Thanks for all your reviews, favourites and follows so far. Dora and I are going a little crazy at the moment, because Dora has flown over from America to come and visit me in London. Oh the idea's that fly around when we are together. haha
Anyway! Please do enjoy this chapter and please leave a review if you have a moment (we loves them).
Bella
Nymphadora walked down the corridor to Black Manor, one hand placed on the 20-week pregnancy bump as she tried to remember exactly where the door she wanted was. Having lived in the house for the past ten years you would have thought that Nymphadora would be familiar with the layout of the Manor, though truth be told there were one—perhaps two—rooms that seemed to . . . move from her. It was as if Cygnus had charmed certain doors to never stay in the same place. It should have come to no surprise to her, they had all been finding little 'surprises' in the Manor sporadically since their first arrival. It was with a small grin Dora found the door that she had been trying to trace down for the past week. She walked up to the solid oak, letting her finger run along the detailing on the wood before her eyes rested on the name delicately engraved on a small wooden plaque.
"Andromeda . . ." Dora breathed, triumphant in her discovery. She quickly looked both ways down the corridor, as if by merely speaking the woman's name she would unintentionally summon her. "Right." Dora nodded to herself, she swallowed hard before she quickly put her hand on the door knob, the other still protectively on her stomach. She let out a gasp of pain, a mere jolt really but still enough to shock her. Clearly even years past her father's death he still had the ability to keep a hold of certain aspects of the Manor that was now her own. "Right," she whispered to herself "you can do this." She closed her eyes, pressing her hand flat against the door as she reached out to the wards of the room. "Oh." She whimpered, feeling the immediate rejection of the wards though she was determined to power through. It took a few minutes, untwining the fine tendrils of the spell slowly and carefully, though eventually she managed it.
Her hair was bright pink as she heard the lock of the door undoing itself. She had no idea why she was so happy, no real idea why she was so determined to get into Andromeda's old room. Perhaps she was simply curious as to what the room of a teenaged Andromeda Black looked like? Perhaps it was the mere thought of having a room in a house she was supposed to be in charge of be of limits to her? Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't know what was in there that simply made her have to know? Whatever it was, Nymphadora was more than excited to see inside. With one last look down the corridor she turned the door knob and quickly entered the room, quickly turning and pushing the door to only be slightly ajar (she was hesitant to shut it fully for a slight fear of the room trying to seal itself or relocate with her inside).
The witch took a moment to calm herself, drawing her wand as she slowly turned to face the room. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, though perhaps it was not quite what she had found. It was quite alike to Delphi's and Rigel's rooms, old dark oak furniture dotted placed around the room, a large ornate wardrobe, two bedside tables framed a large four poster double bed, the dark purple silk sheets made carefully with the matching curtains drawn and tied around the posters. The room was sparse of much decoration, though from the looks of the odd pins on the walls where portraits had clearly once hung and spaces between the odd lamp and odd book on the surfaces suggested that that had not always been the case. It did not surprise her to think that Andromeda would have taken the photograph's with her for sentimental reasons, the trinkets as something to either keep or most likely sell on to fund Andromeda Black's new life with her muggle born lover. Dora couldn't help it as the sadness of the reality of what she was looking at hit her. The last time that Andromeda would have been in this room, a scared yet hopeful young girl ready to leave her family and all she had once known behind her in pursuit of true love. She swatted away a tear. All that Andromeda had once given up, once ran from in hopes of a better life, all to have her end up in the same house with her true love dead at her own sister's hand whilst she was forced to conform back into her Pure Blood ways in order to keep what little family she had left safe and near.
"Fucking hormones." Dora cursed, swatting away more tears as she caught a glimpse of her previously pink hair fading to a mousey brown.
She shook her head, continuing her inspection of the room. She looked back to the door, only now realising the one thing misplaced in the room. She walked over slowly, nudging the broken shards of crystal vase with the tip of her shoe. She frowned in confusion, unsure of why in a room left in such an otherwise pristine shape had such a thing in it. She sighed as she came to the realisation that Andromeda may have not been alone the last time she left this room. Dora turned, her eyes scanning the walls until she found what she was looking for. There, at around head height on the opposite wall, was a scorch mark. Clearly Andromeda had been disturbed as she had finished her packing, Nymphadora was sure she could guess who would try and curse her to stay. She thought for a few moments before she decided that it was probably time to leave the room, determined to seal it back up again in attempts to remove the evidence that she had entered the room in the first place. Dora somehow had the other whelming feeling that she had overstepped her mark, walking in on what was a very personal snapshot of Andromeda's past life, a life most likely best forgotten. It was just as she turned, her hand reaching out for the door knob ready to exit, that she heard it. A sudden rumble came from behind her. She tightened her grip on her wand, turning to face the room at large. It was then that she saw it again, the tremble of the ornate wardrobe as something rattled from within.
"For Merlin's sake." Dora muttered to herself, pointing her wand at the wardrobe. "Probably just a boggart . . . more than capable of dealing with that on my own." She bit her lip as the wardrobe jostled again. "Right . . . stay calm, collected. . . think of things that make you strong, that don't make you scared . . . Oh pull yourself together woman!"
With a quick flick of her wand the doors flew open. Time seemed to still, each second seeming like an hour, until in a puff of black smoke a figure emerged from the depths of the wardrobe. Nymphadora's eyes widen in shock and confusion as Rabastan Lestrange stepped forward, his face lit with fury.
"Rab . . ." Dora squeaked, her wand lowering for a moment as she temporarily forgot that the thing before her was not in fact her husband. "What . . .?"
"What? What? What?" Rabastan spat. "You're pathetic! You're a pathetic excuse of a wife, why I ever married you I will never know."
Dora squeezed her eyes shut, pointing her wand at the boggart. "R—Riddikulus!"
"Ha!" Rabastan sneered. "You are ridiculous! Just like your mother! You lost our child! I bet you did it on purpose, it's entirely your fault. Just like your mother you ran into battle when I told you not to! You killed our unborn child for your own obsessive need to go head first into a duel!"
"I—" Dora wrapped her non-wand arm around her stomach, tears springing to her eyes. "I didn't . . . I'm not . . ."
"You did and you are!" the boggart hissed, drawing his wand from within his robes. "I should be more like Rodolphus, put you in your place! How I ever thought you would be a proper Pure Blooded wife I do not know! Raised by a blood traitor bitch and her mudblood, with Bellatrix for your mother! You had no hope. If I could leave you I would."
"Shut up! Riddikulus!" Dora yelled, crying out as the spell failed, falling back into the wall as tears began to fall down her face. "Stop it!"
"Why should I? You deserve it! You're a murderer, a terrible mother, you were a pathetic excuse of a Death Eater, an awful daughter, a terrible wife! You killed our child!"
"No!" Dora screamed, reaching her hands up to cover her ears as she slipped down the wall.
"Dora?" Rabastan called out "Dora!"
"Leave me alone!" she cried, her hormones getting the better of her as she screwed her eyes shut. She screamed out as she felt arms around her, her eyes snapping open to see Rabastan's faces inches from her own. "I'm sorry!" she whimpered through her tears "I didn't mean to lose our baby; I shouldn't have run out to duel! I'm not my mother! I'll be a good wife, I swear. Don't leave me, don't hurt me—please!"
"What? I would never—" Rabastan shook his head at his wife, pulling back slightly as Nymphadora saw the boggart still leering at her. "Oh Dora."
Rabastan took a deep breath before he kissed his sobbing wife's head, drawing himself tall as he stood in front of her. The clone of himself smirked before suddenly it transformed before their eyes. The one figure turned into two. Nymphadora was weak, broken on the floor, her usual dress exchanged for the prison rags of Azkaban as a Dementor loomed above her. The creature loomed forward, the witch on the floor shivering in pain in fear as it grasped her face, ready to perform its fatal kiss. Rabastan closed his eyes, Dora watching through her own tear filled dark eyes as he clenched his fists, taking a deep breath before he slowly raised his wand.
"Riddikulus!" his voice boomed throughout the room and with a sudden flash of light and puff of smoke the boggart version of Nymphadora and the Dementor were clad in traditional tango clothes. Dora couldn't help but let out a choked huff of laughter as the figures danced for a few movements before with a spin across the room it evaporated. Rabastan stood still for a moment before he slowly turned, looking down at his wife on the floor with a sad smile and a sigh. "Dora . . ."
"I'm sorry." She sniffed, wiping her tears away as she looked up from her position sat against the wall on the floor. "I'm sorry . . ."
"Dora . . ." Rabastan frowned, getting down on to the floor beside his wife as he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her head, stroking her hair as he tried to calm her.
"I—" Dora sniffed "H—How much of that did you hear?"
"Of the rant of my crazy evil twin?" Rab joked before squeezing his wife to comfort her "Enough to know that it is absolutely nonsense. Dora—" he sighed again before he sat back, adjusting Dora so he could look into her face as he brushed the hair out of her face "do you know what I think of, when I'm jolted awake in the middle of the night, the memories of Azkaban and the Dementors haunting me? Hmm?" the man smiled slightly as she shook her head, looking to her with her beautiful dark eyes "I think of happy things. I think of you, of our wedding day and how beautiful you were—and still are—how amazing you are and how lucky I am to have you, I think of Rigel and how thankful I am for him and again you because if it weren't for you I would never have become a father, then I think of our little one that will be here soon." Rabastan couldn't help but grin as Dora smiled slightly, placing a hand on the bump of his wife's stomach before pressing a gentle kiss to his wife's lips. "I love you, Nymphadora Lestrange. I—I'm sorry I ever hurt you but I will never do that again and you know I do not blame you for . . . you know. You never need to be scared of me saying any of those things to you because I never will, I would never even think such things. Okay?"
Dora nodded, wiping the last of her tears away as she forced a small smile. "Okay . . ."
"Good." Rab kissed her gently before pulling back and frowning slightly "What are you doing in here anyway?"
"That's exactly what I would like to know." Dora screwed her eyes shut, swearing under her breath as the woman's voice came from her left.
Andromeda Tonks stood with her arms folded, her right hand clenched under her arm most likely in order to stop her instinctively cursing the woman on the floor. Her face was lit with fury, her Black eyes somehow seeming darker and more threatening than normal. It was when Nymphadora realised that the roots of Andromeda's hair had taken on a fire red hue that she knew she was in trouble; it was rare that Andromeda let her emotions take over her physical appearance. Dora took a deep breath before she tried to get up from the floor, thankfully taking her husbands helping hand as she got to her feet. She went to speak, opening and closing her mouth for a moment as she tried to think of what to say to Andromeda. All she could think of was how similar Andromeda looked to Bellatrix when she was angry.
"I—I wanted to take a look." Dora forced a calm look onto her face even though underneath she was doing nothing but worry as to what Andromeda was going to say or do. She relaxed slightly as Rabastan's arm snaked around her lower back and gave her a reassuring discreet squeeze.
"After I specifically told you not to?" Andromeda snapped.
"With all due respect, Andromeda." Rabastan raised an eyebrow at the woman before her. "Nymphadora is head of The House of Black now. She owns this manor and every room in it, it is entirely within her rights to go into any room she pleases in her own property."
"I asked one thing!" Andromeda glared at Nymphadora, the girl shuffling on the spot awkwardly as she was unsure of what to say or do. "You told me you wouldn't come in here!"
"Do not shout at my pregnant wife, Andromeda!" Rabastan yelled back, moving himself to stand slightly in front of the woman beside him.
Andromeda turned her glare to the man, seemingly chewing on the many words she no doubt wanted to scream at him. "Stay out of this, Rabastan." Andromeda eventually growled.
"How dare—"
"Rab please." Dora shook her head, putting a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him. She winced as he pulled away from her grasp, her eyes widening as his hand inched towards his wand. "Calm down."
"Me calm down?" Rabastan spat "Tell her to calm down."
"Both of you calm down." Rodolphus Lestrange sighed as he appeared behind Andromeda in the door way. Nymphadora almost sighed in relief as the appearance of her brother-in-law made her husband relax the hand previously reaching for his wand. "What's going on?" Rodolphus frowned as he looked around the room. "What are you doing in here? I thought you were leaving this room sealed?"
"I—" Nymphadora went to speak until she was drowned out by a yell of fury she had never heard from Andromeda before, to be honest it was a sound she had only ever heard coming from her biological mother. Dora's hair shot white in shock, her hand gripping onto the fabric of her dress covering her unborn child as she watched Andromeda storm from the room. The three remaining adults staring after her in stunned silence. It felt like at least a few minutes had passed before the silence was broken, yet it was seconds later that Rodolphus shook his head and looked to the couple.
"What happened?" Rodolphus asked.
Dora shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself as she glanced to the open wardrobe door as she whispered. "She's right, I shouldn't have come in here."
"You have every right to be in here." Rodolphus shrugged, rolling his eyes. "Merlin knows why she cares so much . . . Have you been crying?"
Dora instantly shook her head, morphing her features to get rid of what she knew must be puffy red eyes to give away such things that gave away her previous tears. "I'm fine."
"She found a boggart." Rabastan muttered, looking to Nymphadora to see if she was okay.
"You tried to take on a boggart alone?" Rodolphus gave a tut of disapproval "Whilst pregnant and hormonal? Really Dora, everyone knows it's best to face a Boggart with more than one person to confuse the thing."
"I wasn't thinking! Happy? I was stupid." Dora snapped, her hair flashing red before Rab reached out and placed a gentle hand on her stomach.
"Dora, calm." Rab soothed, sighing as Dora nodded slightly.
"I'm going to apologise to Andromeda."
Rodolphus scoffed "Apologise for going into a room in your own home? Makes sense."
"Shut up, Rodolphus." Rabastan groaned. "Dora, don't. Go check on Rigel or something, calm down."
"No." Dora shook her head, already walking across the room and barging past Rodolphus.
"You're becoming too much like your mother girl." Rodolphus remarked.
Dora yelped as the sound of a hex hitting the man rung out, making Rodolphus fall backwards at the wall. She didn't wait, scurrying out of the room.
"She is nothing like Bellatrix! She is not your wife so do not talk to her as such!" Rabastan yelled, Dora hearing him as she paused in the corridor to look back towards the still open door of Andromeda's childhood room.
Barely a second had gone by as she watched Rabastan storm from the room. They locked eyes, Dora unsure of what to do. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, mouthing a thank you to the man before he gave her a curt nod. With that he turned, leaving Dora alone to decide what to do in regards to Andromeda herself. She didn't wait for Rodolphus to emerge, quickly walking off in the direction of Andromeda's current room. She wasn't sure what to say to the witch. She wasn't sure how she could make what she had done any better. A part of her also wasn't sure if she did not truly believe what Rabastan had said. Black Manor was technically her home, she owned it. Why shouldn't she be able to go into any room she desired within the house? She shook her head with a sigh as she reached Andromeda's current bedroom, quickly knocking on the door before she lost her nerve to do so.
She was greeted with silence, though she could feel the fresh ward on the room and knew that Andromeda was inside. "Dromeda . . ." Nymphadora bit her lip, hesitating for a moment before she called out again. "Andromeda I know you're in there . . . Answer me . . . Fine." Dora huffed, placing her hand on the door as she simply overrode the wards on the room, quickly stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her.
"Nymphadora." Andromeda looked to her once daughter in the reflection of her vanity mirror. "Did I not teach you to respect other's privacy?"
"Yes." Dora shrugged slightly, rubbing her stomach subconsciously. "Though I do believe I can easily pinpoint several instances growing up when you demonstrated that the owner of a house has the ability to override any wards."
"A power you've decided to exercise twice in one day." Andromeda forced her voice to remain as calm as possible, something that merely proved to make her seem angrier in Nymphadora's eyes. "Seems like you're more like your mother than I initially thought."
"That's not fair!" Dora snapped, unable to help herself. "If doing that makes me more like my mother then you are too, seeing as you did it just as much—she never did that to me."
"You were a child when you lived with me, Nymphadora." Andromeda hissed, finally standing up from the small stool in front of her mirror. "I was your—I was your guardian. I had every right to pull down whatever ward you could place on your room. If Rigel warded himself into his room and you needed to speak to him—if you were worried about him—would you not pull it down? "
"I—" Dora thought for something to say for a few moments before she threw up her hands in surrender, walking over to Andromeda's bed and sitting on the edge of it as she looked up at the woman before her. "I'm sorry. I truly am. You asked me not to go in to that room and I did. I was curious . . . confused . . . For merlin's sake I am pregnant, hormonal, bored, fed up with being trapped in this bloody manor—Rab hasn't let me go out under a morph to get supplies in months! I mean I can't blame him really but I'm going stir crazy. I know I should have respected your wishes but I didn't. I'm not good at making judgements at the moment, as I have just proven with that bloody boggart." Dora took a breath, both of her hands nervously clutching onto the fabric covering the swell of her stomach. "I just . . . I didn't understand why you refused to go in there . . . I thought there might be something in there."
Andromeda looked to the girl, her arms firmly crossed across her chest. She watched her sat there nervously, unsure if the girl knew that her hair had turned her natural untamed black curls. It was a look that made Andromeda soften slightly. Every time Dora had been unsure of her emotions, confused, overwhelmed or generally unsure of herself she reverted to that look, so similar to her mother—to her sister. Andromeda Tonks Née Black sighed deeply before she sat down on the bed next to her, staring at the floor as she tried to decide what to say—how to say it.
"That room . . . it marks a time of my life that I would sooner forget. It brings back memories. It reminds me of a time when I had two sisters that loved me—we all loved each other, we would have done anything for each other to protect each other and be there for one another . . ." Andromeda swallowed hard as she tried to retain her composure before carrying on. "Though now it simply reminds me of where I got cursed out of my own bedroom by my furious sister—your mother—the things she said . . . I probably deserved the most of it, though that didn't make it any easier to bare . . . It's the room where my father—well you know about that . . . it holds happy memories as well as the bad ones and they hurt just as much as each other. I didn't want that room unsealed, I wanted to pretend that that part of my life was gone . . . it's hard to be here, Dora. It's hard to be back in the manor that so many things happened in, but I do it for you. All I asked was that you left that one part of the Manor untouched, sealed . . ."
Nymphadora looked to the witch beside her, her heart breaking for her as she watched a single tear fall down her cheek. The younger witch bit her lip, trying her hardest not to cry herself as she slowly let her left hand slip over to Andromeda's own. She gently took her hand, holding back a sigh of relief as she didn't immediately pull away. After a few moments of silence, she cautiously rested her head on the other woman's shoulder, relaxing as she felt Andromeda soften slightly.
"I . . . I'm sorry . . ." Dora breathed "I didn't think . . . I just—I thought something might be in there. You know what I'm like, I had to know. I just . . . I didn't really think the reason you wanted it kept shut was—well . . . that."
Andromeda hesitated for a moment before she let out a deep sigh, resting her head on Nymphadora's own. "I should not have screamed at you . . ."
"I deserved it." Dora murmured.
"Perhaps." Andromeda gave a huff of laughter before squeezing the girls hand. "But still . . . it's not like me to talk like that. You upset me, but Rabastan was right; this is your Manor now. You can do as you please."
"I shouldn't have though." Dora sniffed. "I said I wouldn't . . ."
"Yes, but if raising you for more than twenty years taught me anything it is that you are your mothers daughter. Tell you not to do something and you'll only want to do it ten times more." Andromeda couldn't help the small smirk that came to her lips as she raised her head from Nymphadora's own. "You are more like your mother than you know."
Dora lifted her head, her brows furrowing in slight hurt and confusion "I—" she huffed in annoyance "Is that really such a bad thing?"
Andromeda couldn't help but laugh at that, shaking her head. "No. You have the best of her. You're not exactly a crazed psychopath and you have taken to the Pure Blood life and the duties it entails far better than she ever did."
"Thanks." Dora scoffed. "Though I feel like I should be offended on my mother's behalf. I feel like she'd at least hex you for that comment."
"Perhaps." Andromeda shrugged. "Though I'd like to see you try to hex me."
"Oh I could." Dora grinned. "But I'll give you a free pass this time."
"Thank you." Andromeda rolled her eyes.
"You're welcome." Dora giggled as she kissed Andromeda's cheek before standing up again. "I'm going to see to Rabastan. He may have cursed his brother into a wall for saying I was like Bellatrix—and he definitely did not mean it in a good way."
"Well, Madame Lestrange, you do seem to have inherited the task of keeping the Lestrange boys in line—or at least stopping them from killing each other."
"And to think," Dora sighed "I used to always want a brother . . ." she placed a hand on her stomach, mock fear across her features "Merlin, I hope this is a girl."
Andromeda laughed slightly, shaking her head as the girl turned and left the room. Nymphadora knew that Andromeda was still upset, she had always had a way of pretending everything was okay even when her world was falling to pieces around her. Though as much as she was ashamed to admit it Dora was happy to play along with the façade for now without prying into things too greatly, Andromeda had forgiven her and that all that mattered. All the woman wanted to do was to find her husband, curl into his arms and perhaps even take a nap. Nymphadora Lestrange had gotten far too used to pretending things weren't as terrifying or upsetting as they actually were, not dwelling on the fact that Rabastan's Boggart could become reality far too easily. For now, she would focus on her family and the contented excitement of the impending arrival of a new life.
Nymphadora sighed happily as she lay on her bed, snuggled into her husband's side with her head resting on his chest, contentedly listening to nothing but the steady thrum of his heart. A small smile tugged at her lips as Rabastan gently stroked her hair with one hand, the other gently resting on her ever growing pregnancy bump.
"Dora ..." Rabastan whispered.
"Mmm?" Dora mumbled in reply, keeping her eyes shut as she refused to emerge from her state of deep contentment and relaxation.
"How are you so beautiful?" Rab whispered again, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"It's called morphing." Dora yawned, smirking as she nuzzled her head into a position on his chest where she could see her husbands face if she so desired, though she kept her eyes shut.
"No, it's not." Rab chuckled slightly. "You're in your natural, morph-free form right now and you look more stunning than ever."
"How would you know what my 'natural, morph-free' form is?" Dora smirked, finally opening her eyes to look to her husband.
"Because I've been married to you long enough to know these things." Rabastan leant down and kissed the girl's dark curls. "You always revert to your natural form when you're relaxed enough—though I don't think even you realise you do it half the time. Besides—" Rabastan frowned as he swept the hair from his wife's neck, sighing as he traced the thin white scar that ran from her shoulder up her neck with his fingers. "You constantly morph your scars away; I only see them when you're like this." Nymphadora blushed slightly, instantly making the scar in question disappear. "I'm sorry." Rab sighed, manoeuvring to gently kiss the space where the scar had been before wrapping both of his arms around the woman, firmly pressing his lips to her forehead.
"It was another time. You didn't know what you were doing, who I was." Dora whispered before kissing him softly on the lips. "I don't hold anything against you—it was my first battle scar." She couldn't help but giggling slightly as the man rolled his eyes at her.
"You did hold your own impressively." Rabastan smirked as he cupped her face with his hand, bringing her lips to his own. "You've always held your own impressively."
Dora couldn't help but return the man's smirk, pressing her lips to his. She kissed him deeply for a few moments, placing a hand on the mans chest to pull away as his hands started to make trail their way down her body. "Mmm . . . Rab." Dora breathed, nuzzling her head into Rab's neck "Not right now, I feel queasy."
"Are you okay?" Rabastan pulled back, sitting up slightly to look down at his wife. "Do you need a morning sickness potion? I can go get some."
"No," Dora shook her head, running her hands over her stomach "I used the last of it last week."
"You should have told me, Dora."
"Scared I'll do what I did with Rigel again?" Dora smirked through her nausea "I promise I won't puke on you—I genuinely don't think I'm going to be sick, I just feel sick."
"You should have told me we had run out. I'll go get Andromeda to go out and find some." Rabastan went to get up from the bed only to be stopped by his wife grabbing onto his arm, pulling him back to sit next to her.
"No you won't. I don't need it; I can live with feeling a little sick." Dora smiled slightly as she shuffled back on the bed to rest against the headboard. "Just distract me—without sex, you're too perverted for your own good."
"Isn't that one of the reasons you married me?" Rab grinned mischievously as his wife laughed at his remark.
"Oh shush." Dora pouted. "You were supposed to be distracting me."
"Fine . . ." Rab said as he sat next to her, resting his hand on her stomach as he watched her thoughtfully "You know . . . If you wanted . . . We could find out the sex of the baby—I know you didn't want to know last time, but that was more for your mother's sake. I suppose, if you don't want to know we could wait . . ."
Dora considered the man for a moment, in truth she had thought of finding out the sex of the child though she had been unsure as to how the spell had worked or if she wanted to know. Though from the look on her husbands face she knew she had to agree, he had done so much for her ever since they had married. From putting up with her insane mother to accepting Andromeda and Delphi for her, surely this was the least she could do? She placed her hand on top of her husbands, stroking her finger over his wedding band. "Do you know how to do it?"
He immediately nodded "Yes, I started studying it last time you—" he hesitated for a moment, not wanting to speak of the lost child that he knew would always be such a sensitive topic. "I've had it perfected for a while."
"Okay . . ." Dora nodded hesitantly.
"We really don't have to if you don't want to." Rab assured her, though Dora could tell he was holding back a smile at her acceptance of his request.
"I want to." Dora reassured him, reaching out placing a hand on his leg "But—I—You have to promise me one thing." She smiled slightly as he nodded in response, frowning slightly. "You—I mean—You won't be upset if it's a girl, will you?"
"Dora," Rab couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips "I won't be upset. If I'm honest . . . I'd actually quite like a girl—not that I also wouldn't love a girl."
"Want a Daddy's little princess?" Dora giggled, watching the man draw his wand. "Oh there's some adorable old little girl's clothes in the attic from when mum was a child—and I still have Delphi's old clothes. Think you can stand another girl in the Manor?" Dora smirked, biting her lip as the man tried to hold back his own smirk of amusement.
"Shush, I need to concentrate." Rab shook his head at the girl before he let out a breath of concentration. He placed his left hand on her stomach, the other pointing the tip of his wand at her stomach. Dora winced slightly as he muttered the incantation underneath his breath, immediately causing him to look up in alarm. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," Dora nodded, closing her eyes as she tried to relax "it's just a strange sensation. Go on."
Rabastan watched her features for a moment before with a curt nod he carried on. Dora nervously played with the fabric of her dress, resisting the urge to touch her stomach as the strange sensation of her husband's magic exploring her womb took over her. This was definitely not helping her nausea. It was just as she was about to ask her husband to pause for a moment as the nausea began to turn into more of a need to vomit that her husband relinquished his magic from her. She let out a breath, about to open her eyes as she suddenly felt Rabastan leaning over her, pressing his lips firmly to hers. She returned the kiss for a few moments before she opened her eyes only to be greeted by his perfect boyish grin.
"We are going to have the most beautiful daughter." Rabastan grinned, laughing as Dora's hair shot bright pink.
"Really?"
"Really." Rab kissed her again before laying back on the bed, bringing her into his side as he loving caressed her stomach. "I love you, so much."
"I love you too." Dora smiled contentedly, leaning her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes again. "Now we nap."
"Okay." Rab laughed, kissing her head. Though he was sure he would not be getting a nap any time soon as thoughts of his future beautiful daughter raced through his mind.