James paced in the corridor. He had been shooed from the room where Hannah, Victoire, and one of the senior healers examined his partner. Rose was now thirty weeks pregnant, and he was anxiously awaiting news of their babies.

"Come in." said Victoire solemnly.

"Is it okay?" asked James. She just shook her head. His stomach lurched and he followed her into the hospital room. He sat on the bed beside Rose and held her tightly.

"Rose. James." began Hannah. "I'm afraid that the girl has died." she said sadly. "I'm so, so sorry."

They both cried. Rose nosily, James silently.

"I'm sorry too." said Victoire, conjuring handkerchiefs and passing them around. "We'll leave you in peace, but remember that your little boy is doing just fine."

James nodded, and the caregivers left.

"James." moaned Rose, her heart breaking. "Our daughter."

"I know." said James. "I know. We didn't even get to know her. She doesn't have a name. Our little princess."

"Eadlyn." murmured Rose through her sobbing.

"Really?" asked James.

Rose nodded "It means princess."

"Eadlyn." repeated James. He had managed to stop crying, but he felt like something was gone. A hole that couldn't be filled. "And the boy?"

"I don't know." said Rose, who was now hiccupping.

"I like Noah." suggested James.

"Comfort and longevity. Okay."

"We have to be strong for him." said James, helping Rose dab at her face. She was still crying, but less loudly.

"I know. But our baby! And he'll never know his sister." exclaimed Rose, burying her face against James' shirt.

James eyes brimmed again at the thought. "He knows her. Maybe even better than we do."

"James." mumbled Rose into the shirt "What if..."

"Don't worry." said James. "He's going to be fine." Although at the moment he felt like it would never be fine again.

"Promise?"

"I promise. Do you want to come back with me?" asked James.

"James. I... I want my Mum." said Rose.

James understood. He wanted his Mum too. "Okay." he said "Okay."

They Flooed to Rose's house. Her parents were at work, so they had about half an hour to wait.

"Can you make tea please?" asked Rose quietly.

"Er, sure." James went into the kitchen and returned several minutes later holding a mug.

Rose sipped and spat tea across the room. "What is this?"

"Tea... I think." replied James, grabbing the cup and sniffing it. "What does it taste like?"

"Really strong tea. And... lemon? It's bitter."

"I added honey." said James.

"Bring me the bottle." ordered Rose. He did. "That's dish soap!"

"Wha – why do your parents have dish soap? They can magically clean the dishes!"

"Mum likes to wash them. She says it's relaxing." explained Rose.

Just then green flames burst in the fireplace, and Hermione appeared. "Oh!" she cried, startled.

"Mum!" Rose burst into a fresh round of tears and threw herself at Hermione. Hermione was momentarily taken aback, but then she helped Rose over to the couch.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"Mum. My baby..."

"It's kind of a long story." said James.

Hermione nodded. "Why don't you start at the beginning then?" She shifted to face James, still supporting Rose.

"Well, we were having a boy and a girl. Except, they had some problems. And we were just at the hospital, and well, the girl... she died." explained James.

"Eadlyn." murmured Rose.

"Oh Rose, I'm so sorry." said Hermione "And James."

"We know we're not supposed to be here, but Rose needed to see you." said James.

"It's okay." replied Hermione. "I'm sorry about that. It's not your fault, there were just... a lot of things. After everything that happened to us, when we were kids... well I just wanted it to be alright for you. And..." she paused.

"You don't have to explain." said James.

"No, I do, because I should have been there for you. I just, I used to worry a lot, about getting pregnant. When we were on the run, especially, I knew I could have... been taken advantage of. Then in the early days with Ron, before we were married. I didn't want to lose everything, since his family was so nice, and he and Harry were my only friends... my parents, they would have abandoned me. So what we all wanted was for you to be safe, and that was gone."

"It was hard." replied James.

"We had each other." said Rose, sitting up. She smiled at James.

Hermione blinked. "You're in love." she said, surprised.

"What?" asked Rose.

"We are." confirmed James. "It's difficult. We were alone see, and we're going to be parents together, so... it just sort of happened. We're sorry."

"Don't be." said Hermione finally, after a long pause. "We should have expected... all alone."

"Will Uncle Ron be home soon?" asked James.

"Yes, but I'll deal with him. Why don't you take Rose upstairs, and come down and we'll talk before he gets here?"

Once Rose was asleep, Hermione made fresh tea and she and James both took a mug and sat at the kitchen table.

"Will you be staying?" asked Hermione.

"Er, I don't know. I guess Rose doesn't have class until Monday." realized James. "I have to work tonight though."

"I'll ask Rose later what she wants. Where are you working?"

"Casey's Cauldron, in Hogsmeade. It's been open about eight months, I think." replied James.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know. Just to be here, I guess. Rose misses you."

Hermione sighed sadly. "I don't know what happened. Are you going to talk to your parents?"

"I guess so. I'm sad, but Rose is heartbroken."

"Well, that's normal. The baby is inside her, and there's a really strong bond. You need to grieve too though, James. I know you want to be strong, for Rose and for your son, but this is really sad." Hermione informed him.

James looked curiously at his Aunt. "Er, how do you know, if you don't mind me asking?"

Hermione never would have told James all of this a year ago. But he had obviously matured so much since then, and now he was going to be a father. "We had a lot of trouble trying to conceive at first. And when we did, I miscarried, early. Then Rose was born and I loved her so much, we wanted another. However we had difficulties again conceiving Hugo. Both were really easy pregnancies. So once we finally got pregnant a third time I thought he would be just fine too. But I miscarried again. That baby though, I had carried almost to term, and my heart broke. We decided to stop. I... I was a little jealous of Rose, that she could have a baby so easily even when she was trying not to. I didn't want her to know that though."

"Of course not." said James. "But ...if you told her about miscarrying, and how you got through it... it might help her."

"Perhaps." agreed Hermione.

"I wouldn't ask, but I can't let her fall apart. Our other baby is in there as healthy as... well healthy enough anyway, and... I can't do this by myself." admitted James.

"Okay." said Hermione. "Okay. I'll tell her."

"Thank you." replied James. "I really have to get going now though. Er, I'll get in touch."