A/N: Forgive the lateness of posting this chapter and review replies for the last chapter. Some unexpected things have come up this week that prevented me from doing so. Review replies will come later as things settle back down to normal.
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Several hours later, Harry Potter left Grimmauld Place to visit with Teddy Lupin. Now that he was divorced and had resigned from the Auror department, he found that he had more time available to devote to his godson. Andromeda had been staying with Narcissa at Malfoy Manor to keep her company since Lucius and Hermione had gone to Massachusetts, so Harry headed there, rather than Andromeda's home.
As a house elf ushered him into the library, he found Andromeda staring pensively out a window, deep in thought.
Realizing that she'd not taken note of his presence, Harry cleared his throat and said, "Andromeda?"
Startled, she turned to Harry and said in an apologetic tone, "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. I forgot you were visiting today."
"What's wrong?" he asked in concern. "Is Teddy all right?"
"He's perfectly fine," she assured him. "No need to worry about that young man." Frowning, she added, "It's Narcissa. She was having a lot of pain yesterday and did not sleep much last night. It was such that I called Lucius in Massachusetts and he came home to take her to St. Mungo's. I think she might be in premature labour."
Harry didn't quite know what to say. "I'm sorry to hear that," he finally managed. "I hope that she and the baby will be all right."
"I'm sure everything will be fine," she said softly. "I hope."
"Would you like me to stay here with Teddy while you go to St Mungo's to check in on her?" Harry offered impulsively.
"Oh, I couldn't impose on you," she said doubtfully. "Lucius would call me if things were really bad."
"You're not imposing on me at all," Harry insisted. "I can tell you're worried, so you need to go and find out for yourself."
"Are you sure." She really did want to go see Narcissa and hadn't been able to relax since Lucius had taken her to St Mungo's.
"Quite sure," he affirmed. "This will give Teddy and I a good long time to get re-acquainted. I might even call Arabella to bring Samantha over, so that Teddy can have a playmate."
"All right, then, I'll go," she decided. "I'll feel better once I know that Narcissa will be all right." Taking her wand, she transfigured her clothing into a nicer robe. Just before grabbing some floo powder, she turned and said, "Oh, I almost forgot. Hermione should be coming through the floo some time today. Lucius had told her to get some rest before returning home with Lucia."
"I'll be watching for her," he promised. "I'll tell her what's going on."
"Thank you, Harry," the witch said. "I really appreciate it and Narcissa will, too."
"I'm glad to do it," he replied. "Give Narcissa my best wishes."
"I'll do that," Andromeda promised just before disappearing into a cloud of green smoke.
A few moments later, Andromeda, after asking after Narcissa's whereabouts, entered the same private labour room that Hermione had used previously. She found Lucius sitting close to Narcissa, holding her hand while gently murmuring to her.
As she gazed upon Narcissa, the older witch nearly gasped in dismay. The normally impeccably groomed woman was showing clear signs of the severity of her travail, with her usually pristine blond hair in disarray, greasy and lank upon the pillow. The sheets beneath her were tangled and damp with sweat, bearing visual evidence to her difficult labour.
Not wanting to alarm the expectant couple, she schooled her face and put on a brave smile.
Before she could speak, Lucius looked up and said, "Andromeda! Narcissa was just asking about you and I'd told her that you had to stay behind to mind Teddy."
"Harry Potter came by to visit with Teddy and after I told him what was going on, he offered to babysit," she said. Shifting her gaze to Narcissa, she added, "And he sends his regards to you, Narcissa."
"How kind of him," she said weakly, then grimaced as another labour pain overtook her. "I'll have to be sure to thank him when I get home."
At that moment, Calandra Jones bustled into the room. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you both to step out for a few moments while I give Mrs Malfoy an examination to assess her progress."
Kissing his wife's hand before rising to comply with the midwife's request, Lucius murmured, "I'll be back soon, love. I'll just be in the waiting room."
Narcissa gave him a tiny smile and squeezed his hand, before he reluctantly released his grip. "I'll be waiting," she whispered.
Andromeda followed Lucius into the private waiting room where they found Draco rubbing Luna's back.
"Are you feeling better, Luna?" Lucius asked as he seated himself beside the young couple.
"Much better, thank you," she replied, sighing as her husband continued to rub. "It seems the more pregnant I get, the more backaches I have and this is the only thing that helps. Draco has magic hands."
Chuckling knowingly, he told her, "What a coincidence. Narcissa and Hermione have said the very same thing about me!"
"I'm not surprised," Luna said serenely. "Like father, like son."
"How is Mum doing now?" Draco asked nervously. "It doesn't seem as if she should be in this much pain."
"The midwife is examining her again now," the older wizard reported. "It seems likely that your sister will be born prematurely today."
"And pain is natural and to be expected during labour," Andromeda assured her nephew. "Some women have more, some women have less, and sometimes it will differ with the same woman from child to child."
"And your mother had quite a time of it when you were born as I remember," Lucius recalled. "Though not quite so bad as this."
Taking both Draco's and Lucius' hands, Luna told them earnestly, "Narcissa has a strong aura. She will be fine, and so will the baby. There's no need to worry."
Before either man could reply, Calandra Jones stood in the doorway. "Mr Malfoy? I've finished my examination..."
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Several hours after Lucius had left, Hermione awakened from a fitful slumber. Sitting up and yawning, she did not feel rested, but got out of bed anyway and headed for the shower. She knew she'd not rest well until she returned home and found out how Narcissa was doing.
After spending an extended time in the shower, allowing the hot water to revive her tired body, she returned to the bedroom to dress. Still yawning loudly, she dressed herself magically, not wanting to take the time to dress the muggle way.
Moving to check on Lucia, she found Breezy changing the diaper of the cooing baby.
"Good morning, Breezy" she said, yawning again, as she seated herself in the rocking chair, waiting for the elf to finish so that she could nurse Lucia. "I want to thank you for getting up with Lucia during the night," the young woman said. "I didn't hear her cry out once."
"That is because Miss Lucia slept through the night," Breezy announced proudly. "This is the first time she has done that."
"Really?" Hermione said, smiling about her daughter's first milestone. "How wonderful! I can't wait to tell Lucius." After a pause to take Lucia from the elf, she said. "And that's another thing. I want you to gather Lucia's thing while I'm eating breakfast. We'll be returning home as soon as I'm done. As much as I'd prefer to fly home, we'll be taking the floo."
Breezy looked alarmed, but merely said, "Yes, mistress."
"Lucius has returned home because Narcissa wasn't well," she explained. "I suspect she might be giving birth prematurely." Heaving a loud sigh, she said, "Either way, Lucius won't be coming back, so we might as well all go home. I've finished my first book and have the second outlined, so it's time to return in any instance."
Forty five minutes later, Hermione stepped through the floo at Malfoy Manor with Lucia in her arms. Breezy followed a moment later with their reduced belongings.
They found Harry sitting on the floor of the library entertaining Teddy and Samantha with a toy Quidditch set. They clapped and gurgled with joy as Harry made the toy Quidditch player zip around the room on a tiny broom. Arabella sat contentedly on a nearby chair giving James a bottle.
"Harry!" Hermione called out. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Hermione," he greeted, getting up from the floor. "Andromeda was here minding Teddy, so I offered to watch him while she went to St Mungo's to see Narcissa."
"Is Narcissa all right?" Hermione asked, frowning.
"I don't know," he replied. "I haven't heard any news, good or bad."
"I need to go up there and see what's going on," she said decisively. "Would you mind awfully much minding Lucia as well? Breezy will help you."
"Of course I don't mind," Harry said, reaching out his arms for the littlest Malfoy. "I'll be glad to."
"The more, the merrier," Arabella said, smiling at the other witch.
"I owe you one," she said. "I'll be happy to babysit for James and Samantha some time when you two want to go out."
"That will work," he said, smiling.
"I'll see you later," she said, giving Lucia a kiss on the head. "Breezy has everything that Lucia will need."
"All right, then," Harry said. "Go on, we'll be fine."
A moment later, Hermione stepped through the floo at St Mungo's, then headed directly to the labour and delivery floor. remembering that Lucius had said that Narcissa would be using the same room that she had when Lucia was born.
As she quietly stepped through the door into the private waiting room, she found Andromeda, along with Draco and Luna, seated on the far side of the room. Lucius was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, hello, Hermione," Luna said placidly. "You're just in time. Lucius is in the delivery room with Narcissa now."
"How is she doing?" Hermione asked, directing the question toward Draco.
"She's had a rough go of it, but the midwife is fairly certain that the baby will be fine if they take it now," he said, worried concern evident in his voice. "It should be any time now, as they've been in there quite awhile.
A short time later, everyone looked up expectantly when the door squealed open to admit a beaming Lucius, clad in rumpled hospital scrubs with a hugely satisfied smile on his face.
"You have a new sister, Draco," he told his son proudly. "She's rather small and delicate, but the midwife says she'll be fine." Turning to give Hermione a kiss, he said, "And Lucia has a sister to grow up with."
"I'm so happy for you and Narcissa, love," she murmured. "I hope they'll be close."
"How is Mum," Draco asked.
"She's worn out, as you might expect," he told them. "But she'll be fine as well. She's sleeping now, so we'll leave her to get some rest."
Finally turning to Andromeda, he told her quietly, "Narcissa and I have decided to name her Nymphadora Andromeda."
With tears brimming up in her eyes and her lip trembling in a rare show of emotion at the thought of her lost daughter, Andromeda finally choked out, "Thank you, Lucius. You don't know how much that means to me."
He took her hand and squeezed it in a wordless show of sympathy. "We plan to call her Dori."
Taking Hermione's hand, he said, "Why don't we all go see her in the nursery?"
A short time later, the group stood outside the nursery window admiring the newest member of the Malfoy family.
"Oh, she looks almost exactly like Lucia!" Hermione said. "They could almost be twins!"
"It would seem they both favour the Malfoy side," Andromeda agreed. "Daddy's little girls."
Luna and Draco stood a little bit apart from the others as they admired Dori. "In a month or so, we'll be looking at our own baby through that window," he murmured, kissing his wife's cheek."
"It will be sooner than that," Luna announced confidently. "I'll be a mother before the next full moon."
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Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. I truly appreciate it.
Next chapter yet to be named.