Chapter 53
After Benny left, Tiannah's mood started to worsen. This was aided by the fact that she started to feel very ill all of a sudden.
Sleep never came to her at night, she would snap at Oliver for the most insignificant things and she had a ravenous appetite for the most unusual food. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that she had these very symptoms three years ago, yet this time, she didn't think that Glandular Fever was the cause it.
"Tia?" Oliver said softly, as he spotted her sitting on her bed, pale and shaking. She opened her eyes and locked her them on Oliver's, and then looked away. Even looking at him hurt.
At this point, Oliver could tell that something was seriously wrong, yet he was completely nonplussed as to what it could be.
"I'm selfish," she finally murmured, looking at Oliver once again. "I'm stupid, I'm selfish."
Oliver raised an eyebrow; Tiannah didn't seem as though she was fishing for compliments, and there was a serious tone to her voice, something that Oliver had not heard in a long time.
"Am I missing something here?" he questioned, extremely confused. At this, Tiannah's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I made a really stupid mistake."
Oliver felt his frustration rising. Could she stop being so bloody cryptic!
"Spit it out already!" he said, in a louder voice then he meant to. Tiannah's eyes hardened very quickly.
"Fine. You want me to spit it out? I'm pregnant, Oliver. And for real this time."
As the words left her mouth, Tiannah bit back a sob. Oliver, however, was acting in the complete opposite manner.
"Are you serious?" he questioned, failing to conceal the grin that was creeping on his features. He seemed to completely disregard the fact that Tiannah was crying; he only payed attention to what her answer was. When the 'yes' left her lips, Oliver practically lifted Tiannah off her feet and spun her around, kissing her face repeatedly.
"Put me down," she hissed angrily. Oliver's grin slipped off his features as he finally realised that Tiannah was upset.
Oliver didn't understand why Tiannah wasn't overjoyed. After all, when she discovered that she wasn't pregnant those few years ago, she was extremely upset.
But Tiannah knew that her reasons for being upset were completely justified. After all, they were in the midst of a war. She had a vague inkling of when the child was conceived: a couple of days before Christmas. They hadn't used any means of protection that time, a fact that Tiannah was beating herself up over now.
"Why aren't you happy?" Oliver asked lamely, brown eyes wide and questioning.
"Because I'm selfish!" she burst out, standing up and striding around her old bedroom. "What sort of horrible person would bring a child into the world when everything is fucked up like it is? Oh yeah, that's right. I would!"
At this, Oliver found that his own temper was starting to rise. "So I'm a horrible person too. Right."
"No you're not," Tiannah hissed, waving her hand dismissively. "I am the one who was irresponsible, I was the one who forgot about something as bloody simple as a birth control spell and I-"
"What is so bad about this?" Oliver asked softly. "We're safe, remember. The child wouldn't be in any harm here."
"You don't know for sure," she said, blue eyes hard. "For all we know, we could be attacked this very moment."
For a short second, both Tiannah and Oliver were expecting a Death Eater to fly through the window. Brushing away the moment of insane thoughts, Oliver faced Tiannah again. He was still trying to get his head around the fact that he was going to be a father, but when he spoke, he sounded sure of himself.
"We're in this together, remember? Okay, so we didn't plan to have a kid, but that doesn't make it a mistake. And yeah, we're in the middle of a war. But doesn't that make it a good thing? We could bring a bit more happiness into each other's lives."
Tiannah had her retorted at the ready. "We can't raise a child in the middle of a war! We can't even be sure that our lives are safe, let alone a helpless child's!"
Oliver bit his lip. Tiannah had a point. Yet he refused to back down. He had desperately wanted to have kids ever since he was eighteen, and they had thought that Tiannah was pregnant. Tiannah had always been very careful about birth control, until a mere month and a half ago, when she let her guard down. Oliver had taken advantage of the situation, which he did feel somewhat guilty about. Yet he knew his wife well enough to know that she would be happy about the decision, after she got over the self-loathe/wrapping-her-head –around-the-situation stage.
"Tia, you're not alone. You have people who love you and will help you."
Tiannah looked up at Oliver, blue eyes wide and shining. She had discovered that she was pregnant a few hours ago, thus she had had time to wrap her head around it. But that didn't take anything away from her anger at herself. Yet at Oliver's words, she started to realise that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe something good would come out of it. Maybe – and although it was a mistake – maybe, she would be happy with the outcome.
"I know," she said softly. "It's just such a big deal, y'know? And I wasn't expecting it at all..."
"Hey," Oliver whispered, a smile pricking up at his lips. "We're in this together."
Within a few days, Tiannah and Oliver had informed their friends and family of their news. The reactions were exactly what Tiannah anticipated: squeals (on Hestia's behalf) tears, and congratulations. Surprisingly, it hadn't taken Tiannah long to come to terms with the fact that she was pregnant. In the dangerous times that they were living in, they couldn't take their time with anything, much less wrapping their heads around something, even something as huge as having a child.
Now that Tiannah had gotten over the self loathe stage, she had reached the stage where she was actually starting to become elated at the thought of being a mother. This didn't go unnoticed by Oliver, who was also becoming excited at the prospect. One week after they had informed their families of their predicament, Tiannah and Oliver were dozing on the couch in front of the fireplace. They were awoken by a tapping noise on the window. Oliver was the first to be awoken by the noise. He gently lay Tiannah's head down on the arm of the couch, stood up and opened the window. A tawny owl was perched on the windowsill, a letter tied to its foot and a Hogwarts crest evident on it. Oliver took the letter, and found that it was addressed to Tiannah. The writing was messy, as though a child had written it. It didn't take long for Oliver to figure out whom it was from.
"Tia," he said in a loud whisper, walking towards her. "Wake up, love."
Tiannah stirred and opened her eyes. "What is it, Ollie?" she asked. For his sake, it had better be important. I haven't slept like that in a long time.
"There's a letter for you, from Benny, I think."
Tiannah stood up straight, a smile quickly spreading across her features. "Finally!" she said, as Oliver handed her the letter. She hadn't received a letter from Benny for a long time, and the most recent one that she did receive contained nothing important. This time, she hoped that it was going to be an interesting letter.
"Ollie," Tiannah began, blue eyes locked on his. "Should I tell him about the baby, or wait until Easter?"
"Wait until Easter," Oliver replied with. He noticed the way that Tiannah's eyes brightened at the mention of the word 'baby.' It seemed as though she was accepting it, and was happy about it. Oliver knew that it would happen.
"Alright," she said, her fingers fumbling with the envelope. "Let's see what this letter says."
Dear Tiannah,
I'm so happy that it is Easter soon. I miss you and Mum and Dad heaps. And the rest of the family. School is great. I'm learning HEAPS, and the teachers are SO NICE. My friend Imogen wants to come over these holidays, and I asked Mum about that, and she said yes. So please can you be really nice to her? She idolises you and Oliver, so if she squeals and stuff when she sees you, don't be alarmed.
Anyway, I've got to go. See you in two weeks!
Love,
Benny
Tiannah frowned. "The teachers aren't nice; he told me that around Christmas. And he said that he isn't learning anything..."
Oliver rolled his eyes and his wife's stupidity. "It's called sarcasm, Tia. It's a special type of humour that adults use."
Tiannah felt like hitting herself in the head for being so thick. "Really? I've never heard of sarcasm before."
"Well, that much is obvious."
She stuck her tongue out at Oliver and scanned the letter again. "I guess that he has to be sly when he's writing the letters, because I bet my broomstick that Snape is reading them. I never liked him. I remember the time when I told him that something large was clearly up his ass."
Oliver laughed and ruffled Tiannah's hair. "I remember that. I had never seen Snape so angry."
"Yes, well, I have a certain talent for pissing people off with my excellent comebacks," she said, shooting Oliver a wide grin.
"Wow, I love how you are applying sarcasm!" he exclaimed jokingly, causing Tiannah to elbow him in the ribs.
"I do have excellent comebacks, though."
"I've obviously been rubbing off on you."
Tiannah raised an eyebrow at the obvious innuendo. "Yep, in more ways than one."
"Well, don't I have a sick minded wife?"
"Like you said, you've been rubbing off on me," she joked, winking roguishly at her husband. Oliver rolled his eyes nudged Tiannah in the ribs.
"I reckon that Benny really likes Imogen," she suddenly exclaimed.
"No, he's inviting a girl over that he doesn't even like."
"No more sarcasm from you," she said sharply. "I'm serious."
"No, you're Tiannah."
"AGH! I am trying to have a serious conversation with you!"
Oliver wasn't taken aback, because Tiannah had been having sudden mood swings of late. Sometimes, she would be really sweet and happy, and other times, she snapped at small things. He found that the best way to deal with them was to act calmly.
"Sorry, Tia. You were saying?"
She narrowed her eyes for a moment and then continued to speak. "Well, I think that he really likes her, if he's telling me to be nice to her. We better, actually."
"Yeah, well, you're the snappy one."
Tiannah narrowed her eyes angrily. "Well, I'm the bloody pregnant one, aren't I?"
"Calm down, okay?"
Having had enough of Oliver being insensitive, Tiannah stood up and walked out of the room.
The next week, Tiannah was starting to get excited, as the day that Benny and Imogen started their Easter holidays was drawing closer. She and Hestia were sitting on the balcony, enjoying the unusually sunny weather.
Tiannah had been thinking about the child for many days now. She was unsure of which gender it was going to be; she had to be twenty weeks along in the pregnancy for the revealing spell to work. But she and Hestia were discussing names nonetheless. Well, Hestia was doing all the talking. Tiannah was basking in the sunlight.
"I still think that you should call the child Hestia. I mean, she will be beautiful and smart, and have a classy name."
"What if the child is male?"
Hestia bit her lip for a moment, thinking hard. "Then you will call it Hestiabert."
Tiannah started laughing. "Gosh, you really are desperate for the child to have something to do with your name!"
"Of course!" Hestia exclaimed.
Tiannah found the perfect opportunity for her to tell her friend about something she had been thinking about for a while.
"Well, will being the child's godmother be as good as being named after you?"
Hestia's green eyes widened, as a wide smile graced her features.
"Better! It would be better!" she squealed, standing up and giving her oldest friend a huge hug. "Thank you so much!"
"Bloody hell!" Tiannah laughed. "It's as though I told you that you won a million galleons!"
"Yes, but better!"
The brunette returned the hug and kissed her friend on the cheek.
"Thank you, Hest, for being the best friend a girl could ever have."
It was true. Hestia had always been there for her, as a mentor, as a fashion guru, and as a moral supporter. There were times when both girls would say that the other got on their nerves: Tiannah was sometimes exceedingly naive, and Hestia extremely loud and girly. Although they were as different as day and night, they needed each other. And Tiannah couldn't think of a better godmother for her unborn child.
"Mum!" Tiannah whined, sounding like her eleven-year-old self, "when will Benny be here!"
Jane rolled her eyes. "Soon. He's arriving by the Floo Network, along with Imogen. Soon, dear."
The Wood family had come over to the Summers' residence, along with Theo, Monica and Dave. It was only somewhat cramped, but would be even more so once Benny and Imogen arrived.
Tiannah was waiting impatiently for Benny to arrive, as she had big news to tell him.
"Mum, you do realise that Benny will be an Uncle when he's twelve?"
Jane smiled and nodded. "I can't believe that. Even more so, I can't believe that you are going to be a mother."
"And you're going to be a grandmother," Oliver reminded his godmother.
"Yes, Oliver, thanks for reminding me that I'm old," Jane said, in a faux stern voice.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that..." Oliver stuttered, causing Tiannah to laugh.
"Ollie, it's called a joke. It's a very special thing that people do to make others laugh."
Oliver gave his wife a look which clearly meant 'seriously?' She grinned and nodded, kissing Oliver's cheek. Jane and Daniel exchanged happy looks as they saw Oliver tuck a piece of hair behind their daughter's ear. They had clearly found happiness in each other, as they had done.
The moment was broken as they heard a noise from the fireplace. Tiannah stopped talking to Oliver abruptly and looked to the fireplace, and saw Benny walk out of it. Without a moment of hesitation, she ran towards her brother and hugged him tightly; disregarding the fact that Imogen too had disembarked from the fireplace.
"Tia, can't breathe," he hissed, and Tiannah quickly let go, grinning sheepishly.
"Sorry, Benny."
Benny smiled and that was when Tiannah caught sight of Imogen. She was a pretty little thing, with reddish brown hair and green eyes. She was small for her age; Benny towered over her, having inherited the tall genes of the family, just like Tiannah.
Said tall woman smiled at Imogen, in what she hoped was a kind, welcoming way. Imogen turned pink and smiled back, as Tiannah spoke.
"I'm Tiannah. And you're Imogen. Benny has told me a lot about you."
Imogen turned pinker as Benny's green eyes were reduced to furious green slits, focused on Tiannah, who smiled innocently.
"Really?" she said softly, her pink cheeks slowly taking on a reddish tinge, which was aided by the fact that she had caught sight of Oliver.
Tiannah was half-expecting Imogen to squeal and ask for his autograph, but she merely gave him a smile as Oliver introduced himself. Tiannah automatically decided that she liked Imogen.
But Tiannah did hear a loud squeal. She turned around and saw Hestia, who was looking at Imogen as if she were an adorable puppy.
"Awh, so this is Benny's little friend! Hi, I'm Hestia!"
Imogen looked a little taken aback, but she smiled.
"Hi, I'm Imogen."
Hestia grinned and turned to Tiannah. "She's so cute."
"And she is also standing right there," Benny reminded Hestia, who smiled sheepishly at a blushing Imogen.
"It's okay," she said softly. Tiannah grinned at Hestia – they were both thinking the same sorts of things about their visitor.
"Would you like me to show you to the guest room?" Tiannah asked, picking up Imogen's suitcase for her. She nodded, green eyes wide. Tiannah had to stop herself from grinning like a maniac; Benny clearly found a good one.
"It's just up here," the brunette said, leading the younger girl up the stairs. Tiannah knew that soon it would be time for her to tell her brother about her pregnancy, but for now, Imogen was her priority.
"It's a little small, but it has a good view to compensate," Tiannah stated, placing Imogen's bag down.
"It's perfect," she said, looking around the room with wide eyes. Tiannah smiled.
"You can use those drawers over there to unpack your stuff, if you like."
Tiannah noticed that Imogen was looking slightly uncomfortable. "What's up?"
Imogen's cheeks turned red. "I just can't believe that I am in the same room as Tiannah Wood."
Tiannah grinned. Although she was somewhat used to fans, it never failed to remind her of when she was little, and Gwenog Jones was her hero.
"Sorry," Imogen said hastily, as Tiannah opened her mouth to speak. "You're probably sick of it, all the fans."
The brunette decided to answer honestly. "Not really. I'm used to it, but I'm not sick of it."
Imogen looked relieved. "But you probably get sick of girls fangirling over Oliver, right?"
"Sort of," Tiannah said, taking a seat on the bed, Imogen following suit. "When I was at Hogwarts, a lot of girls didn't like me because they liked Oliver. They gave me a hard time for being his friend and girlfriend. These days though, I don't really mind, unless they are being very pushy."
Imogen started to look interested. "What sort of things have happened?"
"Let's just say that a few girls have offered Oliver their bras," she said, an old twinge of annoyance forming at the words. Imogen giggled.
"There are some girls in fourth year in Gryffindor, who have their dormitory plastered with pictures of him. They're obsessed!"
Tiannah laughed; she didn't realise how big the Quidditch fanbase really was.
Imogen spoke again. "Do you mind that I like Oliver?" She sounded really nervous, which made Tiannah's heart melt. She's such a cutie; no wonder Benny likes her.
"No, not at all! He is pretty cute, isn't he?"
Imogen giggled. "Yeah, he is."
Overall, Tiannah really liked Imogen. She didn't get any negative sorts of vibes from her, and she didn't think that she was only friends with Benny because of her. If that was so, she would be a lot more of a fangirl, Tiannah reckoned, and not so shy.
"We should go back downstairs. If you need anything, just ask me or my parents."
Imogen nodded, and the two descended down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Tiannah spotted Hestia giving Benny a big hug. Quickly, the brunette looked to Imogen, and sure enough, there was a flash of jealousy in her eyes. Feeling like Hestia would have when Tiannah and Oliver liked each other, Tiannah let a smile slip onto her features.
"Oi," Tiannah heard Ken say. "Save the hugging for me, Hest."
Hestia pulled away from the hug and faced her husband. "Oh, I'm so sorry for giving an eleven year old a hug. Did it make you jealous?"
Ken looked her directly in the eye. "Very."
Hestia turned to Benny and smiled. "I'm sorry, Benny – my husband is being a jealous jerk at the moment."
Tiannah heard Imogen giggle from next to her, and Benny looked up, grinning at his friend.
"Hey, Immy. You finished looking around?"
"Yeah," she said with a smile. Tiannah gave Hestia a pointed look, which clearly meant 'gossip time.'
"I'm just going to go and chat with Hestia for a bit, Imogen – you and Benny can go and do something."
With that, Tiannah linked arms with Hestia and started talking at top speed, channelling her inner Hestia ways.
"She's so nice and sweet, and they totally like each other. We should get them together, Hest! Any ideas?"
"They're eleven, Tia – they don't really know themselves how they feel. Maybe they should just stay friends. I mean, if you and Oliver got together when you were eleven, what would you do, make out with him? I don't think so. Wait a couple of years, I think."
"We might not have a couple of years left," Tiannah snapped, annoyed that Hestia had rejected her idea.
"They're eleven!" the blonde said exasperatedly. "How many eleven year old couples have you heard of?"
"None," Tiannah grudgingly admitted.
"Exactly. Your idea was completely idiotic."
"Gee, snappy much? That time of the month, is it?"
"Yes, it is," Hestia said matter of factly. "And it should be yours too, if the dates are right."
"The perks of being pregnant," Tiannah reminded her friend crisply.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Lucky bitch," she grumbled, folding her arms. "What other perks are there?"
"No need for protective charms," Tiannah said with a wink.
"Well, I might just go and get myself pregnant then," she said sardonically. "Seriously, though, I've been thinking about it lately. I know that I probably wouldn't be a good mother, because of how my parents treated me-"
"Hestia, cut the bullshit. You would be a great mother. It doesn't matter how your parents treated you, only how you are now. You're the most loving best friend a girl could ask for, and I'm sure that Ken would say the same about what sort of wife you are."
A grin crossed Hestia's features. "What would I do without you?"
"I dunno. I mean that, though."
Hestia bit her lip for a moment. Then, she spoke. "I'm going to be an aunty."
"What?" Tiannah asked, confused.
"We're sisters, remember?"
The brunette's eyes widened in understanding, before she smiled. "Of course."
"Hestia!" Tiannah heard Ken call, making Hestia jump.
"Yeah!" she hollered back.
"Come here!"
Hestia rolled her eyes. "Jesus, that man has been sex-crazed lately."
Tiannah snorted. "Like you're complaining."
"Good point. Seeya!"
Tiannah watched her friend run off, smiling. It seemed that everyone had someone as of now. Things would be almost perfect, if for the fact that they weren't in the midst of a war.
Yawning, Tiannah realised how tired she was. Although she knew that it would be anti social to go for a sleep on Easter Eve, when they had a visitor over, she had a perfectly justified reason, after all, a reason of which she would inform her brother of soon.
As she walked up the stairs, she felt two hands on her waist. She turned around and smiled when she saw Oliver, who kissed her nose.
"Whatcha doing, beautiful?"
"Going for a rest."
"Can I come?"
"Isn't that what you're doing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Oliver grinned and nodded.
Tiannah opened the door to her bedroom, smiling when she saw the sunlight pouring through her lace curtains and onto the bed.
"I love it when it's sunny," she said, sighing wistfully, laying herself down on her bed, Oliver following suit.
"Me too," he said, twirling a piece of her hair around his finger. He let go of the piece of hair and placed both of his hands on her waist, before slipping them up her shirt.
"Oliver, we can't shag-"
"That's not what I'm doing," he said, pulling her shirt off. He positioned himself on top of her and kissed her very softly, before trailing the kisses down her neck, chest and eventually stopping at her stomach. Tiannah felt Goosebumps erupt on her skin as he grazed his lips across her stomach. He then rubbed her stomach with his hands, smiling up at her.
"That's our baby," he said softly, running his hands across the baby bump on her stomach. It was starting to become more noticeable, but as she was tall, the baby was able to lie lengthways in her womb, thus making the bump smaller than it would usually be. If she wore a baggy shirt, as she was before Oliver took it off, it was barely noticeable.
"We need to tell Benny, Tia," Oliver said, wrapping a blanket over Tiannah and himself.
"Yeah," she yawned, snuggling into Oliver. "After I have a sleep. Promise."
"Okay," Oliver said, before he slowly drifted off to sleep with his wife.
The couple awoke two hours later. Tiannah got up first, putting the shirt on that Oliver took off.
"Ollie," she whispered, gently shaking him. "Ollie, wake up. I've got to go and tell Benny about the baby, remember?"
"Mm," he mumbled, opening his eyes and slowly sitting up. "How long were we asleep for?"
"Two hours," Tiannah said, sitting down next to him. "After we tell him, I want to go and play Quidditch."
"No," Oliver said sharply. "No, you're pregnant, in case it escaped your notice."
"I can still play Quidditch," she said.
"Well I'm not playing with you," he stated simply. "You and Hestia can play."
He got here there – Hestia hated broomsticks. Rolling her eyes, she stood up, holding her hand out for him to take.
"C'mon, I'm going to go and tell Benny that he's going to be an uncle."
They found Benny in Imogen's room. They were throwing a Quaffle back and forth to each other, reminding both the Quidditch fanatics of when they were younger. Benny spotted his sister and grinned.
"Hey, Tia," he said, putting the Quaffle down. Tiannah noticed that his grin slipped when he saw Imogen turning pink at the sight of Oliver.
"Um, we have news," she began. "Can we sit down?"
Imogen and Benny nodded, making room for the two.
"What's wrong?"
Tiannah took a deep breath, unable to hide the spreading grin on her features.
"Oliver and I are going to have a baby."
For a moment, the room was dead silent. Benny's voice broke the silence.
"Are you serious?"
Oliver and Tiannah nodded, smiling. Benny soon joined in on the smiling.
"Wow! That's... wow!"
"You're going to be an uncle," Imogen said to Benny, also smiling.
"Holy crap!" he exclaimed, green eyes wide. "That will be something to tell my friends!"
"Congratulations," Imogen said, smiling. Oliver grinned at her and patted her shoulder, causing her cheeks to turn pink.
Benny gave his sister and Oliver a big hug, still smiling.
"How long?" he asked.
"About four months," Tiannah said. Benny took the news really well, she thought.
"I'm going to be an uncle!"
Tiannah found that her happiness was receding as the last day of the Easter Holidays dawned. She had got to know Imogen even better over the course of the holidays, and really liked her. Benny was always fun to be around, as he was always being his cute self. Tiannah found herself having a conversation with Imogen on the very last day.
"So," Tiannah began casually, "anyone you fancy at Hogwarts?"
Imogen turned pink. "Sort of."
Please be Benny please be Benny.
"Can you tell me who?"
Imogen took a deep breath, as Tiannah held her own breath. "I guess... Benny."
Tiannah grinned broadly, wanting to perform a victory dance. Is this how Hestia felt when Oliver admitted that he liked me? Is this why she liked pestering me about it?
"Aw, really?"
Imogen nodded, looking abashed.
"Why do you like him?"
"He's really nice to me," she said simply. Tiannah grinned once more. Benny had said the same sort of thing about Imogen.
Maybe things would work out for everyone.
Or maybe not.
Almost two months later, nothing much had changed. Tiannah's baby bump was becoming more noticeable, and she and Oliver had discovered the gender of the child: female. Hestia's reaction to discovering this was to squeal, jump up and down and insist that the child be named Hestia. But Tiannah and Oliver were both still contemplating on what to call the girl, but they had three months left in the pregnancy to think of that.
One day in early May, all seemed calm. There was a slight breeze outside, and clouds were obscuring the sun. Tiannah was reading a book, Oliver had fallen asleep next to her, Hestia was writing something on a piece of parchment, and Ken was giving her a massage. It seemed to be a completely ordinary day.
Tiannah, however, sensed that something was going to happen. Call it a six sense, but somehow, she had a feeling that something was going to change. When she told Oliver this, he frowned.
"What, do you mean with the baby?"
"No," she said. "I just have a feeling that something big is gonna happen."
"Alright," Oliver said, looking a little confused. Tiannah rolled her eyes; Oliver clearly didn't understand. No, she wasn't concerned for the baby's sake – she had a feeling that You-Know-Who would do something soon.
It turned out that Tiannah was right. That night, she and Oliver were dozing off near the fireplace, when they were awoken by Daniel.
"What?" Tiannah grumbled, opening her eyes and looking at her father, who was unusually pale.
"The Order are at Hogwarts. They found Harry Potter, and You-Know-Who will be there in an hour."
Tiannah felt a thrill in her stomach, and exchanged a look with Oliver. Before she got excited, though, she questioned her father.
"Is this it? Is this where all of this could end?" she asked, blue eyes wide. Daniel smiled wryly.
"They have us outnumbered, Tia – even with the Hogwarts students, they still have us ten to one."
"We have to go!" she said, tone pleading. If there was a chance, however small it may be, that they could defeat the Dark Lord, Tiannah knew that she wouldn't hesitate to take it. Oliver, however, wasn't having the same thoughts.
"Tiannah, you're not going," he said simply and firmly. Her blue eyes narrowed.
"Oh yeah, and you think that you'll be able to stop me?"
Oliver nodded. "Yes," he said calmly. "You are pregnant, remember?"
Oliver had a fair point there; Tiannah had to admit. But she was a fair dueller, she knew how to dodge, and it wasn't as though she didn't have her wits about her. She wanted to fight and make the Death Eaters pay for the crimes that they committed.
"I'm going," she said, holding her chin up in the air.
"No you're not," Oliver snapped. "I'm not letting you."
"You don't own me," Tiannah snarled, knowing in her heart of hearts that she was being selfish, but persisting anyway. "I can do what I want."
Oliver looked as though he was undergoing internal conflict. Eventually, Daniel cleared his throat.
"Tiannah, I don't think you should come."
Tiannah narrowed her eyes to icy blue slits. Daniel started to speak again, sensing his daughters anger.
"Oliver's right, Tia. You are pregnant, and you would be putting the child in danger if you came-"
"I don't care what you say, I'm going," Tiannah snapped. "Now, are we going or what?"
When Tiannah, Oliver, Jane, Daniel, Meredith, James, Hestia, Ken and Theo (Monica had to stay back to look after Dave) arrived in the Room of Requirement, Daniel spotted Remus Lupin and approached him.
"Good, you're here," Remus said, giving the family a small smile. Tiannah could feel the nervous energy in the air. However, she was distracted when she saw two red-haired twins. They had spotted her at the same time as she had spotted them, and they made their way over towards her and Oliver.
"Hey!" Tiannah greeted them, smiling. Her nerves were forgotten during the reunion.
"How are you both?" Fred asked, as Tiannah gave him a brief hug. She smirked when she saw Oliver stiffen next to her; he always had found it annoying when Tiannah and Fred interacted.
"Alright," Tiannah said, smiling at them. "What about you two?"
"We've been dead bored," George said. "Finally, we can kick some Death Eater butt!"
Tiannah laughed. "I had the exact same thoughts, but..."
As if on cue, Fred and George caught sight of Tiannah's stomach.
"You're pregnant?" Fred asked.
"Obviously," George said, rolling his eyes. "What is it?"
"It's a girl," Oliver said, giving his wife a small smile. "But Tia isn't fighting."
"I am," Tiannah growled.
"No, you're not. I don't know why you even came."
"Because I'm fighting," she said boldly. Fred spoke.
"Our Mum is forbidding Ginny from fighting," he said. "You can stay with her."
"But I am fighting!"
"Tiannah," Oliver said seriously, and she stopped talking abruptly at the tone of voice. "I want you to go home. Please."
Brown eyes burned into blue, until Tiannah gave in. There was a point – if she died, the baby would too. The thought made Tiannah's gut turn.
"Fine," she said.
"You don't have to go home," George said. "Go through the painting and when you reach the end, you'll be in the bar where you entered. Aberforth will let you stay."
"That sounds like a better option," Tiannah said, looking to Oliver to see if he thought it was a good plan.
"Excuse us," he said, placing a hand on the small of Tiannah's back and leading her to a corner.
"It'll be okay," Oliver assured. "I'll be fine."
"Look out for the others too," she said, feeling a little shaky.
"Of course."
Tiannah knew that this was it. A lot of people would die, but it was for a good cause. She just hoped that no one she knew would be one of those unlucky people.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," Oliver replied, giving Tiannah a long, lingering kiss. She hugged him, and then kissed his cheek.
"See you soon," she said, in a reassuring voice, as though she was trying to convince herself of it. He nodded and smiled.
And with that, Tiannah walked back through the painting and back to The Hogs Head.
Tiannah had never seen Hogwarts look so... broken. As she walked back from the Room of Requirement, she was constantly stepping over rocks and other rubble-like substances. Occasionally, she caught sight of a dead student, causing bile to rise in her throat. She hoped with every ounce of hope that she possessed that no one she cared about was dead.
The Great Hall. That's where she guessed that everyone would be. It had been the most horrible twelve hours that Tiannah had ever endured – the thoughts that occupied her mind weren't happy ones.
Early morning sunlight was pouring through the broken windows of the Great Hall, and onto the crowd of survivors. Tiannah knew that it was over – Aberforth had informed her of it. You-Know-Who was gone, and a sizable number of his Death Eaters were dead. The remaining few were to be carted off to Azkaban.
Don't get her wrong – she was overjoyed that all of this was over, that the uncertainty and worry was over. But she would truly be at ease once she knew that everyone was alive... or not.
"Ollie!" she cried in a choked voice, having caught sight of him. He turned around as Tiannah sprinted towards him, a small smile crossing his features.
She threw her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could. Everything – the relief, the previous terror, the worry - overwhelmed her, as tears welled in her eyes.
"Is everyone okay?"
He pulled away from the hug, looking grave and forlorn. "Yeah, the family are all okay."
Tiannah would have sighed in relief, but she caught the unusual tone to Oliver's voice.
"What do you mean the family? God, not Hestia or Ken?"
"No. Fred."
Tiannah felt a numb feeling cross her body. Fred. Reckless, flirtatious, funny Fred. She took a deep breath, trying not to let the tears fall down her cheeks.
"Anyone else we know?"
It was then that she caught sight of a small girl with reddish brown hair, looking as though she was sleeping. But Tiannah knew better, especially when she saw Benny's expression.
"Everything will be okay," Oliver whispered, pulling his wife in for a hug. Tiannah squeezed her eyes shut and she buried her head into Oliver's chest.
And for a miniscule moment, in each other's arms, everything did seem okay.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to the amazingly brilliant JK Rowling, and this story comes nothing near hers.
