Chapter Twenty One: And Baby Makes Five
It didn't take Dare long to track the sleeper. All he did was watch those around him, looking for the one who reminded him of himself. When he found one such person he watched their actions and listened to their input, gauging against what he knew, until they were cleared. Four people earned his respect this way. Remus Lupin, Bill Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and even Tonks underwent his scrutiny and proved clean. He hadn't really doubted any of them, but he had to treat everyone as though he had never seen or heard of them before.
Finally he met a man whom he honestly had not seen or heard of before. If he had, he never would have wasted his time with the others. It wasn't so much that he was incompetent, he obviously was not, but there was just something about him that sang of darkness.
It was not the first time Dare wondered exactly how he was different from the others, that he was was certain, that Nevra and Dray were as well he also knew, but why was the question. They were only teenagers, untrained and inexperienced, and yet they some how saw things, knew things, and understood things those that had undergone professional training, and even those that had survived the first war and come out heroes, did not.
He helped Snape neutralize the man. It wasn't safe to remove him from the Order so they merely tagged him, watched his every move, and prevented him from holding the Order back too much. They let him have some things so that he would not grow suspicious or paranoid. It was enough that they had found him and when the time came would be able to stop him from doing any real damage.
Dare and Nevra sent a few messages back and forth through Snape, but nothing much. It was really too dangerous for her to think too much about it. Knowing the other was alive, well, and understood would have to be enough.
Snape wished he could do more for the children to make their tasks easier. He truly did not know how valuable they found him, regardless of how actively they tried to make him understand. He was their foundation. They could do anything if Snape was there watching them. He was their reality; he was what kept them from going insane. He was what connected Nevra and Dray to the world they cared about and were doing any of this for. He was what connected Dare to Nevra and Dray. He grounded them. There were many times when they all felt like they did not belong in the world at large, that they were so wholly other than any that was around them. Dare got the worst of it since the other two were surrounded by death eaters and darkness and could usually write the feeling off to that, but he was surrounded by the Order and those to whom he should belong, and yet did not.
Whether there was something intrinsic to their beings, some ancient magic, some myth or legend fulfilled, some holy reason, or if it was merely their perspective, the way they viewed the world with complete honesty to self, the way they had all fought desperately to find answers at a young age that set them apart and made them distinct they would never know. All they knew was that for some reason they were, and for some reason this meant they saw things, knew things, and understood things no one else did, and this made them a family. Snape was the only one who saw and understood them for what they were, and that was how he was able to hold them and connect them to everything else.
So it was the four of them. They waited, watched, and went about their business, hoping the day would come soon when they could all be together in peace.
It had been two weeks since Dare's return to the Order when Nevra entered the dining room at breakfast still in her nightgown, hair unbrushed, and looking rather shell shocked.
"What's wrong! What's happened!" Dray rushed over to her immediately.
She looked at him, a little dazed, "hm? Oh, I…" her eyes seemed to clear and a mischievous glint appeared. He was quite concerned. "Nothing happened, dad, so go back to your breakfast."
"Something obviously…" it was Dray's turn to go into shock, "did…did…you just call me…?"
She nodded, took his hand, and placed it low on her stomach. He looked down at their hands and then up at her. His free hand grabbed at the base of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. When he pulled back she started crying. He didn't have to ask why; he just held her. This wasn't exactly the home into which he wanted his first child to be born either. Anything could happen here, anyone could be killed without warning, anyone could disappear. With the life she led, carrying the child full term would be difficult enough, much less protecting it once it was born.
That was how Snape found them. He had come over to discuss what they would be doing that day and found them standing in the door to the dining room, holding each other, and crying. Dray looked up with a few tears of his own in his eyes and slowly separated from Nevra, leaving an arm around her waist, and led her to the couch in the sitting room.
When they were all seated Dray looked at Snape. "So, are you an uncle or a grandfather?" Snape's jaw actually dropped. He closed it almost instantly, but it still happened. He looked at Nevra who suddenly seemed so small and frail.
"Perhaps it is best if we call me uncle." He spoke softly and slowly, as though the words were hard to say. They knew why he said what he did, after all, wasn't Tom supposed to be the child's grandfather? They could hear the emotion in his voice as well. This wouldn't do, they had to get this cleared up quickly before anyone with legillemancy skills dropped by.
"Then that is what we shall call you, for now." Her voice was weak, but there was no mistaking the meaning of those last two words. Snape smiled.
Dare had been making lunch when Snape informed him of the latest development and he promptly sat on the floor right where he stood and stared into space for two minutes before standing and continuing with his food preparation. Snape smiled at the boy's reaction. Once standing again, you could barely tell Dare had been given any news, much less any that would have sent him into shock.
They waited two weeks to make the announcement to the death eaters. She was an even three months along and Tom was just thrilled that he was going to have a grandson. It was decided that Nevra would no longer take part in battles as that would endanger the child. She could go and watch if she was careful to stay on the sidelines and was flanked by Dray and at least one other, usually Snape.
Of course this meant that she was more bored than ever. Add to the boredom spiking hormones and you have one testy Dark Lady. Everyone was anxious to stay out of her way and all dreaded being the one stuck keeping her company when no one else was available.
She had decided to stop wearing the leather even before it became necessary, as it wouldn't be too long anyway, and opted for flowing black gowns.
One day, when she was particularly in a bad mood because Dray had been busy elsewhere and Snape was no where to be found, she demanded that Bellatrix stay by her side. Bellatrix made one offhand comment about the emotional state of pregnant women under breath when Nevra threw a tantrum over receiving the wrong type of apple and found herself in a rather interesting situation. It seemed that Nevra decided she did not want to go through this alone and ordered Bellatrix to get pregnant.
"It isn't as though I actually want the Lestranges to have a child, the poor thing wouldn't stand a chance. I just wanted to make her squirm." Nevra was whining because Dray had just lectured her on how horrible the life of that child would be. "I had every intention of sending a house elf to her with a message from me saying I had changed my mind. I didn't need you almost yelling at me over it. I mean, you could have asked if I meant it, or asked me to change my mind, or anything, but no, you tell me off." She really sounded as though she were almost in tears.
"I'm sorry, you are right. I should have known you would have more sense than that. I've just had a really long day in which I was forced to injure a man I greatly respect. It is no excuse, however. I am sorry." He was extremely tired, but he knew something else was bothering his wife. When had he started thinking of her as his wife rather than friend, partner, or simply Nevra?
He sighed. They were married, but you could hardly call the ceremony the Dark Lord had preformed traditional. There was no marriage certificate. No one would recognize the union after the war. Even if they decided to call it a real marriage for the sake of her reputation and child they would all expect her to get it annulled as soon as possible based on the circumstances. No one would worry about him or think about him as they approached the problem of the marriage. Not that they would have a reason to. He didn't want to think about it. He loved her now, honestly and truly, as deeply as anyone could love another and deeper, but he dared not believe that she might feel the same. He thought it safer to expect an end to their relationship to accompany the end of the war.
"You want to tell me what is really bothering you?" He finally said at last, almost too softly for her to hear.
She left the window she had been looking out and sat next to him on the couch. She laid her head in his lap and remained silent for a moment. "I'm afraid. I don't have to act much anymore. I don't have to think about what to say or how to say it. I really am becoming the horrible, temperamental, spoiled, sadistic Dark Lady." She buried her face in his robes.
He stroked her hair. He didn't really know what to say to that. He had been growing anxious himself about how hard it was for him to remember this wasn't the real Draco anymore. The difference was that he had grown up cold and cruel, this character wasn't a stretch for him at all. She, on the other hand, had always been kind and caring. If she was losing herself it was a much bigger deal.
He began to slowly scratch her back. He remembered their last year at school and all that he had learned about her. He looked down at her arms and saw the scars that were still there. He remembered the night he had saved her life, and he remembered thinking last Christmas that it might not be such a stretch after all. He again wondered how hard it was for her to control the bitterness and darkness when behaving as the kind and gentle Nevra, the true Nevra, the real and honest woman he had come to love.
He bent down and kissed her temple. She had fallen asleep. Ever so gently, he slid out from beneath her, picked her up, and carried her to bed. He would stay home the next day, no matter what, and be with his wife.