"Nicholas?"

"Hmm?" he yawned, sitting up straighter as Perenelle too tried to sit up. She grunted fell back on the bed,

"Here," he clamped one hand to her arms and pulled her up,

"Thanks," she said bitterly stroking her arm, but she soon forgot her pain, staring at the cooing baby,

"Is-" she reached across snatching the child, pulling the cloth down so their son's arms and chest stuck out, "H-hello," she whispered, holding the child close to her,

"It's a boy,"

She kissed his head, the child reaching his arms out to grab onto her nose,

"Hello," she repeated, "So what should we call him?"

"Your choice." Truly he wanted to name him, name him after his first son. However, that would require for him to remember his son's name.

"Noah, hmm?" she bounced the baby on her lap, before wincing in pain.

"Noah is a fine name."

Nicholas hated being wrong. He had been so sure that Noah would have been immortal like his parents, it was logical. He was older than Nicholas' first son had ever been. Noah was nearly four, an excitable, curious wobbly blob. It was obvious that something was eventually going to happen. Nicholas had been in his office when he had heard the cries. The screaming sobs of his son.

"Noah!"

"Noah!"

Perenelle had heard them as well as they nearly crashed into one another. Their son continued to cry as they untangle the themselves.

"Go!" he cried, pushing her forward. Perenelle barely stumbled as she ran ahead, her dress ripping as she did so. Nicholas followed close behind as the sound of their son's screams became louder and more desperate. Please, not another one, not yet. There so much blood, splattered carelessly on the last three steps of the stairs. On the last one, lay their son, facing away from them.

"Noah!" Perenelle ran down the stairs, Nicholas remaining paralysed. If he stayed there, if he merely didn't acknowledge his dying son, then he could pretend like this never happened.

"Oh God, my son!" Perenelle was crying too now, trying to pick up Noah, who cried adamantly as she did so.

"Nicholas!" he closed his eyes, this wasn't happening, "Nicholas please!"

He opened his eyes, her hands were now blood covered as well. She had slung Noah over her shoulder and Nicholas could now see the source of the problem. Their son had broken him arm. Badly. The sharp bone had cracked through the skin and was peeking out of the flesh squirting blood wildly, it pattering to the floor like rain.

"NICHOLAS!"

"Right, got it!" he didn't. he had no idea want to do, if he could do anything.

"The door! The door!" he ran ahead, opening the door for his screaming wife. She ran out in front of him, leaping off to who knew where. All Nicholas was sprint behind her, his heart thumping against his chest. He couldn't lose his son.

"Your son is a strong boy. God himself was looking down upon your son."

Or he had immortal blood, Nicholas though, nodding at the priest. Perenelle had taken him to the nearest church, something Nicholas didn't think would still be a thing. He also had thought they would have move on from the flawed method of cutting off whatever allied a person. Noah was sleeping having passed out from the pain, lying on a straw mattress surrounded by lepers and the dying. Nicholas had his hand laid on Noah's stomach, keeping an eye on his heavy breathing while Perenelle stroked Noah's hair.

"Thank you," Perenelle whispered looking down at Noah. But the priest lingered,

"I've never seen you in my church before."

"No," Perenelle began before Nicholas could begin to think up a lie, "we were passing through when he was struck by a horse,"

"Dreadful," the man shook his head, before laying a hand on top of Perenelle's head, "you can stay here until he wakes. Maybe God be with you, child." He moved his hand onto Nicholas' head, who was less tolerant of the action but allowed the priest to say his words and walk away. The church grew cold quickly as night drew closer and Noah still hadn't woken. Nicholas couldn't stop staring at the small bloodied stump that had once been an arm. He kept expecting it to grow back, getting excited at flickers of light that changed its length. Suddenly it shifted, he perked up, staring at it intently. It shifted again, it had to be growing. Yes! He didn't have to watch his son die; it was moving adamantly now.

"Papa?" the arm shifted as his son tried to sit up.

"Sweetie I have you." Perenelle helped the young boy up. The first thing he did was looking at his arm. He started whimpering slightly but it soon turned into full scale sobs of horror at his lack of an arm,

"Mama! Mama! M-my arm!" he screamed as he burrowed into his mother behind him.

"I know darling, I know. Shh, it's okay, it's okay."

Nicholas said nothing, still staring at the stump. It still hadn't grown back.

"what does it mean father?" Noah said excitedly, spinning on the spot. Nicholas stared down at the letter again,

"Well from what I can tell…it means there's a magical school,"

"You didn't go to Hogwarts?"

Nicholas shook his head,

Perenelle scoffed, "sometimes I forget how old you are."

Nicholas cuffed her, giving a meaningful look at their son who was still giggling madly.

"Can I go?" he asked, turning to his parents wide eyed.

Perenelle knelt down beside their son, "Of course Noah, we'll buy these things next week,"

"Are we sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course, Hogwarts is wonderful." He looked at Noah, pouring over the letters. If it was anything to do with teaching his son, he should be fine with it.

"Oh there's my little baby!"

Noah wobbled dangerously on his feet at the bottom of the stairs, a portkey in hand. His luggage landed behind a moment later. Perenelle rushed to greet him,

"How was your year?"

"Wonderful mama!" Nicholas took the rusting necklace from his son, studying it. He had once had been able to make portkeys with his eyes closed, now the spell seemed foreign to him. He felt that way about a lot of things he had once known.

"Oh it's good to hear you are making friends!" Perenelle was saying carrying Noah as if he was still a baby, "What house did you get into?"

"Ravenclaw. All my friends are from Ravenclaw."

"Aww, I was in Slytherin."

"I don't like Slytherin." He mumbled,

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I don't like snakes."

"Why? Is it because they like to tickle people?"

"Snakes don't tickle people," it took Noah an extra second to catch on, trying to wriggle out of his mother's arms as she started to tickle him. Nicholas watched them, his heart panging with loniness he was yet to feel, Perenelle would one day remember this with agonising sadness and then it would be lost forever. His son, finally free from his mother's grasp, hid behind his father. Nicholas smiled down at him, realising he would have to feel that too.

"Why don't you take your clothes upstairs?"

Noah panted for a while before he began the struggle of one handedly taking his chest upstairs.

"Perenelle," he whispered, "may we talk?"

Perenelle sighed looking between Noah and Nicholas, obviously having worked out what he wanted.

"Certainly Nicholas,"

They made their way into the kitchen and once Perenelle had shut the door Nicholas blurted out,

"We need to tell him about the stone."

"I know," she said quietly, sitting down, "just…not yet,"

"Why not?"

"He's too young to make a decision like that, not yet, just…" she put her face over her face, "give me time."

Time, as it transpired was five years. Nicholas knew why she had taken so long. She was afraid he would say no. in truth Nicholas was afraid of that too but it wouldn't be on his head if he did say no. Noah had taken it as expected, with disbelief. It took them a further two years to convince him they were telling the truth, that entailing Nicholas stabbing himself.

"I just…" Noah trailed off, "how old are you exactly?"

Nicholas paused in his scribbled on his office walls and looked down at his adult son sitting defeated on the floor, "Exactly no idea, but I'm around five centuries old, your mother's around three centuries old."

"Wow that's…wow. It explains a lot."

"Like what?"

"Well just how out of touch you two are, the strange things you do, you are writing on a wall for God sake."

"I know, it's what I intended to do."

Noah shook his head, smiling, "if I did say no, you would miss me?"

"Of course, but not for long."

"Thank you father,"

"No it wouldn't be long to us, you have to see it as we would, a hundred years is nothing really."

"I see if I was to become immortal, could I make someone else immortal."

"Who?" Noah didn't speak from a long time, giving Nicholas time to focus on the wall.

"I've met someone,"

"Who?"

"This woman…I merely wondered if became immortal, could she too be immortal?"

Vaguely, Nicholas remembered having a similar conversation with his first wife and it didn't end well,

"We'll see." He said carefully.

Given their luck they should have seen this coming. Nicholas had never seen Noah sob this hard since he lost his arm. He had kept an uncanny emotionless state to his father all throughout the week. It was only when the tiny coffin of his stillborn child was laid to rest beside his wife's did he break. He slammed the ground with his fist, crying out animalistically for his loss, throwing of Perenelle away when she tried to comfort him. Nicholas merely watched on in envy. At least he had got to bury his loved ones.

"How could you ask me that mother?!"

"I was merely saying that now she is out of the way-"

"Out of the way!"

Nicholas stepped between the two realised that you of them was going to get hurt,

"I'm sure your mother didn't mean it like that."

"No of course not darling, but now is a better time than any to do it, trust me darling."

Nicholas said nothing against his wife's persistence. Noah looked between the two of them, white lips pressed together.

"No," Noah whispered. Nicholas felt like his heart had been ripped out. No. "No, I won't do it."

"What?" Perenelle whispered,

"I won't do it. I can't leave her,"

"She's dead!"

Nicholas was pushed out of the way and Noah slapped his mother across the face. He was out the door before the echo of the slap ended, Perenelle following close behind, screaming Noah's name. Nicholas slowly stood staring at the door trying to ignore the feeling of his twisting guts and headed up the stairs to waiting for Perenelle to return, with or without Noah.

"Does mother-" Noah stopped abruptly, a hacking cough rocking his body. Nicholas helped his frail son to sit up, "know?"

"No, I'll tell her I return."

"And when are you planning to do that?"

"I'll stay for as long as you need me."

"Do you believe I'm going to go soon then?"

Nicholas didn't need to answer, he merely laid his son back down. The room was humid with the fever Noah had, though they no idea what had caused it nor did Noah want to know.

" You know the stone is still an option." Nicholas said taking it out of his pocket. Noah slowly put his shaking hand on top of it and closed Nicholas'.

"No it's not father, it never was." He was wracked by more cough; all Nicholas could do was hold him. The coughs turned to retches and Nicholas wasn't quick enough to move the bowl for his son, and specs of bile landing on the covers and Nicholas sleeve.

"Sorry father," Noah muttered when he was finished,

"Not to worry son," he muttered, removing the bowl and laying Noah back down.

"It's time for me and re-join my wife, even if I leave this indignity."

"You truly do love her?"

"You must have loved mother once?"

Nicholas debated lying and telling his son he had always loved his mother, but his son was dying not stupid. He held his son's hand, stroking it slightly.

"I once knew this woman, she was a perfect dancer, that's all anyone seemed to know about her and she was a good dancer to be sure." Noah closed his eyes, "But…she was a mystery and I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to find out her favourite flower, if she could sing, want she smelt like in the morning. And I did, I found out so much more. I fell in love and I cannot remember her name. but I can't that I loved her, that I would have given anything for her. I tried to kill myself over and again when she died. I guess that how you feeling Noah. Do you think? Noah?"

"Well? Did he say yes?"

Nicholas sighed. It had been the same question Perenelle asked him every time he came back from visiting Noah since Noah refused to see her since his wife's funeral.

"No, I don't think he ever will," he muttered laying the stone on the table in front of him and sat down in the nearest chair.

"Oh he will eventually."

"He's dead." Nicholas refused to look up as the silence spread on.

"You killed him."

"No," he looked up, silent tears running down Perenelle's red face.

"You killed your son!"

Perenelle snatched the stone from table and for a horrified second Nicholas believed she was going to smash it on the ground.

"Don't!"

Perenelle cackled madly through her loud sobs, "y-you care more about this…stone than your own s-son," she closed her eyes, lips tightly pressed and threw the stone at him. "You cared more about the rock than me, so why don't you do what you always wanted and go fuck it instead of me." With that she stormed out, Nicholas watched her go, before looking down at the stone he held to his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.