A/N: So, I'm taking a creative writing course and I'm attempting to improve my writing, so I apologize if this comes out weird. I still don't own Labyrinth or Harry Potter.
Sarah's POV:
"Daddy, look what -. What's going on?" I heard Harry's quiet voice just as I ran in to the throne room. He had raced ahead of me and I had hoped to catch him in time, unfortunately, I wasn't. Harry was standing in the middle of the throne room looking around as if it were a foreign place, confusion written on his features.
Jareth was sitting on his throne, watching the goblins as they played with what looked to be an infant. Now, I had always avoided the situation; too many bad memories to associate with turning children into goblins. But never would I have thought that they could be this young.
"Harry, this is none of your concern." Jareth tried.
Harry was having none of that. He stomped his foot on the ground and pouted at Jareth. "No! What's going on?"
I gave Jareth a shrug. "You might as well tell him. You know he won't leave you alone until you do." I walked up to Harry and placed my hands on his shoulders, holding him to me.
Jareth shook his head, running a gloved hand over his face. He sighed. "Harry, that child is going to become a goblin." He knelt down in front of Harry, looking him in the eyes.
"Why?" He asked.
For a moment Jareth was silent. As the silence stretched on, I realized Jareth might not have an answer. I'd never asked, and quite probably no else had ever asked him either. "Because that's just the way things are done." He finally replied, giving Harry a resigned look. "That's how it's always been."
Now it was Harry's turn to be silent. "That's dumb" He decided.
I couldn't help but smile at that. A child's logic, so simple and straightforward. I picked him up and settled him on my hip. "Yes Harry, I completely agree with you. That is dumb."
The goblins were getting rowdy, swinging the child this way and that, cackling loudly. Jareth took the child and held it against his chest. "Well what do you propose I do about it? This is something that has been done for thousands of years."
"Jareth, how old is this child?" I asked. I couldn't help but notice, and I couldn't think of why a child so young would be wished away to the goblins.
Jareth rocked the child as it was starting to fuss. "I would estimate no more than three months."
I gasped, covering my mouth. "Why? Why would someone do this?"
"My guess would be a parent that couldn't look after it. They aren't commonly this young. But every once in a while a parent who thinks or knows that they won't be able to care for their child properly wishes them away." He looked down at the child with a look I'd never seen before, a broken look, one filled with regret.
That gave me an idea. "Jareth, why don't you place them with a family here, in the Underground?" I nodded my head as I spoke, getting more excited by the second. "You've told me before that the fae have difficulty having children. Why not give them the children that are wished away to you? That way they get a real home and you don't have to turn them into goblins."
My Goblin King thought this over for minute, mulling it over in his head. "That could work. Sarah, you are a genius!" He pulled me close and kissed me.
"Hey!" Harry complained, getting caught between us. I had nearly forgotten he was there.
"Thank you Harry." Jareth kissed him on the cheek. "I have hated having to do this for centuries and now you've given me an alternative! Thank you both." The baby started to fuss again. "Now, where to keep this little one until we find a new home for her?"
"I still have that crib stored away." I said quietly. That was a topic Jareth and I rarely discussed. Only roughly six months before Harry joined us, Jareth and I were expecting a child. In my third month I had a miscarriage. We were already getting ready because it would be a shorter pregnancy than a human one. We estimated that since our child would be half-fae, it would probably only be five months in length. When Harry showed up that was our saving grace that pulled us out of our grieving. Rather than being mournful over a child we had lost, we were given one that we could love.
There was a flash of pain across Jareth's face, but it was gone almost immediately, replaced with a smile. "Good, she can use that then."
"Can she stay in my room?" Harry looked pleadingly at us both. I knew he wanted a sibling, someone to play with. It could get lonely for a child, with only goblins for company.
"Of course she can." I put Harry down and he immediately went to Jareth to get a closer look at the baby.
"What's her name?" He asked, standing on his tiptoes to get a better look at her face.
Jareth chuckled. "I don't know. She didn't come with anything with a name on it and she's too young to tell us. Would you like to hold her?"
Harry nodded his head, holding out his arms. Once Jareth had placed her in his arms, he adjusted Harry's hands so that he was holding her properly. "Can I name her?"
"I don't see why not." Jareth shrugged, giving me a smile.
Harry looked down at her for a moment, as if he were trying to see into her soul. "Hannah. Her name is Hannah."
"Well all right then, Hannah it is" I put my arm around his shoulders, and gave them a squeeze. "Why don't you and I go and start setting up a space for her in your room?"
"Okay." He started walking out of the room ahead of me.
"I'll start asking some of the fae I know from court about adopting her. I know at least some of them want children." He kissed the top of my head. "Thank you again, love. I really can't believe I never thought of this before."
"You never had us before." I answered simply. Giving him a small smug smile, I turned and went to find Harry and Hannah. All this discussing and thinking about children was making me want to have one of my own again. I would definitely have to bring it up with Jareth tonight.
A/N: Please let me know what you think. Never written anything like this before so I don't know if I'm doing a good job or not. Please R&R!
