A/N: sorry for the delay on updates, things have been crazy recently with me starting a new job and all that. Anyway, on with the show! Lily is now 6 weeks old.
Leanna groaned with frustration as she walked around the living room of the burrow with Lily who was screaming her lungs out in her arms. She'd left everyone in the kitchen because Lily was crying constantly. She hadn't stopped crying since they had brought her home. Leanna tried sitting down with Lily on her lap but it just made the infant cry louder. Leanna stood up, she could feel her frustration rising. She walked back into the kitchen and without looking at anyone, she handed the crying baby to Harry.
"I can't do this." She said through tears of her own before she turned and ran from the room. Harry looked from the door Leanna had just run through to the infant. He felt a panic rising in him as he watched her face contort with her cries. He looked around silently asking for help. Hermione had followed Leanna upstairs. Mrs Weasley approached him.
"Sit down dear." She said pulling a chair out for him. "You need to relax, she can sense the tension in your body." Mrs Weasley explained as she showed him a better way to hold the infant. He watched as his daughter wriggled in his arms and opened her eyes. She looked around before her gaze met his. She cooed at him. Harry smiled. This was probably the first time she'd stopped crying in days. He looked up at Mrs Weasley who was smiling at him.
"What do I do now?" He asked. Mrs Weasley chuckled and patted his shoulder.
"You enjoy the peace and quiet." She replied. Harry nodded and looked back down at his daughter who had closed her eyes and fallen asleep. As he watched her little chest rise and fall evenly he couldn't help but smile. The last few weeks had been the toughest of his life but at the same time, there were the moments like this that made this time the best of his life. He thought he knew love but as soon as he first heard his daughter cry, he had felt love like never before.
Leanna ran upstairs and into the bedroom she was staying in with Lily. She stood with her back against the door and let the tears roll. Her head was spinning and her thoughts were racing around not making any sense. She'd been trying everything, she'd tried many different milks, they'd changed her cot, the type of clothes they were dressing her in, they even gave her medicine to help with wind but nothing was working. Every time she was awake, she screamed. Leanna blamed herself. It was obviously something she was doing that was causing Lily's frustrations.
Leanna looked at the travel cot in the middle of the room and felt the anger bubble inside of her. She didn't ask for this. She didn't want this. She' was 15 for goodness sake, she was supposed to be living her life to the full, instead she was hiding from the infant that she brought into the world. She circled around the cot before she sat down on the bed. She closed her eyes. Images of her daughter screaming filled her head. She was a bad mother. She couldn't even stop her baby from crying. She was the worst mother.
"Lee, can I come in?" Hermione's voice called from outside the door. Leanna didn't answer, she knew that Hermione would come in anyway.
"Oh sweetie." Hermione said as she rushed over and wrapped her arms around her friend.
"I'm a horrible mother." Leanna cried into Hermione's shoulder. Hermione shook her head.
"Nonsense, that is not true at all." Hermione said. Leanna nodded her head.
"It is true. She won't stop crying every time I pick her up. I look at her and I feel nothing. Like, I know I love her but at the moment I just don't feel anything." Leanna admitted through her tears. "It's all gone." She whispered. She hadn't told anyone about how she was feeling. People just assumed that she was okay but it wasn't true. She was far from okay. Hermione stroked her hair and let her cry.
"I think we expected too much from you." She said quietly. Leanna looked at her. "We all thought you were managing okay, I see now that you're not."
"I'm a bad mother." Leanna confirmed once more. Hermione shook her head.
"No, you are not, you just need some more support." Hermione explained. Leanna nodded and wiped her eyes. She'd only just noticed that Lily had stopped crying downstairs. "Do you want to go down and see her?" Hermione asked. Leanna shook her head. She knew it would be a bad idea. Lily would only start crying again. Hermione nodded.
"Get some rest." She instructed as she stood up. Leanna laid down on the bed and turned away from her friend. She didn't want to talk to her any more. She wanted to sleep now. Hermione hovered for a few more moments before she left she room and went downstairs.
Lily was asleep in Harry's arms. Hermione smiled when she saw them.
"We need to talk, all of us." Hermione announced looking around the table. Mr Weasley was sitting next to his wife. Sirius and Remus on one side and Harry with Lilly on the other.
"What's the matter dear?" Mrs Weasley asked. Hermione took a seat next to Harry and started to explain what Leanna had told her upstairs.
"It sounds like post-natal depression. It's very common." Remus explained to them. He then explained how they could help Leanna to get her back on her feet. "It can take time and perseverance but if we don't give up, we can make it work." Lupin assured. Especially to Harry who was obviously freaking out about his girlfriend. He slowly stood up, carefully in an attempt to not wake Lilly.
"Can you take her please?" He asked Hermione. She nodded and he handed the sleeping infant to her. Lily stirred for a few moments but soon settled into Hermione's arms. Harry thanked everybody for their support and headed up stairs to see his girlfriend.