Flashforward IV:
AN: Sorry this is late but I actually realised I've got two more flashforwards to post not just the one. Also, it meant we got to exactly 100 reviews, yay!
"Sera hon!" called Draco, pulling her up onto his lap as Hermione switched off the TV when it came to the end of their daughter's favourite programme. This was the best time to tell her news where they either knew it would be bad or weren't sure how she would respond. This was one of the latter situations. "Mummy and I need to tell you something exciting."
The spoiled little girl grinned and clapped her hands together. "Am I getting a Nimbus 3000?" She asked excitedly. She'd been obsessed with the idea of riding a broom just like Daddy's ever since Narcissa had gotten her son the unreleased model for his last birthday, and he'd proceeded to invite his friends and school rivals around for matches frequently. Hermione maintained that her daughter would not be riding on one of those death traps until she went to Hogwarts, causing her to have a tantrum. She didn't mind being the boring parent if it meant Sera avoided smashing her little head open or breaking her arm like Harry had done.
"No sweetie," Hermione touched her already slightly protruding stomach, they'd wanted to be sure before they broke the news to their temperamental daughter. "You're getting a new little brother or sister.
The little innocent face clouded over with anger as both the TV and the stand it was on began to rattle. Ever since she was born she'd proven to have strong powers, but as with all magical children, they were linked to her emotions. Over the years she'd broken a lot of objects in their house, and once even the same chandelier that had been broken in the skirmish at her grandparent's manor long before she was born. "Sera..." said Hermione in a tentative yet stern voice. "Calm down." Her lip trembled like an autumn leaf and then she buried her face in her father's chest and sobbed. Things had stopped shaking, so Hermione got down on her knees beside the two blondes. Draco extricated his daughter from his embrace, still wrapping his arms around her like a comforting blanket, but making sure she faced her mother. "Baby, why are you so upset? You love playing with little Lily and Marco. Wouldn't you like a playmate of your own? You could help us with the baby, and when it's a bit older you could teach it things, and play hide and seek"
"But I like playing hide and seek with you Mummy!" Sera cried. "I don't want you to spend all your time with the new baby."
Hermione took her daughter's hands and wiggled them up and down, looking into her eyes. "I love playing with you too, Sera!" She declared. "I won't lie to you, I'm going to be more tired with this pregnancy and then the baby keeping us awake when it arrives, but I'll still try and play with you, and so will Daddy."
"Promise?" Asked the five year old seriously as though she was asking for an Unbreakable Oath.
"Promise."
She knew from talking to Ginny and Daphne that the second pregnancy would be different, but that didn't mean she wasn't surprised when she felt the baby kick almost ten weeks earlier. "Draco! Sera!" She called out from her position lounging in the garden. She'd been eating a bowl of ice cream with baked beans instead of her usual favourite caramel sauce- don't ask, it made her family want to throw up- nervously watching them mount a broom. Draco had cornered her when her hormones were making her very agreeable, and with a bit of... persuasion, managed to convince her to let Sera ride on a broom if he sat behind her. Despite his elation to teach Sera the joys of flying, Draco excitedly dropped his new model broom on the grass and ran over to her, carrying the five year old who had at first seemed put-out by the baby stealing the moment she'd been looking forward to. Guiltily, Hermione wondered if she should have pretended not to have felt anything until her daughter had gotten to zip around the garden a couple of times, but Draco was truly excellent with her. He guided her palm to Hermione's stomach first before he placed his own there. "Can you find your brother or sister?" After the embarrassment of his false certainty five years ago, this time around he was being a little more flexible. He was still gunning for Scorpius for a boy, and they'd decided on Sierra, meaning saw-toothed but sounding effortlessly elegant, for a girl. The girl who'd moments ago been distressed squealed as she marked X on the spot with a jab that made Hermione's face briefly contort.
"I found them!"
Draco chuckled at the look on his wife's face and ruffled his daughter's hair.
In the birthing wing at St Mungo's Hermione held her baby boy with pride. She glanced at Sera, peering into the blankets curiously whilst trying to appear casual and uncaring. "Want to hold him?"
The now six year old gasped, her eyes widening comically as if this was the stupidest suggestion her mother had ever given. "What if I drop him?"
"We're wizards! We'll catch him before he bangs his head!" Laughed Draco, at the same time as Hermione reassured,
"You won't." She glared at her husband.
"Oh yes, that too."
Sera giggled. Taking a deep breath, she held out her arms for the baby, moulding them to her parent's suggestion before Hermione placed Scorpius down. Sera studied her brother intently. His newborn skin might be pruny but his eyes were the same amber as hers, his little sprig of hair the same shade of platinum blond, his nose the same shape, only miniature edition. "Isn't he adorable?" Asked Hermione expectantly.
Decidedly, Sera looked up with a smile. "He is."
Emerging from the corridor where she'd been chatting casually with the Grangers, Narcissa produced a camera and beamed at them, happiness making her look effortless and youthful even with the grey that had been in her hair for a long time now. "Smile!"
The family looked up from each other to the shutter, already mirroring her expression, save Scorpius, who had drifted off to sleep in his sister's arms. Sometimes a muggle snapshot could be just as a good as a magical moving image.
