4th January 1982

"Hi, sir, can I help you?"

Remus looked away from the glass to blink at the young Healer who had paused in the corridor. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at Harry asleep in his carry cot. "No, no thank you. I'm… my friend's in there. We're just waiting it out."

She smiled softly and nodded. "No problem. Congratulations."

Remus smiled back weakly. "Thank you."

She slipped past to continue her rounds and Remus fixed his eyes back on the glass, rubbing his hand over his stubble and trying to make out what was going on in the room beyond. Mason had called him in a few hours ago but nothing had happened since and now Harry was settled and asleep, Remus was pacing the corridor aimlessly, waiting for any news at all.

It was another hour before the nurse reappeared. Harry had grown restless and Remus had resorted to rocking him to sleep, the toddler cradled contentedly in his arms.

"Any news?" she smiled, heading over to him and cooing at Harry.

"None yet, but I think that might be good, I don't know much about all of this stuff," he admitted.

The nurse looked confused seeing as he was currently holding a baby, went to brush back Harry's fringe and then promptly froze, seeing the scar and putting it all together in an instant. Her hand dropped and she clutched them together in front of her chest, her expression softening. Everyone knew that in the absence of other family, Remus Lupin had adopted Harry Potter and while he himself wasn't particularly recognisable, there was only one person who would be holding the Boy Who Lived.

"Are you expecting anyone else?" she asked quietly.

Remus looked back at the empty seats in the waiting room and swallowed. "No," he said, his voice hoarse, "It's just us, actually."

She nodded, following his gaze and offering a sad smile. "I… I'm sorry, stupid question. I knew Marlene."

Remus blinked as his eyes welled up. Even now, any mention of any of them brought him crashing down. "It's… it's her brother. Mason. It's his kid. He's in there now."

The Healer's eyes widened and her face split into a wide grin, her own eyes shining with unshed tears. "I had no idea. Marlene would love a little niece or nephew!"

"They've tried to keep it quiet, the Prophet's been obsessed with him as the sole survivor and a 'war hero' and everything, they didn't want the attention," Remus added hastily, bouncing Harry as he started to stir.

She nodded and mimed zipping her mouth shut with a little grin. "They won't hear from me, I promise."

Remus smiled gratefully and shifted Harry so he could hold his hand out to her. "Remus Lupin. Obviously."

She smiled again. "Hestia Jones. Nice to meet you, Remus. Let me know if you need anything, anything at all."

"I… I will, thank you," he accepted, turning his gaze back to the window.

She patted his elbow lightly and headed for the door, leaving Remus to keep vigil once more.

Lyra closed her eyes tiredly and tipped her head back, gripping Mason's hand even tighter as she sucked in a deep breath and followed the midwife's instructions yet again. She'd lost all track of time once her contractions had started properly and the only thing she knew now was the feel of Mason's hand in hers, a cool hand on her cheek and the pain.

At another of her cries, Mason frowned even more, feeling like the lines on his forehead would be permanent by the time this was over. Her illness back in November had weakened her and when you combined that with the stress and grief the entire nine months, they'd known that her body was going to struggle. Even with the pre-warning and the reassurance from the Healers that everything would still be okay, he'd not stopped worrying since her waters had broken early yesterday.

The baby was early, and he knew that the Healers weren't as relaxed as they could've been, but he highly doubted Lyra was aware of it as she'd been rather preoccupied. Even so, hours later and they were finally getting somewhere. Lyra was exhausted and sore and slick with sweat but they were getting somewhere, and he'd seen some of the worried expressions melting away as the hours had dragged on. First pregnancies normally had long labours, they said, things were looking good, there were no problems.

"Okay, Lyra, this could be it, I need a really big push, as much energy as you can muster. We'll be done soon, so soon, I promise you," the Healer said gently and Lyra licked her lips and nodded, her eyes locking onto Mason's as he watched her, wrapping her hand in both of his larger ones and shifting nervously.

"Ready?"

Lyra nodded again and did as she was asked, screaming with the effort as the midwife kept talking, reminding her to breathe, reminding her to focus. Her grip on Mason's hand became bruising and she threw her head back desperately before she sagged back onto the bed, praying that was it because she had nothing left to give. The sound of insistent wailing filled the delivery room after a heart stopping second and the nurses cried out in delight, springing into action around Lyra as she lay there, dazed with relief.

Her grip on his hand slowly loosened as she forced herself to take deep breaths in and out and Mason stared at her in awe, marvelling as she turned her exhausted head to look at him.

"It's done?" she whispered.

"It's done," he laughed breathlessly, leaning over to kiss her forehead, smoothing her curls down and taking a steadying breath as he worked his hands free of their cramped position.

"It's over."

She sobbed with relief and traced his jaw, letting him wipe her forehead gently with the damp cloth.

"Here she is," the Healer said, bringing the bundle over and Mason sat down unsteadily.

"It's a girl?" he asked, hand on Lyra's shoulder as she sat up carefully and took the baby into her arms, her eyes wide.

"It is," the Healer confirmed. "Congratulations."

She sucked in a deep breath as she felt the perfect weight of the baby in her trembling arms.

"I don't believe it," Lyra breathed, staring at their daughter who was mewling hungrily. "She's… perfect."

Mason wiped his eyes firmly but he knew it was a losing battle so he gave up and let himself cry, pressing a kiss to her hair and gazing down at the baby too, brushing his hand gently over her tiny hands, her even smaller fingernails so perfectly formed that it took his breath away.

"She is," he agreed, laughing. "She's so small, but… she's all ours."

"Did you bring the baby grow with you?" Lyra asked, dragging her eyes away from the baby to look up at him.

He grinned. "Of course."

Lyra nodded and stroked their daughter's head, feeling the layer of downy hair there and crying again, nodding to allow them to take her back to clean her and dress her in the tiny outfit.

"Do you want me to get Remus in or do you want some time first?" Mason asked gently, helping her sip some water.

She shook her head. "No, no, tell him, he can come in, he's been waiting so long."

Mason chuckled. "You didn't half take your time, sweetheart."

She laughed tiredly and leaned back against the pillows, her eyes following the baby around the room. "No. A lady never rushes."

Laughing, Mason rubbed his eyes. "I might have to send him on a coffee run first. I'm… running on fumes."

"Sorry," she smiled, "I know I woke you. It's been a long day."

"Don't apologise for going into labour, you're so predictable," Mason snorted, kissing her forehead as he stood up and stretched, working a knot out of his shoulder carefully.

The midwife handed the baby back, dried carefully and dressed in Mason's sleepsuit.

"She's hungry," Lyra murmured, "I'll do that while you tell Remus."

"Deal," Mason smiled, watching them for a moment before he slipped out of the room silently, not wanting to disturb them.

When he made it outside, Remus was fast asleep on the chair in the corridor, snoring softly with Harry in his arms, also asleep. Mason felt bad waking him, so he slipped past to get coffee first, returning with two mugs from the little café and gently nudging Remus.

"Hmm?" Remus mumbled, pulling himself upright at the interruption and staring up at Mason blearily. "Whassup?"

Mason laughed, shaking his head in disbelief as he marvelled at getting to say it out loud, his grin nearly split his face in two. "It's all done. She did it. We've got a daughter."

Remus scrambled to sit up properly, rubbing his eyes and waking Harry in the process, the boy looking up at Mason curiously with his big green eyes so like Lily's.

"Y-you do?" Remus croaked, taking the coffee Mason offered greedily and gulping it down as he woke up properly. "Oh my God. Oh my God!"

"Yes!" Mason laughed, "Come in, honest, Lyra's feeding her but she said you could come in."

Remus handed Harry over to Mason so he could gather up their things and Mason held the door to allow Remus to stumble in, his grin now mirroring Mason's.

"Good evening, Rem," Lyra grinned back, lifting her eyes to the two men as Remus made his way over reverently, gazing down at the little girl and sinking into the chair.

"She's beautiful," he murmured, "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Lyra whispered, shifting carefully to make space for Mason to lie Harry down in the gap on the bed next to her, smiling as the little boy refused to lie down and instead watched and the baby, pointing a chubby finger at them.

"Yes, Harry, a baby," Remus explained.

"Baba," Harry sang back, leaning forwards, and Remus quickly intervened before Harry ended up poking the newborn. "Hungry," he decided, watching the baby again, before looking up to Mason and Remus.

"I think she probably is, yes," Mason agreed, "It's hungry work."

"It is," Lyra agreed.

"Do you want something?" Remus asked, "I can run and get food, I didn't even think, I could've got something before."

"Don't worry, Remus," she laughed, shaking her head. "I was not expecting you to have planned ahead."

"Harry will definitely be wanting something, I might as well grab for you guys too," he smiled, "Is he okay here? If you want some time, I can take him."

Mason scooped Harry off the bed, making him giggle. "Nah, we've got him, don't stress."

Remus smiled and stood up again. "I won't be long. I know what you'll have by now, I'm on it."

"You're a star," Mason promised, clapping him on the back before settling down with Harry on his lap.

Once Remus had gone and Harry was content babbling to himself and playing with one of the toys Remus had brought with them, Mason turned his focus back to Lyra. The baby was evidently full, so Lyra had leaned back again and got them both settled.

"She's quiet, for a baby," Mason admitted, "Harry wouldn't shut up at all, Lily was losing her mind."

"Well she doesn't take after you then," Lyra smirked. "I was a quiet baby too."

"Of course you were a well behaved baby," he teased.

Lyra smiled and let the baby wrap her hand around one of her fingers, transfixed.

"She needs a name. We didn't think of any at all, we're awful parents," Mason snorted.

"She does," Lyra said, biting her lip. "But… I don't think she should be named after anyone."

Mason watched her, his expression softening. Despite the two months they'd had together since the end of the war, it still clouded every day, like wading through mud rather than air. "I agree. That's too much pressure on a baby. She's her own person."

"Precisely," Lyra whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat. "And while I'm sure Dorcas would curse me for not having a Dorcas Junior if she were here –"

"She's not here," Mason finished gently, "And that's a burden our daughter didn't ask to carry."

Lyra nodded, glancing up at him and smiling, glad he understood.

Harry watched the two of them quietly, his eyes searching. There was so much recently that he didn't understand, so many faces that he wasn't seeing any more, but he seemed to understand he should be quiet and Mason pressed a grateful kiss to the top of the boy's unruly hair.

"I went to see James and Lily the other day," Lyra admitted, her eyes fixed on Harry. "To speak to them."

Mason knew she did it a lot with Dorcas' grave, but he didn't know she'd been to theirs too.

"I went for a walk, you know. Just around the graveyard. Remus mentioned the Muggle memorial and I stopped to read the names."

Mason stayed quiet, not sure where she was going with this but happy to listen.

"The Muggles had their Remembrance Day on the same day as their funeral," she whispered, "They lay wreaths and sing hymns and have a minute of silence. I… I want to go this year, I think. Even if it was mostly for the Muggles, Remus said it's really for all wars."

Mason ducked his head, his eyes filling with tears again. "Yeah, it is. They make sure to say it's for all wars now, it used to just be for the two Muggle wars."

Lyra shivered at the thought of doing it all again.

"The wreaths were all of poppies, red poppies," she continued, "And I wondered why. I went to the Muggle library and I looked it up."

She glanced down at her daughter and smiled wetly, sniffing as she continued. "The poppies were the only flowers that would grow on the old battlefields, so now they use them to symbolise the soldiers that fought and died there."

Mason's eyes widened as he realised. "Poppy."

Lyra's bottom lip trembled as she nodded. "Poppy. Not after a person, but still remembering them."

"Poppy McKinnon," Mason breathed, reaching over and running his finger over the baby's foot, watching her little toes curl up instinctively.

Lyra wiped her eyes weakly and smiled. "Exactly."

They were quiet after that, watching Poppy gurgle and clench her tiny fists contentedly. Mason felt sure he could watch her forever.

Remus nearly knocked on the door as he entered, but he paused, seeing that all four of them were quiet, simply watching the baby in Lyra's arms. He let the bag of food hang at his side as he took a deep breath and just watched them, not wanting to disturb the peace.

Logically, there were only five of them in the room, Lyra, Mason, the baby, Harry and himself. But the large room didn't feel empty. In fact, and Remus thought maybe he was just finally losing it, it felt crowded. It felt full, somehow.

They should've had his whole family there, Marlene screeching about being an aunt, Mark insisting he wouldn't drop the baby, the dog underfoot, Marcus and Marie already spoiling their first grandchild. They should've had Dorcas there, the proudest godmother you'd have ever seen. They should've had James and Lily holding Harry, not Mason in their place. Sirius should've been there pretending he wasn't crying but definitely crying and instead he was miles away in a cell with no knowledge this had even happened yet. But it was just him and Harry, just the two of them to celebrate this, just the two of them to fill the seats outside through the long hours spent waiting.

He was happy, he was, but it was impossible to separate this from the grief it came along with. You couldn't have one without the other. They'd got here, they were alive and they had a baby, a baby who would never know war like the one they'd survived through. But they'd had to survive through the war to get to this point.

"Remus, come over," Lyra said gently and he snapped back to the present, padding over to them and setting the food on the edge of the bed carefully. "Are you okay?"

"I am," he promised, smiling. "I was just thinking."

She smiled back and he knew she'd been thinking about the same thing. "Do you feel them?"

Remus nodded slowly, gripping the edge of the bed tightly.

Mason closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. When he opened his eyes again, he seemed more settled. "We've named her."

Remus grinned, glancing between them. "And?"

"Poppy Grace."

"It suits her," he smiled, looking back at Poppy affectionately.

"Needless to say, you're godfather," Lyra said shyly. "Which, before you even say it, would've been true even if circumstances were different. You've been there all along, Remus, and we're so grateful."

"Thank you," he whispered.

Mason frowned slightly and Lyra turned to follow his gaze. "What is she looking at?"

Poppy had turned her head slightly in Lyra's arm to look at the end of the bed, her gaze definitely focussed on something as she stretched a little hand out seemingly towards nothing.

Lyra sucked in a breath. "I think you were right, Remus. We aren't alone."

They all turned to look at the spot Poppy was watching, her blue eyes focussed determinedly, far sooner than most babies were able to do so.

"To new beginnings," Mason croaked, blinking fiercely as he felt something aching in his chest finally begin to heal over.

Poppy made another little noise, whatever had caught her interest apparently no longer there and Lyra looked down at their daughter and then at Mason, smiling even as she cried.

"To new beginnings."