TITLE: The Last Link
STATUS/PART: 1/2
RATING: PG?
PAIRING: I'd prefer not saying at this time. You'll see when you read.
SPOILERS: BIG TIME ORDER OF THE PHOENIX SPOILER!
WARNINGS: None, except that whole SPOILER thing
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created
and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited
to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner
Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark
infringement is intended.
SUMMARY: Someone was pregnant on that fateful night in the
Department of Mysteries, now he has to hope that his last link to the
man he lost can survive.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is just my response to the death from OotP.
Personally, I think it sucked and am having issues with it. This is
my outlet, and my way of dealing with it. Hope you like.


THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, THIS HAS SPOILERS FROM ORDER OF THE
PHOENIX. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, THEN DON'T READ.


Hospitals had never been a place that Remus Lupin enjoyed being. Now,
as he sat in a cold hard hospital chair, watching his newborn
daughter fight for her life, he hated them even more. He was still
sore from giving birth, and the chair he was sitting in aggravated
it, but he didn't care. All he knew is that he had to be there for
his baby girl, and he wasn't planning on leaving her side until she
was recovered. His tiny baby girl was the last thing he had to remind
him of the man he had been in love with, Sirius Black.

After the death of Sirius, Remus had fallen in to a deep depression,
wanting the man back desperately. Then, only a few short weeks later,
he had found out he was pregnant, and suddenly he had felt full of
life again. This baby was going to be his miracle, his salvation from
the darkness.

Or, at least, that had been the plan. A few months into the
pregnancy, complications had begun to arise. Remus' blood pressure
was out of control, fluctuating between deathly low and dangerously
high. Then, due to medical magic testing, they had found out that
during his monthly transformations the baby's heartbeat was becoming
erratic, dropping during the days before and then becoming severely
fast during the time he was in werewolf form. Finally things had hit
their miserable pinnacle the day before when he had gone into labor,
at only seven months pregnant.

So now here he was, watching his gravely ill daughter fight for her
life.

"Remus? How is she, is she okay?"

Remus turned around and saw Harry standing in the doorway, looking
unsure of himself. The older man gave a half-hearted smile and
motioned Harry to come into the room. When the boy got close enough
to him, Remus pulled him into a hug and held him on his lap as he
would a small child.

"She's not doing much better, Harry. Her temperature has been up and
down all day and they can't take her off the ventilator yet, she's
not breathing on her own." Remus answered with a sad sigh. "It's just
not looking good for her."

"But she will be alright though, right? She's a fighter. She's
Sirius' daughter, he didn't give up, and she won't either." Harry
protested fervently, but even as the words left his mouth, he
wondered how much truth was behind him. The baby lying in front of
him was so small and sickly looking; she didn't give the impression
of being much of a fighter.

"I hope so. I can't lose her Harry, she's all I have left of Siri, my
last link to him," Remus whispered sorrowfully. "This is my fault,
isn't it? I tried to carry her to term, but I just couldn't. The only
thing I can think of is that it's because of what I am. I guess it
just wasn't healthy for her. Now, if anything happens to her . . . I
will be responsible for losing Sirius' baby, his and mine."

"It's not your fault, and you know it," Harry tried to reassure
him. "Some babies are just born premature. There was nothing you or
anyone else could have done to prevent it. It could have happened to
anybody."

Remus gave the boy a slight squeeze of thanks, letting Harry know he
appreciated his words.

"What are you doing here anyway, Harry? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Nope. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, Dumbledore allowed me to come here
instead."

"How did you get in here? This wing is supposed to be restricted to
immediate family only."

"Invisibility cloak," Harry explained distractedly as he reached out
and ran a finger down the baby's arm. "They never even noticed me
come in. She really looks like him, doesn't she? Got the jet black
hair from him."

"Yeah, I imagine she'll be a spitting image of him, if she gets the
chance to grow up."

"She will, Remus, I'm sure she will. It might take sometime, but she
WILL get better." Harry insisted. He wanted the baby to survive
almost as much as Remus did. Both of them had suffered greatly after
the loss of Sirius, and the baby in front of them meant the world to
both of them, creating a last link to a man they both loved. "I
mean . . . she can't NOT get better."

"I wish it were that simple, Harry. She's a sick little girl, there's
no telling what's going to happen to her. Right now we just have to
pray for the best, that's all we can do."

Harry nodded and gave a barely audible sigh as he stroked the baby's
skin.

"Have you decided what you're going to name her?"

"Isabella. . . . Isabella Dian."

"Isabella? I like it . . .it really fits her."

The two of them finally settled into a comfortable silence as they
sat and watched the baby. The sight of the tiny chest rising and
falling was a relief to both of them, even though they knew it being
caused by a machine. After nearly two hours of watching the newborn
sleep, and occasionally running a finger along her body while talking
to her, Harry's eyes began to droop sleepily and soon he was leaning
against Remus, sound asleep. Remus allowed him to nap for awhile,
knowing that deep sleep wasn't something that came often to the boy,
before lightly shaking him awake.

"Harry . . . Harry wake up."

"Hmmm? What is it, what's wrong? Is she okay?"

"She's fine, Harry, but you need to get back to school and get some
sleep."

"Sleep?"

"Yes, you just fell asleep sitting here on my lap. Go back to school
and go to sleep, you're not doing anybody any good sitting here and
falling asleep. And you'll be doing even less good if you make
yourself sick by staying here too long and stressing yourself out. Go
back to Hogwarts, get some rest, you can come back tomorrow, okay?"

"But, what if . . . ."

"If anything happens during the night, I'll make sure you know right
away, alright? I have enough to worry about right now, with out
worrying about you."

"O-okay." Harry stood and stretched out before leaning down to give
the older man a hug. "I'll see the two of you tomorrow."

As he left the room, Harry turned around one last time too look at
the sleeping baby, and wished with everything in his heart that she
would make it to see another day.