In the wide, cloudless summer sky above England, a small sparrow was winging its way through the clear air. The tiny bird went soaring over the countryside, then passed over the tall buildings of London, flying higher and farther until, finally, he coasted down to sit on a small, unadorned wooden windowsill.
The room the sparrow viewed through the open window was Spartan, clean, white, and would have been utilitarian- if it hadn't been filled to bursting with flowers. There were flowers in vases, flowers in jugs, flowers in baskets, and even a tiny rosebud floating in a tea saucer filled with water.
In the room there sat three people: a tall, rather thin young man with startlingly green eyes and messy black hair, a woman with inquisitive, lovely features and a lot of frizzy brown hair, and a dazzlingly pretty woman with auburn hair and a smile that refused to let anyone not smile back. Everyone's attention was focused on a small bundle cradled in the frizzy-haired woman's arms.
"She's beautiful, Harry," Hermione said. "Nice work." She grinned at her best friend as she passed the small swaddled bundle over to him. "Although, I will never forgive you for not naming her after me. You know that, right?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "You know, Mione, sometimes I curse that brilliant memory of yours," he told her. "Five years ago, you gave me a chocolate frog and told me that, in exchange, I had to name my first child after you. And you've hounded me about it ever since. Greedy witch, aren't there any perks to being your best friend? Can't I just get you a candy bar and declare the debt paid? I mean, really...." He shook his head laughingly, to happy to be really upset.
"Never." Hermione proclaimed grandly. "I'll even have one of my secretaries make a note of it just to be sure."
She glanced at the auburn-haired woman lying in the bed and smiled at her. "Why did you marry this silly moron anyways, Katia?" she asked. "I don't know how you put up with him."
Katia laughed. "I gave him a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean, and told him that if it was chocolate, we were getting married. He got chocolate."
Hermione snorted. "Well, it's as good a way to get engaged as any," she decided. "If rather unconventional and chancy. Though if 'twas me, I would have chosen something a bit more splashy…....say, strawberry lime vanilla ice cream with a dash of roasted cinnamon."
"I adore chocolate," Katia said mildly.
Hermione sighed. "We're all insane, discussing candy when there's a baby to be cooed over. Hand her over," she commanded, waggling her fingers at Harry.
Harry mumbled "Yes, Madame Minister," and made a face at her, just as the baby started squalling.
"Oh- she looks just like you, Harry! Same squinchiness about the eyes. Perhaps it's a male trait- you know, Severus makes a face like that too, sometimes- when I tell him too much about 'boring ministry business'."
"Making disparaging remarks about me, my dear?" a low voice behind her inquired. The newest occupant of the room was another tall, black-haired man- though he looked nothing like the other. "Comparing me to Potter, to add insult to injury. I thought you loved me."
Hermione kissed her husband unrepentantly.
'Lo, Snape," Harry said, walking towards him with the baby in his arms.
Snape nudged the blanket off the tiny face. He looked at her for a moment, then looked up at Harry. "Good going, Potter."
Harry nodded to acknowledge the compliment. Snape looked over at Katia, nodding slightly in her direction. "Everything go alright?" He inquired briefly. Katia just beamed. "I take it that's a yes," Snape said lazily. He shifted his gaze to his wife. "Ready to go?"
"Yes- are you sure you don't want to come along, Harry?" "No- I'm going to stay here with Katia and Liliane."
"You can go to the game if you'd like, Harry- Lily and I are probably just going to sleep all afternoon anyway. And you know how Oliver would love it if you came." Katia told him.
"I'll stay and watch you sleep," Harry said stubbornly.
Katia rolled her eyes. "Men. So overprotective." She looked at the couple standing by the door. "Give Oliver my best, will you? Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't be there."
"Oh, I think he'll understand." Hermione said with a laugh. "One of those can't-stand-against-nature things. Can all be put down to biology, really." Katia nodded. "We'll see you tomorrow," Hermione called over her shoulder as she and Severus walked away.
The last thing Harry heard as they vanished down the corridor was Snape's voice saying, "Who knew such an annoying man as our Potter would end up with such a baby as that? It must be Katia's genes balancing it out," accompanied by Hermione's laughter.
In the little room, Harry lay down next to his wife on the bed and leaned over the baby between them to kiss her. They bumped noses and grinned at each other.
In the peaceful quiet, a voice from the little television in the corner of the room could be heard. "…..the sky over Scotland remains inexplicably black, threatening, and filled with constant thunder but no rain for the fifth week in a row. And in sports: In one hour, the Irish National Team and the recently crowned Quidditch World Champions, the English National Team, will begin their exhibition match at Maflley Pitch! WizardWorld will bring you full coverage. In other news, Hogwarts professor Katia Potter, wife of the famous auror Harry Potter, gave birth to a girl last night, at......"
Harry smiled contentedly.
On the windowsill, a small brown bird took off, cheeping off-key as it went gliding off into the boundless and unnaturally blue sky.