CHAPTER 23

"Oh my gosh," I said to Harry as we sat down at breakfast, "did they keep you up last night too?"

"Yes," he nodded, rubbing his eyes.

"Thats six nights in a row and they've only been here six nights. Gosh, don't they know how to take a break?" my voice raised slightly, but it didn't matter because we were the only ones in the Great Hall. We had to leave the Room of Requirement early because they had just woken up.

"You know, you'd think they'd have some respect. They are living in our room," Harry said as we both started shoveling food on our plates. I just shrugged it off and started eating.

When we had finished eating people had started coming in the Great Hall, "I got to go get Hermione. We both have appointments with Madam Pomfrey this morning. Do you want to come to the common room with me?"

"Yeah sure," he replied and he got up and helped me up. My stomach was getting larger and it was getting increasingly diffucult for me to stand. We walked to the Gryffindor common room with little diffucultly at the stairs, which suprised me. When we reached the common room we found Hermione and Ron coming down from the girls dormatory.

"I didn't sleep up there," Ron responded to our raised eyebrows.

"We didn't ask," I replied, "Ready?" I asked when Hermione stopped walking. She didn't have as much trouble as I did though, because her stomach was much smaller than mine. I was beginning to think that I was going to have twins, but I had not yet asked Madam Pomfrey for any results as to what I was having.

When I finally walked into the Hospital Wing Hermione was already being tested. I told Ron and Hermione not to wait because I just wanted to walk with Harry alone.

"Get into a bed Miss Potter, I'll be with you in a moment," Madam Pomfrey said without looking up from Hermione. Hermione had already found put she was having a girl. I could tell Ron seemed to have gotten over his scared new father phase because when Hermione told him he was going to have a daughter he seemed to have changed.

When both Hermione and I had finished with our appointments I stayed in bed while Hermione and Ron left. When Harry looked at me questiongly I nodded for him to leave.

'What, babe?' I heard Harry's voice in my head.

'I need to ask Madam Pomfrey something,' I replied, standing up, "Madam Pomfrey?" I said in the direction of her office.

She came out almost immediately, "Yes Miss Potter?"

"Well, I know I said I didn't want to know, but I was wondering, what am I having?" I asked.

I was sitting outside the Hospital Wing, but immediately sat up when I heard the door open.

"What did you have to ask Madam Pomfrey?" I asked Amy, noticing she was beaming.

She shook her head, "I asked what I was having, but I'm not telling you."

"I thought you weren't going to find out. It was supposed to be a suprise," I responded, shocked because it was her who suggested waiting until the baby was born.

"I know you didn't want to find out. You keep forgetting that I can hear your thoughts. I only suggested it because I knew you wanted to wait. I'm sorry if you didn't want me to know," she apoligized, but I still didn't want to know so I just walked over to her and hugged her.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked after I kissed the top of her head.

"Let's go sit out on the grounds," she replied into my shoulder and I helped her outside.

"I don't think I'll be able to get up easily," she laughed after she had sat crossed her legs. I sat down next to her and she uncrossed her legs and layed her head down in my lap. I leaned back against the big Oak.

"It's been a while since we've sat down under this tree," Amy yawned after we had been silent for a while.

"Yeah," I said as I strated running my hand through her hair. We watched the lake for a while and once we saw the giant squid surface.

I looked down and realized that Amy had fallen asleep. I stopped stroking her hair and sat silently for a moment before she started moving restlessly and I started rubbing her back. She stopped soon after and I knew she had been having a nightmare. That sometimes happened to me as well, when I wasn't in contact with her. I sat under the tree for a while, just staring at her before I started to fall asleep, too.

I opened my eyes and found her awake, with her head still in my lap, just staring at the lake. I started stroking her hair again and she looked up at me with her goregous eyes.

"Hey, I didn't know you were awake," she said.

I shrugged, "I just woke up," I replied.

"I'm starved and it's getting dark, let's go back to the castle babe," she said, sitting up.

"Yeah, me too," I agreed. I got up and helped her up. It took a few minutes, but she was finally standing.

"I can't wait until I have our child. It sucks carrying all this weight around," she said as we started walking. I didn't think about it, I did it on impulse. I picked her up and started walking to the castle.

"Babe, don't," she said.

"No, it's fine," I replied.

"You're going to hurt your back," she protested.

"I'm not stopping," I replied stubbornly as I continued walking.

"You're too stubborn, you're lucky I love you," she said as she sighed.

"I know I am," I replied and she rolled her eyes.

"Damn you, I can't stay mad at you," she said, pretending to be angry. It wasn't long before she started grinning though. I grinned too just because she was.

"Yeah, I know," I said before kissing her.

I continued carrying her until we reached the Great Hall, then I set her on her feet before drapoing my arm over her shoulders and walking into the Great Hall with her. We ate slowly before getting up to return to the Room of Requirement.

"May I have a word with the two of you?" McGonagall asked from behind us when we exited the Great Hall.

Amy dropped her arm from my waist and turned as I pulled my arm away from her shoulders. I turned, too and we both nodded.

She smiled, "No need to look like you are in trouble. You have not done anything to get in trouble, have you?" we both shook our heads and she continued, "I just need to see you in my office," she finished and we followed her to her new office.

"Well, I just wanted to congratulate you on how well you are doing keeping Isabella and Jake hidden. I've not gotten a word that they are here. If I didn't tell you you could bring them yourself, I wouldn't even know they're here," she said once all three of us had sat down.

'That is not what I thought she was bring us here for,' I heard Amy say in my head as we both let out our held breaths.

"Do you have any questions or concerns either of you?"

"No, not now anyways," Amy replied.

"I don't think so," I said.

"Ok, then you can leave. Oh, wait, Amy you stay here," she said.

I shared a look with Harry before he left the room, "What do you need Professor?" I asked after the door had closed behind Harry.

"I need you to go tell Mr. Potter to go back to his dorm. Then I'll need to tak you somewhere," she said, standing.

"Okay Professor," I said, standing as well and walking back down the staircase and past the gargoyle. I found Harry sitting by the gargoyle and he got up instantly.

"Go back to the Room of Requirement, babe. I'll meet you there later," I whispered in his ear as I hugged him. He nodded and as soon as I let go of him he walked in the direction of the staircase that led to the seventh floor.

Professor McGonagall appeared soon after he left and she asked me if I was ready to go I nodded and she started off down the hallway. I followed her through a maze of passage ways. Suprisingly I knew that when we reached the end I would be able to find my way out.

We suddenly stopped in front of a door and she said a password that I wasn't quite able to make out. The door snapped open and she held out her arm in gesture for me to enter before her. I did and she followed me in before closing the door.

"Umm, Professor, if you don't mind my asking, why are we here?" I asked as I turned in a circle, looking around at the octangular room. The walls were covered with portraits.

"Well, I have some people that would like to talk to you here," she said taking me to a blank picture frame.

"There's no one here," I pointed out, but she was already talking to the portrait.

"James, I brought her," she said to the blank stretch of canvas. It wasn't blank long though. Soon a person appeared, that looked oddly like Harry, except for the eyes. Then what she said hit me and it all fit.

"You're Harry's father aren't you?" I asked the portrait.

He nodded, "Yes. If you don't mind my saying, my boy sure does know how to pick a wife. It's very nice to meet you Amy," he said, making me blush.

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you too sir," I replied.

"Don't call me sir, I'm not that old," he laughed, "I never imagined anybody calling me sir."

I laughed.

"Well, anyways, I just wanted to meet the girl my son fell in love with. Stay here, Lily wants to meet you, too," he said before disappearing again.

"What is this place?" I asked Professor McGonagall.

"Just a room where all the witches and wizards that have made a difference in this world go. They don't stay here forever, but they are here for a while," she replied as Lily appeared.

She looked at me in shock for a moment, "Is your mother named Gwen?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah, she was your best friend. She told me before she died," I said quickly to avoid awkward questions, all I got was sympathy though.

"I'm so sorry, she was a wonderful person. I've missed her so much. She might be here though, I can check while you talk to Sirius. Before I leave though I must say, you're beautiful and I know you must be in love, I can see it in your eyes. I hope you and my son are happy always," she said and I barely had time to thank her before she disappeared.

A moment later a person that could have only been Sirius Black appeared in the picture, "So, you're Amy," he commented.

I nodded, "It's nice to meet you, Harry speaks greatly of you."

"Oh, well I think Lily found your mum, but I wish you and Harry great happiness," Sirius said before disappearing to be replaced by my mum.

"Oh Mum, I thought I'd never see you again. I can't believe I can. I miss you so much," I said.

"I miss you, too, Amy. I love you darling. Would you mind doing me a favor and telling your father I love him too? Please?"

"Yeah, I will, I don't want to leave you Mum," I replied.

"I know darling, but you have to. You have to live your life long and full with Harry. I'll be okay and we'll see each other again. Don't grieve for me. I'm in another place. The only thing I regret is not spending as much time as I could with Severus. I love you darling, I always will. You don't need a picture to talk to me either. I'll always be with you darling," she said.

"I love you so much Mum."

"I love you too darling. You looked beautiful on your wedding day. I never got to tell you, but you did. Darling, I have to go now. You'll be alright, I know you will. That's just the kind of person you are," she said.

"Thank you Mum, I love you so much," I said for a last time before she disappeared.

I looked to McGonagall who had just stood off to the side the whole time. She came forward now.

"I ask you not to tell Harry about any of this. I don't think he would be able to handle it if he knew he could talk to his parents," she said.

I was shaking my head before she had finished speaking, "I can't keep something like this from Harry. If you think he wouldn't be able to take it, you must not know him at all. He'll want to know and I can't keep it from him," I replied with every intent to tell him.

"I'm sorry Amy, but you can't tell him this. Not just yet anyway. You have to wait until after he kills Voldemort," she said.

"If I wait until then he'll be mad that I didn't tell him before. I can't wait to tell him this. He'll figure it out on his own anyway. I can't keep anything from him, he'd be able to tell that I was trying to. I'm sorry, I just can't keep something this huge from him, I love him. Besides, our connection wouldn't let me. You do know about our connection right?" I added when she had made a questioning look when I said the word connection.

"What connection?" she asked confirming my belief that Dumbledore had told no one before he died.

"Harry and I have Amour Vrai," I said and her face lit up with comprehension, then concern.

"That's why you were in the Room of Requirement. You have slept in there for a long time haven't you?"

I nodded, "Professor Dumbledore said he would tell some teachers. I guess he never did," I said.

"Well, I guess you can tell him, if you absolutely must. Don't tell him if you don't have to though," she said.

"Alright, I won't," I lied.

"Okay, let's go now," she said, moving to the door.

"Wait, is Dumbledore in your office? I forgot to look," I asked when the question popped into my head.

"Yes he is and he's awake right now. He won't be awake long though, he'll be sleeping with the other portraits," she said before mumbling the password to open the door again. This time I heard the sounds but not enough to make out the password.

I followed her through the passage ways memorizing again the specific turns and twists, this time because I knew I had to.

When we reached the place where we were going to go our seperate ways she stopped and turned to look at me. "I know I can't stop you, but please keep that room a secret. Only for a while, it doesn't have to be forever," she said to me and I nodded before she turned and walked away.

I thought about the conversation I had with my mother and how much I wished Harry could feel the same feeling I felt because he got to talk to his parents. That ultimately decided it for me; I had to show him that room.

Thinking over the conversation again I had with my mother I noticed something wierd about it. She had called me darling the whole time. She had never done that before, ever, she usually calls me dear. I thought for a moment, but I was snapped out of my thoughts when I almost passed the portrait hole. The only reason I knew I almost passed it was because I ran into Harry.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he steadied me.

"Yeah, just thinking," I replied and at that instant it hit me. My mum was giving me a clue, darling was the password.

"Let's go back to our room. What did she show you?" he asked.

"I'll tell you in private. I need to think it over for a few minutes," I lied.What I really had to do was decide if I was going to tell him, or make up a lie.

When I left McGonagalls office I went straight to the Gryffindor common room. I saw Hermione and Ron snogging and was about to turn around because Amy and I had successfully avoided them since the incident with Blaise.

I was almost at the portrait hole when I heard Hermione say my name. I turned to look at them and thought about running but in the end decided to just sit down.

"What's going on Harry? Where's Amy?" Hermione asked as I sat down.

"She's with McGonagall," I replied.

"Well, you said you'd tell me when Ron was around. What happened?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" I pretended I didn't know.

"Don't pretend Harry, you know exactly what I'm talking about. What happened?" she persisted.

"Fine, I'll tell you," I took a deep breath before divulging into the whole story. It took almost an hour to tell with Hermione's persistant questions.

"You hadn't told Amy about the cloak and the map before then?" this time it wasn't Hermione that spoke, but Ron asked his first question when I finished the story.

"Yeah, I guess I had forgot to," I lied. I had actually been waiting for the perfect moment to tell her. It just didn't really come.

"You forgot about the cloak and the map?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said a little bit to quickly, "I need to go find Amy though, I figured she'd be here by now," I said before getting up.

"Alright, fine. See you Harry," Hermione said.

"Later Harry," Ron said and I just waved before disappearing through the portrait hole.

I found Amy quicker than I thought. As I came out I ran into her. She seemed to have been deep in thought before I ran into her though. I steadied her and asked if she was okay.

"Yeah, just thinking," she replied and then inspiration hit her features and I knew it had something to do with what she had just seen.

"Let's go back to our room. What did she show you?" I asked, but I knew she wasn't going to tell me, at least not until we made it back to the room.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the room, I need to think about things for a minute," she replied. I searched her features for a moment before starting to walk.

"I ran into Ron and Hermione," I said.

She stopped in her tracks, "What happened?" she asked when I stopped and looked at her.

"Hermione asked me what happened that day and I told her. I tried to get out of it but I figured I could avoid it no longer," I said as we started walking again.

She put her arm around my waist and squeezed me, "I'm sorry you had to do that on your own. I wanted to be there when we had that conversation with them," she said.

"It's fine," I said, rubbing her shoulders.

We walked in silence the rest of the way to the room. When we finally reached it we were suprised to find Isabella and Jake asleep on their bed. I found it the perfect opertunity to use the cloak. So I walked over to my trunk and took out the cloak and map.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked me curiously.

"Come on, get under with me," I said after she had followed me to the door. She raised her eyebrows but followed my instructions and I threw the cloak over us. "I solmenly swear I am up to no good," I said tapping the map.

I opened the door and walked out into the hallway once more. I had to walk very close to Amy for both of us to walk under the cloak, but I didn't mind much. She followed me all the way to where I wanted to go with out saying a word. When we finally reached the top of the astronomy tower I took the cloak off the both of us.

"Why are we up here?" she asked.

"I figured we could use some privacy," I shrugged, "Sit down with me," I said after I had sat down.

She sat down next to me and I wrapped my arms around her.

She sighed as she looked out at the stars, "It's beautiful out here," she said.

"Yeah," I agreed, but I wasn't looking at the stars. The light was reflecting off her skin perfectly, making her practically glow. "You know," I said, looking into her eyes, "There's a light in your eyes right now that hasn't been there since your mum died, it has nothing to do with the stars either. It's been there since I ran into you outside the Gryffindor common room. What happened when u were with Professor McGonagall?"

"Well," she paused, "she took me to this room and inside were portraits of all the witches and wizards that have made a difference in the world. I saw my mum and," she paused again, "Well, I saw ur mum and dad and Sirius."

I sat in shock for a moment, trying to find my voice, "You were going to keep something like that from me?"

"No I wasn't, I admit, I was still deciding, but I told you, didn't I?. McGonagall told me not to tell you, but I knew I couldn't keep something like that from you. I remember how to get there and the password to get into the room. Do you want me to take you now?"

I was shocked by her mention that she could take me to the room. My mouth had gone dry though and I couldn't use my voice so I just nodded.

She stood up and pulled me up before throwing the cloak over us. This time she was the one leading the way. As we made our way through the twists and turns I couldn't imagine how she'd remembered how to get down here. I knew I would have never been able to remember. It wasn't long before she had taken off the cloak and muttered the word Darling to the door. It opened and I walked in before she followed, closing the door behind her.

She walked over to a blank stretch of canvas, "Hello, James, Lily, Sirius, someone?" she asked it. It wasn't long before I saw my dad appear in the portrait. I stood shocked for a moment, as did my dad before he asked how I was doing.

I couldn't find my voice for a moment, but then I felt Amy's arm around my waist and I managed to say that I was doing well.

"Congratulations son, on becoming a father. I know you'll be a good one. I have to go though, you're mother wants to say something to you," my father said before disapppearing.

I watched him struggle while his dad asked him how he was so I walked over and put my arm around his waist, hoping to make him relax. It worked because he was able to answer and when his mum came he was able to speak more freely. His mum dad and Sirius came not in any order, but many times and I gradually inched further away from him. After a few moments I sat down on the opposite wall, hoping he wouldn't notice my lack of presence.

I watched him laugh with the people he didn't know quite well enough and I saw that he was truly happy. It was also in that moment that I realized that I had seen that look before. I see the same look of happiness every time he looks in my eyes. It was in that moment I realized how much he really did love me and that I shouldn't be sitting in the sidelines, I should be standing next to him, like a proud wife.

I stood up with some diffuculty, but Harry came to my aide. He helped me to my feet and pulled me to his side standing in front of the portrait. We talked to his parents and godfather for hours and my mum made a few appearences.

"Well you better go to bed now, it's not good to not get rest when you're pregnant," Lily scolded after it had been a few hours.

"Yeah, you're right Mum," I replied, I had only recently started calling James Dad and Lily Mum. Harry had started calling my mum Mum, too.

We said goodnight to everybody before going exiting into the corridor again.

"I have to lead us out of here don't I?" I asked, because I was starting to feel a little wierd.

"Oh, I forgot the cloak, I'll go get it," Harry said going back into the room.

I started feeling woozy and dizzy once he disappeared. My legs were starting to give away so I moved to sit down, but the next thing I remember is everything going black.

The next chapter will be the last one. This one was going to be the last one but it got to long so I had to break it up into two pieces. The next chapter will probably be shorter, but Amy has her baby(or babies, who knows?) and Hermione witll have her baby. Don't be distressed though after this I plan on writing a prequel, of Gwen/Snape and Lily/James. That will be short, but I will write a sequel to this story too.