--Tom's POV--
"Tom? Tom? Tom!" Hadrian calls in his sleep.
Knowing of his nightmares and morning sickness, I placed a monitoring charm on our room that I found in one of the baby books I've been reading lately. I move quickly from my study to our bedroom, expecting to see him in bed with fear etched on his face as is not uncommon, but instead he is by the large ornate mirror on the wall. Apparently he wasn't asleep when he called for me, and when I look closer I understand.
"Tom! Do you see it?!"
As a way of answering, I walk over and drop to my knees on front of him, placing a reverent hand on the slight swell of his stomach, proof that our child is in there, growing. I kiss it lightly as his fingers brush through my hair.he giggles when I place my ear to it.
"Love, you know you can't actually hear the baby right? It won't make any noise you can hear till it's already born."
I scoff, "I know that!"
Removing my ear, I stand to pull him into my arms, kissing him long and hard.
"Merlin, Tom, that's really our baby in there. Can you believe it?"
"Honestly, I don't know if I will fully believe it till it's in our arms." I grin at him.
"By the way, I got an owl this morning. Cissa finally got the equipment for an ultrasound so she'll be coming over with it today. She said that it's also about time we get to find out the sex for sure."
"Hadrian that's amazing! What time will she be here?"
"She said she'd drop by after lunch."
"Speaking of, why don't we go get you two some breakfast?"
--Hadrian's POV--
Thankfully, the morning sickness that has plagued be for the last few months seems to me going away these past two weeks, and is instead replaced by a significantly larger than usual appetite. I take his hand to pull him with me down to the dining room, where the elves are just finishing placing a large array of foods on the table as they have every meal since learning about the baby.
It's quite funny as any time I call for one, three appear nearly bursting with the desire to help me with something or make me more comfortable or just take care of me in general. I do however fear what they will be like in a few months when I'm huge and getting close to my due date, which is January 15th.
Tom has a meeting at ten, and by the time he gets back it's time for lunch. The entire meal we are both practically vibrating with excitement and probably eat a little quicker than is considered healthy. Then we wait in the sitting room for her arrival, his hand rubbing my stomach in a soothing motion despite both our anticipation.
When she does get here, we go up to our room where she has me lay down and lift my shirt.
"Okay, so this is based on a muggle ultrasound machine, but it uses magic instead, and has properties of a pensieve. I'm going to put this jelly on your stomach, and use this to send magical pulses into your stomach that it will then pick up and relay back to the box, which will then display the image as a projection. It will also project the sound of the baby's heartbeat."
"We get to hear it's heartbeat?" Tom asks in surprise.
I wasn't expecting it either but she nods in the affirmative, then squeezes the cold jelly on my stomach. She begins feeling around with it as she talks.
"Has there been any changes or anything unusual? I do see that you've started showing finally."
We had been a little worried as I should have started showing a couple of weeks ago.
"Not really. Except I've been getting a light fluttering feeling in my stomach every so often, but I don't know if it's related and there's no pain or anything."
"Good. That's actually the baby moving. You're the only one that will feel it at first, but once it gets bigger, others will be able to feel her kicking through your stomach."
I grin widely at the news, and Tom squeezes my hand, smiling down at me lovingly.
"And there's the baby."
Both our heads snap to the projection at those words and she points to it on the screen.
"Merlin look at it!" Tom exclaims, "It's so tiny!"
She lifts and moves the wand a little.
"Right there is it's head can you see?"
She adjusts the wand to give us a better look, as well as turns the sound on, which must have been turned off before, and we are greeted by a steady heartbeat though the spell causes an echo. My eyes mist over and Tom laughs a little, kissing the top of my head. I swear these hormones are killing me. I can hardly go a day without crying anymore even if they are happy tears half the time.
"I can get you pictures if you'd like."
I nod quickly, and she laughs, gives my shoulder a squeeze, then casts a spell that creates a few different piles of photos from the projection, making sure to move the ultrasound wand so the picture is a moving picture.
"Now, are you guys ready to know the gender or would you rather wait?"
"We'd like to know please." Tom answers, a little choked up, but not enough for most to notice.
"Very well stay still please."
She points her wand where the baby is in the ultrasound and does the spell. A paper appears and she grins, then banishes the paper, starting to pack things up.
"Um, Cissa?"
"Give it a moment." There's a pop, and a plate with two cupcakes on it appear, "They are both filled with frosting. Take a bite and you'll know when you see the color."
We grin, and she gets a camera ready. We take a large bite and pull away at the same time, revealing a bright pink center.
"A girl!" I exclaim.
"Wait what?" Tom asks in confusion.
"Pink means girl Tom."
"But it's blue."
He tuns his for me to see and I do the same. Realization clicks and I look to Narcissa for confirmation.
"Twins?"
"Yes, twins. I almost didn't notice them, and it was only your last checkup that I did. I was going to say something but since I knew we'd be finding out genders this month I figured I would wait and see if I could do it like this."
"God's there's two of them!" Tom exclaims.
"I was worried when you hadn't been showing last appointment since you usually show sooner with twins, but everything seems to be in order so we'll just have to monitor it and maybe increase your nutrition potion as well as your food intake at least a bit, and we should be safe. That means anything you want, whenever you want it, though I ask that you also increase the amount of healthy food you eat as well. Those things do make a difference."
"Of course. I'll do anything."
"I know you will. Was there anything else you wished to discuss today?"
"Yeah, why is it that if they are twins, we only feel one with magic. Is the other a squib?"
"Not likely with you as parents. A lot of magical twins are like that, which makes it harder to detect a second. Their magic is connected and so similar that you only notice one unless you know to look for two. The difference will be subtle, but you are both very magic sensitive so it shouldn't be too hard to differentiate them."
"I see. I think that's the only question." Tom nods in agreement, "Thank you so much for today. It really meant a lot."
"Of course. Congratulations you two. You're going to make wonderful parents, I just know it."
She leaves us, and Tom immediately presses me back down into the mattress, lips sucking at my neck eagerly. Clearly we both feel the need to celebrate right now."Hadrian how are you feeling?" Remus asks, always concerned about me and the baby, er... babies now.
"I'm wonderful Moony." I reply honestly.
"That's great cub! I'm so glad to hear it." He hugs me.
Dad walks in behind him, also pulling me into a hug.
"So you said you found out the gender. Go on. Don't keep us waiting." Dad says, hardly containing his excitement.
"It's a boy." I say.
"And a girl." Adds Tom.
"Twins?!" Moonie asks.
"Yep!"
"Hear that Sev? Two grand babies!"
"I heard." He says in shock.
I pass them four photos, two of each baby, all labeled with either Baby Boy Riddle, or Baby Girl Riddle.
"He was turned wrong, so we couldn't get a picture with his head or face, but you can see hers." Tom explains to them.
"They're so tiny!" Dad exclaims.
"That's what I said." Tom smirks.
"Oh congratulations you two. Look at you cub, you're all grown up now!" Remus says, voice a little watery.
"Don't make him cry!" Tom says quickly.
It's too late though, and he groans. I glare at him through my tears, shove his arm off of me, and go to hug my parents.
"I just mean, you can't be well hydrated lately. It's not your fault or anything, it's just the hormones, I'm just worried for you. Why don't we get you a glass of water?"
"Just because my emotions are stronger doesn't mean they're fake Tom. It doesn't give me fake emotions."
"Wha-- that's not what I--"
A wordless wandless silencing charm cuts off the rest of what he says. It'll take him a bit to figure out it was parseltongue too.
"You tell him son." My dad says proudly, "Now, what do you say we take a walk outside. The fresh air will do you good. Don't forget a cloak it's a bit chilly today."
And with that we leave Remus and Tom to try to figure out which silencing charm I used."Tom I'm sorry." I tell him later that day, clutching his arm tightly. "I shouldn't have been so mean to you. You were right it's the hormones. I'm a mess and she said it's worse for men and I'm so so sorry, please don't be mad." I beg.
"Hey, hey, it's fine. I kind of deserved it." He says with a lopsided grin. "Did you eat lunch?"
"Yeah, Dad took me out for Chinese, but I'm getting kinda hungry again so I might have a snack."
He calls for an elf to get me a sandwich and some carrot and celery sticks, and I sit with him in his office as he gets some paperwork done.
"You know, we'll have to go shopping again soon. We'll need double now, and we don't have anything for boys."
"Hmm, I guess I hadn't thought of that. And what about rooms? Would they stay in the same room or separate?"
"I guess I don't know. It would probably be easier in the night to get to them both in one room, but then they would wake each other up crying. Or maybe they'd be happy they weren't in a dark room alone. It might make them closer as they get older too."
"Or they would be tired of each other and want their space. What if we wait and see how they do when they're born? They'll sleep in our room for at least six months anyway."
"Yes but we'll still want the nursery, or nurseries done before they're born. That's where we'll keep most of their stuff, and they'll probably nap there and stuff."
"I guess."
"I'll do some research, in fact, maybe I'll just ask Fred and George their opinion. They're about as close as twins can be."
"That may not be a bad idea. If nothing else we would know what Molly and Arthur did."
"I don't particularly care about what they did."
"But the twins would be able to tell us how they felt about it."
"I suppose you're right. I'll write to them and see if they'll come over.""Twins?!" They shout in unison.
"This is"
"Fantastic!"
"Don't you worry"
"Hadrian, just listen"
"To us, and you'll"
"Have nothing,"
"Or everything"
"To worry about."
"Why do I feel like we're going to regret this?" Tom groans.
"Shush!"
"First thing first, definitely share rooms."
"At least until they're old enough to choose."
"Especially with one boy and one girl."
"Everyone knows twins of opposite genders,"
"While still very close,"
"Need more privacy."
"Hmm I hadn't thought about that. But that means we can't do a gender specific room." I point out.
"No but we could do a dark forest theme."
I gasp, imagining the walls painted with trees and animals moving through them.
"That's perfect! And the ceiling could show a star chart!"
"Gred?"
"Yes Forge?"
"Why do I get the feeling that these twins will be spoiled to death?"
"What with Hadrikins and the big scary Dark Lord for parents? I couldn't imagine dear brother."
"Me neither."This year for my birthday I am supposed to finally go through my inheritance, which has me a little on edge. Narcissa says that it may be painful, but that it won't hurt the babies any. This is why it is nearing midnight and I find myself unable to sleep. Instead, Tom sits up in bed with me, surrounding our children with his magic.
Finally it's 11:59 and he takes my hand, tightening his hold on me as I lay between his legs. As soon as midnight hits, a burning fills my body, not the worst pain I've ever felt, but definitely up there. The pain begins to focus around my shoulders, lower back, ears and head.
"Need to turn." I tell him.
He helps me roll onto my stomach right in time as two large wings sprout from my back. Then a long prehensile tail follows suit, horns on my head, and my ears turn pointed. When it's finally over, he helps me stand and move to the mirror.
My wings are large, black, and scaly, the scales slowly fading to skin. The tail actually has hair or fur, and is formed more like a monkey and I can move it and grab things, like Tom's wrist. My teeth and ears are definitely elongated, but I find I rather like that, as well as the horns that curve back before pointing up. My eyes appear to truly glow with power.
Beside me, Tom changes into his own creature, which he only uses around me to keep it as an ace up his sleeve. His red eyes slit, and large powerful wings and a tail sprout, giving him the accurate appearance of a dragon. As a dominant, his wings are much larger than my own, made for protecting his mate and children. As if reading my mind, his larger wings wrap protectively over me and my smaller ones.
"You're so damn gorgeous. It never ceases to amaze me."
I turn around and wrap my tail around his waist, pulling him closer.
"I love you Tom."
"I love you too. Now why don't we teach you how to retract your features, and how to only keep certain ones."Everyone has been back to school for two months now, and today is the only day I wish I could be there instead of with Tom. We've avoided discussing today for days, weeks even at this point, and now that it's here, neither of us really know how to act around each other.
After all, what to you say to your fiancé, the father of your unborn children, on the anniversary of the day he murdered your parents? It was war, and I don't hold him responsible, but the fact is that he killed them, and we're both too awkward to really talk to each other.
So here we are, awkwardly eating lunch together, and later Dad and Moony will pick me up so we can go visit their graves together.
"This is ridiculous. We're being ridiculous aren't we?"
"Most definitely."
Awkward silence.
"Ugh, I'll be back."
"You two stop kicking Mummy's bladder." He scolds as I stand.
When I return, he has finished, so I take the last few bites and drag him to the sitting room. If I am going to be leaving for Potter Manor, I am going to need some of his magic beforehand.
Deciding I may as well get a nap out of it, I conjure a pillow and lay across his lap. I must have been asleep for a while when one of the twins begins kicking rather hard, as if wanting to make their presence known, and Tom gasps in surprise.
"I think I just felt them kicking!"
He presses his hand a little firmer against my stomach, and is rewarded with another kick right where his hand is.
"Okay I definitely felt something that time. Did you feel something?"
"Of course I felt it, I feel everything they do."
"I felt one of our babies kick. Hadrian I felt it kick!" He laughs excitedly.
"I know. They're saying they're hungry."
"Mimsy!" He calls as though I'll die if I don't eat.
"Merlin, Tom, calm down. Mimsy would you please bring me a bowl of soup?"
"And a sandwich. Your father won't be here for an hour. I don't want you hungry while you're gone."
I roll my eyes but don't argue with him, knowing it's good for the twins.
"Tom?"
"Yes Kitten?"
"Next year, when the twins are here, I want to celebrate both Halloween and Samhain. During Yule we still include some things from Christmas holidays like gift giving, why can't we dress up and have a party or something?"
"You want to have a party on the anniversary of the day I killed your parents?" He asks with a raised brow.
"I know it seems silly, but I will still go visit them with my Dad and Remus, but I don't want to have one day out of every year that we spend like today. Though I hope my dad and Remus aren't upset by it. That day has gone and passed, and I wasn't old enough to really remember them. The only problem I have with today is that something bad always happens. Considering it usually has something to do with you, I'm hoping the bad luck streak ends."
"Perhaps liquid luck?"
"Hadn't thought of that. Too bad that's definitely out of the question this year with me being pregnant."
"We can still make the most of it."
"I hope so. I'm admittedly worried at what bad luck will come today."When my dad and Remus drop me back off at the Haven, I breathe a sigh of relief that nothing bad happened while I was away. Then I took a look around to find the room decked out in Halloween decorations.
"What happened here? Did a pumpkin throw up or something?" Dad questions.
"It's no party, but I thought it may cheer the place up a bit."
"You don't find it inappropriate considering you killed your fiancé's parents sixteen years ago today?" Dad reprimands.
"I actually did this for him after a discussion we had earlier."
"Tom it's amazing!"
"You're okay with this cub?"
"Yes I am. I understand if you two are uncomfortable with it, but I asked Tom if we could start celebrate a combination of Halloween and Samhain. Otherwise we just awkwardly avoid each other all day and that gets us nowhere. I still plan to go to the Manor with you guys every year, they were my parents too, but I don't have memories of them like you guys do. You don't have to stick around for that part, but I need this."
"If it's really what you want then I respect that." My dad answers, Remus nodding his agreement.
They do opt to return home, leaving Tom and I alone. I jump in surprise when the doorbell rings. He smirks and snaps his fingers, two shirts appearing in his hand. He hands one to me and keeps the other.
His shirt is black with a white skeleton to look like an x-ray of his torso. Where is stomach is shows a beer, burger and fries, clearly muggle. Mine is the same, but instead of food, it's skeleton twins on either side.
"Oh my gods! Tom that's adorable!"
"I thought you might like that."Now let's go hand out some candy."
We put on the shirts as well as a pointed hat and robe, let our fangs and pointed ears out, my long hair and a charm passing me as a woman and answer the door just in time to hand out several large candy bars to each kid. Despite the awkward start and the visit to Mum and James, it turns out to be the best Halloween I've ever had.Last year, Samhain was the only ritual I didn't participate in as the only one I couldn't. This year however, I will finally get to preform the ritual that allows me to speak to the dead.
Samhain takes place on November first, the day after Halloween, but since the celebrations don't start till the evening I manage to sleep until eleven o'clock after our late night before. Tom did reveal later on last night that he took liquid luck himself with the idea that his desire for me to have a good Halloween would make him lucky enough to make it happen. Considering the only problem I had was the awkwardness earlier on, I'd say it was a success.
By the time evening rolls around I am practically buzzing with anticipation.
"Alright, everything is set up, all we have to do is cast the spell." Tom says.
Spirits are able to divide themselves to speak to more than one person at once, so there is no fear of anyone I wish to speak to being busy with someone else. When he gives the go ahead, we each begin chanting the spell, and I watch as figures begin to form in a silvery mist.
"Hadrian? Son is that you?" James asks.
"Yeah, it's me." I choke as I look at them.
"My baby boy! Look at you! You're all grown up! Look at that belly! You're pregnant aren't you? Is it a boy or a girl?"
"Lils! You can't just say things like that!" James scolds.
Sirius laughs loudly, "James, there is no way that boy put on weight just for the hell of it. He's always been too skinny for his own good. Isn't that right pup?"
I laugh at his boldness.
"Yes Padfoot, you and Mum are right this time. I'm pregnant with twins."
"They're his, aren't they?" She asks without judgment, gaze watching him converse with the only friend he had as a kid who died in a bombing during the war.
"Yes they are. Does that upset you?"
"Of course not baby. As long as he keeps you safe and happy, I'm happy for you. Besides, he's your soulmate. How could I not be happy for you?"
"You mean you knew?"
"Hold up, I didn't know any of this. You're having babies with Voldemort?! And he's your soulmate? How come nobody told me?!" Sirius interrupts.
"No one told you cause you're a little bit too Gryffindor sometimes Pads." James explains, "Besides the object of the idea was to prevent Dumbledore finding out. Hadrian, the fact that you clearly know already implies that you likely know everything else as well?"
"I know that Severus is my biological father yes."
"Wait what?! Snivellus?! Is that why you look so different now?"
"Yeah, I don't have the glamours anymore. He's been amazing since we talked things out. They've both helped me so much."
"What about Remus? He told me that he and Snape are together now. Is he really doing alright? Is he happy?"
"Yes, he is."
"Then I guess I really owe Snape now. He's taking care of both of you in my stead. Can you tell him thank you for me?"
"Of course."
"Enough of that, I'm speaking to Severus as we speak. Tell me about you and Tom and my grand babies!" Mum says excitedly.
I settle in for a couple of hours telling them anything and everything about my life and the babies. When they have to go, I feel a tug at my heart. It's true I never knew them to be able to be upset on Halloween, and I don't think Halloween will ever be a big deal to me, but I really enjoyed getting to know them a little bit, however short a time it was.