Thanks to those who reviewed! I don't exactly know how many chapters are left, but I know that there aren't many. So enjoy and don't forget to review at the end. :o)

Realizations

Luna's screams were almost as frequent as her contractions. Pain had once been familiar with the mother-to-be but this … this was like comparing a minor pinch to a blow in the stomach!

How long had it been? Luna did not know and neither did the deatheaters nor Tonks. The deatheaters safeguarding her withering body became aggravated in mere minutes from the woman's screams. Her spasms were growing rapidly closer to the next and each one was more severe and massive than the preceding.

Cho had set off somewhere and had yet to return. Tonks did not dare leave Luna in her fragile condition and grimaced as Luna wrung her hand in a death-like grip.

They were parked in a small chamber, torches eerily casting shadows of deep malice on the walls. Cobwebs ornamented the place and a scruffy rug rested on the floor. This was absolutely not Tonk's version of home sweet home.

"Harry, Harry darling! Come here! Don't just stand there!" Luna's screamed with trepidation. Her eyes were wide and tears blinked, revealing their presence.

Tonks sighed, her heart heavy with misery. The toil of these contractions was paying an extreme price from Luna. It was causing her to become hysterical, speaking to the walls and ceiling as if they carried some human resemblance. Right now, the furthest torch was her Harry.

"Luna, sweetheart, hush." Tonks assured. "Harry isn't here right now. He had to… um leave."

It pained her to lie to Luna as she was doing but if it meant saving a life (or two), then dishonesty was the only thing to do.

Luna moaned weakly. Rolling onto her side, Tonks gasped. Her body was glossy with perspiration, and her eyes were large and anxious. Her skin was ashen and her body lay rigid with anguish.

The sight made Tonk's glum feelings sink lower. No woman, with the exclusion of Cho and her womanly companions, deserved this kind of affliction. Especially not lovable, petite Luna whose heart had enough room for the whole world.

Luna once more screamed with distress.

"The baby … it's coming! I can feel it! I can feel it!" she gasped croakily, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Then I arrived just in time." Cho's corrupt voice said in its smooth undertone.

Tonks glared at the foul woman and the man at her side. His face bore oversized bifocals and a drooping goatee hung lifelessly on his chin.

"This is Ewan Amopolos." she said, detecting Tonk's hesitant interest in the peculiar man. "He's a Healer and has agreed to confidentiality in assisting us with the birth."

Ewan nodded.

"Yes, I am here to serve." He said boastfully, pushing his chest out in evident smugness.

Luna screamed and Cho glared at the crowing Healer.

"We don't have time in our hands you know!" she growled with sheer disapproval. "Get to work!"

"Right, right." Setting his rucksack on the ground, Ewan kneeled beside the bleeding woman.


"This stinks." Hermione thought grimly, her throbbing head supported upright with her hands. "This undoubtedly, no question asked, truly, certainly, surely stinks."

Had it been hours? Weeks? Months? Years (for it truly did feel like years)? Who knew? If Hermione didn't get out of there soon, she almost felt like going crazy.

A man's heavy groan slashed through the strained air. Hermione gradually turned in her seat, for she had quite forgotten about the other captive.

"Are you all right sir?" The light was weak but not weak enough to tell the man was struggling greatly to arise.

The man turned towards her voice. His lean torso was unclothed while a discolored pair of jeans rested sloppily on his scrawny legs. His muddle of black hair lay in disarray while damaged glasses draped scruffily across his slender nose. And in the mist, in the mist of a gritty mess, lay a scar; a jagged, faint scar in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Harry" Hermione breathed. Hastening to the edge of her cage she cried with bliss, "Harry! Oh Harry! It's you! It's really you!"

Harry glowered at her, his gaze showering with skepticism. Who was this disturbing lady that shouted his name? Even worse, why did she seem so familiar?

"Harry, it's me! Hermione! Hermione Malfoy!" Something was wrong. His eyes were giving it all away. Bewilderment danced in his eyes. It was as if … why it was as if he had been brainwashed!

"Harry?" Hermione glanced at her best friend, her heart beating with anxiety. What was wrong with him!

"Do I know you?" his tone was icy, insensitive and spiteful causing Hermione to flinch with shock.

"Harry! What's happen to you!" she cried. "We went to school together! We are best friends! You have a pregnant wife for crying out loud!"

Harry's insensible eyes settled upon her and Hermione's body stiffened with fear. This was not the Harry she had once known! The Harry she had known was thoughtful and considerate, doting of his lovely wife, and never lacked an ounce of bravery.

Harry scowled at the odd woman. He had never seen her before, yet something inside his head ached to reach out and hug her as if her words were truth.

"I have only a fiancé," he growled turning his back on Hermione. "I do not know you. So leave me alone."

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Hermione gasped. "You have a wife, not a fiancé! You are going to be a father soon, you –"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Harry bellowed, his face flushing with anger. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND STOP TELLING ME LIES!"

Hermione jerked away from the cage's edge, unease flowing through her. Now she was more thanconvinced that Harry was brainwashed.

Harry collapsed onto his bed, closing his eyes with infuriation. How dare that demented lady say he had another wife, another wife that was pregnant ,of all things, with his child! It was like saying his darling Cho was an evil person set out for vengeance. It was just not real.

Harry closed his eyes and fell into another subconscious doze. He had been sleeping quite a lot during his stay in wherever he was. And why on earth was he locked up like that woman? Surely considering he was Cho's fiancé, he had every right to stroll about like she? Yes, there were many questions he had about his scene, but with a bit of luck they would be answered later … right?


Lupin paced his lockup, his hands twisted behind his back and his eyebrows tight in great concentration. Where had they taken Hermione? Was she all right?

Lupin sat on his cot. Tears edged his eyes and for the first time, he felt like taking a good cry. Life was so corrupt, so unjust! Why did it seem to devastate the happiest and assist the evil? Every day, it took children from parent's hands, pilfering the innocent of their purity. Lives were snatched away like shells off the seaside and love was merely torn to bits. Why, why, why?

Footsteps announced the arrival of somebody. The guards lingering around Lupin's jail, became rigid soon enough, another deatheater joined them.

"It's a girl." He spat with contentment. "Born just less than seven minutes ago."

"Delightful." one of the deatheaters replied with unmistakable sarcasm. "I suppose Miss. Chang is livid about this?"

"More like the reverse." The deatheater said genially. "She's beaming with gratification. She has the babe with her as I speak. The child will be christened in her name then Loony Potter and her friend will say bye bye to life."

Lupin's body became erect. Luna was here! She had given birth to a baby daughter! A simmer of elation developed in his stomach, but it died with a pain of absolute anxiety. They were going to kill Luna and her friend! Lupin just couldn't sit around and let the show go on! He had to interrupt!

But what could he do? They had his wand and were three in one compared to little, old him. Then, he thought of a saying his father once said when he had been injured by the werewolf's bite. "Courage isn't fighting in battles, saving a life, or killing the villain. It's the desire to do it. The wish to fight for what you know is true. It's the realizing of the certainty in life. It's the grip of reality against you and you know you'll lose, but you don't care because you know you're doing the right thing. They can chain you to a wall and torment you until you consent to their commands. But they can't take away your confidence, your belief in what you are and what you will become someday. Nothing is as strong as courage and as powerful in faith." his father had once said. Now Lupin knew that he was right.

Lupin rose onto his feet, ready to fight. Ready to recover those he cared about and get the hell out of Romania and back home to where they belonged. He didn't care what happened. If he killed, he killed. If he was wounded, he was wounded. If he died, he died. He was an untamed bull on the run, nothing and nobody would stop him.


So, Luna's baby is a girl. I had originally decided to make it a boy, but I thought of so many things to do with it if it were a girl, I had to pull straws to decide! I know many of you wanted it to be a girl, but to let you know, none of your requests made a difference in my picking the baby's gender. And yeah, yeah I know the reunion with Harry wasn't Luna but Hermione, but that doesn't mean they won't meet again. Or will it? ;) Only the upcoming chapters will tell! So, now that this chapter is over, PLEASE PLEASE review! They are all appreciated. :o)