New Life
It was time for Poppy's monthly visit and this time she was the one who received a surprise. Minerva had told Poppy about Albus' situation and swore her to secrecy. After Poppy examined Minerva she placed more restrictions on her. She was allowed to go to the bathroom, shower and the rest of the time was supposed to be spent in bed. She was even supposed to eat in bed and she wasn't happy about it. She argued of course but between Albus, Poppy and Dobby she had given in. As much as she hated lying around all day, she hated the idea of harming the babies more, so she accepted her fate and went to bed.
The next couple of weeks were boring for Minerva. The only time she laughed seemed to be when Albus would 'play' with the babies. He would lay his hand on her ever-growing belly and waited for them to kick his hand. Sometimes he would move his hands and wait for them to follow. His face would brighten and Minerva loved it. She knew she had made the right decision; these babies were blessings, no matter what tow the pregnancy took on her body.
On her third week of bed rest Minerva became seriously ill. Albus was preparing her afternoon tea when he heard her loud piercing scream. The tea tray clattered to the floor as he rushed to her. He found her body glistering with sweat and withering in pain. He saw a flash of red coming from between her legs, blood he realized, and quickly summoned Dobby to retrieve Poppy. He knelt at Minerva's side and tried to comfort her.
A loud pop announced the arrival of Poppy. She rushed to Minerva's side and started to cast healing spells. After a few minutes Minerva stopped thrashing about and opened her eyes. "What's wrong," she asked Poppy between pants.
Poppy glanced up at her with worried eyes. "The babies' health is comprised. Minerva I'm not able to stop your labor, you are going to have your babies tonight."
"It's too soon," Albus worriedly said.
"I know but I don't have any choice. Either Minerva gives birth or she and the babies die."
Albus looked at Minerva who had tears streaming down her face. With frightened eyes she looked up at Poppy and said, "Poppy I need you to promise me if it comes down to me or the babies save the babies."
"Minerva I would rather have…" Albus started to argue but she cut him off.
"It's my decision Albus besides two life's are worth more than one."
Albus knew it was her decision and he loved her enough to support her in it. He leaned over her and gave her a breathy kiss. "I will support whatever decision you make love."
"Thank you," she whispered feebly then pulled him in for another kiss.
"Shall we get started?" Poppy asked. "Here drink this Minerva. It will help with the pain and speed up labor." She handed her a glass with a brownish muddy-like potion in it.
Minerva looked skeptical at the glass before drinking it quickly. She made a distasteful face and then mumbled something under her breath. Poppy laughed then asked, "What did you expect, pumpkin juice?"
Minerva stuck her tongue out at her and then frowned as a contraction hit. She grabbed Albus' hand and squeezed hoping to transfer some of her pain to him. It didn't work. Her contractions were coming closer together.
"Albus support Minerva's back," Poppy demanded.
He sat on the bed behind her back. He kissed her cheek before rubbing her tense belly in small soothing circles. Minerva rested against Albus as Poppy encouraged her to pull her knees up. She was fully dilated and ready to push. On the next contraction she gripped Albus' hands, leaned forward and pushed. As soon as the contraction was over she leaned back against her lover. "Just a couple more pushes like that Minerva," Poppy encouraged.
The next contraction hit within minutes. Minerva growled and pushed hard. The baby's head could now be seen. Another contraction freed their baby boy. Poppy wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in Minerva's waiting arms. Tears of joy slid down her cheeks as she saw her son for the first time. "Albus look at him. He's beautiful!" she exclaimed tearfully.
Albus wrapped his arms around Minerva and their son. "He's perfect Minerva," he commented then planted a kiss to Minerva's neck.
She held him for about five minutes and then another contraction hit. Poppy grabbed the baby, summoned Dobby to clean the baby and then turned her attention to Minerva. After several hard pushes, Minerva was holding her daughter. More tears were shed as she pulled her daughter close. "Minerva she's has your nose," Albus observed.
"Good, we wouldn't want her to have a crooked one like yours."
Dobby laid the other baby in her free arm. She held them close to her and realized that she had a family now even if it wasn't conventional. She had a son and daughter that were absolutely perfect and Albus even though they weren't married. She was happier than she had ever been. She kissed each baby's forehead and then the unexpected happened.
Minerva turned pale and slumped against Albus when she lost consciousness. Dobby quickly grabbed the babies and moved them out of the way. Poppy examined Minerva but she didn't have the ability to save her. Her spells and charms didn't help at all. She moved out of the way allowing Dumbledore to say goodbye to his lover. He refused of course. He was determined to save his beloved.
Albus mentally went through a list of spells hoping to find something that would save her. She was running out of time, he could practically see her life essence diminishing. Then he remembered studying ancient bonding spells. There was a couple that united the couples life essence and magical abilities. He never thought about how Minerva felt about bonding spells but it didn't really matter, he just wanted to save her. He cast the ancient spell and watched as his energy left his body to travel to hers. He watched confusedly as his vision blurred and then went black.
When he woke he was lying in bed beside Minerva, Poppy was sitting across the room in a rocking chair watching the twins. She heard him stir and rushed to his side. "How are you feeling?" she asked concerned.
"Fine I think," he said then remembered his lover. "How's Minerva?"
She sighed, relief clearly etched on her face. "She's going to be fine." He closed his eyes a moment obviously giving thanks. "What do you think she will do when she learns you cast a bonding spell?" Poppy asked curiously.
"It doesn't matter. She could hex me into next week and I would still be happy, she's alive and that's all that matters to me."
She discussed the twins' health with Albus, checked Minerva one last time and took her leave. She had assured him that Minerva was healthy and that she was just sleeping to rejuvenate her body. She had even taught Dobby how to mix formula for the twins until Minerva was well enough to breastfeed.
He moved the cradle Dobby had made close to the bed, scooted the rocker between the two and kept a watchful eye on his family. He watched Minerva sleep, she looked so beautiful. Her long raven hair fanned out across the pillow and her cheeks had a pink tint to them. She shifted in her sleep which caused the freshly changed bedcovers to slide down. He had dressed her in a peach satin gown after Poppy had left; he loved it on her because it showed off her figure. It was cut low in front revealing the swell of her breasts. He smiled when he noticed they were bigger than normal, must have filled with milk he thought.
He was distracted from his appreciation of his lover's body by his children's cries. He quickly moved and scooped them into his arms. He returned to the rocker and attempted to hush them. Dobby arrived within seconds with two bottles Albus smiled thankfully and began feeding his children for the first time. Moments passed before they stopped squirming and ate.
Minerva awoke to the sound of a familiar voice. She recognized that voice, it belonged to Albus. Her eyes fluttered open but she remained quiet. She watched as Albus fed their children and talked softly to them. She laughed when their daughter grabbed his beard with her tiny hand and yanked. Albus' head snapped up at the sound. "Minerva you're awake."
"It appears that way. What happened?"
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"I was holding the babies then I became dizzy," Minerva said thoughtfully.
"Well my dear, you lost consciousness. Poppy was frantic when she wasn't able to help you."
"If Poppy didn't help me, who did?" she asked confused.
"Well I sort of did," he admitted timidly.
She recognized that voice. He had something to tell her but he didn't want to. "What did you do Albus Dumbledore?"
"I sort of cast an ancient bonding spell."
"You did what?" Minerva asked surprisingly. "Those ancient spells are dangerous especially if one recipient is sick. What happened to you after you cast it?"
"I'm well aware of the dangers of it but what choice did I have. I was so close to losing you and I don't think I could have survived that. I love you so much Tabby and the twins need their mother."
He glanced down at the babies sucking on their bottles and smiled. He removed the bottles, readjusted them to his shoulders, burped them and laid them in their cradle. He bent down to cover them up and gently kissed each forehead. He moved over to Minerva's side and gently kissed her lips. "After I cast the spell, I watched my energy transfer to you and then I lost consciousness."
"Your magic?"
"Well I still have most of it. I assume you have the rest."
Minerva could not believe what she was hearing. Albus Dumbledore, being the fool hearted person that he was, performed an ancient marriage spell, managed to transfer some of his magic to her, and all while she was unconscious. She couldn't keep his magic but she wasn't sure how to exactly give it back. She did know how to merge them and decided to do so.
She reached for her wand then decided she didn't need it. Albus had the ability to do wandless magic and she wondered if that had been transferred to her. She spoke the ancient words to the bonding spell that merged powers silently. When she was finished she watched as their magic left their bodies as a red color, merge into a gold color and return to them. They attempted some wandless magic and found that spells were easier to complete than ever before. Albus laughed then whispered in her ear, "I do believe we are now legally married Minerva."
She mentally went through the Ministry of Magic marriage laws and had to admit that Albus was right. Ancient bonding spells were not encouraged but they were still legal. She smiled and commanded him to come to her. He did and was thoroughly surprise when she transformed his robes to pajamas and pushed him down on the bed. "Well then my husband, will you hold me tonight?"
His heart melted at the endearment and then he replied, "Always my wife."
She smiled and gave him a couple of breathy kisses. They crawled under the bedcovers, snuggled together, extinguished the lights and waited for sleep to claim them.
Albus and Minerva's sleep was disturbed by two wailing babies. Albus sprang out of bed to pick them up while Minerva removed her gown. He handed her one while he tried to calm the other. He was fascinated by the way Minerva coaxed their son into taking her breast. He refused at first but then gave in and sucked greedily. Minerva laughed at her wee one and then was embarrassed when she caught Albus watching her intently. When their son had ate and been burped, he was passed to his father while his sister was handed to his mother. Minerva didn't have to coax her at all she just latched on and suck hard. Minerva was surprised but pleased nonetheless. When she was burped, she was laid beside her brother in the cradle.
"We really should name them," Minerva said thoughtfully.
"Yes but we can think about it in the morning. I'm an old man that needs his sleep."
"Old man? I don't think so but you will need your sleep." He turned questioning eyes to her, she added, "I fully intend to seduce you tomorrow evening."
"You do?" he asked playfully.
"Yes I do."
He pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately. They held each other until a dreamless sleep claimed them.
Morning greeted Minerva and Albus feeling refreshed. They greeted each other with a kiss, laid the twins in bed between them and discussed names. They bickered for about an hour before they agreed on Alexander Griffin and Athena Skylark.
Minerva and Albus discussed their future throughout the day. They had decided to remain in Scotland until after the final battle. Minerva would occasional make appearances at major events or the Ministry of Magic in order to squash the rumors that were bound to arise from her solitude. After the impending fall of Voldemort, they would reveal their marriage and children to the public, but until then they were just going to enjoy their new life. They were going to live happily ever after!