As the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months, Konata and Shiro were no longer alone in the Room of Requirement. Neville had joined them (his arrival caused the appearance of a Gryffindor banner), and before they knew it, so had Blaze, a very beat up Seamus Finnigan, all 3 of Shiro's roommates, the Patil twins, Ernie Macmillan, and Lavender Brown. All of them shared the mutual goal of escaping the Carrows. With each of their arrivals, the room expanded, and a bathroom was even added. Although the one thing the room was unable to provide them with was food, that was no longer a problem: a passage to the Hog's Head had appeared, and the bartender- Aberfoth Dumbledore- provided them with the meals they needed to survive. It was perhaps all because of him that Konata was able to send her parents the "I'm okay" message through her fake Galleon every night.
As expected, Draco had not turned up ("Good riddance, he wouldn't have had good intentions anyway," Lavender had reasoned bitterly), which left Shiro to care for both Konata and Blaze during their pregnancies. "Merlin Shiro, you're acting like I'm on my death bed," Blaze muttered often. It was true, really: as the months went by, Shiro treated the girls like royalty and barely allowed them to lift a finger.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm just… worried," Shiro sighed, sitting on a hammock with Konata as Blaze half glared, half grinned at him with crossed arms.
"Hey, you know what's weird?" Konata commented, cocking her head slightly. "I look like I'm at least a whole month farther than you, Blaze… It's always been like that."
Blaze's expression softened; she absently rested her hand on her 8-and-a-half months pregnant stomach. "You're right… I think that's why Snape singled you out that day you guys came in here. You were somehow more noticeable than me… It's weird, 'cause I mean, we were equally as thin…"
"Huh, how odd." Konata turned to Shiro, expecting him to chime in; however, he was too busy staring wide-eyed at a pair of cribs that had spontaneously appeared in a corner of the room.
"Ugh, I hope we get out of here soon… No offense, but I really don't want to be stuck in a room with a couple of babies for more than a few days," Anthony Goldstein muttered, staring lazily at the hammock above him.
"C'mon, lay off it," Michael Corner snapped. "Shiro's got enough to think about right now, don't go making him feel all guilty." He clapped his fellow Ravenclaw on the shoulder, causing him to grin meekly.
The most important day in Konata and Shiro's lives was the twenty-third of April. Shiro was strolling around the room when he caught sight of a door he was certain had not been there for the past few months. Curiosity nipping at him, he hesitantly turned its knob. Poking his head inside, he was shocked to see not a hallway, but what appeared to be a miniature version of the nurse's office except with only 2 beds and much less items. Without bothering to close the door, he spun around and hastened to tell Konata about his discovery.
"Blimey, this place is so brilliant when it comes to stuff we need…" the Hufflepuff girl responded. To Shiro's alarm, color was draining from her face and her eyes were shut tightly. "Don't ask the details, just… help me into that room…" she whispered painfully. Unable to find any words, Shiro assisted his girlfriend to her feet and led her to the new room.
"WHAT is going on in there? Konata's screaming bloody murder," Ernie remarked with a raised eyebrow, glancing every now and then at the mini-hospital's door.
"She's having her baby, probably. I imagine it's not exactly a picnic," Terry Boot replied with a roll to his eyes.
"But does it really hurt so bad that she's shrieking that loudly?"
Terry smacked his palm against his forehead. "Yes, Ernie. It does."
Several hours passed. The Patil twins had disappeared inside the room to aid the distressed couple, while Blaze sat nervously chewing her fingernails to stubs. She was feeling quite uncomfortable lately as well… Was her time coming soon? That would explain why there were two beds…
It felt like years later when Shiro flung himself into the main Room of Requirement, with askew hair and a tired appearance yet positively beaming with joy. "It's twins! Twins! That's why she was bigger than Blaze! They're both perfectly healthy, and Konata's doing fine… Not sure on names yet, but they look just like miniature Konatas, they've got my hair though…" He let out a laugh of pure glee and dashed back into the smaller room.
"I think he might be a little glad," Neville mused with a smile almost as big as Shiro's. Michael laughed.
"No, really?"
"Would you like to hold them, Konata?" Parvati was inquiring quietly, wrapping the female baby in a pink blanket while Padma swaddled the male in a blue one. Konata's exhausted face lit up significantly.
"Of course, please…!" she breathed, reaching out her arms. Shiro sat beside his girlfriend, smiling warmly.
"They're beautiful. Absolutely beautiful," he whispered, staring down at his infant children with utmost pride. "Now… Do we have names for these bundles of joy? I was thinking R names, not sure why…"
Sparkles seemed to jump into Konata's green eyes. "That's perfect, because I was thinking Raito and Raye… Do the middle names Satoshi and Blaze still stand?"
Shiro nodded leisurely, his smile intensifying. "Mhm. Raye Blaze Ueda… Raito Satoshi Ueda… I love it." Their sentimental family moment was cut short, though, as Neville was now leading Blaze to the bed beside Konata's.
Within a matter of hours, Scorpius Draco Alexanders ("Let's not make that official, I'm hoping the last name can be Malfoy," Blaze had pointed out) was born.
These babies were not the only new arrivals in the Room of Requirement. In the beginning of May, out of the Hog's Head passageway came Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Konata, who had just put the twins up for their naps, sprung up and gave Hermione a big hug; Shiro clapped Harry on the shoulder, smiling beamishly. Shortly afterwards, Luna and Dean followed in behind the trio. This, however, was still only the beginning of the Dumbledore's Army members that were returning.
During a frustrated sort of argument between Harry and the others (he said he, Ron, and Hermione needed to do something, but he wasn't accepting help), more people emerged from the hole in the wall: Fred, Geroge, Ginny, Cho Chang, Satoshi, Lee Jordan, Jeffrey, Catherin, her twin Caitlyn (who was holding Fred's hand), and Gaia Robertson. Gaia was a dirty blonde, spectacled old friend of Konata's whom she had met through their mutual House and friendship with Catherin. Like the Lumbach twins and Cho, she had graduated the year prior. "Seamus!" she gasped, bolting over to the Irish boy. "Bloody hell, you're a mess…" She then planted a passionate kiss on his bruised and puffy forehead.
The Golden Trio eventually made their departure, leaving the newcomers with those who had been staying in the Room of Requirement for an extensive length of time. Konata didn't hesitate to hand out hugs to Catherin, Gaia, and even Satoshi. With glistening eyes, Shiro said a quick greeting to Caitlyn (a fellow Ravenclaw) and quickly turned to his elder brother. He hadn't been able to contact him since they left King's Cross Station… He realized with a pang of guilt that the last time he had seen their sister was before he acted out in Muggle Studies. Who knew what fate could have befallen Sakura?
These horrid thoughts fell out of mind as Satoshi leapt forward and embraced his younger brother. For a moment, Shiro wondered if he had actually seen a tear drip down Satoshi's face. "I see you haven't gotten a chance to shave in a while," he murmured, standing back and staring at Shiro with admiration. The younger boy grinned emotionally.
"You haven't been having a fabulous time with hair either." Satoshi, still sporting a goatee and short but present ponytail, laughed and gave his brother another tight hug. "Satoshi… There's someone- two people, actually- that I need you to meet," Shiro indicated quietly. He turned to the crowd still gathered round the hole in the wall. "Catherin, Caitlyn, you girls are like family… You can come too." Without any comment, the three of them followed after the Ravenclaw boy. Satoshi took a double take as he glimpsed Blaze snuggling Scorpius on a hammock; he stopped dead and turned around.
"Who's the kid Blaze has got?" he asked in an urgent whisper.
"That little guy is Scorpius. He's uh… He's Draco- er, Malfoy's baby," Konata answered, going ahead so she could be the one to open the door to what had once been the mini-hospital but now transformed into a nursery. Satoshi's jaw dropped, and Catherin had to grab him by the arm and literally drag him away to unglue his eyes from the sight of his ex-girlfriend kissing her blonde baby on the nose.
Konata and Shiro led them all to a crib in the corner of the tiny nursery. All three of them gasped deeply, their eyes becoming wide. They took in the full picture of what they were seeing: The two babies weren't terribly small, but also not significantly large. Both of them were sleeping silently, stretched out under a blanket Konata had sewn herself. The twin on the right had its miniscule fingers wrapped around the paw of a teddy bear; the one on the left was lightly gripping a stuffed dog's foot. Both babies had peach-fuzz-like hair the same shade of brown as their father's.
"Oh my Lord… Shiro, Konata, they're adorable…" Catherin insisted in a high pitched voice, partially covering her mouth with her hand. Before the latter could respond, though, Satoshi spoke.
"Bloody hell… Catherin told me you and Konata did, you know, STUFF," Catherin flashed Shiro a guilty half smile as her boyfriend said this, "but I didn't know THIS had…" Satoshi trailed off, giving a slight shake to his head as he stared down at the twins as if he'd never seen such things before. "Bloody hell…"
"I'm sorry, Sato… I would've told you, honest, I just-"
"Oh, I'm not mad or anything," Satoshi interrupted his brother. A blissful grin twitched onto his face.
"Cath's right, they're so cute. What're their names?"
Taken aback, Shiro smiled faintly. "The girl- she's older by 7 minutes- she's Raye Blaze… And the boy is Raito Satoshi."
Blue eyes widened, Satoshi stared at Shiro for a few seconds. "You named him… after me?" he whispered.
"Naturally."
"Aw, how sweet!" chimed the Lumbach twins. They grinned at each other, then at the new parents.
"It's a shame they're born during times like these, but… Congratulations anyway, Shiro. You too Konata," Caitlyn said. Both sisters gave Konata and Shiro hugs, gently caught final sights of the infant Ueda twins, and swept out of the room. Satoshi laughed as they heard Caitlyn tell Fred about the new babies, Fred croon "When all this stuff with You-Know-Who blows over, we've got to have a pair or two of twins ourselves," and Caitlyn respond "However many you want, love." Satoshi didn't need to be in the room to know the blonde girl had kissed her ginger boyfriend on the nose.
Satoshi turned back to Konata and Shiro. "Well. I can't believe it… Shiro, I remember when you came up to me and asked how I pick up girls so easily. Your face turned so red when you said you had a crush on Konata… Now here you are, the father of her kids. Blimey, things sure do change…" A sort of sadness that made him appear 10 years older swept over his face as he bent down and gingerly tickled Raito's chin, then Raye's. The babies stirred ever so slightly, making barely audible fussing sounds. "My little niece and nephew… So sweet and innocent… I hate that we can't have the satisfaction of knowing they'll have the safe, happy future they deserve."
All pleasure seeped out of Shiro's face; Konata appeared suddenly grim and stared at the ground. "What… do you mean?" Shiro whispered hesitantly.
"Shiro, did you not listen to a word that was spoken out there? Why do you think Neville's trying to get the DA back together? Harry's returned. We're going to war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."