I know, it's been like a MONTH since I last updated, and I'm sorry!!! Ok, I THINK that there's only going to be like 4 more parts to this, or somewhere around there. It's going to end on the night Albus and Minerva leave Harry on the Dursley's doorstep. Maybe some feelings afterwards, but no more than that.
Alright, here's the next part!
Part 20
~~~~~
A few hours after Poppy told Albus about the baby, Minerva woke up, and Albus confirmed her fears when she told him how empty she felt.
"Why, Albus? Why did he do it?" Minerva sobbed into his chest.
"He's insane. That's the only reason anyone would commit such a horrific act." Albus said softly, stoking her hair comfortingly, while he tried to keep himself from breaking down in front of her. He needed to be strong for her.
"I saw him holding a baby, Albus, but I thought it was just a nightmare, or a hallucination from the pain."
"No, oh, Minerva, I'm so sorry. I should have gotten there sooner, I'm so sorry." Albus cried, pulling her tighter against him.
"Don't do that, Albus, don't you dare blame yourself. I should have listened to you in the first place…"
"Minerva…"
"It's not your fault Albus, and it's not mine. It's all HIS fault. He's the one that took our baby away." Minerva cried.
"Shhh, it'll be alright. I promise, Minerva, he'll never hurt you again."
~~~~~
"How is she?" Alastor asked as Albus walked out of the hospital wing.
"She's resting now. Is he dead?" Albus asked.
Alastor looked down and shook his head, "He wasn't there." He said quietly.
"What?" Albus asked angrily, "What do you mean, 'he wasn't there'?"
"We searched through that rubble for hours, Albus, there wasn't even a trace of him."
"What else?"
"That's it, there's no leads."
"You're hiding something, Alastor, what is it?" Albus demanded.
"We found something else though, or rather, someone else."
Albus' eyes widened with realization. "No."
"I'm sorry. When Ramis found him…"
"Him? It was a boy?"
Alastor nodded, "The body's at St. Mungo's. He was so small, Albus. I hate to put you through this, but they need to test to identify that it truly is yours and Minerva's baby, and then you'd have to…"
"I know. I just don't know how I'm going to tell Minerva that we have to bury the son that we never really had."
"How did the children handle the news?" Alastor asked.
"I'm not sure. Minerva's parents have them right now, and they said that they'd tell them, so I wouldn't have to deal with all the questions they might ask."
Alastor nodded, "I have to go, now. I'm really sorry, Albus, but we'll find him and stop him."
"I know." Albus answered, "I should make sure Minerva hasn't woken up again, and then I'll go down to St. Mungo's. Thank you, Alastor."
Alastor just nodded as he watched Albus walk back through the door, fearing that this was only the beginning.
~~~~~
"I don't get it."
"What do you mean, 'gone'?"
Chrstine sighed and tried to hold back the tears, "I mean that the baby died."
"Died?" Michael asked in fear, "But why?"
She looked down at her grandchildren, but couldn't come up with an answer that she herself didn't know.
"Grandma? Is Mummy alright?" Richard asked, knowing that the baby was, in some way, in his mother.
"She's going to be alright." She paused and took a breath. How can you explain something like this to children so young? "A bad man, a VERY bad man took your Mummy and hurt her. He hurt her so bad that the baby died before your Daddy got there to save them. But he saved your Mummy and she's going to be alright."
"Why would someone want to hurt Mummy and the baby?" Richard asked.
"Because he's a bad, no, evil creature."
Michael started crying, but tried to hold back his tears. Richard, who was close to tears himself, hugged Michael comfortingly.
"Can we see Mummy?" Michael asked.
Richard stepped away from his brother and looked up at his grandmother for an answer.
"Not right now, sweeties, she needs to rest. But I'll ask your Daddy if she'll be alright to see you tonight, alright?"
They both nodded and Christine swept them up in her arms and onto the couch with her, each one comforting the other two for all of their loss.
~~~~~
It had been a week since the baby was lost. A small funeral was held for the child, but only Albus and a few others went. Minerva wasn't strong enough to go, although she wanted to be there, but she visited the grave as soon as she was allowed out of the hospital. The twins went, but left soon, still not understanding why that had happened.
"Albus?" Minerva asked quietly as they lay in bed.
"Yes, my love?" Albus asked gently. She looked so weak lately that he was almost afraid that she'd break if he talked above a gentle hush.
"I…I want to have a baby, Albus. Not now, but, before it's to late." She turned to look into his eyes, the eyes that hadn't twinkled for a week now. "I don't want him to succeed in destroying our family."
"He never could." Albus cupped her cheek, "We have plenty of time, Minerva."
She shook her head, "Whatever he did….Poppy said that it might be hard to conceive again. I don't want to find out that it's to late, that's all."
"Everything will work out Minerva. If you want another child, we'll have it. I promise." He said and kissed her gently. "Now let's go to sleep, we both need some rest."
Minerva nodded and snuggled into him, into safe arms.
End of Part 20
I know this was a really sad chapter, I'm sorry, but it had to be.
Now I need to ask you a favor, in addition to reviewing to this *hint hint* I would appreciate it if you could all send an email to ff.net, here's the email address to send it to, newcategory@fanfiction.net and ask them to add MOLLY and ARTHUR WEASLEY to the Character list for Harry Potter (ff.net asks that you please describe the category, which area it falls under, and whether you have stories written for it)
I have several fics that star Molly and Arthur, but I don't want to post them here until they're on the list, that way they'll be easier to find (So even if you don't have Molly/Arthur fics of your own, you can always put that you know someone who does and you want to be able to read their stuff)
I know some of you are Molly/Arthur fans too, and I think that if ff.net receives a lot of emails about this that they'll add them, but they won't do it if only a few of us send emails (even if the are repeated requests).
THANK YOU!!!! I'll try and get the next chapter up faster than this one (sorry again).