went to visit Janice at St. Mungo's. Just as could be expected from the last day of March, it was raining. Normally Charlie wouldn't have bothered with an umbrella, but he didn't want Sophia to get sick when there had already been so many odds against her. True, she was in her pram, covered with several blankets and the pram's built-in hood, but it wouldn't do for him to get sick, either. He wanted at least part of what Karin told him to be true. Actually, he wanted all of it to be true.
Janice had been moved from the delivery room to a different one on the level for Spell Damage. While she wasn't affected by any sort of spell, per se, none of the other levels really fit the description of what she suffered from. It was also the level best equipped for dealing with those in comas like Janice.
He noticed upon entering her room that Ryou was still by Janice's side. From what Charlie knew, the demon rarely left her side except to tend to biological needs like eating or using the restroom. Even Karin didn't bother him with any assignments, although Charlie was aware that there had been a few (that Fred and/or George went on).
"Still the same?" Charlie asked as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ryou.
"Worse," Ryou said, not taking his eyes off Janice. "Her life force is almost gone, and the poison is still in her system."
Charlie was silent for a while. When Sophia started fussing, he pulled her out of her pram, rocking her in his arms. "I can't sense anything," he admitted. "What're you fussing about?" he asked his daughter when she continued to whine. "I just fed you, so I know you're not hungry."
"Her nappy's wet," Ryou said, still not looking at them. "She'll start crying all out in a few minutes if you don't change her."
Charlie blinked, but reached for the nappy bag on the undercarriage of the pram while maintaining a firm hold on his daughter. "How do you know that?"
"Demons have more acute senses than humans," Ryou said. He glanced to Charlie and Sophia. "The way her digestive tract is rumbling combined with minute fluctuations in her aura indicates she'll have a bowel movement in about half an hour. I hope you brought plenty of nappies with you." He turned back to his vigil over Janice.
Charlie sighed and stood up. Hoisting the nappy bag over his shoulder while holding Sophia, he walked over to a table across the room to change her. "Let's get you changed before I have to change you again."
"It will also be a foul smelling one," Ryou predicted. At Charlie's silence, he asked, "What exactly does Janice want me to do, anyway? Besides protecting their charge, what does a godfather do, anyway?"
Charlie made a thoughtful face as he started to change Sophia on the makeshift changing table. He didn't know what it was originally used for, but he was claiming it as such now. "I guess it depends. Traditionally, a godfather's secular duties are kind of like being an uncle. Spending time with their godchild, taking care of them if anything happens to their parents. Stuff like that. Wizards aren't really as religious as Muggles, but a godfather's religious duties would be something like teaching the kid proper moral values and stuff like that."
Ryou snorted. "Because demons make such great role models," he commented dryly.
"I don't think you're that bad," Charlie said, carefully sprinkling a bit of baby powder to Sophia's bum so she wouldn't develop a rash. "You don't put up with much crap, and call things as you see them."
"Why should I waste my time with sugarcoating things?" Ryou asked. "Coddling one's brats just causes them to grow up lazy, spoiled, and unaware of how the real world works."
Charlie smiled. "How is Paige? I heard she comes here after school."
"Better," Ryou said. "She's not allowed to play video games unless they're at the arcade. She's made a couple of friends there, although her mother's worried that she might be using spirit energy to win stuffed animals in the claw game there."
Charlie chuckled as he carefully folded a fresh nappy around Sophia, although the laugh didn't quite reach his eyes. He still remembered what Ryou had told him about how the child he'd lost had been with Tracy. It was still a bit upsetting, but he knew that it was probably better that way. Chloe could never have been born if his child hadn't been lost, and it was possible that Tracy and George might not have gotten together. He knew they loved one another and were good for each other, and wouldn't want to stand in the way of that. He held no interest in her beyond a one night stand. If he really stopped to think about it, he'd been lucky that he hadn't caught any horrible and untreatable diseases somewhere over the years.
"Do you want me to do the whole godfather thing?" Ryou asked as Charlie finished re-dressing Sophia. "It sounded like Janice hadn't really consulted you about that."
"Another free babysitter," Charlie quipped. "Works for me." He laughed as Ryou glared back at him. "I honestly can't think of anyone else who I would trust in that position. That, and I'd like to break the cliché of 'naming brother X as godfather of newest Weasley Junior'. I can't even remember who all I've been named godfather to. It's become almost like a competition to see who can be named godfather the most times. I thought you didn't care what others thought or felt, though."
Ryou blinked and turned away, looking back at Janice. "I don't," he muttered.
Charlie smiled and walked over to him. "Here," he said, handing Sophia to a surprised Ryou. "Support her head like this. And don't look so surprised. You can't exactly bond if you never hold her."
Ryou's eyes were still wide and panicked-looking when he peered down at the baby in his arms. "You better not be planning on dying and having me watch after your kid," he muttered. When Sophia blinked up at him, he sighed. "And you better not be planning on addressing me as 'aunt' or any other female title. I won't care how old you are, you'll be encased in ice."
"You keep threatening to do that, but you never have," Charlie pointed out. "That time with Paige doesn't quite count, since that was an actual fight."
"I will also be teaching you several swear words in Makayan that you can call your dad and other people that annoy you," Ryou said.
Charlie smiled and rolled his eyes. "Because learning how to swear in the native language of demons is such a valuable skill." He glanced over to Ryou as he sat down next to the demon. "If Hogwarts started a class dedicated to studying demons, would you teach it?"
Ryou's eyes widened and he looked over to him. "Why would I? I possess no magic, and there are others better equipped for that than me."
Charlie shrugged. "Your name came up when Fred mentioned a class like that and possible teachers. Besides, the caretaker's a Squib and one of the professors was expelled before he completed his education. And who better to teach about demons than a demon?"
"Kuroi would be better," Ryou said, turning back to Sophia. She grabbed his finger in her tiny fist. "She knows just as much as I do, and is used to dealing with midgets. And she has her magic back."
"And a bunch of little kids at home," Charlie pointed out. "Her attention was spread thin enough before. I don't think teaching would help matters much."
Ryou paused. "If I'm asked by someone with the authority to make such decisions, I'll think about it," he said.
Charlie supposed that was as close to an agreement as he would get for the time being. There was no guarantee that a class like that would even be placed on the curriculum. They lapsed into silence after that, interrupted half an hour later when Ryou's prediction came true. After Sophia was changed again, their vigil over Janice resumed. And then…
Ryou sighed and stood up, closing his eyes. "Gone," he whispered, turning to the door.
Charlie was confused by what he meant for a few moments before the magical sigils above Janice flashed briefly before disappearing. Sophia started crying as an alarm sounded. Not long after that, a team of Healers rushed into the room.
"Gone," he repeated dully, rubbing his daughter's back to try to soothe her. He knew exactly how she felt at that moment.