* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FOUR
Brave New World
Chapter 86: Forever Changed
A/N: The chapter title is from the song:
Forever Changed by Carrie Underwood.
"Harry, where are you going?"
Harry leant down to kiss Daphne. He suspected that she was half asleep anyway, "I'm on call baby, Rob just sent me a Patronus."
"What time is it?" Daphne mumbled.
"3 am," Harry said, kissing her on the forehead, "Go back to sleep. I'll see you later."
"Be safe."
"I always am," Harry promised, slipping out of the bedroom and transfiguring himself into his Auror robes.
He yawned as he darted through the house as quietly as possible to avoid waking Teddy up. Harry had been working for Child Protective Services, or CPS as they tended to nickname it, for a few weeks now, and he was finally settling into the new routine. They all had to be on call at night. It was part of the job, a part that Harry had expected. On any given night, two Aurors were on call, and tonight it was himself and Rob.
The Patronus from Rob hadn't said much, but they never did. Part of that was because patronuses could be intercepted, but it was mostly because Rob hated nighttime calls. When Harry met him in the atrium of the ministry, he was scowling.
"What's the call?" Harry asked, stifling a yawn, "Was it from the Closes?"
"No," Rob replied, yawning.
This surprised Harry as it was generally from the Closes at this time of night, "No?"
"Yes, Potter, I said no, keep up," Rob complained dryly, "It's from the muggle world."
"Isn't that out of our jurisdiction?"
"The child is a wizard, so no," Rob said, glaring at him.
"You're in a spectacularly bad mood tonight, worse than usual," Harry commented.
"Well, my kid was being an arsehole, and now I'm here, so I'm kind of tired," Rob said irritably, "Why are you so happy in the middle of the night?"
Harry shrugged as they walked out of the ministry together, "I'm kind of used to it, I guess. I used to spend my nights wandering around Hogwarts talking to ghosts, spying on people and trying to catch people who I thought were scheming against me."
Rob snorted, "I'm gonna go ahead and nickname you Junior Mad-Eye right now."
Harry chuckled, "Well, he's probably the most famous Auror ever, so I'm alright with that. Where is this case?"
"Muggle London," Rob replied, "It's the kid of a muggle politician. The nanny is a witch. She called it in because she thinks the kid is being abused."
"Why do we have to go in the middle of the night?" Harry asked with a frown.
"Because the call came in after we had finished for the day, and the nanny reckons that it's happening at night," Rob replied.
Harry's eyes darkened, "Does that mean…."
"No, I don't think it's that kind of abuse," Rob said with a shake of his head, "Either way, we're doing this like a stakeout."
"A stakeout?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Oh yeah, this is your first one, isn't it?" Rob asked. He yawned again, "I hope you don't think it's gonna be all doughnuts and sharing secrets because I plan on sleeping while you do all the work."
"Sounds about right," Harry snorted.
Rob smirked and told Harry the coordinates. They apparated to the large London townhouse together and camped out in the back garden under disillusionment and perception charms. Rob taught Harry how to set up appropriate wards. Then he cast a spell that made all human heat signatures within the house show up through the walls to monitor the inhabitants of the houses movements.
"So, what's the story here?" Harry asked in a whisper as they watched a boy, who looked around seven years old, pacing his bedroom floor.
"Muggle-born kid, pretty much raised by the nanny who is a witch and has told him stories about magic and Hogwarts," Rob said with a wave of his hand, "He thinks of it like a fairy-tale land where all of his dreams are going to come true."
Harry frowned. That was exactly what Hogwarts had been for him.
"His dad is a Muggle, a powerful but stupid one," Rob continued, "He doesn't understand magic, he just thinks something is wrong with his son, and that makes him angry, so he lashes out."
Harry sighed, "Sounds familiar."
"Yeah," Rob said, sighing too, "That's everyone's story, isn't it? Abused by muggles who are scared of what they don't understand."
Harry nodded.
"I don't know how you grew up to be a muggle lover cause I sure as hell ain't," Rob admitted, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I never wanted to join Voldemort and kill them all, but I don't like them either."
"Neither do I," Harry admitted, "I'm not a muggle lover. Like you said, I don't hate them all, but I do find the majority of them to be ignorant and small-minded. I think about how my aunt, uncle and cousin treated me, and I think about what happened to you and Tom Riddle."
Rob didn't say anything.
"This whole situation gets me thinking," Harry said, looking up at the big house, "About how you can never tell what a person has been through just by looking at them. I mean, Draco and I are the perfect example of that. Would you say that we're friends?"
"You seem pretty friendly," Rob replied, "Not as close as you and Neville mind but friendly enough."
"Yeah, well, we used to hate each other," Harry said with an amused smile, "And I don't mean we were petty to each other. We hated each other, we fought, we duelled, we tried to kill each other on at least two occasions, but now we're close friends, and he's marrying my best friend."
"I know enough about your life to say that sounds legit," Rob joked.
Harry chuckled, "The point was when Draco met me, he thought I had been raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, getting everything handed to me on a golden platter because I was the boy-who-lived. He had no idea that I had been raised by muggles who were incapable of loving me and who beat me," he pointed out, "And I thought Draco had the perfect pureblood life with the perfect house and the perfect family. I had no idea that his father had controlled his mother and abused both of them in a far worse way than my uncle had abused me."
Rob looked up in surprise, "Did I say you were happy tonight? Cause I'm taking that back, you're depressing the fuck out of me. But that does come as a surprise to me that Draco was abused as a kid."
"Yeah, he hides it better than I do," Harry said with a sigh, "He and Theo both do."
"Theo too?" Rob asked. He shook his head, "Well, that makes sense now…."
"What does?"
"Why they both picked CPS," Rob replied, "Elizabeth told me that they hadn't been told they were going to join us; they chose to. I figured they had done it just because they wanted their little friend group to stick together."
"No," Harry said firmly, "They both had difficult childhoods. Theo's father killed his mother, and then he locked Theo up in that same basement every time he misbehaved. All of our simulation tests, the ones designed to break us in Auror training, were based around our childhood trauma."
"What is it with you attracting abused kids?" Rob asked with a frown, "Are you like a magnet or something?"
"I must be," Harry said with a weak laugh, "The point is that they are all there because they have a reason to be."
"That makes me feel better about getting all the kids," Rob joked.
They fell silent for a while, but then Rob spoke up again, "I'm sorry if I've been a bit of a dick to the other guys this last week, by the way. I was kind of pissed off because I thought they picked CPS for the wrong reasons, but…I'm struggling to adapt too. I went from being one guy working with abused kids to sharing responsibility for four Juniors with my ex-girlfriend. Sometimes I feel like the outsider with you guys all being so close."
Harry snorted, "I thought we weren't sharing secrets? Do you think I should set a campfire and get some marshmallows?"
"Fuck off, Potter."
Harry grinned and looked over at the older man, "That's more like the Rob I know. But in all seriousness, we are close, but we're also professional while we're at work. We would do great if you chucked us into a fight, but we don't know it all yet, and that's why we need you. I reckon that's why you got Elizabeth too; she's a feminine touch that our team needs. But she's also a bit of a paper pusher. Between the two of you, we'll learn how to file properly."
Rob sighed, "It's still shit, though, having to work with your ex when her husband is your boss."
Harry wanted to make a joke, but he didn't think it was what Rob needed right now, "You didn't really have a three-way with her and Sheppard, did you?"
"Nah," Rob replied, "It was just Lizzie and me, to begin with. At the start of training, we got together, whirlwind romance, but I thought it would last forever like a sentimental idiot. John was my friend back then, a close friend actually…."
Harry's eyes widened, "Was he your Auror partner while you were in training?"
"Yup," Rob replied bitterly, "Elizabeth hated him at first, thought he was this flyboy idiot which he was. Then we went into second year, and something changed, something happened in a simulation exercise, and John realised how much of a dick he was, so he started being a bit nicer, which led to Elizabeth falling in love with him and breaking up with me."
Harry made a face, "Ouch."
"She was always graceful and apologetic about it," Rob said with a shrug, "So it was hard to be angry at her, but John was never gracious in victory. We got split up as Auror partners after a particularly violent duel, and we never really talked after that."
"That does suck," Harry agreed, "But you must have fallen in love again since you had Nick?"
"Yeah, I did," Rob said. He shrugged, "That didn't last either. I never thought it would to be honest. I met Gaia in the Closes. One of my first cases…it was a domestic call from a neighbour. She answered the door, heavily pregnant and black and blue. She tried to make up an excuse about how she'd had a fall. I ended up duelling her husband and arresting him for assault. I looked after her, took her in and protected her, fell in love with her and promised I'd raise her kid as my own. She had issues, addiction mostly," Rob shrugged, "She killed herself, but I promised her I'd raise Nick differently from the way she had been raised, so I'm doing that."
Harry hadn't realised that Nicholas wasn't biologically Rob's son.
"She was a squib," Rob added, "That's why she lived in the Closes. Her family cast her out when she was 14, and she ended up working in Knockturn Alley for a bunch of idiots who got her addicted to all sorts of illegal potions. It's why I can't stand entitled pricks like your Earl Abbott."
"What family was she from?" Harry asked curiously.
"She was a Cornfoot," Rob said with a shrug, "They had their heir in their son, so they kicked their daughter to the curb without a second thought."
"It's disgusting," Harry said with a shake of his head.
"Yeah," Rob agreed.
"You're a good man Rob," Harry said quietly, "And I have a lot of respect for you, as a colleague and a friend. I reckon you'll be happy one day."
Rob laughed humorlessly, "You would, Harry, you're so optimistic that it's annoying sometimes."
Before Harry could respond to the jibe, there was a flurry of movement in the house, so they sprang into action.
Upon Sumners orders, the Aurors who worked in Child Protective Services were forced to take a weekend off to go camping. It was part of his plan to mould them into effective teams who knew each other inside out.
But they weren't doing much bonding. They were just slightly drunken idiots.
"Do you think I could fit 15 marshmallows in my mouth?"
Harry snorted and looked at Rob, "Really?"
Neville shook his head in amusement, "You're a hazard to society."
"And a coward. Do 20," Theo challenged him with a grin.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "I am surrounded by idiots."
"This is how I feel most days," Draco said calmly.
They watched with mild interest as Rob shoved marshmallows into his mouth while being egged on by Harry, Neville and Theo.
When Rob started to gag on all of the marshmallows, Elizabeth flicked her wand in his general direction and muttered, "Anapeno."
The spell cleared his airways, rather unpleasantly.
"Thanks, Lizzie."
"You're an idiot," Elizabeth said matter of factly.
"It's uncanny," Harry whispered to Theo.
"I know," Theo whispered back.
"What is?" Elizabeth asked, narrowing her eyes at them.
"How similar you are to our friend, Hermione," Harry said with a slight smile.
Draco rolled his eyes and shot them both a warning look. Thankfully they ended that topic of conversation there.
Rob picked up a hipflask and took a deep drink, "Ah, the good stuff comes from the good lord as the satanic nuns used to say."
"I have no idea why I thought we were compatible," Elizabeth said matter of factly.
"I don't know why you thought we were compatible either, but the sex was good, eh?" Rob asked with a grin.
"Not really, Rob," Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow at him, "I was faking it most of the time."
The younger men laughed at Rob's expense, but the older Auror just pretended to look offended and said, "Firewhiskey kiddos?"
"No," Neville said, glaring at Harry.
Rob watched this exchange with interest, "What's that about?"
"I have a bit of a problem when I drink firewhiskey," Harry said.
"Yeah, he doesn't stop till he's downed the bottle and tried to alienate everyone who loves him," Neville said sarcastically.
"You're an alcoholic?" Rob asked in surprise.
"Recovering alcoholic," Harry answered, "Yeah, I don't drink spirits, for the reason Neville just said."
"Shit, man," Rob said with a sigh, "Sorry that I didn't know that about you."
Harry shook his head, "It's fine."
"I love a good drink," Rob said, rubbing the beard that he had begun to grow that weekend.
Neville frowned and stared at him for a moment, "Rob…did we ever meet before I joined the Aurors? You just look…familiar."
"It'll be the beard, won't it?" Rob asked with a grin.
Neville's frown deepened, "Yeah…how did we meet?"
"Well," Rob said with a smirk, "That Ginny Weasley is a right screamer, isn't she?"
Neville's eyes widened, and Harry spat out his beer.
"The Irishman," Neville said.
"Yep," Rob smirked.
"You were the Irishman who was helping Abe in the bar," Neville realised. His face fell, "Oh fuck…so, you heard that then?"
"Oh yeah," Rob smirked, "I think the whole of fucking Hogsmead heard that, Longbottom."
"Rob!" Elizabeth chastised.
Neville cringed, and Theo snorted, "She's loud, to be fair. Isn't she? We heard her and Blaise at it in eighth year."
Rob sniggered, "Either you're a damn good shag, or she's easily pleased, that's all I'll say."
"Well, I'm better than the chosen one, apparently," Neville said with a grin.
Harry choked on a marshmallow, "Did she tell you that?"
"Yep, she said you were kind of awkward," Neville said far too cheerfully.
Draco and Theo burst out laughing, and Elizabeth made a face, "Gentlemen, this is not a lads weekend. It is a work trip-"
"Shh, Lizzie. We're finally getting the dirt on perfect Potter," Rob said, getting glared at by Elizabeth for shooshing her.
"To be fair, it doesn't matter how good a shag either of you were," Theo pointed out, "Daphne just kissed her, and she turned her gay."
Neville smirked, "Yeah, are you surprised by that? I mean, come on, look at Daphne."
"You've seen far more of her than I have," Theo said, waggling his eyebrows at Neville.
"Boys!" Elizabeth scolded.
"Woah," Rob interjected, "You've shagged his missus?"
"I've had enough," Elizabeth muttered, "I'm going to bed."
She disappeared into the tent, and Rob looked at Neville, "You've shagged his hot wife?"
"Not quite," Neville answered sheepishly.
"They had a foursome," Draco joked.
"So did you!" Harry objected.
"Oh no, you can't make comparisons," Theo said with a shake of his head, "We had a relatively innocent 'just graduated from high school and want to experiment' foursome with our other halves. You two went way way further. You might as well just call it a gangbang."
Harry thought Rob might choke to death on his own laughter as he and Neville flushed at that description.
"Theo!" Draco scolded, despite the fact he was holding back laughter himself.
"Shut up," Harry said with a shake of his head, "You guys are a foursome. You basically all live in one house!"
"It's two houses; there's just a connecting door," Draco argued.
"And how is that different from you two with your connected vanishing cabinets?" Theo interjected.
"Oh, good lord," Rob snorted.
"Those are for protection!" Neville objected.
"Did his wife also suck your cock for protection?"
At this, Rob choked, "That's what you meant by not quite?"
"I'm going to fucking kill you, Theo," Neville barked, and he launched himself at the Slytherin.
Rob grinned in amusement, "So you two share everything, huh? Even your other halves?"
"One time," Harry muttered, his cheeks were scarlet, "And I couldn't look Lilly in the eye for two weeks at work."
Draco smirked, "Payback."
"You want payback?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at Draco as Neville and Theo continued to scuffle in the background, "Rob. Draco and Theo are in love with each other, but they're not gay-"
"Potter," Draco hissed, "Shut up!"
"They call it a profound bond, and they don't shag. They just snog when their other halves tell them to-"
Draco had gotten to his feet and was advancing on Harry, "Shut up right now, or I'll make you shut up."
Harry grinned and clambered to his feet, reaching for his wand, "They had a big fight then confessed their love for each other on the Astronomy Tower in eighth year."
"I'm going to fucking kill you!"
"You'll have to beat me in a duel first," Harry smirked.
Rob grinned and took a swig from his hipflask, "I very much doubt that this is what Sumner meant when he sent us on a 'bonding' weekend, but hell, it's entertaining. Yeah, come on, Harry! Go for the feet! Neville, bite him somewhere soft; it'll hurt more!"
He put his feet up and warmed his hands by the fire as the chaos ensued around him, "Ah, this is the life."
"Right, so let me get this straight," Daphne said, shaking her soaking wet hair out and casting a drying charm, "You're like 35, and you can't swim?"
Bill raised an eyebrow at her, "Right first off, I'm only 29," he then grinned, "And of course I can swim. I just didn't fancy throwing myself into a cold lake in March to get that cursed sword."
Daphne glared at him and pulled her jumper on, "I hate you."
Bill laughed and handed her a cup of coffee, "Nah, you don't. I'm one of your best friends. You said it yourself."
"Best friend or not, right now, I don't like you," Daphne said, throwing herself into the comfortable chair behind her desk.
The moment she had sat down, the floo roared to life. At first, she thought it was a client, but then she saw Sadie's face in the flames. She smiled, "Sadie, hey!"
Sadie smiled too. She looked exhausted, "Hey, Daph."
"What's up?" Daphne asked, kneeling in front of the fire.
"I just wanted some advice," Sadie admitted, "I'm kind of having some early labour signs, but it's way too soon, right?"
Daphne frowned, "Yeah, you are a good few weeks away from your due date. What kind of symptoms do you have?"
"Nothing too bad," Sadie replied, "A little bit of back pain and nausea, but I've had nausea from the beginning. It's probably just Braxton Hicks, right?"
"Yeah, it probably is," Daphne agreed, "But twins can come early, so why don't you give Lil a call? You know she'll be there to check on you in no time."
"No, Daphne, she'll be busy at the training centre," Sadie said with a shake of her head, "And I really don't feel that bad."
"Sadie," Daphne said, her tone a little harsher, "You are pregnant with twins. It's far better to be safe than sorry. Floo Lilly and have her check in on you and the babies."
"Okay," Sadie said, "I'll floo her, I promise."
"If anything changes, let me know," Daphne said.
"I will."
"Love you, stay safe," Daphne said, blowing a kiss through the fireplace as the floo disconnected.
She got to her feet and turned to look at Bill, "How early do twins tend to come?"
Bill frowned as he thought about that, "Well, let's see… Fred and George came in April, and they were due in May, so that's about a month. Why?"
"Sadie has some early pregnancy symptoms," Daphne replied, "She's right. It does sound like Braxton Hicks, but she's having twins, so I told her to floo Lilly and get a check-up, just in case."
"When is she due?" Bill asked with interest.
"Not till the end of March," Daphne replied, glancing up at the calendar on the wall, "So if she is in labour, the twins would be three weeks early."
"You're right; it probably is just Braxton Hicks," Bill said with a comforting smile, "Try not to worry too much."
Daphne nodded absentmindedly, knowing that she would still worry about her friend.
Sadie floo-ed the hospital wing of the Auror training centre, hoping that Lilly would be the one to answer. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her friends face in the flames.
"Sadie!" Lilly said in surprise, "Are you okay?"
"I think so," Sadie said, smiling sheepishly at Lilly, "Daphne made me call you. I floo-ed her because I'm pretty sure I have Braxton Hicks, but she told me to floo you, just in case."
"You are getting pretty close to the big day," Lilly said, looking over at a calendar, "3 weeks till your due, yeah?"
Sadie nodded, "Yeah. That was why Daphne was worried. She said twins can come early."
"They do tend to," Lilly admitted, "I'm meant to finish in ten minutes, so I'll just head off early. I'll come by the house and check you over. It's better to be safe than sorry with you carrying twins. Are you in a lot of pain or discomfort?"
"No, I'm fine," Sadie said honestly, "I have a little bit of back pain, nausea and the cramping just started."
"Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes or less," Lilly promised, smiling at her friend, "Go and lie down. If it is Braxton Hicks, the best thing for it is rest."
"I will," Sadie promised, "Thanks, Lil."
"Anytime," Lilly said with a warm smile.
Lilly let herself into Number 11 Grimmauld Place and headed up to the drawing-room where she found Sadie lying on a sofa. She had her eyes closed, and she was breathing slowly and deeply, but she wasn't asleep.
"Hey, Sade," Lilly said cheerfully, "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay," Sadie replied, opening her eyes and turning her head to look at her friend, "The back pain is worse, but if it was labour, I would be in a lot more pain, right?"
"You would probably be crying by now," Lilly said with a chuckle, "Let me just do a couple of checks, though."
Sadie nodded and let Lilly check her blood pressure, the babies positions and heartbeats. She frowned as she pressed her hands down on Sadie's stomach.
"What's wrong?" Sadie asked, beginning to panic.
"Nothing," Lilly promised, "It's just…the position that one of the babies is in. It definitely seems to be ready for delivery."
She moved her hands a little lower and then looked up at Sadie in surprise, "Did you feel that?"
"The crampy sensation?" Sadie asked.
"Doesn't it hurt?" Lilly asked.
Sadie shook her head, "It's just a little uncomfortable."
Lilly maintained her calm persona, but she was beginning to worry too, "Can I do one last check? It's pretty intrusive so-"
"If you need to examine me, just do it," Sadie cut in. She smiled sheepishly, "You kind of lose your dignity when you're pregnant.
"I'll be as gentle as I can be," Lilly said.
Sadie had obviously been examined before, and she wasn't too uncomfortable about the idea, which made Lilly feel a little better. She did the examination, took a breath and then stood up.
"Okay, Sadie," Lilly said calmly, "I don't want you to panic, but I'm going to floo Clara."
"Why, what's wrong?"
"Don't panic," Lilly said, placing her hand on top of her friends, "But those cramping sensations are contractions, and you are pretty dilated, so I think these babies are going to have to be born here. I can probably do it, but they are premature, so I'd rather Clara was here."
"Now?" Sadie asked, her eyes widening, "But it's so early!"
"It's common with twins," Lilly assured her, "They are pre-term but not dangerously so. It's going to be fine, alright? Just take some deep breaths for me."
"But Lilly," Sadie said, her eyes filling with tears, "I'm scared, I'm so scared."
Lilly knelt by her side and grabbed her hand, "It's okay to be scared, Sadie. Being scared means that you're about to do something really, really brave."
Sadie blinked, and the tears rolled down her cheeks.
Lilly smiled at her, "You're going to be great. I just need Clara here because I don't trust myself enough to do this without her. Okay?"
"Okay," Sadie said shakily.
"Deep breaths," Lilly said, squeezing her hand and getting to her feet and flooing Clara from the drawing-room fireplace.
From that point onwards, things happened very quickly. Clara came through the floo the moment that Lilly had contacted her. She examined Sadie and confirmed that she was 8cm dilated, so the babies were well on their way.
"How is she not screaming in pain?" Lilly asked Clara in a whisper.
"High pain threshold, obviously," Clara whispered back.
"Alright, Sadie, because you went into labour early, your waters haven't broken by themselves. I'm going to break them for you, and things are going to happen very quickly from that point."
"Can you get Theo then?" Sadie asked, sighing as Lilly dabbed a cool cloth to her head.
Clara shook her head, "Honey, when I say fast, I mean fast. These babies are early, and that means they are little. They are going to be born quickly, and we're going to have to get you all to St. Mungos for a decent check-up. The minute we transport the three of you there, we will floo Theo."
"I'll drag him out of the ministry myself," Lilly promised.
Sadie nodded and took another deep breath.
Clara broke Sadie's waters, and as predicted, things happened very quickly from that point onwards. The first baby was born, and it was tiny.
"Is it okay?" Sadie asked, breathing heavily. The first signs she had shown of real pain had been when the baby's head was crowning.
"She's fine, Sadie," Clara said, handing the baby to Lilly.
"She?" Sadie asked, peering around her bump.
Lilly wrapped the baby in a towel and cleaned her up; then she showed her to Sadie, "You have a little girl."
Sadie smiled tearfully then cried out as another intense contraction came.
"I'll clean her up and look after her," Lilly promised, "You just focus on getting the next baby out, okay?"
Sadie nodded and blew out a breath, "I'm just so tired."
"You can do this, Sadie," Clara said, reaching up to grab Sadie's hand, "You are young and strong. I can already see the baby's head, so it's not going to be long, alright? Just a few big pushes with the next few contractions."
Lilly did all the necessary checks on the little girl, but she appeared to be perfectly healthy. She had cried the moment she was born, and her lungs were fully developed, which was one of the big worries with premature babies. The baby was tiny, Lilly weighed her as part of the new baby checks that Healers conducted, and she only weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces.
"That's it, Sadie, one more big push and the head will be out," Clara assured Sadie.
Sadie cried out in pain, and Clara smiled encouragingly, "That's it, we have a head. Just little pushes now. It's almost over."
Tears shone on Sadie's cheeks as she panted and pushed.
"That's it," Clara said, wrapping the second baby in a towel, "You have a little boy Sadie."
"A boy?" Sadie asked tearfully.
"A boy," Lilly said, kissing her friend on the forehead, "You got one of each, just like you and Theo wanted."
Sadie managed to glance over and look at her little boys face for a brief moment before she passed out.
"Is she okay?" Lilly asked, panicking as the colour drained from Sadie's cheeks.
Clara shook her head, "Postpartum haemorrhage, she's losing a lot of blood. I need to get her to St. Mungo's right now. Can you-"
"I'll bring the babies," Lilly said, and they both sprang into trauma healer mode as the adrenaline well and truly kicked in.
"Nope, it's not my turn."
"It's your turn, Theo."
"Nah, Drakey, it's definitely your turn."
Rob walked into the office, "What are you pair of jessies arguing about?"
"Whose turn it is to do the end of day paperwork," Harry said, shooting his friends an amused look.
"Theo, it's your turn," Rob said with a roll of his eyes, "Draco did it yesterday. Pull your finger out and get it done."
"That's a different way to motivate your students," Elizabeth remarked, trying to hide an amused smirk.
"Hey, it works, doesn't it?" Rob asked with a grin as Theo began to fill out the end of day paperwork.
Elizabeth shook her head in amusement, "Do you want to head home early, Rob? It's you and I on call tonight, and with it being a Saturday, I'm expecting at least one call from the Closes."
"Oh, no doubt," Rob said, he yawned, "I'll apologise in advance if I'm grumpy. Nick is going through a nightmare phase."
"Do you mean he's being a nightmare, or he's having nightmares?" Harry asked, shooting Rob an amused look.
"Both," Rob complained.
"Noted, I'll go past a garage and get coffee if we do get a call," Elizabeth chuckled.
"Oh, Lizzie, you're a woman after my own heart. You're wasted on flyboy Shep."
Elizabeth gave him a long-suffering look.
At that point, the door of the office opened, and they all looked around. They expected to see another Auror there, or perhaps Sheppard or Sumner. But they didn't expect to see Lilly.
"Lil!" Neville said in surprise, "Everything okay?"
Lilly shook her head, "Theo, we need you at St. Mungo's now."
Theo's face paled, "Is it Sadie? Is she okay?"
"She's had the babies; it was very fast," Lilly replied, "She didn't know she was in labour, but when I went in to check on her, she was practically fully dilated."
Rob's eyes widened, "Jeez, she must have some pain threshold."
Elizabeth nodded her agreement.
"The babies are absolutely fine," Lilly continued, "They are in the nursery at St. Mungo's, but Sadie had a postpartum haemorrhage. We got her straight to the hospital, and she's having an emergency transfusion, but it's…well, I just think you should get there as soon as you can, okay?"
Theo nodded numbly.
"You heard Lil, get your arse to that hospital," Harry told Theo.
But Theo didn't move.
"She'll be fine, Theo," Draco said, stepping forward, "Sadie's survived a hell of a lot. She survived the Dark Tower, remember?"
Neville nodded and pushed Theo towards Lilly, "And you know our Lil will have looked after her. Go on. Go see your wife and your babies."
Lilly smiled at the three of them and grabbed Theo's arm, "Visiting hours are from 6 pm. You might not be allowed to see Sadie, but you can visit the babies."
Without another word, she dragged Theo out of the office.
"Do you reckon Sadie really will be okay?" Harry asked once the door had shut behind them.
Elizabeth waded into the conversation, "She will be fine. She's in the best place, and it sounds like they got her to the hospital quickly. Postpartum haemorrhages used to kill witches before it became more common to give birth in a hospital."
They breathed a collective sigh of relief. The thought of Theo without Sadie was terrifying, and the thought of Theo having to raise his kids without their mother was heartbreaking.
"I can't believe she's had the babies," Draco said, "Theo is a dad."
"You're a godfather," Harry said with a smile, "Welcome to the club."
"Oh shut up, you've got about ten god-kids," Neville snorted.
"Three actually," Harry said in amusement, "And I adopted one of them, so he doesn't count anymore."
Rob smiled and clapped Draco on the shoulder, "Congrats, Godfather. I'm gonna call you that from now on, actually no, I'm not because that's a cool nickname and you're a loser."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "That was profound, thank you, Rob."
Harry laughed, "I wonder what they had."
"Humans, I hope," Rob chimed in.
Elizabeth punched him in the arm, and Rob winced, "Ouch."
"Stop making bad jokes," Elizabeth remarked.
"Theo always said he wanted a boy and a girl, in an ideal world," Draco said, his eyes glancing up to the clock. It was nearly 5 pm, and they would be able to visit at 6 pm.
Before any of them could say anything more, a memo appeared on the desk. Elizabeth picked it up and scanned it, "It's a call, from the Closes."
Rob pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his red Auror robes, "Robe up, Lizzie, these idiots are way too happy to be productive right now."
Elizabeth laughed and grabbed her robes from the back of a chair. She put them on and smiled at the three men, "Rob's right, you three are not in the right frame of mind to work, so just head home a bit early. Tell your other halves the good news and have a shower before you go to visit the babies."
Harry, Neville and Draco all thanked Elizabeth. Then Rob grabbed her arm, "Come on, work to do, Lizzie," he said, then he pulled her out into the corridor and added, "Soft touch."
As they walked up the corridor together, both in their official robes, Rob said, "This is our first field call as partners, Lizzie," he placed his hand on her back.
Elizabeth shot him a look, but before she could say anything, a door at the end of the corridor opened. John stuck his head out and pointed at Rob, "Hands where I can see them, Wolfe."
Rob rolled his eyes and dropped his hand, "I hate you," he said calmly as they passed the door of John's office.
"I know," John said, smirking at the other man and going back into his office.
"I hate him," He added for Elizabeth's benefit.
"Yeah, Rob, I know," Elizabeth said with an amused shake of her head.
* ~ TBC ~ *