Ciao amicos! I'm finally on Spring Break this week so that hopefully means at least one or two more chapters after this one. Unfortunately I still have some school work do to do and I need time to do other things so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update. This chapter, however, is one that I personally have been looking forward to writing forever. There has been a question that many people have asked throughout the series and I was never able to answer. Finally the time has arrived when the answer is revealed. I won't keep you guys any longer. Please enjoy the new installment of ABAWS:B5.

"Mum, have you seen the Potters arrive yet?" Ben asked his mother for the twelfth time in the past half hour. He was sitting at the head table with all the other heads of departments and their families. His father's annual Christmas party was not as carefree or lighthearted as it had been in the past. There were extensive checks at the door. Anyone who had even been associated with Death Eaters in passing were not to allowed in unless they could prove they weren't followers of Lord Voldemort.

Ben knew it was silly to worry but he hadn't seen Ursula for an entire week. Considering he had had some sort of contact with her for the past year, this extended period when they couldn't talk to each other like they usually did was difficult. He was also worried about her and Sirius having problems getting in. While it was common knowledge among many at the Ministry that there were at least three Black defectors (Sirius, Ursula, and their cousin Andromeada) there was still some concern that they would be hassled tonight.

Mrs. White laughed, "She'll be here soon enough. They just returned from vacation; they are probably running behind."

"I would love to be that optimistic but the current societal issues going on make me inclined to believe otherwise." He responded in a snarky tone.

Giving her son a properly chastising look, she in turn turned out to look into the rapidly accumulating crowd. "Ah, look, there's her brothers now."

Ben's gaze instantly snapped towards where he saw James and Sirius sitting down at a table with their parents. Yet, for some unknown reason, Ursula was not with them. Ben jumped to his seat and forgetting his manners, quickly left the head table.

"Oi, Prongs, Paddy, where's Ursula?"

"Molly found her near the door. Wanted to talk to her or something," James said.

"But don't worry, she's all in one piece. Look for a horde of gingers and you'll find her." Sirius added.

Ben nodded and thanked them before pushing his way through the crowd. With all the men in their dress robes and most of the woman in floor length gowns, the amount of material was obnoxiously hard to walk past at times. In the end, he didn't have to find the Weasleys; it was her laugh that carried over the noise and chatter of the ballroom. Instantly, he honed in on the sound and when he saw her, there was a moment when he forgot how to breath and his mind turned to static.

She was wearing a modestly gorgeous gown. It was a deep red dress that was fitted at the waist and the skirt was very Ginger Rogers-esque. It was a high swoop neck, the sleeves just barely touching her shoulders. The entirety of the dress had a delicate and intricate gold lace pattern stitched into it, the bottom being the most decorated until it slowly tapered away near the top. Since the straps were only about an inch or so wide, she wore black gloves that went to just under her elbow. Around her neck, her usual necklace hung and she was wearing simple ruby earrings. Her curly, jet black hair was pulled up into a bun though a few tresses fell into her face.

That was merely her appearance, which honestly Ben could care less about. He didn't love her for her beauty. No, he loved her when she looked like this and when she was a disgusting, sweaty mess after Quidditch practice. It was no matter to him. To him, she was flawless. But at that moment, she had another accessory that caused his heart to painfully thud away in his chest. She was holding young Percy Weasley.

Molly, who was very heavily pregnant, was holding onto Bill's hand while her husband Arthur held Charlie. Little Percy was reaching up and playing with her necklace while she spoke to him, smiling widely. She looked incredibly natural standing there holding him. Not for the first time, but certainly for the most definitive, Ben realized that that was he wanted in the future. He wanted to wake up every morning with Ursula in the bed next to him. He wanted to annoy her with his incessant violin playing at all hours of the night. He imagined a world where Ursula would be holding onto a baby boy, with his red hair and her sparking eyes and both their intelligence.

Shaking himself out of his fantasy, Ben walked the rest of the way to embrace Ursula, "Hello, Darling."

Ursula jumped slightly but her eyes lit up with joy, "Ben!" She exclaimed. She held up Percy a little bit, "Look what I happened to come across?"

"That's my baby brother!" Charlie announced proudly.

Percy, who was now nearing a year and a half old, pointed to his brother, "Charwee!" He cheered. "Will!" He pointed to his other older brother.

Ben nodded and laughed, "Yeah those are you brothers. Do you know what's in mommy's tummy?"

Molly laughed when Percy looked terribly confused. She took her son's hand and rested her other hand on her stomach, "What's in my tummy, dearie?"

Percy's face lit up with recognition, "Babies!"

"Babies?" Ben questioned.

Arthur nodded, beaming as any father would, "Twins; both boys. We found out a few months ago."

"Congratulations!" Ursula pulled Molly into a hug while Ben shook Arthur's hand. "When are they due?"

"Early-mid April. With twins we can't be sure when they are going to show up."

Ursula nodded, "Sirius and I showed up almost two full months early."

"Impatient little buggers, weren't you?" Ben teased. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed his lips against her temple. Charlie and Bill both made 'ew' sounds but Percy remained perfectly oblivious.

"Some things never change," Ursula pointed out. She then turned her attention back to Molly, "Have you thought of any names?"

Molly shook her head, "Not really. We still have four months to figure it out. Actually," she turned to look at her husband who wrapped his arms around her waist, "we had something we wanted to ask you Ursula. You see—"

"Down! Down!" Percy cut off his mother as he started to fuss. He pushed against Ursula's shoulder and started kicking against her ribs. Ursula was quick to comply with his demands. The second he was on the floor he ran over to his brothers and started trying to start a game of tag with them. Arthur picked him up and tried to sooth the now agitated toddler.

"Sorry about him. We would normally not bring him somewhere this late but with everything going on…we wanted to make sure we were with him."

"We understand."

"That kind of segues into what we wanted to ask you. You've become a dear friend in the past few years, especially since the summer I was pregnant with Percy and you were there to make sure we were alright. The boys adore you and we trust you with them. That why, when we were talking about it, we were wondering if you would be the twins' Godmother?"

Ursula froze. Her jaw dropped and her eyes stared at Molly and Arthur unblinkingly. "You want me," she said slowly, "to be Godmother to two of you children?"

"We've tried to keep out of the politics of the War but that doesn't make us safer than anyone else. We need to know that if something, God forbid, does happen to us, we have a group of people that would be willing to take care of our children."

"And you think I would be able to do that!?" Ursula panicked. "Molly, I'm still in school! I have a price on my head; I'm going to be fighting in this war soon enough! I can't sit back and let this happen and worry about my life – let alone anyone else's. It's dangerous just to be associated with me."

Molly shook her head and placed her hands on Ursula's shoulders, "That's exactly the type of person that I want my children to look up to. Just think about it dear. You don't have to give us an answer tonight."

An announcement carried over the ballroom asking everyone to take their seat. After exchanging goodbyes, Ben took Ursula's hand and guided her towards the head table. Still in her daze, she didn't realize it until he was pulling out a chair for her, "Ben, I'm sitting with the Potters…I need to go find them."

Ben took the seat next to her, "You're sitting with my family tonight as my guest. That's the only way we got everyone in tonight. The Potters brought Sirius, Peter brought Elyse, and Remus invited Lily."

"What? I've always come with the Potters…"

"That was before we were only allowed one guest," Mrs. White spoke up from the other side of Ben. "With so many people involved in the Ministry gathered in one place, Jay and the other Heads of Departments decided that there would be strict codes. One of those is one guest."

"But Sirius and I live with the Potters. We are as good as Potters."

Mrs. White looked at Ursula sadly, "Ursula, the only reason I am going to tell this is because I consider you part of my family. If it was up to the rest of the Ministry, you and your brother wouldn't even be here right now. Jay personally vouched for you but even that was almost not enough. A lot of people aren't exactly thrilled that there are two people with the last name Black here tonight."

"What do you mean your father vouched for me?" Ursula asked softly.

Ben put his arm on her shoulder and rubbed soft circles to try to comfort her, "He mentioned all you've done for me. And…and he mentioned that Annabelle was fond of you. When that wasn't enough, he…well…he threatened to resign if you and your brother were categorized with Death Eaters."

Touched beyond belief, Ursula fought against the prickling in her eyes, "He did that for me?" She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that there was anyone out there that would do that for her. After growing up for eleven years with parents that didn't care about her at all…to have people like the Potters care for her was incredible. But to know that Ben's parents felt the same…

"Thank you," Ursula said softly as she tried to keep her voice from shaking.

Mrs. White smiled and reached over her son to take Ursula's hand, "Our son is in love with you. It doesn't matter that your last name is Black. In Jay and mine's mind, you are already a White."

Before Ursula could even try to figure out a response, Mr. White and the rest of the Heads of Departments walked up to the head table. Mr. White said some speech but Ursula couldn't remember a single word of it. It was a blur as Mrs. White's words repeated over and over in her head. It doesn't matter your last name is Black. In Jay and mine's mind, you are already a White. You are already a White. Being Black had been something that she had been identified with for the last seventeen years. It was the dark cloud that followed her everywhere she went. When she met someone new, there was always the same reaction when she said her last name; suspicion. It usually happened when she met a first year; they looked terrified of her and her brother. It didn't matter that she had a red and gold tie. To them, they instantly connected her with her insane family. Yet right now, Jay and Cecilia White, the Minister for Magic and his wife, considered her one of them.

"Love, the food's not going to eat itself." Ben pointed out to her.

She jumped and realized that food had magically appeared in front of her. After a quick look around, she realized that everyone was already eating and a number were looking at her distrustfully and distaste.

"Sorry," she apologized and picked up her fork. She mentally cursed herself when she saw her hand was shaking.

Ben wrapped his hand around hers and took the fork out of her hand. He leaned towards her and whispered, "They just can't figure out how an idiot like me somehow snagged an angel." He brought her hand to his lips.

"Ben, it looks like they want me to spontaneously combust."

"They are ignorant fools who don't understand how wonderful you are."

"Ursula," Mr. White said loudly, drawing the attention towards them, "I heard that the Quidditch team is doing well this year. Do you think you have a shot at winning the Cup?

She nodded, "I would certainly say so. James Potter is a Quidditch genius strategy wise. He knows how to play to all of our strengths. Plus the rest of the team is dedicated to each other."

"For those who don't know, Ursula and my son are on the Gryffindor Quidditch team," Jay said to the rest of the listeners.

The woman sitting next to Ursula on her right side snorted good naturedly, "How could we not know? All we ever hear about is their most recent wins."

"Millicent, I'm not that bad."

She leaned over and said in a faux whisper, "The day we all fear is when you and mini-J decide to make Jay a granddaddy. He'll be incorrigible."

Ursula and Ben simultaneously starting choking, Ben on the water he was drinking and Ursula on air. Jay decided to save them (and himself) and bring the subject back under his control. "What about your studies. I understand from my son that you are in an advanced Transfiguration class?"

Ursula flushed when all the eyes at the round table turned towards her once again, "Yes sir. Professor McGonagall felt that my brothers and I would be bored in the sixth year class so she moved us to the N.E.W.T level one."

"Brothers? Your younger brother is a year behind you." The man who said that was someone Ursula didn't know. His face was harsh and his eyes were cold and accusing. She bristled at the accusation that she was still associated with her biologically family by people who went solely off her last name.

"I was not speaking of Regulus. I was talking about James Potter."

The man scoffed, "He is not your brother; he is your friend."

Ben opened his mouth to defend her but Ursula placed a hand on his forearm to stop him. She turned to him and silently asked him to let her handle this. He nodded after a moment. Ursula then refocused her harsh gaze at the unknown man, "Be as that may, he is my brother in everything except blood, something I personally don't value. You are born into a family; you have no choice and you are not your family. It is the family you create around you that speaks on your character in my opinion. What do you think?"

The man was silent as he thought about what she said. Finally, he said slowly, "I think…I think I might have been wrong."

In no time, the conversation The rest of dinner went smoothly and Ursula actually found herself enjoying herself. After desert had been served and eaten, Mr. White stood up and offered his hand to his wife. Ben stood and did the same to Ursula. She tried to control her nerves but she saw what was going on.

"Ben…"

"Do you trust me?"

Without hesitation, she responded, "Yes."

"Then, Miss Black, would you be my dance partner?"

Without a response, Ursula stood and Ben escorted her to the ballroom floor. His parents were already standing there and the orchestra was prepping their instruments. He placed his hand on her waist and held her hand with his other. He leaned down the slightest bit and whispered into her ear, "You know what I haven't been able to tell you in seven days?"

"What?"

The first note from the orchestra sounded throughout the hall and Ben spun Ursula out. The second she was back in his arms he said, "That I am completely and irrevocably in love with you."

And with that, he literally and metaphorically swept her off her feet.

"They look so handsome together," Lily commented to Remus. The Minister and his family was in the middle of the first dance. Ursula and Ben glided across the ballroom floor. They moved together in such synchronization and with such skill that it left Lily mildly jealous of their skill. Logically she knew that since they both hailed from prominent pureblood families, they had been classically trained to dance.

Remus nodded, "I'm sure her brothers would love to hear that."

"I'm sure James would love hearing anything I said."

"He would probably faint."

"Remus!" Lily scolded.

He just shrugged, "He's a big boy, he can handle it."

"Are you sure about that?" She challenged.

After a moment of mock thought, Remus exhaled loudly and shook his head, "His fragile ego and low self-esteem is a great concern of mine. I should take more care when I speak of James's tendency to overreact to certain stimuli."

"You're terrible!" Lily laughed.

Remus smirked and shook his head, "I call it corrupted. I used to be such an innocent and pure soul."

"Whatever happened?" Lily sarcastically asked.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, "it all began on a September morning. I was minding my own business when I happened to come across compartment number seven. In the following ten minutes I was introduced to the six people who would become the bane of my existence and make my life a living and educational nightmare."

Lily smiled softly, "You wouldn't change it for the world, would you?"

"Not a single second," he smirked though there was genuine happiness in his expression.

The Gryffindor Prefect duo sat in silence as they watched a few of the other ministry officials join the other two pairs on the dance floor. Ursula and Ben spun past them quickly though Remus was able to get a good look at his closest friend. His eyes were dancing with mirth, his face lighter and more content than it had been in months. It was due to the woman in his arms who looked at him with equal adoration.

"He's going to ask her to marry him when we graduate," Remus remarked softly.

Lily's jaw dropped as she gasped, "What? How do you know?"

Remus smile was content though there was veiled concern, "He mentioned it when he visited a few days ago. He found some old wedding albums of his grandparents and parents and it got him thinking. Said something like he started picturing his own wedding with Ursula standing with him at the alter and the thought didn't send him running to the hills. Don't tell anyone, especially her brothers, but he's already trying to logistically figure everything out; where'd they live, money, stability...those types of things."

Lily had tears in her eyes, "That's so beautiful." And it truly was to her. She knew Ursula's past. At least, she knew the general picture of it. Knowing that she had never thought that anyone would ever love her, let alone want to marry her…Ben had changed all of that. He had hurt her yes and Lily had wanted to push him from the highest point in the castle. But he also loved her so deeply and truly that it left no question in Lily's mind that there was such a thing as soul mates. They went together so perfectly that in her mind, they were one being. They deserved each other and all the happiness in the world.

"Oi! What are you lazy sods still doing sitting down!" Sirius appeared seemingly out of thin air behind them, "We've been looking everywhere for you two!"

During the course of their conversation the first dance had ended and now everyone was up and about either dancing or socializing.

"Prongs has been going insane trying to find the Prefect date – he thinks Moony here is trying to steal away Evans."

Lily bristled, "I am no one's property to be stolen."

Sirius winked at her, "Trust me, we all know. I think that is one thing you were actually able to beat into James's head."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "And where is your 'date', hm?"

Sirius smirked and opened his arms wide, "This wizard happened to come stag tonight."

Remus groaned yet another animagus pun and let his head fall against the table with a painful, dull thud. Lily laughed incredulously, "Really, Sirius?"

"Of course, Lily. Now let's get on our feet and find us some friends."

It took a few minutes to find everyone. Ursula, complaining of her feet killing her, went to sit with her cousin Andie and her daughter Nymphadora. Elyse was paler than usual and looked despondent. James was speaking to her in hushed, concerned tones but stopped the second he saw Lily in her deep purple dress. He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up the semi-contained raven locks on his head. His eyes nervously flitted around the room but they always ended up going back to Lily.

"Lily…" he began, "you look…you look like a goddess."

Lily flushed from the comment and felt her heart flutter away in her chest at a rate that couldn't possibly be good for her health. "You exaggerate, James."

"No," James jumped to his feet and kissed her hand, "you look like the goddess of the twilight sky, brilliant and shining and bringer of grace and contradictions; burning red from the sun as it struggles to keep its hold on the Earth until the night sky takes over."

Lily's eyebrows shot up, "Well, I must say Potter, your poetry skills have certainly improved."

"Feel blessed you didn't hear the rest of them. They were bloody awful," Sirius quipped.

"Terrible." Peter added, making a fake gagging sound.

"What are we talking about?" Ursula inquired as she walked back over.

"James's terrible poetry," Ben responded.

Ursula shuddered, "Sweet Merlin, the memories…and they're not good ones."

James sneered at his friends, "Fine, see how much I'll help the next time you want something."

"Aw, don't be so sensitive, Jamie," Remus teased.

His eyes narrowed, "Don't. Call. Me. Jamie."

"Alright Prongsette," Elyse said absentmindedly.

James started sputtering and pointed sporadically at her, "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Which side? I can't see 'at far 'round yer ego," she said slyly.

Still sputtering, Lily took pity on the usually charming and debonair teen and held her hand out to him, "Come on, Potter. I want you to dance with me."

Out of the just over a million words in the English language, James wasn't able to string any of them together and simply nodded like a fool. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor before expertly leading her through the traditional dance.

Ursula took his spot next to Elyse. "You don't look well. Is something the matter?"

Elyse paled once more and blinked rapidly, "There was a vision. D'ya know Delilah Bourgin?"

Ursula thought a moment and then nodded, "She's a year ahead of us in Ravenclaw, isn't she? She's editor for that paper Skeeter's running, right?" When Elyse nodded, Ursula's stomach knotted. "Is she alright?"

"She's not 'n danger…no. I just saw 'er 'n 'er husband fer teh first time. They just had a little boy."

Though it was more detail than Elyse had ever told her about a specific future event for an individual, Ursula sagged in relief, "That's wonderful. What's wrong then?"

Elyse cleared her throat and looked away towards the dance floor, "Nothing, nothing. I just…I wasn't expectin' a vision. Excuse me." With that, she got up and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"That was beyond weird," Ursula commented.

Ben was about to ask for more specifics when there was a sharp tug at the bottom of his dress robes. He looked down and saw Charlie Weasley standing there, hiding behind his legs. "Hello there, Charlie. What're you doing over here?"

The little boy motioned for Ben to go down to his level. Ben crouched down and Charlie whispered comically into Ben's ear as the rest of the group watched with amusement. Ben's eyes widened comically when Charlie made his request. Ben pretended to think a moment while the boy he loved like a nephew turned steadily redder. Ben then had an answer and, making a complete show of it, he whispered back into Charlie's ear conspiratorially. When he was done, he stood back up and gently pushed Charlie forward.

"Ursula, love, Charlie here has a question for you."

"Yes?" She asked, looking at the young child.

Charlie clasped his hands in front of him and rocked back and forth on his feet. He looked anywhere but at Ursula until Ben tapped him on the shoulder gently. Then he straightened out and bowed unsteadily and held out one arm in front of him, "Would Miss Ursula dance wit me?"

A collective 'aw' arose from those who watched the encounter. Ursula smiled widely and stood up and bowed to Charlie, "I would love to share a dance with you."

Charlie's blue eyes lit up and he grabbed Ursula's hand and yanked her towards the dance floor. Ursula bent down to pick him up and saw soon spinning around the room, the childish laughter mixing with her own signature barking one. Ben couldn't help but laugh as well from the sidelines.

"Looks like you have some competition," Remus remarked.

Ben snorted and took a sip of his drink, "Out-romanced by a child. What has my life come to?"

"I wonder where you went wrong," Sirius said in a sarcastically consoling tone.

Ben rolled his eyes, "She's a sucker for those baby blues. By ultimate downfall…tis a pity."

At that moment, Peter apparently swallowed wrong and started choking. Sirius pounded on his back, "Damn, Wormy, forget how to drink or something?"

"Or something," Peter rasped.

Sirius then decided to turn the attention back to Elyse, "So what else happened in this vision that made you look like you wanted to puke into the nearest Slytherin's lap?"

Elyse took a deep breath and began picking at her cuticles, "It's nothin'. Nothin' at all."

Four days later, sitting in a flat in Dublin, Elyse was leaning on Pat's shoulder as she told him all about what happened in Hogsmeade a month earlier. Pat's hand tightened uncomfortably on her shoulder.

"This's bad—like extremely bad, innit?"

Elyse nodded and pulled herself out of his embrace, "Lord Voldemort knows that I'm a seer who kin predict teh outcome 'o teh War. He knows where I live 'n who me friends are. There's someone feedin' him information."

"But yeh'll be alright, right?" he demanded.

Tears built up in her eyes, "I don't know –I really don't know."

He grabbed her hands and held them between his two larger ones, "Yeh don't need ter worry about that. I don't care that I'm just a muggle. This Lord Volbeor or whatever his name is isn't going ter take yeh away from me."

"Pat—" she began but he cut her off.

"No. Yeh've been protectin' me from this fer months. Now it's me turn ter take care o' yeh."

"Yeh can't," she cried with trembling lips. "It's not yer fight." A tear escaped from her eyes and she frantically swatted it away.

He forcefully cupped her face and kissed away her tears, "Elyse Catherin O'Brian, I love yeh wit all me heart. That makes this me fight too."

"Please, please," she begged, "don't say that. Yer gonna get yerself killed."

"Then so be it," he said resolutely. "If dying's the price fer loving yeh, I'll gladly pay it."

That shattered Elyse. An ugly and raw sob broke past her lips. Pat was there in an instant. He gathered into his arms and pulled her to his chest. His strong heart, the heart Elyse loved so much, beat steadily away under her head. He was whispering something into her ear. She supposed they were supposed to comfort her and to some degree, they did work. Like always, she honed in on his voice and his familiar voice was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard in her life.

It was that voice that had just told her that he would only love her, the voice that said he would die for her. The thought both warmed her and terrified her. There was no doubt in her mind that she would do the same for him. But this wasn't something that he could fight against. Hell, this wasn't something that he could fight against. Lord Voldemort or any of his followers could torture him, do unspeakable things to him, kill him…and he could do nothing to defend himself. She couldn't let him suffer that fate.

He had been a constant throughout her entire life. Even when she was the weird kid who was spacey, he was the equally quiet kid who pined for her from afar. When her life got turned upside down when she went to Hogwarts, he was there. When he found out about her deepest secret, he didn't run. Instead he embraced this new side of her. He tolerated not seeing each other for months at a time, he stayed true to her, he stood by her when she was diagnosed with cancer (goes as far as to shave his own head), and he never panicked when he found out about the true horrors of her world. There was not a fault to him in Elyse's eyes. He embraced her friends and had no issue that the majority of them were males. He trusted her inexplicably.

Pat Finnegan was the perfect man and loved her so intensely. It was in his nature, after losing so many of his friends already, that he would cling to everything he loved and never let go. The guilt of his losses due to magic weighed heavily on her chest. If she hadn't lived where she did, Seamus would be alive. He wouldn't have had to move across Ireland away from the only life he knew. He wouldn't have to say that he would be willing to die for her.

Elyse struggled to gain control of her breathing. She knew what she had to do and what must be done. Once she was back in control of her crying, she pushed against his chest. She tried to stand up but he grabbed onto her wrist and held her back, "Where're yeh goin? Don't run from this."

She smiled shakily, "I'm just gonna run ter teh loo. I'm probably a mess right now."

"Mess, maybe. Beautiful, always," he asserted, his voice earnest and affectionate.

Elyse barely suppressed another bout of tears. Instead she bent over and kissed him as tenderly and breathtakingly. "I love yeh," she murmured against his lips.

"I love yeh too," he said before kissing her once more. Elyse shuddered as his breath tickled her lips. The sheer force of will that made her step back was astronomical. She walked around the back of the couch and walked towards the bathroom. She looked at the back of Pat's head covered in golden curls.

Elyse opened and closed the bathroom door without walking in. She pulled her silver lime wood wand out of her back pocket.

"I love yeh so much…" she trailed off as a tear fell from her eye as she remembered the vision she had the night of the Minister's Ball.

"Have you been standing there all night?" Delilah asked groggily from the hospital bed. Hair was matted to her face and she looked positively exhausted. Her hands were resting on top of her still protruding stomach, a small diamond and wedding band on her fourth finger on her left hand.

"He's so tiny," Pat's unmistakable brogue came from the man standing over the bassinet.

"He's a barely a day old. He's going to be tiny for a while, Pat."

"I know 'Lilah. I just…he's ours, you know? We're parents!"

Delilah laughed, "I don't think I've seen you this shocked since our wedding night."

Pat chuckled at the memory and walked over to his wife to kiss her tenderly. "It's not every day your wife tells yeh she is a witch 'n kin do magic."

"It's not every day we have a son, too. You know, we need to give him a name; we can't call him by pronouns the rest of his life."

Pat walked over to the bassinet and picked up the sleeping babe. He then sat down on the hospital bed next to his wife as they both looked at him as they tried to think of a name that fit their first born son. Pat didn't look up when he said, "When I was twelve me best friend was killed 'n a train accident 'nd when I was seventeen another dear friend disappeared. I want ter name him after them."

"Of course we can." Delilah nodded. "It would be a great way to honor your friends."

Pat smiled and kissed her once more before kissing his son's forehead, "Welcome to the world Seamus Elyan Finnigan."

"But yer not mine ter love," she admitted to the air.

It was for the best, she kept telling herself. She had to do this to save him. Since she was seventeen, she now had the power to save him from herself. Slowly, either because she actually moved that speed of if her mind couldn't process what she was about to do so it slowed it down to evaluate what she was doing, she raised her arm and pointed it at the back of Pat's head.

"Obliviate," she choked out.

Pat's back stiffened and a blue mist traveled from his head towards her wand. Memories of their first kiss, the first time he asked her on a date, the first time he told her he loved her, when he found out about her magic, all the times they went on picnics to the fields behind her house, all the letters exchanged throughout the school year, all the memories of them…gone forever.

When the last of the memories vanished from his memory, his shoulders relaxed and he kicked his feet up on the sofa, fully intent on turning on the telly. That is, until he noticed the wet spot of his shirt, "—teh bloody hell is this?" he complained. "Can't even drink water properly…" he muttered to himself before flicking on the television.

The second that the noise filled the flat, Elyse disappeared with a crack forever from Pat's life.

She didn't even think of a place she wanted to go. In retrospect, she would look back and wonder how the hell she didn't splinch herself to oblivion. All she knew was that she somehow appeared in Ursula's room sobbing hysterically, unable to form sentences as her best friend tried to figure out what happened and if everyone was alive and okay.

Finally she was able to form together one single sentence through her sobs, "I let 'im go because I love 'im."

Ursula seemed to understand instantly and pulled her into the hug she so desperately needed. There were no false words of comfort not did Ursula try to pry. She just held Elyse as she cried all her pain and sadness, pain that Ursula knew she couldn't even being the fathom. At that moment, she was what Elyse needed—a shoulder to cry on.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

~Alfred Lord Tennyson- In Memoriam:27, 1850