Chapter 55

From that day there was a change in Harry. The January days of depression were gone. He still suffered as he longed for the return of Ariana but this baby... it was as if she was telling him there was still hope.

There would be a new start for the three of them.

And so the changer begun in his life. Harry begun to live by the rule work hard, play hard. When Hermione went to the library mole often than ever before he went with her. He had to get his exams. The approaching OWLS seemed more important than ever. He had to get a good job when he eventually finished school (whether that came before or after beating Voldemort he was not yet sure). He was going to have three months to feed, after all. But he also trained harder when the Gryffindor team went out to train. This he knew was going to be his last year on his house team. When he was not working next year he was going to be Ariana and the baby.

A brilliant future was ahead of him for the first time in weeks.

A family to call his own. In truth it was beyond his wildest dreams.

Other aspects of his school life also intensified. The defence group that they had begun was widen out so that many more students came to the now illegal meetings. Sirius helped them more indirectly also. Though he wanted to carry on leading them, Harry insisted he did not. He had to keep his post at Hogwarts. That was an absolute necessity. Harry didn't know how he would cope with out his god father there to help him now.

The group had now been named, in honour of the ministry's fear, 'Dumbledore's army.' It was quiet fitting they felt.

Like any other expectant father he supposed he begun to count down the days till the arrival of the little one. It was due early in the second half of august. That meant he was only going to have two weeks with the new born till he went back to school. He wished he could have more time with them.

Of course the option of him not returning had been discussed between himself, the Dumbledore brothers and Sirius. All three grown men, even Aberforth, had put a stop to that idea. With Voldemort gaining power this was not a good time for the chosen one to put an end to the only thing that could prepare him for what lied ahead. No Ariana had been taken out of education. Harry had to continue with his.

The baby would be in the care of Sirius for most of the time it seemed the decisions had been made. Should some miracle occur that meant Ariana was well enough to care for her child by the time it was born, it would of course stay with her and Aberforth in the school term. But Aberforth had even admitted he was not up to caring for the new born and his sister at once, and as usual for him, Ariana came first.

So the responsibility of the overall care of the child came down to Sirius Black who had to say he was rather looking forward to it. He was going to be able to do everything for the baby that he had not been able to do for its father.

He had his doubts about the child, for sure. His teenage godson he had wanted to look after now had someone to look after himself. But it was nothing to worry about. Harry had coped better than anyone could had predicated when he got the news and his enthusiasm had not failed him yet. No, he was sure having a baby was not as hard as fighting Voldemort. And Harry had already met him four times. Each and every time, he had survived.

Baby Dumbledore-Potter should be a piece of pumpkin pie.

-

Aberforth walked into the room. Healer Tusker was doing changing Ariana drip again and she had called him in. As accustom as the two were becoming of one another Aberforth found he did not have the emotional energy left to like or dislike her. He had too much on his mind.

Going into the room, he slumped down into the arm chair that had been placed by her bed which was now where he spent the majority of his days. Albus had told him repeatedly he didn't think it was a good idea to dwell so much on what had gone on, and that if he wanted to, perhaps going to the pub for a few hours would actually do him some good. But it was as if he couldn't do it. Physically he could not walk away or leave her. He had never been one to self pity, but now it was all he could do as he watched the unmoving body on the bed.

The only difference between the Ariana who had arrived at Grimmauld pladce and the Ariana who lay before him now was that her stomach seemed slightly more inflated. There was no question of it.

Ariana had a baby bump.

He was turning all of it over in his brain daily but he just couldn't find the logic that he knew Potter and Blaak had found. Even Albus had come about to the idea of the baby but he could not. It felt wrong for the girl he had thought of as his chid for so long to be having one herself.

Of course that was what she was. She was more a daughter than a sister to him now. Maybe if he had been a bit freer with her then this would not have happened. He knew it was useless to blame himself (she certainly would not let him) but he did. Though that said, not as much as he blamed the Potter boy.

He knew this had not been Harry's intention but he was the root of this. If he had kept her out of school from the start...

The fact remained that he was selfish when it came to her, because he didn't want top share her. Not with any one, least of all a baby and her boy friend.

Tears trickled down. He wanted to be young again. He wanted her to be four or five and he wanted them to be best friends once more. He wanted them to play all day together, then have their mother call them in for tea. Half way through the meal he wanted their father would join them once he was in from work and kiss them all lovingly as he sat by his wife and ask if his children had had a good day. Albus would precede to dominate the conversation and him and Ariana would pass sniggers between them when he was too pompous.

Things had been so simple then. So why and how had they got so complicated now?

Uncomfortably, he reached out and took her hand.

And so the wait for her continued.

A/n: Sorry for such a short chapter, I had to put the information in but it didn't fit together nicely with the next. However, I felt I had to move the story along. I am slowly getting towards the end now. Looking over my plan, this story should total at 63/4 chapters. Next chapter has plenty more too it, I promise.

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