By: SotMoon*
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Authors Note: Well…here's the big thing! Raven's due date has finally arrived! Or has it…?
*~*~*
It was the day of Raven's due date, and everyone was nervous. Mostly Sirius, he paced more than ever, and Lily swore that he was going to make a trail on the carpets. Raven seemed happier than ever, but she wondered when she'd start having more contractions. As the two girls got ready for their classes, they talked about what the baby was going to be like, and how it will change their lives forever.
"Well, I hope it doesn't hurt as bad as mum says," Raven said as she put on her Robes. "I know it does hurt, but I mean like…really bad screaming pain."
"It isn't going to tickle, Rav," Lily said as she shook her head. "It's going to be a battle, you know. But you'll be a great mum."
"Thanks, Lily!" Raven said as she rubbed her hands on her huge stomach. Raven sighed wistfully and they began to walk down to the Great Hall for Breakfast.
When the girls arrived in the Great Hall they saw a banner hanging on the wall beside the Gryffindor Table. It read 'Congratulations Sirius and Raven!' Raven and Lily smiled and kept walking to the table. As they passed the Ravenclaw table, a few people congratulated Raven on her baby. She just nodded and smiled.
When Raven and Lily got to the table Peter and James were having another Wizards Chess match, and it seemed that everything was going okay, Raven then looked with her big blue eyes over to Sirius who was staring at the table. His eyes wide and un-blinking.
"Sirius," Raven said nervously while she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Are you okay, Sirius?" Sirius kept looking at the table until James slapped him around the face a few times, and he looked up rubbing his face.
"Oww...Oh…hey Raven," Sirius said as he made room for the two girls, Raven sat beside him and looked at Sirius like he was crazy. "I'm just so nervous about today, and I don't want anything bad to happen, I mean what if you go into labor in class? Am I supposed to carry you to the Hospital Wing—"
"Sirius! Shut up, man! You are blubbering like a little girl," Peter said as he smirked, Remus chuckled at this. "You need to calm down man."
Sirius just shook his head, and looked down at a pile of banana's he had in front of him. "I cannot even eat my banana's. Boy, I'll be glad when the baby's here so I can eat my banana's!"
James chuckled as he got up, and he patted Sirius on the back. "Yeah, you'll be glad until he's a toddler." Sirius grinned and stood up too.
When the Bell rang, they all went to their classes, Lily keeping a keen eye on Raven, to see if she started contractions or if she was at all uncomfortable. As the final bell rang to dinner, Lily and Raven just took their bags with them to the Great Hall.
Lily chewed on an apple silently as she looked around the Great Hall. She still couldn't believe that it was her last year at Hogwarts. She really hadn't figured out what she wanted to do in the Wizarding World, and what she was really good at to do. Sure, she was magnificent in Charms, but where would that put her? 'Maybe I'll just be a good housewife,' her mind said as she continued to bite into the big red apple. 'I'll just settle down with James, and have a family.' At this she smiled a little. She'd always wanted a family, but…what if James turned out like her father?
Lily paled a little, and she sighed as she sat down her apple. 'No…he couldn't possibly be like my father. No one could be that…horrible and un-feeling. James will be the perfect husband, and father.' Lily kept in her thoughts, not really knowing that she was being talked to until—
"Lilian Marie Evans! You better wake up and pay attention to me," James said as he snapped his fingers in front of Lily's nose. She blinked and looked up startled. "Sorry," James apologized with a laugh; His brown eyes sparkling in the candlelight. "I was just trying to wake you up. You were completely in la-la land."
Lily mumbled and looked at James, she turned red when he arched his eyebrows at her mumbling. She ducked her head, and took her apple and bit into it. Raven sighed and talked to Sirius while they ate. Both of them were laughing; not knowing what was about to happen.
"Well," said Remus as he stood up, brushing some crumbs off of his robes. "Shall we go up to the Dorms?" James, Peter, and Sirius nodded as they got up. Raven shook her head no, and held up a chicken leg. Lily said she was going to wait on Raven, and walk with her.
"I think Sirius calmed down a bit," Raven said as she watched Sirius leave the hall with the other Marauders. "You should have seen him last night, he was such a wreck. He's so nervous that something will go wrong, but I believe everything will be fine."
Lily nodded and looked up at the ceiling. The Ceiling was a light purple. Slowly descending into night, the stars slowly starting to appear in the sky. Raven's speaking made her look down at her friend. Raven's face was slightly flushed, her purple-blue eyes surveying Lily. "Huh?"
Raven rolled her eyes and repeated what she said. "Where were James and you last night? We couldn't find you."
"Oh, we were at the Quidditch field, talking about everything that was on our minds, it felt good getting things out about my dad, I mean I know you listen to what I say," Lily said looking down at the table. "But I'm glad I can talk to someone else, too."
Raven nodded, completely understanding. She could talk to Lily, but when it was something completely serious, she talked to Sirius. She knew he'd understand. He may seem like a complete goofball, but he could be completely serious at some point in his life.
"You ready to go, Lils? I'm ready to go up and watch the boys play Wizard Chess. It never gets old." Lily nodded, and they got up, and began walking down the halls.
The girls just got up the stairs when Raven clutched her stomach, and slid down the wall, moaning in pain. Her eyes got wide, and Lily sucked in her breath. Was she having her baby? A puddle began to gather at Ravens feet, and Raven began to breathe harder.
Lucius Malfoy was walking down the hall, when Raven's water broke, he looked down at Raven and sneered. "I knew you were a dog, you going on the floor proves it." He sneered again, and walked down the halls. Snape stood looking down at Raven, his dark eyes wide. He looked back to Lucius and then to the girls, and followed Lucius.
"Her water broke, you prat!" Lily yelled after the two Slytherins. A Prefect ran up to where the two girls were.
"What's wrong?" he said. Lily noticed that he was a Hufflepuff sixth year. "Oh…she's having the baby! I'll go get the Marauders!"
The boy took off at a run, and Lily yelled: "The password is Blue Pixies!" The boy yelled okay, and kept going.
"It's going to be okay, Raven." Lily said as she sat beside Raven, and she pulled her hair back from her face. Raven's eyes were wide, her face going red. Sweat began to pour off of her face, and her breathing became labored. Lily took out a small handkerchief and began to wipe Raven's face down. "Hold on, I see Sirius," Lily said as she helped Raven to her feet. Raven moaned loudly in pain, and she clutched her stomach more.
Sirius ran up his breath coming in shallow gasps, the rest of the Marauders coming up behind him, their faces too, were red. Sirius picked up Raven and began running to the Hospital wing, the others running behind him.
When they all got to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfery was taking care of a student who looked like they were going to retch up their insides. She turned around quickly when she heard the door being kicked open, and she rushed over.
"She's in labor," Sirius said as he placed Raven gently on a bed, Raven clutched the white sheets and she breathed in deeply. Lily was instantly at her side, telling her to breath. Madam Pomfery rushed off for a moment, and came back with gloves on, and a sheet robe on. She closed the curtain on the Marauders and she looked at Raven.
"Well, love it's going to be a while." Madam Pomfery said as she took off the gloves. "You might as well try to be as comfortable as possible. I'll get you a potion to ease the pain a bit. It doesn't work too well on Child-Birth but it'll work a bit."
Raven sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm beginning to wonder why I ever wanted kids," Lily smiled, and began to laugh at this. Raven soon smiled, and chucked a bit. "Well, this better be worth it." Raven said again, as she placed her left hand on her stomach, her engagement ring glinting in the light.
"It's worth it," Sirius said as he opened up the curtain, and closed it when he came in. "It's going to be great, you'll be a great mum." Raven's eyes widened as another contraction came, and she clenched her teeth against the pain. Sirius grabbed her left hand, and squeezed it gently, Lily took her right and they talked her through the contraction.
"Oh god, this is going to take forever," Raven said as she looked up at the ceiling.
*~*~*
An hour later, Raven was fully dilated, and was now ready to have her baby. She had her knees back against her chest, and Sirius held onto her hand, Lily on the other. Madam Pomfery stood at the edge of Raven's bed.
"Push!" Madam Pomfery commanded. Raven gritted her teeth and bore down. "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-ten… good job." Raven breathed in again, and Madam Pomfery said: "Push!" again. After about thirty minutes, Madam Pomfery and Lily noticed that the baby hadn't gone anywhere, and Raven was starting to loose blood.
"You two, out of here, now!" Madam Pomfery barked as she kicked them outside of the Hospital Wing. They walked over to the wall, and slumped down beside the other Marauders.
Lily looked down at her hands and noticed that they were scratched, and bloody. She took a napkin out of her robes, and began to rub on her hands, getting the blood off of them. The Marauders and Lily looked up as they heard a loud screech emit from the Hospital Wing. Sirius stood up quickly, and began to run to go see Raven, but they held him back.
"Dude, no." James said as he held onto Sirius' collar. "She'll kick you out, man."
Sirius broke free of James, and he ran into the Hospital Wing. He looked over at the boy that was in the Hospital Wing. He must be a first year, he noted as he ran by. The small boy was paler than usual, and he had his hands over his ears.
When Sirius got behind the curtain, he stepped back in shock. Raven was sitting on the once-was white bed, but was now red with Raven's blood. Madam Pomfery yelled at him to leave, but he looked and saw that the baby's head was just now visible. It looked as if the baby was stuck. Madam Pomfery pushed her hands onto Raven's stomach, trying to help the baby out. Raven screeched loudly as another contraction came, and she panted. She was clearly loosing her energy.
"Get out…now!" Madam Pomfery yelled over Raven's painful screams. Sirius turned around, and ran out of the Hospital Wing, and he slid down the wall and stared at the stone floor, clearly in shock. His eyes glazed over.
After awhile, they no longer heard the painful screams of Raven. Madam Pomfery walked out of the Hospital Wing, and she shook her head silently, her eyes tearing. Sirius got up, and ran into the Hospital Wing, the others stood back, in shock. Lily fell to the floor, and began to sob. They heard a strangled yell, and they ran in to see Sirius hugging the now still form of Raven, he rocked her back and forth as he cried. Lily collapsed again, and James caught her before she fell.
"Oh god, Raven, oh god…" Remus moaned as he sat on the floor. Peter just stepped backwards a few steps, and fell into a chair silently. Sirius finally looked up, his eyes now very red, and puffy. His blue eyes seemed more glazed than before. A haunted look was now in his eyes, replacing the sparkle they once held.
"Did…he…make it?" Sirius whispered, Madam Pomfery turned around and gently picked up a small bundle in a dark green blanket. She walked over, and shook her head again. Inside was a small baby, cold and lifeless as the mother. Sirius fell to the floor, as uncontrollable sobs rocked his body. He cried until there were no more tears, until he cried dry sobs. "Why…why god why?" He yelled.
Lily and the other Marauders couldn't do anything but watch as Sirius yelled at God for taking away his love, and his newborn son. He shook his fist, and swore that he would never love again.
*~*~*
It had been four days since Raven and her son had died, and it was the day of the funeral. It was a cold morning in Hogwarts everyone sat silently. Classes had been cancelled for the day, and they all sat quietly in the hall. No one spoke, no one even shot each other glances. Everyone just sat in their chairs, and looked up at the Head Table, where Dumbledore sat, his eyes looking up at the Ceiling, which was now calm, and a light shade of bluish purple. He finally stood up, and everyone paid complete attention.
"We are here to say good-bye to a good friend, class mate, and student. We are here to say good-bye to Raven Goodwill. If you didn't know Raven, that was bad, for she was loved by all that knew her, and they knew of her great potential, and how loving and caring she was.
We are here to say that Raven died four days ago, while giving birth to her son, who tragically died, too. I going to tell you this do not dwell on this. Just remember the old Raven, and how she was before she died. Not the way she died. Classes are dismissed today, so run along and do what you will." Dumbledore cleared his throat, and walked back to his chair, and sat down. His eyes going back up to the ceiling, and his eyes glazed over, as if he was in serious thought.
The Marauders went up to the Gryffindor Common Room, and they went into the Boys Dormitories where they saw Sirius, dressed in all black looking in the mirror. "You know it's my fault," He said in a hoarse voice. "If I hadn't have gotten her Pregnant, this wouldn't have happened."
Lily walked up, and looked at Sirius quite angrily. "You're fault? It's no ones fault! She's dead, and there's nothing we can do about it," Lily said as she burst into tears. Sirius looked down at Lily, and hugged her. Lily hugged him back, and she sat crying on his shoulder for along time.
"Lils, you are going to make us all drown if you don't stop," Sirius said, as he unwound himself from the hug. "We need to get ready for the…funeral."
*~*~*
At the funeral, everything was quiet. Raven's mother cried softly in her chair. She couldn't say a thing; she was too grief-stricken for words. Sirius mother and Father sat beside her, their eyes shining with un-shed tears. They too, were trying to hold their emotions in. It was their Grandson that they lost, and they'd never get over the trauma.
After the Funeral, a man opened the casket, and then gave a white rose to the people in the front roll. Sirius took the rose into his hands, and walked up to the casket. He sighed, and placed the rose in between Raven's cold, pale, delicate hands.
"Hey, Raven…I'm going to miss you, I know that you would be calling be a whimp right now, for saying this and for me crying but I'll miss you, and I'll love you until I die." Sirius stood in front of the casket, looking down, his eyes glazed again.
"It's been a bad day,
another bad day and all I want to do is look at you and know I'm okay.
From where I'm sitting these shoes ain't fitting and I'm walking backwards,
looking down, don't see the sky I see the ground.
Above
below you look and so you wonder,
where the time has gone of looking up, tomorrows on its way.
Above
below you look and so you say,
when I wake up in the morning is it 'gonna be another ugly day?
She sits in church its 2 pm and look whose back from work again.
I guess they thought your better off, without this life, without a job.
From where I'm sitting these shoes ain't fitting and I'm going nowhere,
killing time, just trying to feed my bleeding mind."
Lily walked up, and took a hold of Sirius' hand. Sirius squeezed her hand, and kept singing to Raven.
It's been a bad day,
another bad day and I cross my heart and hope to die
these dreams of yours are gonna fly."
"Bye Raven," Sirius whispered as he looked down at the necklace he had on. It had Raven's engagement ring on it. He grasped it in his hand as he walked down towards his parent's car. The Marauders and Lily were to stay at his Parents house for the Weekend, and then go back to Hogwarts. Soon, everyone said their good-byes, and walked to the car.
Sirius looked out his window as they drove away from the cemetery. He looked and saw a small car pulled up into the cemetery and noticed that was Raven's father. He walked up to the grave, and looked down into his Daughters coffin.
"You were weak," he said as he looked down once more, and got back into his car again, and drove away.
The wind blew softly and the Rose that Sirius put in Raven's hand blew softly, a small rose petal falling softly onto the urn that held the baby's ashes.
*~*~*
As Lily got ready for bed in Sirius' big house, she looked out of the window, the cold night air making the old tree next to the window sway. She looked as far as she could, and saw only darkness. She sighed, and lay down in bed, her thoughts were as scattered as a lonely leaf in a hurricane.
"Rest in peace, Raven and Stephen." Lily said just before she went to sleep. She dreamed of a happy Raven, who was twelve years old, and was talking to Lily one day at Hogwarts when it was Christmas break:
"I want a big family," the Small Raven said as she tucked her dark hair behind her ear. "I want a Husband, and two kids, and a cat."
"A cat?" Asked a small, skinny redhead as she crinkled up her nose. "I'd want a dog, and his name would be snuffles."
"Lily, don't be stupid. Cat's are a lot better." Raven said as she wrapped her arms around the books she was holding in her lap.
"You won't make it to have kids," a shrill voice cut in. The two girls turned around to see another small girl with big ugly glasses that made her eyes seem two sizes bigger. "You'll die when your having your first child…"
"I will not," Said Raven as she stood up, looking down at the other twelve year old. "Get out of her Sybil!"
"I warned you," Said the small girl as she walked away.
Lily woke up with a start. "She knew."
*~*~*
AN2: Well, that was a sad chapter, I almost cried when I wrote it. Ahh… poor Sirius.
Well I had a problem:
How old is Sybil? The psychic? I'm going to place her as Lily's age, because it really doesn't say how old she is. So…that's what I'll say!
Well…Please Review!
Btw: I hope I
got this chapter bigger.