*I don't own Harry Potter, InuYasha, or any of their characters
"I SWEAR TO MERLIN, JAMES, I'LL WILL CASTRATE YOU FOR THIS THRICE-DAMNED AGONY!"
The man for whom that curse was screamed at winced as he waited anxiously in the waiting room just outside of the maternity ward. Unlike from what he had heard of Muggle hospitals, St. Mungo's somewhat ancient policies dictated that males were to wait outside of the birthing room unless they were Healers… which, from the increasingly colorful curses that were being heard, might've been a good thing for poor James Potter.
While Remus clasped his shoulder in a show of honest brotherly support, Sirius merely laughed at James' expression.
"Merlin, Prongs, your face is hilarious!" he finally managed to breath out in between chortles.
As James glowered at his best friend, the other expectant father in the room looked over at the three Marauders. "You do realize that when the time comes for you to be in our place that we will laugh just as hard, right Sirius?" commented Frank Longbottom.
Snickering, Remus added, "And knowing Sirius, he'll choose someone with an even worse temper than Lily!"
"Oh, ha ha," muttered Sirius. As the rest of the males in the room laughed at the irritated expression that now filled Sirius' face, even James was able to make a weak smile despite yet the sound of yet another scream of Lily's echoing from her room.
When his laughter had subsided a bit, Frank turned to James. "Say, I noticed a member of your family's missing. Who's watching little Ari?" he inquired.
"Ariana's with the Weasley's right now," answered the proud father. "Molly figured that rather than having her listen to her mother's screams, Ari would rather have a playdate with baby Ron instead."
At that moment, a pained scream echoed from the direction of Alice Longbottom's room. Frank winced at the level of agony that was apparent in it. After it was over, however, came an unmistakable sound.
"Congratulations, Frank, you're now officially a dad!" James pronounced as the newest Longbottom's cry filled the ward. Remus and Sirius offered their own congratulations as a happily stunned expression appeared on Frank's face.
Thirty seconds later, one of the nurses came out of the Longbottom room. Glancing around, she soon spotted the new father and hurried over to him.
"Your wife and child are ready to see you now," she informed him with a smile.
As Frank all but ran to see his new child, Sirius asked the room in general, "Any bets on whether it's a boy or a girl?"
"It's a boy, Mr. Black," the nurse commented as she walked away, obviously not in the mood for Sirius' antics. Chuckles filled the room while the would-be bookkeeper pouted at his spoiled fun.
After his chuckles subsided, James leaned back with a sigh. "Lily's been in labor for hours…" he observed with another sigh. Pulling out his pocket watch and glancing at it, he noticed that it was a couple minutes until midnight. "How much longer is our child going to take until I can finally meet him?"
Glancing back over at the now lone expectant father in the room, the two Marauders who had accompanied their friend stood up and took seats on opposite sides of him. While Sirius sent off a Patronus with the news of Frank's new son, Remus comforted James. "You know that every birth is different, Prongs, as we've all learned from Molly's experiences. Your kid'll show up when they're ready, and not a minute sooner."
"Obviously the new Potter's inherited James' tendencies to make everyone wait, though," said Sirius.
James Potter did the only logical thing he could think of at that point.
"OW! What was the stinging hex for?!"
"Face it, Sirius, you deserved that one," remarked Remus.
Rubbing his arm, Sirius retorted, "Maybe… but it still hurt!"
Massaging his face with both of his hands, James ignored his friends' bickering as he settled down once more to wait. Wincing once more at Lily's pained scream, he sighed in resignation. Checking his watch again, he noticed that it was now a quarter after midnight.
"Time flies…" he muttered quietly.
Suddenly, a loud wail filled the air. As one, the three Marauders' heads whipped towards Lily's room.
"Can it be…?" James breathed, standing up.
Sure enough, a nurse soon came out of Lily's room with a large smile on her face.
"Your wife and child are ready to see you now," she informed him.
Not wasting any time, the newest father dashed into the room. As he paused just inside the doorway, his wife looked up from the bundle in her arms with a tired pride in her eyes.
"James… come meet your son," Lily quietly ordered.
"A son…?" James marveled, walking quickly towards the two of them. Positioning himself for the best possible view, James Potter looked upon the face of the newest Potter… well, as much of the face as he could see while the baby was enjoying its first meal. "He has my hair for sure," he laughed.
At the sound of the laugh, said son looked up at his father while continuing to feed.
"And he'll have my eyes," Lily added while James marveled at the brilliant green specks that were already peeking through the standard blue-grey of newborn eyes.
Without looking away from his son's eyes, James said, "He's beautiful, Lily love." Finally looking away to glance at his wife, he asked, "What should we name him?"
Thinking for a moment, Lily's eyes soon lit up. "I have an idea…"
"Hello! We're here!" sang out Molly as she stepped from the fireplace, the fire dying out as soon as the Floo connection was closed. In her arms, Ariana babbled happily as soon as she recognized her surroundings.
Poking his head out of the family room, James quietly called back, "We're in here, and the baby's sleeping."
Making an excited yet quiet 'oh' of understanding, the Weasley matriarch bustled towards where the rest of Ariana's family was. As she turned the corner, she soon spotted Lily holding a distinctive bundle.
Looking up, the Lady Potter's face erupted into a huge smile at the sight of her daughter in a friend's arms. "Hey, Molly," she greeted softly.
Reciprocating the greeting, Molly added, "And congratulations on the new baby!" Coming closer with a quiet surety that only comes from being a mother, she inquired, "I heard that you had a boy… what's his name?"
"We named him Harry James," answered James as he reached his arms out for his baby girl. Without missing a beat, the Weasley matriarch handed her over as she went to coo at Harry, who was happily asleep.
Nuzzling her tiny nose, the proud father whispered, "Hello, Ari-girl." As she cooed back, he shifted her to a more comfortable position. "Guess what?" he murmured, filling his voice with an excited tone that was sure to get his daughter's attention. When she looked up, he continued, "You have a new baby brother."
"James, quit hogging Ari and bring her over to meet Harry," ordered Lily with a smile.
"Yes, Lils," her husband replied, walking over to where the two witches were. As Molly shifted to make room for him, he sat down on the couch and positioned Ariana so that she could clearly see her new sibling.
Fondness filling her eyes as she took in the first sight of her two children together, Lily shifted Harry just a bit so that his face could be clearly seen by her daughter. "Ariana, meet your new baby brother," she introduced quietly.
Staring at the baby with obvious curiosity, Ariana shifted a touch closer. As if sensing her presence, Harry himself shifted a bit in Lily's arms. Opening his eyes, the baby soon saw the last member of his family. For a good minute, the two siblings stared at each other. Then, in a show of disinterest that made all of the adults in the room chuckle, Harry shifted back into his original position and fell back asleep.
Ariana, meanwhile, looked up at her parents. The nine-month old cooed questioningly while one of her arms gestured vaguely towards the other baby.
"Yes, Ari-girl, that's Harry," James told her.
Molly smiled at the sight. Ariana had definitely stolen her father's heart since that fateful day she joined the Potter family, and it was always a heartwarming to see the head Marauder become so gentle and loving towards his little girl. The Weasley matriarch thought that it was for the best, for she believed that knowing that his daughter was home waiting for him helped tame James' notorious recklessness. And now that baby Harry was here, hopefully his tendency of taking risks would disappear even more.
Pausing for a moment, Molly remembered that James was one of the most stubborn people she had ever known. Well, one could hope.
It had been a whole week since Harry had come home, and the two parents were very thankful that they had experience dealing with Ariana before Harry had come along. This time around, they were more prepared to get up in the middle of the night and deal with whatever needed to be dealt with. While he wasn't as needy as some other babies, Harry still liked to get up multiple times a night.
Ariana, surprisingly, was the biggest trooper about the new baby in the house. While she was awakened by Harry, she had yet to cry about it. Both parents had noticed their daughter looking at Harry every time with an interesting expression on her face. James liked to think that it was a worried expression, while in the deepest part of her heart Lily was sure it was a halfway wistful expression. Every time she saw it, Lily was once again struck with the questions of who Ariana's original family was. She was starting to think that Harry wasn't Ariana's only sibling, but with their lack of knowledge about their daughter's past, she would probably never find out.
Either way, Ariana was surprisingly accommodating about the new addition to the household.
On this particular morning, James and Lily were in the process of feeding their children. Lily was breastfeeding Harry, while James was giving Ariana some baby food (broccoli, carrot, and cheese-flavored, if one were to guess just by the color). This quiet scene would've probably continued if it hadn't been for the sudden sound of the Floo being activated.
"James? Lily? Are either of you home?" came Albus' voice from the living room fireplace.
After giving each other a surprised look, Lily continued to feed Harry while James quickly wiped off the mess on his daughter's face and hurried to poke his head into the living room. "We're in the kitchen, Albus, feeding the children," he answered.
"Ah, very good," the aged professor's head said jovially. "Would you mind if I stepped through, my dear boy?"
"Not at all," James agreed, "just meet us in the kitchen, for I'm not done feeding Ari and Lily is feeding Harry."
As Albus agreed and tucked his head back out of the fireplace, James went back into the kitchen. Settling back down to feed Ariana once more, he quietly commented to his wife, "I wonder what he wants with us."
Shrugging, Lily shifted Harry to burp him as she adjusted her shirt to be presentable while responding, "We'll just have to see."
Before James could say anything else, the subject of their conversation came strolling in. Ariana babbled happily upon seeing him, and Dumbledore waved back at her as he always did whenever he saw her.
However, James and Lily were very alarmed at the lack of twinkle in the old man's eyes.
"Professor? Is something wrong?" inquired Lily gently. At that moment, Harry finally succumbed to his mother's patting and burped loud enough to startle the old man.
The professor watched as Harry was guided into a more comfortable position in Lily's arms. James, upon seeing the look in his eyes, felt a slight chill run down his spine. Whatever news Dumbledore had, it wasn't good.
Shaking his head slightly, Albus looked at the two parents. "James, Lily… I came to tell you that your son, along with Neville Longbottom, is in grave danger from Voldemort."
"What do you mean, 'Our son is in grave danger'?" demanded Lily.
James, sharing his wife's disbelief, added, "Why would he be concerned with two newborn infants? He never has been before."
Taking a deep breath to seemingly gather his strength, Dumbledore began, "Shortly before Ariana joined your family, I had been interviewing the new Divination teacher, who had recited a prophecy to me…"
A/N: So, I hope that everyone who celebrates it had a happy Thanksgiving! I just wanted to let you know, though, that this is the last chapter for 2014, for I'm going to be focusing on two other stories during the holiday season. And yes, this chapter is the weakest one so far, however I needed to get it out in order to get on with the last two chapters for this segment of the series.