Jamie hummed slowly and quietly to her one month old bundle of joy, Arden, in her arms. She had finally managed to get her daughter to sleep early.
"Perfect," Jamie whispered, kissing her daughter's forehead as she slept.
Alex knocked on the door frame smiling at his wife, "She asleep?" he whispered.
She nodded, not looking anywhere but her daughter.
Alex walked to stand behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist. He put his head on her shoulder and looked down at the sleeping babe in her arms, "She's gorgeous."
Jamie pecked her sleeping child's forehead, and moved to set her down on their bed, and checked the overnight bag she had packed for the thousandth time. Alex was about to chastise his wife, when their floo alarm went off. Alex pecked her forehead, "Must be the newlyweds. I'll get them," and left the room
Jamie smiled, trying to memorize every little freckle on her daughter's pale skin. It seemed as though Arden inherited very little from her mother. Alex insisted that Arden got the majority of her features from her, but Jamie disagreed. The pale skin lightly dusted with freckles, thick hair the color of dark chocolate, amber colored eyes, even her high cheekbones; Arden inherited all of that from Alex.
"Jamie, is she ready?" She heard a soft feminine voice ask from the doorway. Jamie spun around to see one of her best friends, Lily Evans-Potter, leaning against the doorframe in a very James Potter-esque manner.
Jamie smiled, walking over and hugging her friend, "Thank you so much for agreeing to watch her for a bit tonight!"
Lily grinned, "No problem. James and I needed a bit of time off from the Order, and you two need some downtime too. Being a mom hard?"
Jamie shrugged, "It's a labor of love." She walked over to a purse lying on the floor. She picked it up and handed it to Lily, "This has an Undetectable Extension charm on it. It's full of diapers, wipes, changes of clothes, her cot, bottles of pumped milk in a cooler—warm it up in hot water and test it on the inside of your wrist, her burping cloth, and her favorite teddy." Jamie gently, picked up Arden.
Lily ushered Jamie out of the room, closing the door behind her. The girls walked down the stairs, hearing their husbands chattering in the living room.
Minerva McGonagall, a tall, skinny, 43 year old Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, ran up to Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's office. She was abruptly woken up by an owl tapping on her window with a letter for her from the Ministry concerning two of her friends. Thus, she wasn't dressed in her usual emerald cloak. Instead, she was dressed in a red and gold dressing gown with her long black hair free from the confines of its usual bun.
Minerva gave the gargoyle guarding the staircase the current password, "Fizzy Pop" and sprinted up the stairs. She threw the doors open without care for whatever he was doing and demanded, "Albus, is it true? Are they really?"
Albus Dubledore, a 97-year-old man with a silver beard so long he could tuck it into his belt, gave a pitying look to his former student. His blue eyes twinkled with sadness. He closed them and said, "I'm sorry, Minerva."
Minerva broke down. She sat in the chair in front of his desk, brought her hands up to her face and sobbed, her black hair falling around her face. Albus stood and walked over to the broken woman. He placed a hand upon her shaking back, rubbing it in circles. "Why, Albus? Why them? They just had her not two months ago…"
"I know, Minerva…But, there is good news, she survived."
Minerva looked up at her friend, "What?"
Albus gave a sad smile, "Their daughter survived. It was quite the coincidence, really. James and Lily were babysitting her while Alex and Jamie had a night to themselves."
Minerva was confused, "But that means…"
Albus nodded, "She's yours, if you'll have her."
Minerva flooed to the Ministry the next morning; luckily it was the beginning of the summer holidays. She had two months to figure out how she was going to teach and take care of her infant goddaughter. She walked into the building and was sent to an office where she was to fill out forms that would give her full custody of her goddaughter, Arden Greyson.
As she walked down the expansive halls of the Ministry, she was met with many pitying looks and whispers. She knew that it was no secret that she was close to Alex and Jamie, anyone that spent five minutes in her class could see that. The two were gifted at Transfiguration, so she offered, as Albus had once done for her, to teach them how to become Animagi. They became very close in the following months. So close, in fact, that they elected her to be their daughter's godmother.
Minerva bit the inside of her lip as the more brave souls of the Ministry staff came up to personally give their condolences. She thanked each of them in turn, excusing herself to walk ever so slightly faster to reach the empty office reserved for her. Upon reaching said office, Minerva placed several silencing spells and protective spells on the walls before breaking down once more.
Two hours and several cases of intense writer's cramp later, Minerva McGonagall, gladly, left the Ministry and apparated to the Potter's house.
Minerva was about to knock on the door when she spotted a note taped to it. "Come in, Professor McGonagall," was written in the unmistakable, barely legible scrawl of James Potter. She turned the knob and stepped past the threshold. She looked around and it seemed as though no one was home, or it would have if it weren't for the sobs echoing from upstairs.
Minerva followed her ears up the stairs and down the hallway until she reached an open door. She looked inside and spotted Lily Evans-Potter sitting on the edge of, what Minerva guessed to be, her's and James' bed, sobbing her heart out.
Minerva steeled herself as she took calming breaths. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to the redhead, wrapping her arms around Lily and let her sob into her cloak.
Lily, surprised, looked up at the Transfiguration professor with her watery green eyes, "Professor McGonagall?"
Minerva gave the younger girl a sad smile, "I miss them too, Lily, but they weren't the first, and they are not the last. You need to be brave, or did you get sorted into the wrong house?"
Lily gave the older woman a watery half smile and nodded. She stood and said, "I'll get Arden now." She walked out of the room, but upon reaching the doorway she turned her head, "Professor?" Minerva looked questioningly at her, "Thank you."
As a teacher at, quite possibly, the best Wizardry school in all of the Wizarding World, Minerva had more than enough money to support herself and another person. Some of the professors had their own homes, but most, including Minerva, stayed at the school year round. It was simply easier that way, as they spend about 80% of the year there working anyway. But, with an infant to raise, Minerva decided that she needed her own home to raise the child.
Minerva, with Arden in her arms, after changing into her Muggle clothes, walked into the office of an apartment complex in Muggle London. She had decided that growing up in the Muggle world with some Wizarding world influence would be best for Arden. She would see the pros and cons of both societies, get an appreciation for magic that most wizards took for granted, and also see what her parents died fighting for.
Minerva walked up to the welcome desk and was immediately greeted by an overly happy blonde woman dressed entirely in neon yellow. "Hello! Welcome to Benningham Towers! I'm Jenny, how can I be of service today?" Jenny then noticed the baby in Minerva's arms. "Aww, who's this little cutie?" she bent down and reached out to touch Arden.
Arden shifted in Minerva's arms, trying to get away from Jenny. Her face scrunched up in annoyance when she realized that she was being restrained. So, as all babies do when they don't like something, Arden started crying.
Jenny looked appalled at how the baby seemed to be disgusted by her. She immediately pulled her hand back while Minerva pulled Arden closer to herself and started shushing her, bouncing her in a calming manner. "Sweetie, it's alright. I've got you, calm down."
But, Arden simply squirmed and writhed, not allowing Minerva to calm her. She fought to get away from the strange smiley lady in the obscene color. It hurt her sensitive eyes to look at the yellow woman. Eventually, she decided that the yellow lady got the point and calmed down, clutching what of Minerva's black clothes she could in her tiny fists.
"I'm sorry, she's not normally like this. I'm looking to get a two bedroom apartment."
Jenny seemed to be pleased, smiled again, "Of course! We have two open, actually! Right this way!" She led Minerva to a lift and pressed the button for the second floor of the three-story building. As the doors closed, Jenny decided to comment, "Your daughter is really cute! Is your husband going to be joining us?"
Minerva bit her tongue, refusing to show any sign of weakness in front of this woman. "Thank you, she's my goddaughter," Minerva said curtly to the woman, but Jenny didn't seem to acknowledge that Minerva had said anything.
They stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall to room 208, "Here we are! I'm sure you and your daughter will be very happy here!" She put her key in the lock and opened the door. She let Minerva in first and started babbling on and on about the useless amenities whilst Minerva studied what would be changed if she moved in.
However, one vital component of her plans to move off Hogwarts grounds was missing. She had gotten permission from the Ministry to link whatever apartment she decided to rent to the Floo Network, and Albus assured her that her normal duties as a professor (eg: being at every meal and making nightly rounds) would be alleviated until she got into the swing of raising a child on top of her normal workload. "Is there an apartment with a fireplace available?" Minerva asked Jenny.
Penny stumbled over her words in a rush, "Oh absolutely! It's a bit higher price, but I assure you it is worth every pound!" She opened the door and led Minerva to the elevator, once again.
"And done! Alright," Jenny said standing up from her desk and tapping the papers on the desk to straighten them, "You're all set. Congratulations, Ms. McGonagall, you are now an official resident of apartment 303. Oh, and congratulations to you too, Arden." Jenny shot an unnaturally white smile at Arden, causing the girl to start fussing again.
She was getting more and more fussy the longer the day went on. She was driving Minerva up the wall. Minerva gave Jenny a slight smile, which was more of a grimace. "I'll be moving my things in tonight," she notified the blonde.
"Ok! Will you be needing any-"
"No, no thank you. I think we have things from here."
"Wingardium Leviosa," Minerva cast the spell on the dresser in Arden's new room, moving it from one wall to another. She looked over at Arden to see her smiling whilst staring in awe at her godmother's talents. Minerva inwardly grinned rather smugly, pleased that her goddaughter saw something as simple as a levitation charm absolutely astounding. Then again, she was still a baby.
"Now, what color do you want your room, darling?" Minerva asked Arden, getting on her knees in front of the baby in the fairy bouncer. Minerva waved her wand and several color swatches appeared in her hands. She held them out in front of Arden, "Do you want pink?" She held out the pastel pink swatch, taking it away when Arden's face crinkled in disgust. She laughed, "Alright, no pink. What about yellow?" She took that away too, "No yellow either. Green…" and that's how it went until Minerva picked up purple and saw Arden's face light up. "Purple it is!"
Minerva smiled at the sleeping infant in her arms as she rocked back and forth on the new rocking chair that she had conjured for Arden's room. Minerva took advantage of this quiet time that she had alone with Arden to admire her. She already adored every little freckle on the baby's pale skin, every soft dark brown curl on her head, her tiny fist that clutched Minerva's finger so tightly even in her sleep, every little thing about this girl amazed Minerva more than anything ever could.
Arden's face scrunched up in her sleep and her hand let go of Minerva's finger. Her large eyes opened to reveal a stunning shade of amber that stood out brightly in contrast to her dark chocolate brown hair. Those eyes…Minerva had only once before seen a shade that vibrant, Alex Greyson's eyes were the only other amber eyes that particular shade. Minerva gave the little girl a sad smile and kissed her forehead, "It's just the two of us from now on, sweetie."