August 1991
Minerva stormed back towards the bench where Amelia was sitting with her arms crossed. She huffed and sat down angrily. Amelia sighed and asked, "What did they say?"
"Wait," Minerva muttered with disdain, leaning back against the wall and staring straight ahead. "That's all they ever say! I need real answers. Real explanations and real instructions! Is that too much to ask for?"
"I understand, Minerva, but -"
"I saw so many new mothers leaving the hospital the same day that we did carefully carrying their little bundles when all I had was my bloody suitcase!" she continued. "I felt awful. Like I wasn't a new mum. You can't be a new mum without a child to take care of."
"You are a new mother," Amelia said, giving her a reassuring smile though Minerva was still not looking at her. "You have to deal with a lot right now so it makes complete sense that you don't feel that great. You're allowed to not be okay, Minerva."
"It's hard to let yourself not be okay, Amelia. Especially when other people need you to be for them," Minerva said with a frown, still not looking at her. She sighed and let her arms fall to her side. "Two and a half months." The words came out as no more than a whisper. "Two and a half months early."
There was silence for a while. Minerva could hear the beeping of medical equipment in the NICU in front of them. She had been hearing that noise for about two weeks straight now and was starting to lose her mind. She knew her baby needed those machines but she still hated them. She hated the way they looked, the way they sounded, the wires that came off of them and crept their way into little Lucy's arms and chest. Lucy needed them to survive but Minerva needed her not to need them.
"I think that you and Jay should take a break," Amelia said, breaking the silence finally. "Leave the hospital for a while. Go to dinner or even just a walk around Hyde Park or something. Anything to just get your mind off of everything for a little while."
"I can't leave!" Minerva exclaimed, finally looking over at her with a horrified expression on her face. "What if something horrible happens and I'm not here? What if she needs me? What if... I - I can't leave."
"Nothing's going to happen," Amelia reassured her. "It's okay to give yourself a break every once in a while, Minerva. Sitting at her bedside twenty four seven isn't going to do you any good."
Before Minerva could respond, Jay and Daniel walked over. Jay was holding three cups of coffees in his hands. He greeted them and handed out the coffees before sitting down beside Minerva, putting an arm around her, and pulling her close. Daniel sat down beside Amelia with his own cup of hot chocolate in hand.
"I was just telling Minerva," Amelia said, "that the two of you should take a break. You've both been here every day since the fifteenth. You should go out. Get your mind off everything for a little while."
"And I was just telling Amelia," Minerva said with a frown, "that I can't do that."
"We have to stay here," Jay said with a sigh and a shake of his head, agreeing with his wife. "Just in case Lucy needs us."
"Isobel will be back from Castletown soon and Daniel and I will be here, right sweetheart?" Amelia said, looking over at Daniel.
He smiled and nodded. "We can take care of Lucy," he said. "And Aunt Amelia can send you a message using -" he lowered his voice, "- magic if anything happens."
"Yes," Amelia said with a smile and a nod. She reached out and put a hand on Minerva's arm. "You need to let yourself relax for a little while, you both do. You can't live at this level of tension all the time. Lucy will be okay and if anything changes we will send word right away and you can get back here quickly."
Minerva stared at her for a long time without saying anything. Jay sighed again but nodded this time. He knew what Amelia was saying was true. He and Minerva were killing themselves, sitting by Lucy all the time, making sure she was okay. Lucy's condition hadn't changed in the two weeks they've been here and he doubted it would in the next few hours.
"You're right, Amelia," he said. He looked down at Minerva. "We won't go anywhere too crazy or stay out for too long. We could just go out for dinner. Have some real food instead of this hospital rubbish."
"I think that's a good idea," Amelia said with a smile. She knew she had won now that she had gotten Jay on his side. "Please, Minerva. Take some time for yourself. You've given Lucy a hundred and ten percent every single day since she was born which is great but you're going to burn yourself out if you don't take a little bit of time to recuperate every once in a while."
"Are you sure that you'll be okay here without us?" Minerva asked, looking passed Amelia at Daniel, grasping for excuses now.
"Of course," he said with a smile. "Aunt Amelia's here with me, Nani will be back soon and Uncle Raj is coming by later too."
"We'll be okay, Minerva," Amelia said. "Go, have a nice time with your husband and forget about your anxiety for a little while. We'll be here to make sure Lucy is okay."
Minerva looked between the two of them, then over at the NICU with a sigh, and then looked over at Jay who gave her a reassuring smile. "Fine," she said finally. "We'll go out. Just for one hour. To a restaurant close by."
"Great," said Jay with a small smile, getting up. "Well, what restaurant would you like to go to, darling?"
Minerva just shrugged.
"Alright, we could just go walk down Praed Street until we find something nice," he said, offering Minerva his hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her up to her feet.
"I've heard that Bizzarro is good if you want Italian," Amelia suggested. "Close by too."
"That sounds perfect," Jay said with a smile. "What do you say, Min?"
"Alright," Minerva muttered with a sigh. She looked over at Daniel. "I'm sorry we're going out to eat while you get only hospital food."
"That's okay," Daniel said with a laugh. "It's not that bad."
"We'll bring you back a nice dessert, bud," Jay said with a smile, reaching over and tousling his son's hair.
"Thank you for staying with him, Amelia," Minerva said.
"Of course," she said with a smile. "I'll wait for Isobel and then bring dinner for the three of us from the cafeteria."
Minerva nodded again. She and Jay said their goodbyes and headed towards the elevator to go down to the main floor.
When they were gone, Amelia turned to Daniel. "Shall we go check on the baby?"
Daniel nodded and got up. They walked into the NICU and over to Lucy's room. Lucy was still laying in the incubator not doing very much. Daniel walked up to it and pressed his face against the glass.
"She's not growing," he said.
"I know," Amelia said with a sigh.
"When will we be able to take her home?"
"When she starts growing."
Daniel backed up a bit and moved to the table by the incubator. He picked up the comic book on the table, walked back and pulled a chair up for himself. He had been reading to Lucy in hopes that it would help her get better. He would read the speech bubbles and then describe the pictures for her. Amelia smiled and pulled up her own chair so that she could listen to the story as well.
Isobel arrived a little bit later. She had gone back to Castletown to check up on the house and inform some of her friends where she had disappeared to. She was happy to hear that Minerva and Jay were taking a little bit of a break from everything. She sat down and Amelia went to get the three of them dinner.
As they were eating the door to the nursery opened again and in walked Raj. He smiled at them as he entered.
"Hi, all," he said cheerfully. "How's the little one doing?"
"Uncle Raj!" Daniel said excitedly. "Lucy hasn't changed at all. We've just been talking to her and I'm reading her Batman comics."
"Not sure how age appropriate that is," Isobel said with a shake of her head though she smiled. "Hello, Raj."
"Isobel, Amelia," he said with a smile, pulling up a chair and sitting down with them. "How are you both? Where are Jay and Minerva?"
"We're fine," Amelia replied. "Jay and Minerva decided to finally take a little bit of a break. They went out for dinner on Praed Street."
"Great!" Raj said. "I'm guessing that took a lot of convincing."
"It did," Amelia said with a nod.
Raj nodded knowingly. He knew his friend and his wife. He looked over at Daniel and gave him a smile. He reached over and tousled his hair a bit. "And they left you behind, bud?"
"Yeah," Daniel said with a laugh. "But it's okay. They said they would bring me back some dessert."
"That's good," he said with a smile. He pulled his chair a little closer to the incubator and looked down at the baby. "Hello, Princess Lucy. How are you doing today? It's me, Uncle Raj. Your favourite."
"Ah, excuse me," Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow. "I think I'm her favourite."
"No," he said with a shake of his head. He looked back at Amelia and flashed her an annoying smile. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you, Amelia, but it is me. I'm her favourite. Not you. Right, Daniel?"
Daniel looked up at his uncle and shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "She can't talk yet so she hasn't said who her favourite it."
Raj laughed and shook his head. "Oh, I don't need her to talk to know that it's me," he said. "I'm the fun one right?"
"Aunt Amelia is pretty fun too," Daniel said.
"Yes, I am," Amelia said with a smile. "I'm definitely her favourite. I am her godmother after all."
Isobel rolled her eyes though she smiled. "You always pull out that card."
"Well, it's true," she said with a smile.
"Well, I'm her godfather," Raj replied. "And Daniel's too! So, I'm obviously the favourite."
"It's a shame really. You had two chances and have fallen short both times. I'm Lucy's favourite, obviously, and Daniel's too."
"No way. You haven't even been here as long as I have! I've known Daniel since he was born, you can't top that no matter how hard you try."
Daniel sighed and looked over at Isobel who gave him a small smile as Raj and Amelia kept fighting. Isobel was just glad that Robert wasn't here too. He would definitely join the fight. He thought he was Lucy's favourite too.
"Now they're fighting over me," he mumbled with a shake of his head.
Isobel laughed and shook her head too. "They're a little crazy," she said. "They just like each other, that's all."
"That's them liking each other?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sometimes when people like each other they act like that."
"Really? Where Min and Dad ever like that?"
"No, it's mostly when they like each other but they don't want to admit it," Isobel said.
"Why don't they want to admit it?" Daniel asked confused.
Isobel shrugged. "I think they're just scared that the other person doesn't like them back."
"But you just said that they both like each other. "
"Yes," Isobel said with a smile and a nod. "Sometimes you don't see it though. Sometimes it's just easier for others to see."
"I still don't really get it," Daniel said.
"I think it's more of something you feel than something you get."
"That doesn't make sense," he mumbled. "Is this one of those things that adults say you'll understand when you're older?"
"I honestly don't think you'll get it when you're older either," Isobel said with a laugh.
"Well, that's stupid," Daniel said with a frown. He shook his head, opened her comic book back up and turned back to Lucy. "I'm just going to go back to reading to Lucy."
"Alright," Isobel said with a smile, watching Amelia and Raj continue to argue about who Lucy and Daniel prefer for a second longer before turning and looking at the pictures in Daniel's book while he read.
...
"It's a nice day," Jay said, trying to start up some conversation as he and Minerva walked down Praed Street towards the restaurant. Minerva hadn't said much since they left the hospital.
"Hmm," she mumbled.
Jay sighed and put an arm around her. "It'll be okay, love," he said. "Just try not to think about it for a little while. It's okay to take some time for yourself."
"How can you be so confident?" Minerva asked looking up at him in disbelief. "How can you be so sure that everything will be okay? What if it's not, Jay? I can't pretend that it's going to be because if it isn't, I'm not going to be able to live with myself."
Jay gave her a reassuring squeeze. "You're the one that's supposed to have faith, Minerva," he said with a little smile. "Mrs. Daughter and sister of Reverends."
She gave him a look.
"Sorry," he said. He sighed and shook his head. "I know it's hard, Min, but, though I may not have as much faith in that kind of stuff as you all, I do have faith in our doctors and modern medicine. And I have faith in our daughter. She's strong, I know she is, and she's going to fight this. I believe she will."
Minerva sighed and leaned into his chest. He gave her another little squeeze. They finally made it to the restaurant and made an agreement to talk about anything other than the baby until they got back to the hospital. The pact worked and Minerva and Jay both got to relax a little bit after working at such a high stress level for the past two weeks. After dinner they went for a little walk on the streets nearby and then went back to the hospital where they found Amelia, Raj, Daniel and Isobel waiting for them.
Saturday, April 18th 1998
"I'm glad you four could make it," Minerva said with a smile as the Potters, Sirius and Marlene walked in through the door.
"Of course, Professor! Wouldn't miss it for the world," James said with a smile.
"Thank you for inviting us over," Lily said. She was six months pregnant now and getting a lot bigger. "I haven't been out of the house in a while and I haven't talked to any other adults in a while."
Minerva smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Augh," she mumbled with a sigh. "Being pregnant is hard."
"I know," Minerva said. "Alright, let's not stand around in the doorway."
"What do you mean you haven't talked to any adults? Marlene and I just came over yesterday," Sirius said, following Minerva further into the house. He was holding Marlene's hand as he walked.
"I meant what I said," Lily replied. She and James walked after them.
Marlene laughed. "It's okay," she said. "I don't want to be an actual adult."
Minerva led them to the living room and they sat down on the couches.
"So where is Lucy, Daniel and Nina?" Lily asked. "I'm excited to finally meet them. All I know about them is what these two creeps have told me."
"Yeah," Marlene said. "From what I've been told, they sound wonderful. I would love to actually meet them."
Minerva smiled. "Oh, Lucy should be home soon," she said, looking over at the clock on the wall. "She was at a friend's house. They're giving her a ride home. Unfortunately, Daniel and Nina won't be home until tomorrow. They went out with some friends. Going to some concert in London, I believe, to celebrate the end of exams."
Lily smiled. "Ah the end of the semester. Always a fun time."
"So Remus, Dorcas and Peter are also coming?" James asked.
"Remus and Dorcas are. Peter was busy, something to do with helping his mother with something," Minerva said.
"Yeah, he's been with her quite often since the death of his father," Sirius said sadly.
There was silence for a while until Minerva finally spoke again. "Albus will also be coming."
"Really? I haven't seen Professor Dumbledore is a really long time," Lily said.
The group talked for a while longer before the doorbell rings. Minerva got it and greeted Remus and Dorcas at the door. She led them to the living room where they sat and talked until Minerva heard the lock on the door click and Lucy call, "I'm home!"
"Hello, Lucy," Minerva said, "we're in the living room."
After a few seconds Lucy walked into the living room to find the guests sitting there staring at her. She stopped in her tracks and gave a shy little wave. "Hi..."
"Hello, Lucy! I'm James Potter," James said, holding out his hand for Lucy to shake. Lucy walked over to the couch slowly and nervously shook James hand. "We've actually met when you were very small. You probably don't remember."
"I'm sorry," Lucy said, bowing her head slightly.
James laughed. "That's alright."
"Hi, Lucy. I'm Lily, James's wife," Lily said, shaking Lucy's hand too. Lucy gave her a small smile.
"I'm Marlene McKinnon," Marlene said, shaking Lucy hand as well. "This is guy with the messy hair is my boyfriend, Sirius."
"My hair isn't messy," Sirius said, making Lucy giggle. "It's styled the way I want it." He shook her hand and said, "Hey, kid."
Remus shook his head but smiled. He reached out to shake Lucy's hand as well. "I'm Remus Lupin. How are you?"
"I'm okay," Lucy said, shaking his hand. She walked over to the last new person in the room.
"I'm Dorcas Meadowes," she said, shaking her hand too. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," Lucy replied. She saw the bright red at the ends of Dorcas's hair and smiled. "I like your hair."
"Thank you," Dorcas said with a smile.
Lucy ran over to her mother. Minerva smiled at her and moved over so she could sit down next to her in the armchair. Lucy climbed up and looked at the faces still watching her.
"So you were at a friend's house, Lucy?" Lily asked.
Lucy nodded.
"What did you do?"
"Um, we watched the movie Aladdin... we both had seen it before but we wanted to watch it again and sing along with the songs," Lucy said quietly, looking down at her hands. "Do you know that movie? I know a lot of wizards and witches don't watch movies very much."
"Yeah, a lot of them don't but I have seen that movie," Lily said with a smile. "I love Disney movies."
"So do I," Dorcas said. "And I'm pretty sure Marlene does too. I've made her watch like all of them."
"Yes," Marlene said with a laugh. "I've seen literally all of them because of Dorcas here. They're good. I liked them."
"Me too," Lucy replied with a smile.
"I think I've seen that one," James said. He looked over at his wife. "Is that the one with the blue guy?"
"Yes," Lucy replied with a laugh.
"I have no idea what you guys are talking about," Sirius said.
"I have not seen it either," Remus said with a smile. "What's it about?"
Lucy smiled and went into the story of Aladdin for Remus and Sirius. They listened to the story intently, very interested in this mysterious Aladdin guy who was apparently a diamond in the rough. Minerva smiled. She was glad that Lucy was getting along very well with her old students.
After Lucy was done explaining the story of Aladdin the adults began talking about other things and Minerva suggested Lucy play with some of her toys. Lucy got up and walked away with a sigh. She wished there were people her age here as she opened up a cabinet filled with games and toys. She pulled out the Lego set that she had been building and got started on it.
The adults talked for a while and Lucy played with her toys until the doorbell rang. Lucy looked over excitedly. "I'll get it!" she said as she ran from the room.
Minerva looked over at Sirius. "Do you mind going with her?"
"Not at all," he replied with a smile, getting up and following after Lucy.
They came back a couple minutes later with Dumbledore. Lucy was walking beside him excitedly telling him about her day with Anne. "And then after Aladdin we made cookies with her mum. They were chocolate chip and they were really good."
"That sounds fun," Dumbledore said with a smile. He looked at everyone sitting on the couches. "Good evening everyone."
"Hello, Albus," Minerva greeted with a smile.
Dumbledore joined the conversation and Lucy went back to sitting on the floor with her toys. Eventually they got up to go to the kitchen. Lucy got up and followed them too. Minerva flicks her wand and got everyone but Lily and Lucy a drink of whiskey. Lily wanted just water and Lucy got apple juice. Lily, James and Marlene sat down at the table while Sirius, Remus, Dorcas and Dumbledore stood around the island talking and Minerva checked on the food. Lucy walked around the counter to her mother.
"Do you need any help?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, if you could set the table, darling, that would be wonderful," Minerva said with a smile.
Lucy nodded and looked around the room. She counted nine heads including herself and walked towards the plate cupboard. Dumbledore watched as Lucy used magic to get plates, utensils, and glasses to fly out of the room and presumably set themselves on the dining table in the next room. She then walked to the dining room herself to look at where the things had landed and frowned.
"That's not where you're supposed to go," Lucy told the plates and silverware that were scattered across the table now. "Please do it properly."
The plates began to move first, each setting themselves in front of a seat at the table. Then the spoons, forks and knives moved to either side of the plates. The glasses followed suit, positioning themselves like Lucy wanted them too. Lucy smiled. "Thank you."
She ran back to the kitchen where the adults were. She walked around the counter again to where her mother stood and waited patiently as she and Dumbledore were talking about something. When they had finished, Minerva looked down at her expectantly.
"All done," Lucy said with a smile. "Do you need anything else?"
"No that's great, sweetheart, thank you," Minerva said with a smile. "Dinner will be served soon. Why don't you go wash up?"
Lucy nodded. Soon everyone moved to the dining room to eat. Dumbledore looked over at Lucy sitting beside her mother. "So, Lucy, you used magic to set the table?"
Lucy looked up and nodded shyly. "I've been practising using magic more," she said quietly.
Remus smiled. "Wow, that's pretty strong magic for somebody so young."
"Yes, quite," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Well, I mean, she is McGonagall's daughter," Sirius said with a laugh. "I'm sure you also did loads of magic when you were... five?"
"Six!" Lucy said.
"Six, sorry kid," Sirius said with a laugh.
"I did not, actually," Minerva replied. "I did some, of course, but nothing that strong."
"What other magic can you do, Lucy?" Dorcas asked.
Lucy thoughtfully said, "hmm... sometimes I use magic to clean my room and to make my bed and... other chores."
"Haven't I also seen you -" Sirius began but before he could finish James stomped on his foot and Marlene elbowed him in the chest to cut him off.
Lucy looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean seen me?"
Everyone turned to look at Sirius. He met Minerva's eye who was glaring daggers at him and thought quickly. "No, I meant haven't I also seen young people change their hair with magic! Like Dorcas."
"Like the colour?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah."
"Don't give her those kinds of ideas, Black," Minerva said making Lucy smile.
"I think I might look nice with blue hair," Lucy said with a smile. Minerva glared at her and Lucy quickly added, "I wouldn't do it, of course."
Everyone laughed. Dorcas smiled and said, "What's wrong with different coloured hair, Minerva?"
"Nothing, of course," Minerva replied with a smile. "On other people."
"That's the best though, huh? Doing your chores with magic," Marlene said with a smile. "You don't ever have to clean your own room or do your own laundry. It's pretty awesome."
Lucy smiled. "Yeah, so I have more time to do fun stuff."
"What do you like to do for fun?" James asked, as if he didn't already know.
"Read or play games or watch movies," Lucy said. "Or go outside or hang out with Daniel and Nina or Uncle Raj or Anne. They're pretty awesome. Uncle Raj was my dad's best friend. He stays with us sometimes but he had work to do in London today. Daniel's my brother and Nina is his girlfriend. They're not here right now because they picked Billy Joel over me."
"Well, Billy Joel..." Sirius mumbled, earning him another elbow to the chest from Marlene. He glared at her but she just smiled.
Lucy smiled. "It's okay. I would probably pick Billy Joel too."
They ate their dinner and talked happily. Forgetting about the war for a little while. Afterwards, however, they had to think about it again. Lucy was moved into the living room while the adults discussed the darker topics of the war in the dining room.
"I heard about Mary," Minerva said with a sigh.
"She put up a good fight," Dorcas said sadly, "but there was just so many of them."
"I should have done more," Marlene whispered. "I should have fought harder and quicker and then maybe she would be okay now."
"It's not your fault, Marls," Sirius said, putting an arm around her and giving her a squeeze. They had gotten back together shortly after the death of Mary MacDonald. He had told himself that they wouldn't until after the war was over but it happened anyways. This time felt different than the last times though. This time it felt real. It felt like it actually might last.
"It isn't," Dumbledore reassured her. "You did the best you could."
"She knew that this was a possibility. We all know," Lily whispered, resting her head on James's shoulder. James gave her hand a squeeze and looks down at her stomach with a sigh.
"How did this happen?" James said, looking over at Dumbledore.
"Things are getting worse. The Death Eaters are going after all Order members," he replied sadly.
"Yes, but what James means is, how did they know that we would be there?" Remus interjected. "They knew that a group of Order members would be in Roy at that time and they came in numbers."
"Are you suggesting that there is a leak in the Order, Remus?" Minerva asked.
Remus looked at her. She didn't seem to be accusatory or hurt by his insinuation so he continued. "Maybe. I just want us to explore all possibilities."
Dumbledore nodded. "I have thought about this possibility. It would explain how the Death Eaters have managed to attack Order members so precisely."
"Who?" Minerva asked frowning. She could not believe that any one of her friends or colleagues were working for Voldemort.
"I do not know," Dumbledore replied, looking down at his tea cup.
"I hate this. The paranoia, the mistrust. These are our friends," Lily said. "Or at least I thought they were."
"I mean, we sit here and drink our tea, pretending that everything is okay but it's not. Things are getting worse. The list of confirmed deaths gets longer every day," James mumbled. He looked down at Lily's belly and sighed. Looking up at Minerva, he said, "How do you manage that? How do you come here every day and put on a brave face for Lucy, Daniel and Nina? How do you pretend that everything is okay so they won't worry?"
"It is hard. Especially on days where the lists contain too many familiar names," Minerva replied quietly. "But coming home and talking with Lucy, who is happily oblivious to everything that's happening outside this house, it helps. It's nice to be pulled out of the war, even if it's just for a little while."
"It's probably good for your mental state too," Remus said with a sigh.
"I wish I had that," Dorcas mumbled.
"Me too," Marlene agreed.
Minerva sighed. She decided to change the topic. "Amelia told me about the trial of Igor Karkaroff and Antonin Dolohov," she said. "Dolohov was the one who was leading the group that attacked Fabian and Gideon. They've been sent to Azkaban."
"That's good news at least," Lily said.
Sirius sighed and stood up. "Well, I'm officially bummed out and have decided that I would prefer Lucy's company," he said. He looked over at Marlene. "Would you like to join me? I'm going to go play with her."
Marlene smiled and nodded. She set down her glass and got up, following Sirius out of the room. James and Lily both give him a look as he walked by.
"Don't worry. I'm great with kids," he whispered with a smile as he passed them.
Minerva smiled as she watched them go. The adults that remained kept discussing the war while Sirius and Marlene walked into the living room to find Lucy sitting on the couch watching television.
"Hello, Lucy," Marlene said, coming over and sitting down near her.
"Hi," Lucy replied, muting the television and looking at her and Sirius.
Sirius walked over and sat down beside Marlene. "Hey, Lucy. We got bored talking with all those adults and thought we might have more fun playing out here with you."
"Really?" Lucy said with a smile on her face.
"Yes," Marlene said with a laugh. "Do you want to play a game or something?"
"Okay!" Lucy slid down from the couch and walked towards the game cabinet. Marlene and Sirius follow her. "What do you want to play? We have a lot of games."
"Wow," Sirius said, sitting down in front of the cupboard filled with board games and cards and toys so he could look through all the games. "Why do you have so many?"
Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. We just bought them so that we could play them. Didn't you have board games at your house?"
"No, not really," Sirius mumbled. Marlene gave him a small smile. "So, which games do you like?"
"Hmm, I like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? We can play that if you want," Lucy said.
"Okay," Sirius said with a smile.
"I'm down," Marlene said. "You'll have to teach us though. We've never played it."
"Okay," Lucy said with a smile. As she pulled out the game, she said, "No one's ever come and played with me instead of talking with Mum before."
"Really?" Sirius asked with a laugh. "I would much rather play games than have boring conversations over tea."
"What are they talking about?" Lucy asked, leading them over to the coffee table where they could set up the game.
"Eh, nothing interesting," Marlene said, not looking at Lucy. "Okay, how do we play?"
Lucy smiled and set up the game. She explained the rules and how to play and they began their game.
...
"Minerva, we have discussed Professor Trelawney's prophecy," Dumbledore said. He and Minerva were sitting alone in the home office having a drink and discussing the war. Remus, Sirius, Marlene, Dorcas and the Potters had left and Lucy was supposed to be in bed but she was using her mother's distraction to stay up late and watch television.
"I still can't believe you gave her the job," Minerva mumbled. "And already have her moved into the castle."
Dumbledore smiled. "Of course, she is a real Seer after all and she has a very large target on her back now."
Minerva sighed. "Real Seer," she muttered with a shake of her head. "I will agree she has a target on her back but you have talked to her, haven't you? She's..."
"Eccentric," he said with a small smile.
"That's one way of putting it."
"Well, I would like to discuss the first part of the prophecy that mentioned a witch," he replied.
"You have come up with a theory?"
"Well, I've been doing some thinking and have come to the conclusion that the witch may be Lucy."
Minerva looked at him for a second. "Lucy..."
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Born half witch and half muggle. She was born through turmoil."
"I suppose," she said. "But powers unlike any other? Other children can do magic before coming to Hogwarts as well."
"Yes but none with this amount precision and control," Dumbledore pointed out. "Why don't you call her and she can show us her magic?"
Minerva looked Dumbledore over for a second before shaking her head and standing up. She set her now empty glass onto the desk and walked out of the office towards the living room. She looked at Lucy who was sitting on the couch watching some cartoon on the television. Minerva sighed and said, "Lucy."
"Ji?" Lucy said without looking away from the TV.
"Albus and I want to talk to you quickly, please turn off the television and follow me."
Lucy looked over at her mother quizzically for a second before nodding and saying, "Okay..."
She grabbed the remote, turned off the television and slid off the couch. Lucy followed her mother back to the home office, a little worried about what she might have done to be called into her mother's office.
Minerva sat back down at her chair while Lucy stood in front of the desk near Dumbledore's chair. He gave her a small smile and said, "Lucy, your mother and I were just discussing how much you are improving at your magic."
"Really?" Lucy asked, pushing her hair away behind her ears.
"Yes," Dumbledore said with a nod. "And I was wondering if you would perform some magic for me."
"Um, okay," Lucy said. "What do you want me to do?"
"Whatever you feel comfortable with."
"Okay," Lucy said, looking around the room. She saw the two empty glasses on the desk and walked over to it. She picked up the two glasses in her hands and slowly they got smaller and she was able to closer her hands around them. After a second she opens her hands again and two white butterflies flutter out and fly around the room. Lucy smiled as she watched them go. The butterflies seemed to glow and left a small trail of white light as they flew around the room. Minerva smiled as the butterflies flew around her. Lucy giggled a little bit and then holds out her finger. The butterflies came back and landed on her finger. She slowly covers them with her other hand, clasps her hands together and when she opens her hands this time she was holding a glass in each hand. She set them back down and looked from Dumbledore to her mother. "Was - was that good?"
"Wow, that - that was great, Lucy," Minerva said. "You transfigured the glasses. That's very hard magic. Where did you learn that?"
Lucy shrugged. "I read the textbooks you gave me and I tried it myself."
"And she doesn't require a wand," Dumbledore said quietly.
Power not confined to a wand but surged through her whole body. The words danced through Minerva's mind. She sighed and looked Lucy over. She was so young... so small... so innocent. She was not ready to fight in a war. She was a baby. She was Minerva's baby. Minerva motioned for Lucy to come to her. When she got close enough Minerva took Lucy's arm in her hand and pulled her over to her. Lucy looked at her questioningly. Minerva gave her a small smile and pulled her into a hug. Lucy giggled. Dumbledore gave Minerva a small reassuring smile.
"Mum! What are you doing?" Lucy asked with a laugh.
"Nothing," Minerva mumbled. She straightened up and let Lucy go. "Alright, love. Thank you. You may go. No more TV, though. Please go upstairs and get ready for bed."
"Um, okay," Lucy said, looking a little confused. She looked at Minerva and then over to Dumbledore before running out of the room and up the stairs.
Minerva sighed. She looked at the door that Lucy had just walked out of for a few moments longer before turning back to Dumbledore and shaking her head. "She's so young, Albus," she said. "She's just a child. She can't fight in a war."
"No, we will not be having her man the front lines any time soon," Dumbledore said. "But have you started training her? She is young but she seems hungry for knowledge. You might as well begin teaching her to use her magic."
"I suppose," Minerva mumbled, still not happy about this new development. She sighed. She now had a new fear that she could stay awake at night worrying about. She turned her head and looked at the family photo that sat on the desk. She looked at Lucy's smiling face staring back at her. She had been getting so much better lately. She was almost back to her old, energetic, cheerful self. Minerva didn't want her to regress again. "She's just a child, Albus. Both mentioned in the prophecy are. They don't need this kind of pressure!"
"They don't, and we won't let them feel any of that pressure right now," Dumbledore said with a frown. "For now let them be children. I have yet to tell the Potters and the Longbottom of this prophecy. I thought for now both Lily and Alice have enough on their minds."
Minerva nodded. There was a moment of silence before Minerva smiled a little and said, "She has a great aptitude for transfigurations."
Dumbledore smiled. "She does. You must be very proud."
"I am."
Sunday, April 19th 1998
"Alright, Lucy," Minerva said, sitting down on the floor in front of the coffee table with a textbook in hand. "We'll do Charms today."
Lucy was sitting opposite Minerva with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. Nina and Daniel were out and Raj was at work so Minerva had thought this was a perfect time for Lucy to practice her magic. This way if something went wrong she could clean it up before they got home. Lucy smiled. "Okay!"
"The first spell we will try is Wingardium Leviosa," Minerva said, pulling a tennis ball from her pocket and setting it in between her and Lucy. "This charm is used to lift things into the air. Okay, repeat after me; Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa."
"Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, Wingardium Leviosa," Lucy repeated cheerfully.
"Good. Now, focus on the ball and say the spell."
Lucy nodded, holding her hands up in front of her. Her little fingers spread out as if she was ready to catch something. She stared at the ball intently. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The ball began to shake slightly before slowly floating upwards. It went up and up until it hit the ceiling. Lucy looked up at with a huge smile on her face.
"Oh my god! I did it!" she cheered. "On my first try too!"
Lucy had stopped focusing and the ball started falling back towards the ground. She watched it and quickly threw her arms over her head to protect herself from the ball. Minerva quickly flicked her wand and the ball slowed and stopped right above Lucy's head. Lucy looked up when the ball never hit her and stared at it frozen in the air. She smiled, reached up and grabbed it.
"Good job, Lucy. I'm very impressed you got it on your first try," Minerva said with a smile. Lucy beamed. "Now, the spell I just used was Arresto Momentum. It allows the caster to slow the movement of an object. It's a more difficult charm. It is usually taught in second year Charms class at Hogwarts. We will be trying this spell as well but I want you to practising the levitation charm a few more times first. Just so that you can get it down pat."
"Okay," Lucy said, putting the ball back between them. Lucy raised her hand and tried the levitation charm a few more times, managing to get the ball up in the air every single time. Every single time she was very excited.
Minerva smiled as she watched the ball rise. She watched Lucy's face brighten every time the ball rose. "Okay, good job," she said. "Ready to move on now?"
Lucy nodded. She was bored of this spell now and was very ready to learn a new one. She looked up at Minerva excitedly.
"Okay. Let's try Arresto Momentum, then," Minerva said. "Can you say that? Arr-est-o Mo-men-tum."
"Arresto Momentum," Lucy repeated happily. "Are you going to throw the ball at me and I have to slow it down?"
"Well, I was thinking I would just throw this ball up in the air and you could slow down it's fall but if you would prefer the added incentive of stopping it from hitting you in the face we could do that instead," Minerva said with a smile.
Lucy laughed. "Maybe not."
"Alright, are you ready?"
Lucy nodded again, hands up, and Minerva threw the ball in the air. It sped upwards and then began to fall back down.
"Arresto Momentum!" Lucy yelled. The ball fell at the same speed and hit the ground. Minerva caught it as it started to bounce away. Lucy frowned. "It didn't work."
Minerva smiled. "Well, it was only your first attempt. Like I said, this spell is a little more difficult. Let's try again, shall we?" she said, holding out the ball again. "Try concentrating harder on seeing the ball slowing down in your mind. Ready?"
Lucy nodded intently, hands at the ready. Minerva threw the ball upwards again. As it fell Lucy exclaimed, "Arresto Momentum!"
This time the ball slowed down this time until it came to a stop right before it hit the ground. Lucy put her hands up and the ball fell the few centimetres to the floor. "I did it!"
Minerva laughed. "You did. Good job, sweetheart," she said. "Let's practice a few more times just to make sure."
Lucy nodded. They practiced a couple more times and each time the ball slowed to a stop right before it hit the ground.
"Good job, Lucy," Minerva said with a smile, picking up the ball and rolling it around in her hands. "You've done very well. You're a very fast learner."
Lucy smiled. "Is that it? We're only doing two spells?"
"I think that's enough for one day," Minerva said, starting to get up. "Raj, Daniel and Nina will be home soon and I still have to get started on dinner."
Lucy nodded. She stood up too and followed her mother towards the kitchen. "I can't wait to show Daniel and Nina what I learned!"
Minerva smiled. "I'm sure they will be very impressed as well."
"Mum?"
"Yes?"
"When you did the Arresto Momentum spell on the ball you didn't say anything and it still worked. How come I can't do that?" Lucy asked.
"Well, first you have to learn the spells, of course. Use them properly and all that. Then when you are comfortable with them you can start doing them non-verbally. You just have to think it in your mind and it will work," Minerva explained. "You'll be able to do it too soon. I just want you to learn the spells first."
"That makes sense," Lucy replied, making Minerva smile.