Metamorphose Chapter 52
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I make any profits from posting this fanfiction.
Summary: Non-Epilogue compliant. After the war groups of disgruntled Wizards and Witches terrorise England's magical nation, sending them to the brink of civil war and a war against the Creatures. Harry is in Gringotts when one terrorist faction attacks causing Harry and other survivors to go into hiding. There is an interested repercussion of the potion they use to hide themselves and now Harry finds himself stuck in a foreign country, with people he doesn't know and living in a style he has never even dreamed to imagine.
Warnings: Gender change. Fem!Harry…after a potions accident. Name changes for characters. Hurricane Sandy (use of artistic licence over the damage it wrought)
Pairings: LM/HP. DM/AG. RW/HG.
(Chapter 52)
Henri blinked. Light stabbed her eyes. She blinked again. More light.
Urgh…she let her eyes stay shut. She was too tired to open her eyes anyway.
Something let out a whimper.
Oh…was that what made her wake up in the first place?
It whimpered again.
Henri blinked, and blinked and blinked. Slowly her eyes got used to the light and she looked around. She was mostly looking up. A white ceiling with bright white lights. Too much white.
Another whimper.
She'd been somewhere this white before…white everywhere and a man dressed in white and a whimpering being beneath a white bench at the station…station…Kings Cross…
Another whimper, this time becoming a little mewl.
Henri blinked and frowned. But this didn't look like Kings cross…and there was a ceiling, Kings cross didn't have a ceiling…did it?
Another mewl, this time pitiful and sad.
Henri picked her head up. It felt heavy and sore but light and fuzzy all the same time. She blinked trying to push away the fuzziness.
She shook her head hoping to clear it.
Light swamped her.
She blinked.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
She opened her eyes. More white. Why was there white everywhere? Such a boring colour. Henri sighed.
She shut her eyes.
Ah that was better…no more white.
There were colours. Dreams.
"Henri…please…"
Her back felt itchy…and numb…and horrible.
She twisted slightly trying to get rid of the annoying itch. It wouldn't go away. She sighed and peeled her eyes open.
White again.
Great.
She was going to do something about the blasted white.
Where was her wand?
She blinked and looked around. More white…white everywhere.
Ooooh! Flowers. Beautiful red flowers!
Henri smiled. Her face felt odd, her muscles tight but the smile came none the less. They were roses. Red roses, all in bud.
Henri lifted her head. They looked beautiful.
Henri shifted and pushed herself up to look at the roses that offered her a burst of colour in her white world.
As she sat up though, she noticed other bits of colour.
Words in black, green and red. A picture hanging on the wall. A comforter at the end of her bed. A pale pink circle in a little white blanketed tub thing. Another one next to it. A coat, dark blue, hanging from a peg. A dressing gown in a rich emerald next to it.
Her dressing gown. That was hers. Lucas had gifted it to her last Christmas.
"Mm."
Huh?
Henri frowned. What made that noise? She looked around the very white room.
A little pink circle moved. Henri stared. One of the little pink circles in the white tub things had moved. Henri stared at it.
"Mmm…kha." It made that noise again, a little couched sound after the sound of slight discomfort. Henri pushed her body up so she was on her knees. Her body moved sluggishly and her limbs were heavy. The soft bed beneath her didn't help either. Henri forced herself forwards slowly, trying to get a better look at the small pink circle that was making the noise. Closer she got and the circle became more defined.
It wasn't a circle, it was more an oval shape. And it had two closed eyes, a tiny squashed nose, two little cheeks and a red mouth that was slightly pinched as if it was pressing its lips together. It was a little baby. A baby who was a little upset. She knew somebody else who pinched their lips together when they were upset…Lucas did.
"Ah!" The baby said with a staccato sound that bellied its distress.
Henri went wide eyed and quickly moved out of the bed and around to stand at the end of the little white tub thing. She nearly fell over but used the edge of the bed to keep herself up then transferred to holding the tubs. She loomed over the little baby who shook its fist up and down trying to hit something.
Henri looked around the baby, was there anything with the baby's identity on it? She needed to find somebody to give it to if it got really distressed. She needed to find the person they belonged to.
There! There on the side of the tub was a label. Henri bent down to read it.
Artemis … Malfoy.
Artemis Malfoy? Really? Malfoy? There weren't any Malfoys now, there were only Mercury's! Henri frowned. She looked down the label a little more.
Father: Lucius Malfoy.
Mother: Henrietta Malfoy.
What? Henri gasped and took a step back. That was her name. Well…it wasn't. She was Henri Mercury. Or Henrietta Mercury. Not Henrietta Malfoy. Nobody had gone by the name Malfoy in about two years!
Henri looked down at the little baby. So since she couldn't believe the label who was the baby's mum? Who was its dad?
And why were there two babies in her room with no parent?
Two babies.
Two little babies.
Two little babies inside her.
Henri looked down. Her stomach was hidden by the wide night dress she was wearing. Henri trembled as she pressed her hand against the material searching out her bump, searching out her babies. She pressed and she pressed and she pressed and…and finally flesh. No bump, just flesh.
Henri gasped and yanked at her night dress. She pulled it up and back, holding it in place with her chin and looking down at her body.
There was her stomach. It still had a tiny bump there but it was mostly deflated…no baby bump. That lotion she had used for the stretch marks had worked very well, there were hardly any there! And her skin didn't look too loose and floppy, it looked like it had returned almost to how it used to be before she became pregnant. But why?
Why wasn't she pregnant anymore? Where had her babies gone? Had she lost them somehow? Left them somewhere? Had someone taken them?
Worsley!
Worsley? No he couldn't take them he was…he was tied up.
Tied up. Prongs. Help. Ron. Lucas was hurt. Ron helped. White, lots of white. Lime green people. Two squirming red things on her chest. Two squirming red things sucking at her. Her babies…her little babies…her twins…
Henri felt tears well up in her eyes and she looked over to the two tubs where the babies lay. Two babies. Twins.
She looked down at them. Quickly she glanced at the other label on the other tub.
Father: Lucius Malfoy.
Mother: Henrietta Malfoy.
Henrietta. Forget the last name! It said Henrietta. Was she their mum? Were they hers?
She reached out a trembling hand to touch the still waving fist of the upset child. Her finger touched the soft wrinkly skin and immediately the fist uncurled and long, weak fingers clutched at her finger. She looked at the tiny hand. It gripped harder.
Henri looked at the little baby's face. Bright blue eyes shone back at her.
Her baby.
This was her baby!
Tears rushed from her eyes and down her cheeks. Henri gasped out a sobbed laugh and reached her other hand to smooth the little cheek. Those blue-blue eyes never left hers.
"My baby. Hello." Henri whispered and the baby began sucking on its own lips. Henri laughed. Baby stopped sucking and shook its little hand. Henri allowed her finger to be moved too.
"Mm…"
That was a different voice. Henri blinked and took her eyes off the little baby to look back around the room. Where had that voice come from? It wasn't a baby's voice, it was a man's voice.
Henri looked around the very white room. Over the bed, over the white furniture over the small table, over the man…over the other…
Over the man.
The man with curling golden blonde hair. The man in the dark blue suit with the white tie. The man with the refined, genteel features; high cheek bones and a strong straight nose. The man with the square jaw and rectangular face. The man whose eyes were closed but Henri knew that bright blue, beautiful blue, eyes were there. The man she loved.
"Lucas." She called and the man stirred, mumbling that little noise again. His eyelids fluttered. Henri laughed. "Lucas!"
Lucas mumbled something again and Henri sighed. Fine, she'd leave him alone to sleep. Though why he chose to sleep in the chair instead of the bed she didn't know…
Speaking of the bed…why was it white? And why was it a single bed? This wasn't home! Where was she?
The hospital. She was at the hospital. Henri frowned and looked over at Lucas again. She was so confused. But if Lucas was here at least he could explain. And explain if the babies were actually hers or not. And explain whether this was real or if it was in her head.
'Of course it's happening in your head Harry! But why should that mean it isn't real?'
Henri shook away the remnants of the dream and called to Lucas again. He needed to wake up and explain stuff to her.
"Lucas! Lucas! Wake up Lucas!" She called and nearly pealed her finger away from the baby's grip so she could cross the room to Lucas and wake him up. But he stirred again and his eyes blinked open. Against the white of the room and the paleness of his face those blue eyes shone out. Henri smiled, they were no longer flat and helpless as they had been last time she saw them. This time they were…
"HENRI!" Lucas yelled and stood up from his chair in a rush.
…full of panic.
The man looked down at the bed and rushed to it. He placed his hands on the spot where Henri had been lying only moments ago.
"HENRI! HENRI-Oh!" Lucas turned from the bed to the door yelling, and caught sight of her. His blue eyes widened then his lip trembled…then his face crumbled.
He took an unsteady step forward. Then another.
"Lucas? Lucas are you okay?"
Lucas gasped, fell to his knees and dropped his chin to his chest. His shoulders shook and great gut wrenching sobs spilled from him.
"Lucas! Lucas! It's okay! You're okay!" Henri said anxiously and in her panic she nearly wrenched her hand from the baby's grip. She turned back quickly and pushed the little fingers off hers then, once free, rushed as best she could to Lucas. She dropped to her knees in front of him and reached out, taking his face in her hands. "Lucas! What's wrong? Lucas, it's okay. Don't cry. What's wrong?"
Lucas didn't speak. He just shut his eyes and sobbed. He clenched his hands in the front of her night dress, adjusting his grip and gradually clutching more and more fabric in his hold. Henri wiggled a little closer, stroking his face and wiping away his tears.
After a while the sobs became less and Henri leaned up to kiss his forehead then his cheek. Lucas shut his eyes and turned his face to the side allowing her to kiss. His skin was wet from his tears and his anguish was written in every line on his face. Slowly he opened his eyes and stared at her.
"Lucas?" She asked, not wanting to repeat her platitudes again since they hadn't helped before.
"I thought I'd lost you." Lucas whispered then his face crumbled again. He gathered her close, wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her against him. She settled into the hold and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm alright. I'm here. I'm here Lucas."
"You were…for weeks Henri. Weeks! You've been lost to me for so long…I thought you were gone."
"I haven't gone anywhere Lucas. I'm still here with you."
Lucas shuddered and clutched her harder. He sobbed into her shoulder and gripped her almost painfully. She sighed and allowed him to, waiting out the tears while she tried to sort out everything in her head.
All that Henri could hear for a while was Lucas sobbing and his harsh, distressed breathing.
Then a baby started wailing and Henri and Lucas both pulled away from each other at the noise.
"Ah…the children." Lucas said and looked over to the little tubs where Henri had seen the babies.
"Yes. There are babies up there." Henri said and hesitantly looked at Lucas. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer to her question if it was the answer she didn't want to be true…she forced herself to ask though. "Are they…?"
"They are our daughters. Our beautiful daughters, my love." Lucas whispered and held the sides of Henri's face as he pressed kiss after kiss after kiss after kiss on her skin.
"My babies?"
"Yes, your babies."
"My babies." Henri looked over to the tubs again and made to stand up. Lucas didn't let her go immediately, just kissed her a few more times before allowing her to stand up and go to the crying baby. It was the baby she had held hands with earlier. Its mouth was wide open crying and its chest was heaving with the effort it took to make the noises. Henri reached down and ran a finger over the baby's nose. It lifted its chin, seeking the finger as if it had food and tried to suck it. "I think it's hungry."
"Lift her up, and we shall feed her together." Lucas said and Henri tentatively reached down into the little tub. Thanks to her practise with Scorpius and the babies at the orphanage Henri managed to pick the upset child up with no problems, glancing at the other baby who was still sleeping. She cradled the baby close and walked the few steps back to Lucas. He was still kneeling on the floor but as she approached he stood up. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders he very gently steered her to the chair. Then he sat down, parted his legs and gestured for Henri to sit between them. She sat perched there and, with Lucas' encouragement leaned back against his chest.
"You okay?"
"Yes." He whispered and kissed her cheek. The baby continued to wail. Lucas touched the baby's cheek then moved his hand back to the table and into the cupboard. Henri watched as he pulled out a small bottle and held it out to her. "Here, you feed her."
"Okay." Henri carefully held the teat of the bottle to the baby's mouth. Instantly the baby was sucking on it, silent and content just to feed. Henri smiled and sniffled a little. Her baby.
"They have been bottle fed for a while now." Lucas whispered and Henri heard the tremble in his voice. "They…"
"Lucas?" Henri asked when Lucas broke off. He sniffed loudly and Henri felt him press his cheek to the back of her head.
"Ah…when you were unconscious I used to have to sit behind you like this and hold the babies so it could feed from you. They needed the colostrum for the first week then, because I couldn't bear to see them feed from you when you were unconscious I asked that we transfer them to feed from bottles." Lucas wept. The words thick and heavy and slurred as he spoke. Henri waited, shocked. What?
"What? Lucas I don't understand. What happened?"
"I…what do you remember Henri?"
Henri frowned and thought back. "I remember Worsley and Smith and the other horrible men. I managed to get free of Smith when he dragged me over to you and cast the cruciatus curse on you. I hurt him and stole his wand…then I cursed everybody. I…when I looked for you I saw you on the floor. You had lost so much blood…" Henri craned her neck round to look at Lucas. His blue eyes were swimming with tears. "Are you okay now? I tried to heal you but you wouldn't wake up. I was so worried and I couldn't get anybody to help us. Are you okay?"
"Yes my love, I'm fine. I needed blood replenishers then I was absolutely fine."
"Good." Henri sighed and shut her eyes to revel in the relief of that.
"What else do you remember?"
"Um…I went into labour. I remember that. Worsley told me. The arrogant sod laughed at me like he was so proud he'd sent be into early labour. I…I kicked him. I'm really sorry, I lost my temper and…" She rambled the apology out but Lucas silenced her with a gentle caress of her hand supporting the baby.
"Don't worry about Worsley's pain. What else?"
"Um…I tied everybody up so they couldn't hurt us. I tried the floo but they had blocked it up. So then I sent a patronus to get help, to get Ron and Dante. I remember Ron coming then everything gets a little blurry. I…I remember my babies though. I remember having them on my chest and then…then I think I fell asleep."
Lucas sighed and slid his arm around her belly, holding her tightly.
"Oh my dear you've missed so much…"
"What? What have I missed?"
Lucas took a deep breath then launched into the story.
"You were rushed into the hospital, we both were. Dante told me when I woke that your labour had progressed very badly. Your body was in severe distress and exhaustion due to your ordeal that you didn't have the energy to go through your labour without a pepper up potion. They were going to give you the potion only one of the nurses noticed that the babies were in distress as well. They had to act immediately and sought Dante's decision on what to do because I was still not awake and none of the other family members were around. Dante gave them permission to perform an emergency Caesarean section."
"A caesarean section? You mean they cut me open? But…but I don't have a scar!" Henri said.
"No you don't, you were magically healed immediately afterwards of course, then a potion was applied to your stomach thrice a day to heal any lingering damage from the operation and pregnancy." Lucas explained like that explained everything. She supposed it did, after all she healed his head wound with no scar because it was healed immediately.
"Oh…okay."
"The Caesarean section appeared to go well. Our children were pulled into the world and cleaned up then handed to you. I was told that you seemed to perk up when they were there and the nurses helped them feed from you. Dante helped you hold your head up so you would watch. Then…then you started seizing. You went unconscious and started to shake violently. They did all they could to stop the shaking, they didn't know what was causing it until Dante noticed his hand was covered in blood. They found that all they while you had been in labour you had a laceration on your upper arm beneath your clothing that nobody had seen. You lost a lot of blood from it…a lot of blood."
"You fell into a coma."
Those words filled Henri's head and echoed around it, pushing out any other thought that that one resounding word. Coma.
"A coma?"
"Yes. You wouldn't wake up. They gave you blood replenishers, they gave you medications and they did many, many tests to make sure there were no other bleeds they had missed that could be causing you to remain unconscious. In the end they put it down to your body shutting down because of too much strain. When I woke up I was told all of that and all of the results. I ordered more tests be done and that they put every effort into helping you wake up. But you didn't, and nothing they did could help. Healer Abrams suggested we just let you rest and wake up when you were ready. I could have fired the man…and I would have done so on the spot except one of the babies started crying."
"I had to take care of them, Dante and Molly insisted. I didn't want to at first. They were the reason you were lost to me. Well, one of the reasons." Lucas choked out another sob and Henri could feel him trembling as he held her. "But Dante told me about your conversation when Scorpius was born. He told me that you wouldn't let him hide or run from his son. You had said that despite him losing his wife it was his son who was worse off because he had lost his mother and was being abandoned and neglected by his father. He forced me to watch the memory in a penseive. And I saw how beautiful and how insistent you were and I knew how ashamed and angry you would be if I abandoned our children."
"I…the healers helped me. So did Molly and your family. Dante helped a lot too. But since you were only in a coma we needed to give the children the colostrum from you. I don't know a lot about it because the magic is so complex to keep a coma patient with the right nutrition but they said you could still provide milk and the colostrum the babies needed. Every time they needed a feed we had to manhandle you into a good position and help the babies feed from you. I hated myself for it. You were unconscious and unable to protest and the nurses and I manhandled and molested your body. I was disgusted with myself. After the colostrum disappeared I insisted the babies move onto bottled milk. They have been drinking that ever since." Lucas gestured to the milk the little baby was currently feeding from.
"How long was I in a coma for Lucas?"
"Three weeks. It is now January the twenty-first. I thought you would never wake up."
"Three weeks?!" Henri gasped, turning to look at Lucas. Lucas hid from her, more tears streaming down his face now.
"Three weeks, nearly four. Twenty eight days if you want to be exact about it." Lucas muttered. "I thought you would never wake up. I…I named the children. I'm so sorry Henri but I didn't think you would wake up and the children needed names. So I chose first names for them, I refused to give them middle names until you woke up…if you woke up. But…I'm so sorry." Lucas broke down into tears again.
"God Lucas! It's fine. Please, it's fine. What could you do? If I was in a coma then of course the babies had to be named. Shh, it's okay."
"I'm so sorry Henrietta."
"No, don't be sorry." She murmured and twisted around, having to move so she was sat on his leg this time so she could see his face without straining all the way around. He still wouldn't look at her. "Oh Lucas please…please I understand…babies can't go without names forever and…we never talked about names did we? I always thought we would have time after Christmas to do it but I guess that never came. Was I really asleep for so long? I missed Christmas?"
The next few minutes passed in a blur as Lucas cried, the baby finished its bottle and needed burping. Then it was sick everywhere and they had to clean that up. Lucas started crying again and Henri nearly fell over when she tried to put the now sleeping baby back in its bed. Lucas lifted her and carried her over to the bed, tucking her in. She struggled to remain awake since Lucas was still so upset and she had missed too much already.
"Sleep my dear, you are tired."
"You said I've been asleep for over three weeks, I shouldn't need to sleep anymore." Henri argued weakly. "I don't want to go to sleep in case I don't wake up again."
"I will fetch the healer."
"No! Don't go! Please!" Henri begged and Lucas didn't argue at all. He sat down in his chair again, pulling it even closer to the bed, and reached out to clasp her hand tightly.
"My Love I missed you so much." He sobbed and kissed her hand over and over.
"I love you Lucas." Henri offered, not knowing what else to say. Lucas nodded and kissed her hand again. They lulled into a very short silence before Henri got distracted by her thoughts of the twins. "What are their names? Are they both girls?"
"Yes, they are both girls. I named them Artemis and Athena."
"Hm…aren't those names of Goddesses?" Henri queried and there was the slightest blush on Lucas' face as he nodded. "You really like naming things after those ancient gods don't you."
"It seemed only suitable for our family." Lucas said with some of his snobbish pride returning to his voice despite the trembling his chin was still doing.
"Hm yeah…" Henri frowned. Artemis. Artemis Mercury…No! No that hadn't been what the label had said. "Lucas? The label on that cot said Artemis Malfoy."
"Ah." Lucas muttered and looked down again. Henri frowned up at him.
"Lucas?"
"Perhaps that is a story for another time Henri my dear."
"No…tell me now. Why Malfoy?" She asked frowning hard and trying to work out what it all meant. Lucas sighed and ran an aggravated hand through his hair before clutching at her hand again.
"Everybody in the wizarding world knows what Harry Potter's Patronus charm takes form as. So when an almighty stag patronus charges through the ministry of magic needless to say many heads turned. When the stag went straight to Ronald Weasley it had everyone's attention. Ronald, of course, knew who the stag was from and ordered his friends in the aurors to help him. They took a portkey to the manor when apparating failed them. Then he discovered you and already his friends in the force had begun to suspect. It was Worsley who put the nail in the coffin, so to speak. He started ranting insanely about how you were Harry Potter and how you had told him so yourself. Nobody would have believed him if it wasn't for the Stag patronus. The newspapers got a hold of the story and rumours started surfacing. They didn't care about you being hospitalised. We all had to make a statement to the press, or more specifically we made a statement in the press via the likes of Rita Skeeter. We offered her an exclusive on the subject which of course she agreed to. We explained the entire tale about Worsley, the collapse of Gringotts bank and how we all escaped. We explained the transformation that turned you into a woman. We explained how we became the Mercury family."
"We expected to be turned upon. To be lynched in our beds." Lucas gave a bitter struggle. "But nothing like that happened. There was a back lash of course but it was minimal. Many people seemed to think that because you had married me that I must not be the evil man they thought I was. They also seemed to collectively decide that you and the Weasley family would keep us toeing the line, so to speak. They delayed Christmas out of respect for you, holding out until you woke up…and if you didn't wake up they would have celebrated Christmas on January the twenty-fifth, a month late."
Henri slept for a while again and when she woke up it was to two hungry babies and a delighted Lucas. Dante came to visit, begging forgiveness for allowing the healers to perform a caesarean section when it nearly killed her. She forgave him quickly, still amazed at her children and stunned at how long she had been in a coma for. Ron and Hermione visited, Molly and Arthur brought their newest son and daughter to visit her. Lulu and Scorpius were escorted in by Dante on another trip. The other Weasleys all visited. Bibi visited. Constance, Bennett and Albin visited. Reuban visited. Skeeter visited, watched closely by Lucas, Dante, Hermione and Ron. The orphans visited, one at a time.
Andromeda visited with Teddy.
Neville, Hannah, Luna and Luna's boyfriend Rolf Scamander popped by.
Minerva McGonagall visited, crying and stuttering with delight.
Other people Henri used to know visited her, including gruff old Aberforth.
Healers visited too and decided that now that she had woken up they would observe her for a few more days but then would release her to go home. They showed her how to feed the babies from her own breasts, which Henri ended up not doing because the babies only wanted the bottles now.
Henri learned to really appreciate the names Lucas had given the children. Oddly she grew to like them. She still thought the names were stuffy and strange, Greek names not really suiting babies at all. But she learned Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and from the way that little Artemis kept moving her fists and her feet Henri could see the baby's fighting spirit. Athena was the other baby. Little Athena Malfoy seemed content with the occasional wiggle and watched the world with her blue eyes. She did look like she was taking everything in, judging it and learning about it all. Henri supposed it suited. She didn't have any other ideas for the children anyway and she hadn't really thought about names.
She got to decide their middle names though and that was hard enough. She ended up giving Athena her mum's name Lily. Then it took a while to find a name suitable for Artemis. She thought she should give the girl a flower name, since Athena had a flower name and flower names were passed down through her mother's side of the family. But she didn't like any of the flower names. Ivy, Poppy, Rose, Daisy, Heather, Violet, Holly…she didn't like any of them. Hermione, helpfully, suggested she consider tree names so that she stayed on theme but altered it a little. It worked. Henri settled on Artemis Hazel.
Athena was fussy and boisterous, Athena wasn't. They both looked exactly the same despite them being fraternal twins. To tell them apart Henri and Lucas dressed them in different colours. Both of them refused to use pink as a colour to dress them in, unless the pink was minimal. Purple was Lulu's favourite colour and she wore it often so they didn't use that. Instead they used red or yellow for Athena and green or blue for Artemis.
January 25th.
Henri sighed with relief as she glanced over at the bassinets where the twins were, thankfully, still sleeping. She climbed the rest of the way into bed and groaned as she rested her head down on the pillow.
"Tired Henri?"
"Exhausted." Henri moaned and opened her eyes a little to watch Lucas approaching the bed. He chuckled as he lifted the covers and slid between them.
"It has been a very long day." He said quietly. He gave her a smile of delight and she couldn't help but grin back.
Yes it had been a wonderful day. They had celebrated Christmas Day at last. It was a whole month late but nobody had minded. Dante and the others had all taken the day off work, instead declaring that nobody should work and shut the ministry down for a day with only people who wanted to work attending. Everybody had gathered at the Manor for the celebrations. All the Weasleys were there, the Fawleys, Andromeda, Teddy, Neville, Hannah, Luna, Rolf, Seamus, Dean, other people Henri knew from Hogwarts, even some of the professors themselves. McGonnegal attended, Flitwick attended, Slughorn, Madam Hooch, Professor Sprout. Some of the public had come as well but only a few select people had been allowed in; Mister Tatting, Mister Ollivander, Mister Fortescue, Madam Malkin and Healer Ferrars, even Skeeter was allowed but was watched diligently by house elves. She behaved herself, and enjoyed herself which was strange to see.
It was a very busy day with an awful lot of people. They opened presents all through the morning, it took from eight in the morning to twelve o'clock to get through the sheer number of them! Even now Henri knew she hadn't opened all of her presents, she had asked the house elves to hide some away so she could open them another time. She opened all the presents her guests gave her and all the gifts from all the orphans. They had opened all their gifts, many of them changing into one of the Christmas outfits they had been bought and eating the chocolate right away.
Dinner was incredible. The Christmas Roast was served at two o'clock, the time being pushed back a little because everybody had had a good sized snack at ten o'clock in the midst of all the present opening. There was food that stretched right the way down the table, everybody's plates had been stacked high and the noise in the dining room had been so loud Henri couldn't even ear herself think.
Then all through the afternoon the adults helped the children play with their new toys and chatted with the other adults, took care of the babies and sang songs. Some people got out card games, others got out board games, Bibi started up a game of magical truth or dare with some of the older children and the dares they came up with were so hilarious that they became entertainment for everybody.
Now though it was well past midnight and their guests had not long left. Henri and Lucas had fed the babies and sorted them out ready for bed. Going by their silence Henri would bet they were fast asleep, a state she hoped to be in very shortly.
"Thank you for my presents." Henri said and pushed herself up to look at Lucas. He chuckled and rolled onto his side, lifting up the cover and allowing her to slide under them. She slid close to him and sighed when he wrapped his arm around her. It was so nice to lie like this with him, so relaxing.
"You have not opened them yet."
"Yeah well thank you anyway. I know I'll love them."
"As I will love mine when I open them tomorrow."
"Mm." Henri mumbled and shut her eyes to embrace sleep.
"Do not go to sleep yet my love. We haven't put the lotion on your stomach."
Henri groaned but rolled onto her back. She shuffled up the bed and pulled up her top to expose her stomach. Magical C-section or not, healed or not, Henri was under instruction to apply a healing lotion to her stomach every morning and night time to help restore her skin to its normal elasticity and to encourage all her muscles to return to how they were before the pregnancy.
Lucas grabbed the bottle and poured it onto her stomach. He put on a glove and carefully rubbed it all over her. This was one of the best parts of the lotion, Henri thought, that Lucas took care of rubbing it in. She thought it all stemmed from him not being there when she had gone into labour and not being there to take care of her when she had given birth. Henri had tried for a while to reassure him that his guilt was misplaced but he still took charge of rubbing in the lotion. Of course, the second best bit of the lotion was the tingling it sent down into her skin. She knew that was just it working but it felt good…felt nice.
"There, my love, all done."
"Mm. Thank you." Henri said and waited for Lucas to finish disposing of the glove and pot of lotion before stretching up and giving him a gentle peck on the lips.
"I have something I would like to gift you with tonight, if you will permit me?" He said quietly, breaking from the kiss. Henri frowned questioningly, a present?
"Um…"
"I have been holding it close to my heart these last few weeks but when you did not wake I could not give it to you. Now, since you came back to me, there hasn't been an opportune moment. This is as good as any but you will have to forgive the lack of romance and formality."
He seemed very serious about it. Henri couldn't work out what was wrong though. She frowned but nodded and Lucas gave her another quick kiss before climbing back out of the bed and crossing the room to the wardrobe. A few minutes later her emerged holding something in his hands. He crossed to her side of the bed and sunk down to his knee, reaching out and taking her hand in his. She sat up straighter and curled her legs under her so she could see him properly.
"In our time together, as man and wife and even before you did me the honour of accepting my proposal, you have demonstrated to me the true value of life and love. Never, before you, have I loved as deeply or as wholly as I love you. And as I now love our daughters. You gave me the honour of bonding with me and now, after the events of the last month, I know I would never wish to be parted from you and I hope you would never wish to be parted with me."
"Of course not! Lucas I…" Lucas lifted up with a small chuckle and gave her a quick kiss to silence her before he sunk back to his knees. Henri bit her lip, frowning. What was going on?
Lucas held out the small object he had been carrying. It was a small box, with the signature of the ring maker they had gone to for their wedding rings inscribed on the top. Henri looked between the box and Lucas. What on earth?!
"If objects could represent feelings and wishes, my love, then this ring would represent my eternal love for you and my wish never to be parted from you." He opened the lid and inside Henri saw a platinum band in the middle of which was set an emerald, a diamond and a ruby all alternating around the sides of the ring. As far as Henri could see it went all the way around the band.
"Lucas?" She questioned lightly. Her voice was little more than a breath as she looked at the ring. She looked to the rings still resting upon her finger, the emeralds and diamonds glittering in the low light. Then she looked to Lucas' wedding band, the ruby and the diamond caught the light there and flashed a little. Henri looked back to the ring. He had used all the stones that they had chosen to represent their love, their love together, in one band.
"This is an eternity ring, my love. It is a thought, a wish, a promise and a sacred vow to love you for eternity. To love you as my friend, as my wife, as the mother of our children and the partner of my soul." Lucas' voice was soft but firm and he carefully took the ring from the box and held it out to Henri. She reached for it but as she went to touch it Lucas took her hand. "Will you wear it, my love?"
"Forever." She said, and nodded frantically. Lucas smiled and carefully slid the eternity band onto her finger. It slid and nestled nicely against her engagement ring and as Lucas released her hand with a kiss she held her hand up and looked at the rings on her finger. They didn't twist or more around, they just seemed to meld together almost.
"One ring to show my love for you, another to show my commitment to you," Lucas touched first her engagement ring then her wedding ring. Then finally he ran the pad of his index finger over her engagement ring. "And finally, one to declare I will be wholly committed to loving you for the rest of eternity, my treasured wife."
Henri raised her chin for the kiss she knew was coming and her body soared with the feelings of his lips on hers. He clasped her close, ran a loving hand through her hair as he kissed her with a passion that would normally send her core into a boiling desire. But tonight kissing was all they could do. They were tired and despite the passion in the kiss and the desire mounting it wasn't enough to do anything else but rest.
Lucas smiled at her as he pulled away then pressed his body against hers gently pushing her down onto the bed. He lay on top of her for a moment, kissing her again and whispering words Henri couldn't hear but felt the emotion behind them anyway. Then he rolled to the side of her and slid his hand along her arm. He linked their fingers and brushed his thumb over the rings on her finger.
"There, now you can sleep my love."
He rested his head on the pillow next to hers and stared at her with glowing, loving eyes. Henri wiggled down the bed a little and found a comfortable position to lie in, resting her hand on Lucas' chest, still keeping her hand linked with Lucas'.
They waited in silence, Henri listening to the steady beat of Lucas' heart beneath her ear. She didn't know how long she waited but as tired as she was, didn't want to close her eyes just yet and leave their evening as it was...as wonderful as it was. She lifted her head and, sliding her hand from his, she moved her hand up to run her fingers over his forehead, over his temple then down over his cheek. He truly was a handsome man, a remarkably handsome man. He looked so relaxed and happy now, eyes closed and falling asleep. Henri hoped to never ever that look of terror and helplessness on his face ever again. She wanted him to be as happy as she had seen him today, as loving and passionate as he had been only moments ago, and as relaxed and content as she saw him now. His eyes opened.
"My dear?"
"I love you." She whispered and shifted closer to him so their faces were only inches apart. "I love you so much."
"As I love you, my dear."
Author's Note: Sorry for the cliff hanger in the other chapter...
Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Only the epilogue to come and it's a very long one so I hope you all have a lot of time!
