Aimee
Harry awoke to a muffled cry, followed by heavy footsteps and the sounds of a door opening. He closed his eyes once more and sighed, but was once again disturbed by a pounding on his door.
"Yeah?" He mumbled sleepily, slipping on his glasses and walking to the door, opening it.
"Harry… Your Mum, she's going to have the babies." Severus was breathing hard and his face was pale.
"Is she ok?" Harry asked immediately; Severus had never waited around to tell him before.
"I'm not sure." He admitted, glancing over to the doorway of the Master Bedroom. "Listen… the children, they can take care of themselves. Do you want to come?"
Harry nodded vigorously, "Yeah, let me get dressed."
"Be ready in two minutes… No more." With that, Severus
turned around and nearly ran into the Master Bedroom, leaving Harry to
change.
After dressing Lily as carefully as he could, Severus
went back to Harry's room, finding the boy already ready and waiting for
him. He beckoned his son to follow him as he walked into the Master Bedroom
once more, taking his wife's arm in one hand and Harry's in his other.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the three bodies at St. Mungo's, and
a moment later the walls of the mansion disappeared, replaced by bright
white walls and a busty witch at an information desk.
"Maternity." Severus said to her, supporting Lily in his arms. Harry watched in awe as they were suddenly surrounded by three different witches and a doctor, one of which helped Severus set Lily on a conjured stretcher.
"Dad?" Harry asked, his eyes darting from the stretcher to his mother to Severus and back again.
"Come with us." Severus said quietly and surprisingly calmly as he started to follow the entourage.
Harry followed numbly, his eyes wide with amazement as the nurses and doctor worked on his mother.
It seemed like an eternity, but they finally reached a room big enough to hold all of them. Severus walked right in but Harry lingered behind, almost afraid to step in.
Before he could back away any further, Severus looked at his son and forced a smile.
"It'll be all right, Harry. Come on in, you won't be in the way."
Harry nervously stepped in, sighing as his father's hand touched his shoulder gently.
"Will she be ok?"
Severus nodded, "Yes, she will."
There was a pause before Harry dared to speak again. "What about Remus?"
For the first time that night, Harry saw a flicker of pain ignite in his father's eyes. However, as soon as it had shown, it had disappeared.
"Stay here."
A moment later, Severus had disappeared with a pop, leaving Harry feeling very much alone in the large white room with the nurses and doctors trying to revive his mother. Why though? Why couldn't they just let her be?
The bulge in her belly was moving slightly, and even though she was unconscious, Harry could see his mother's face flinch with pain. He backed up against the wall, not knowing what to do.
Severus arrive at his destination with a satisfied pop. He knocked on the door urgently, knowing Remus had to be in there.
Remus opened the door in a pair of boxers and a robe flowing loosely from his shoulders. "Severus? What's wrong? Lily… Is she ok?"
Severus shook her head, "She's gone in to labor."
Remus shook his head, "How far along?"
"A half hour, perhaps. I need you to come with me."
Remus sighed and looked over his shoulder, "Severus,
I –"
"Lupin, you'd bloody well better listen to me." Severus hissed before Remus had the chance to finish his sentence. "You have as much of a chance as I do as being the –"
Before he could finish, his eyes fell upon a woman who had approached Remus from behind, wrapping her long arms around his torso. She eyed him warningly, her blonde hair unnaturally neat.
"Hello." She extended her right hand. "Narcissa Martin. And you are?"
Severus eyed her hand and refused to take it. Slightly startled, the woman withdrew her hand to the safety of Remus' midsection.
"Severus, listen to me, I… Really. This is a bad time." Remus looked so helpless, his now blue eyes darting from Narcissa to Severus nervously.
"Did she really mean that little to you?" Severus said quietly, "She'd want you there."
"Want you where?" Narcissa interrupted, "What's going on?"
"'Cissa… Listen, Lily Snape. You remember me telling you about her, right?"
"Yes… your friend." Narcissa's eyes narrowed a bit. "What's wrong?"
"My wife just went in to labour and your boyfriend here is refusing to come with me." Severus interjected, his eyes bearing into Remus'.
"Why should he?"
Bitch.
"He has certain obligations he should attend to." Severus glared at the woman. Where on Earth had he seen her before?
"Remus?" Narcissa asked.
Remus just shook his head, "It's important, 'Cissa."
"What's so important?" Narcissa asked, "Can't you go when the sun's up? It's not even four in the morning."
"Remus!" Severus hissed, crossing his arms. "Do you ever want to see them? Ever?"
Something snapped inside of Remus as he shook Narcissa off of him and kissed her apologetically.
"I'll explain later." With a furious look at Severus, the two exited with a small pop, leaving a stunned Narcissa soon-to-be Lupin standing in her fiancée's doorway.
Harry sighed with relief as two figures appeared in front of his once more; his father and Remus Lupin, looking rather flustered as he quickly transfigured a set of robes for himself to wear.
Once Remus had pulled the robes over his head, he took a look around him in the room they were in; the doctor had left, satisfied with his role, while the nurses still worked on Lily, who was pale and now trembling.
"God damn it, Severus… You didn't say she was fucking unconscious!" Remus exclaimed in a fairly low voice, backing up against the same wall Harry had before.
"I didn't think it was necessary." Severus responded in the same cold voice he had used with Narcissa. "Seeing as how you are a friend and all. I thought you'd come, no questions asked."
Harry sensed the tension between the two as Remus fell silent, his gaze upon Lily's form.
"Dad…" Harry said quietly, "Is she going to be ok?"
"I don't know." Severus admitted softly, "I guess we're going to have to wait."
And wait they did. After nearly an hour of standing and waiting, Severus asked Remus in a rather forced voice to take Harry out in to the hall to sit for a while; Severus would call the two in if there was any change.
Harry and Remus sat side by side in a pair of chairs Harry supposed was specifically designed for things such as this; a son whose mother was unconscious and in labour while the possible father who wasn't his mother's husband sat next to him.
Or maybe his situation was unique. Either way, the chairs were extremely uncomfortable.
"Hello, Harry."
They were the first words Remus had spoken to Harry that night. Harry looked up at him with surprise.
"Hi Professor Lupin."
This received a rather small smile from the tired
looking man next to Harry.
"How are you doing?"
Harry shrugged, "As good as possible, I guess."
Before another word was spoken, Remus sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry."
Harry just starred. "For what?"
He knew damn well what.
"For… For this." Remus tried to explain with a wave of his hands. "For perhaps putting your mother in such a compromising situation."
Harry shrugged, "I suppose it's not your fault."
"It is." Remus said, "Perhaps not directly… Hopefully not directly. However, I'm sure what ever is wrong with her…"
"Nothing's wrong with her!" Harry exclaimed a bit louder than he supposed he should have. Feeling slightly embarrassed as many pairs of eyes turned to him and Remus sitting in those uncomfortable blue chairs, he shrank down a bit before continuing.
"Nothing's wrong with Mum."
Remus sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes slightly. "God, I hope you're right."
Seconds seemed to pass as if they were minutes; Minutes as if they were hours and hours… Hours were eternity. Harry couldn't bring himself to fall asleep, less he miss something important.
After what seemed like forever, Severus finally stuck his head out of the room, his tired black eyes scanning the halls until he found Remus and his son. Beckoning them to enter the room, Harry and Remus immediately obliged.
Lily was still out cold; however, the doctor looked as if he was preparing to put some sort of a spell on her. Harry looked up at his father, a curious expression resting on his face, but Severus chose to look over at Lily and ignore Harry for the time being.
The scene that followed was one Harry would never forget; without warning, the doctor took his wand and sliced through Lily's belly, blood seeping out of the incision.
Quickly and carefully, the doctor reached in and turned his back towards Harry so he was no longer able to see anything. A moment later, the sounds of a baby's cries were heard.
"It's a boy!" a nurse exclaimed, taking the wrinkled infant from the doctor's reddened hands. Harry watched with amazement as the nurse worked to clean the bundle off, wrapping him in a blanket and handing him to Severus, who looked down in slight interest. His mind, however, was still on his wife.
Minutes later, another small bundle containing a baby boy was placed into Remus' arms. His face pale, Remus immediately handed the baby to Harry. He took the bundle without complaint, look at the baby's dark hair and pink skin. He had ceased to cry at the touch of his brother's fingers brushing across his forehead.
The moment was abruptly ended as a loud beeping overtook the room. The doctors had wrapped a band around Lily's arm, monitoring her heartbeat in a small orb that was suspended about a foot over Lily's body, a red glow throbbing with each continuous beat.
"Dad… What's going on?" Harry looked up at Severus, who was watching the scene unfold in front of his with shock. Before Severus could even acknowledge the fact Harry had spoken to him, a dreadful whine filled the room, making Harry want to cover his ears. He couldn't, however. The baby was still resting peacefully in his arms.
Before Harry could register what was happening, two other doctors rushed into the room, nurses in tow. A flurry of activity occurred as the witches and wizards blocked Harry's view from his mother, who was no longer trembling.
After a minute, the doctors backed up, each sighing in their own turn. The whining stopped, but the pulsing did not sound as Harry expected it to.
One of the doctors – the one who had delivered the
two little infants lying in Harry and Severus' arms – turned towards the
five of them, standing there in shock.
"I'm sorry." He spoke. "She's dead."