Chapter 22: Hoping for a Miracle

As school let out for the summer, my attention turned to finding a new Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress. Since I would have to go on maternity leave after Christmas break, and the new Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress would have to take over for a few months, there was no way I was choosing a first-year professor to fill the position. I wanted to give the position to Jason, but I couldn't just kick Hagrid out of the position of Head of Gryffindor. It wouldn't be right. Luckily, I didn't have to.

I was cooking breakfast one morning when a knock on the door made me jump. I opened the door to find Hagrid standing outside. "Good evening, Hagrid." I said politely.

"Good evenin'." Hagrid replied. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." I said, and stepped outside my office, closing the door behind me. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I was just thinkin' how you might of wanted to make Jason Deputy Headmaster."

I sighed. "I'd like to, Hagrid, but Jason would need to be Head of Gryffindor and –"

"He could have my spot. I wouldn't mind"

"Oh, Hagrid," I gasped. "I couldn't do that. You need your job."

"Well, I thought of that." Hagrid replied. "But I could still teach Care of Magically Creatures, couldn't I?" Hagrid scratched at his beard, which had only just recently begun to turn gray.

I pondered that thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose you could, couldn't you? Thanks so much, Hagrid." I said as I gave the half-giant a gentle hug.

When Jason returned from Hogsmeade later that afternoon, I couldn't wait to give him the good news. "Guess what?" I asked excitedly as soon as Jason came in the door.

"What."

I sighed. "I told you to guess."

Jason shook his head. "No, you told me to guess 'what', so I did." Jason teased.

I rolled my eyes at Jason's lame joke. "Fine, I'll just tell you. You are going to be Hogwarts's new Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmaster, if you accept my offer."

Jason stared at me as he comprehended what I had just said. "I – I'm honored Luci…" he finally stammered. "But what about Hagrid?"

I explained what Hagrid had done that morning. After I finished my story, Jason was delighted, and accepted the position. When we told Nick, my nearly sixteen-year-old son replied, "Great, first my mum becomes Headmistress and then my dad becomes Deputy Headmaster. I suppose people are going to expect me to become Minister of Magic after I graduate." Luckily, he was only teasing.

Unfortunately Nick wasn't as happy when he found out about my pregnancy. He clearly thought I was "too old" to have a baby and was concerned about the health risks this pregnancy gave me. Jason had officially adopted Nick on July 3rd, 2015, nine years after I had adopted him, and Nick didn't want what he saw as our "perfect family" to change.

I had a feeling September 1st, 2015 was going to be an interesting day and it was. After all, it was my first real day as Headmistress and Jason's first day as Deputy Headmaster, so it was bound to be interesting. In addition, my pregnancy was starting to become obvious. Luckily, Nick, and Head Boy, Teddy Lupin, were always ready to help out if Jason or I needed anything. When Jason led the first years into the Great Hall, I stood up. Many of the students gasped in surprise and whispered amongst themselves when they saw my extended stomach. Right on cue, the baby kicked, and I instinctively placed my hand on my stomach. I waited patiently for the Great Hall to quiet down, and then began my first speech as Headmistress of Hogwarts.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts! For those of you who don't know, I'm Headmistress Clearton. I am not to be confused with you Deputy Headmaster, Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and Head of Gryffindor, Professor Clearton." The students and staff laughed at that. "Yes, it is true that we are a married couple, and yes, we are expected our second child. Therefore Professor Clearton will become Headmaster for the months of January, February, and possibly March while I'm on Maternity leave. And now, before I ramble on too much, let's start the sorting ceremony."

I sat down in my Headmistress chair and waited patiently as Jason called off the first years names. Finally, he called, "Weasley, Fred", and I was glad to hear a name I recognized.

A tall boy with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes gleefully walked to the stool and sat down. As the Hogwarts professors and I later found out, Fred Weasley put his father's and late uncle's detention record in danger. He was a prankster, and I'm sure both George Weasley and the original Fred Weasley would have been quite proud of him.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the sorting hat shouted without hesitation. With a wide grin, Fred went to join his older cousin, fifth-year prefect Victoire, at the Gryffindor table.

Next, Jason called, "Weasley, Louis," and a boy with white-blonde hair and pale blue eyes nervously walked to the stool. Louis was nothing like his cousin Fred. He was on the shorter side, and had a quiet-yet-confident kind of personality. Louis didn't jump at the change to get in on Fred's pranks, but he didn't attempt to stop his cousin like his sister did. He mainly avoided Fred whenever possible in order not to get into trouble.

The Sorting Hat took its time with Louis. Finally, it shouted, "SLYTHERIN".

The entire room fell silent. Even Louis's sisters, Victoire and Dominique stared at their brother in disbelief as he slowly walked to the Slytherin table, his eyes wide with surprise. He was the first Weasley to be sorted into Slytherin in recent Weasley history, and everyone was shocked at his sorting. Despite the major shock, the sorting ceremony had to continue on. After the ceremony, I finished my speech, and the feast began.

On the morning of November 3rd, I wasn't feeling well at all, yet I forced myself out of bed and into my Headmistress's office. At about eleven o'clock in the morning, the pains that I originally thought to be stomach cramps strengthened, and I when went to the bathroom, I discovered my underwear was soaked. My water must have broke, and now I was in labor! Frantically, I did the math in head. Today was November 3rd; I was due December 22nd. I swore under my breath. If I was truly in labor, then that meant the baby was two months early!

In a panic, I attempted to make my way to the Defense room. On the way there, I met Professor Sniderson, the transfiguration professor, who was on her break, in the hallway.

"Lucianna, are you alright?" Professor Sniderson gasped when she saw me.

"The baby's coming." I said so softly that Professor Sniderson could barely hear me. "Can you get Jason for me and look after his class. I don't think I can make it there myself."

Professor Sniderson quickly helped me back to my office, and then ran to fetch Jason. Jason arrived within the next few minutes and we used floo powder to rush ourselves to the hospital as quickly as we possibly could, since I was unable to apperate.

The pain of giving birth was excruciating. I spent more than eight hours in labor until finally, my child was brought into the world. But the room was silent. There was no sound to be heard. Less than five seconds later, the room went black as I slipped into unconsciousness.

I awoke two days later. Nearly as soon as I had opened my eyes, Nick had his arms wrapped around me in a gentle hug.

"Mum, you're alright. I was so worried about you." Nick cried, tears spilled uncontrollably down his face.

I was confused. "When did you get here?" I murmured, and then I remembered why I was in a hospital bed at St. Mungos. I remembered giving birth, and then hearing nothing but silence afterwards…

"What happened?" I asked my son quickly. "Where's my youngest child? Please tell me he or she is okay."

"Shh…" Nick whispered soothingly. "Dad's asleep. He's been up constantly with you ever since you got here. I doubt if he even got three hours of sleep." Nick pointed to Jason, who, sure enough, was sleeping in an armchair next to my bed.

"Please tell me happened, Nick. Tell me everything." I whispered, so I wouldn't wake my exhausted and most likely stressed out husband.

Nick hesitated, and I feared the worst. "You gave birth to a baby girl at 7:24 pm three days ago. She weighed a mere four pounds, fifteen ounces. Her lungs are dangerously small, so that's why she didn't cry right away. She wasn't breathing at first, but the healers managed to save her. She's breathing now, but only with help from a machine, and she still hasn't opened her eyes."

How had I missed all that? "But she's alright, isn't she?"

Nick sighed. "The healers don't know for sure yet."

We were silent for a few minutes, finally, I asked. "You said she was born three days ago, right?" Nick nodded. "Then, where was I during all this."

"You were unconscious." Nick answered simply. "You lost a lot of blood while giving birth, and so you fainted."

Oh, that made sense. Suddenly, Jason stirred, and his eyes fluttered open. When Jason's eyes met mine, he leaped from his chair, wrapped his arms tightly around me, and wept, calling my name over and over again.

"Jason, I'm fine." I said softly. "I'm here."

"I thought I was going to lose you both." Jason whispered when he finally recovered. "I don't know what I would have done if both of you were gone.

"Jason, I'm going to be fine. You can relax." I soothed, and kissed my husband on the lips.

I wasn't allowed to see my daughter until the following day. Jason, Nick, and I had to wear those little blue masks in order to prevent the baby from getting sick. She was in her own room, again to prevent illness. Even though her eyes still hadn't opened and she was hooked up to a breathing machine, my daughter was still beautiful.

"What do you want to name her?" Jason said softly.

I hesitated. "I don't want to name her until we know for sure if she…" my voice trailed off.

"Lives?" Jason asked.

I nodded weakly.

"She will live, Luci." Jason whispered. "We just have to have faith.

Our little girl finally opened her eyes on November 9th, 2015, nearly a week after her birth. Two weeks later, we were able to bring her home. We named her Faith, because we always had faith that she would survive. Her middle name was Karishma, because it meant "Miracle" in Hindi. And the name fit, because she was indeed, our little miracle.