Being pregnant sucks sometimes, and help is hard to come by when you're stuck at a boarding school where most everyone wants to kill you. Outside help is the only solution!

April 26th, 1998:

Newt Scamander hadn't been sure what to think when the Malfoy heir had apperated into his Dorset foyer. He knew exactly what to think when his eyes came to rest on the blue-eyed girl hiding in the shadows of Draco Malfoy's esteemed presence. "Go away."

He wouldn't help Him. He'd already told the bastard as much, and now he'd sent his sister? At one hundred and one years of age, Newt wasn't likely to change his mind. He moved to pack his house away. Tina would be vexed at first, but she would just have to understand that he'd rather they hide for the rest of their lives than be sucked back into a war.

"Please wait." The girl whispered, yet, somehow, he heard the sound over the noise of his home sucking it's contents into a suitcase. He finally looked at her. Really looked at her.

Her hair was limp, tied back from her face in a haphazard knot, and the blue eyes that stared at him told of magic dampened by exhaustion. She was gaunt, too thin fingers clutching the Malfoy heir's robe sleeve as she leaned on him. Her face as a whole would have been lovely had her skin not been so sallow and her lips drawn tight with either fear or pain. Possibly both.

It was her eyes that kept him from leaving. The magic in them was undeniable. Several roars and shrieks sounded from the case where his friends lived. Not of panic though, their sounds were those of greeting, as if the girl in front of him was more like his creatures and less like him.

"Why are you here?" Newt found himself asking. He didn't bother questioning her name. They'd all heard it by now. Miranda, Voldemort's twin sister, trapped in a sleeping spell by Walburga Black, and allegedly just as mad as Him.

"I need your help." She said softly, moving her arms to wrap around herself.

Draco Malfoy put his free arm across her shoulders and guided her to a stool that hadn't stowed itself yet. She shivered, and he hissed, "You can relax now."

She seemed suddenly frantic, grabbing at the front of his robes, "I can't, Draco! Not until I get some answers."

He gently loosened her grip, "Remember, you need to stay calm." He turned to Newt, looking a bit desperate himself. "So, Mr. Scamander, what exactly do you know about Obscurials?"

"I will not help you take advantage of someone in need." Newt muttered in response, distracted by the unusual shrieks from his creatures.

Newt fussed with a feather that swirled in front of his nose, and was shocked when the young woman was suddenly right in front of him. "Mr. Scamander, I need your help. How do I keep it at bay?"

He stared at her from the side, refusing to look at her head on.

"You have to help me." She begged, taking in a breath he almost felt himself, "I know you're retired, but… You help creatures. I am a creature. I am an Obscurial."

Her words so stunned him that he almost missed the next ones. Those words took the improbable straight to impossible. Pregnant. She'd not only survived past childhood as an Obscurial, but lived long enough to conceive a child.

He feared she had just wasted time she didn't have to come see someone who wasn't the savior she was looking for. The father in him wanted to take her into his arms, but he knew better. When he told her his answer, she would very likely kill him, and any chance of the outcome she so desired. He was doomed unless he could think of something else. They were all doomed.

She closed her eyes and let him go. "I apologize for my behavior thus far." After taking a deep breath, she opened those striking blue eyes of hers. "I'm terrified, Mr. Scamander. Between the stress of this war, of keeping my baby a secret, of wondering every day if it's father is alive, and the damned hormones, I am losing my grip."

Newt frowned, "You have control?"

Miranda shrugged and said softly, "Most of the time. I slipped up a few weeks ago and my baby and I both nearly died. I can't let it free again until the baby comes."

Draco Malfoy put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "We've been finding out everything we could about Obscurials since then. Once we realized you likely know more than anyone else alive, we tracked you down. Ever seen this before?"

Newt shook his head, "Obscurials are eventually poisoned by their own nature. I've only seen one other live past puberty, and he…"

Miranda sighed heavily, her left hand pressing against her still flat stomach, "We're doomed, aren't we? I might as well just piss V-my brother off now and get it over with."

Draco scowled at her, "Knock that off. We came here for help, and we're going to get it." He eyed Newt critically, "You know something. I can see it on your face."

Newt examined the girl's appearance once more, making note of the pinched expression on her face. "I'm a father."

"What?" Miranda asked, eyebrows knitted tightly together.

"And a grandfather." Newt added, as if it made all the difference in the world.

Miranda pursed her lips, "I'm not…"

"It's the pregnancy making you look ill, not the fact that you're an Obscurial, isn't it?" Newt finally asked.

Miranda nodded, her thumb absently rubbing across her stomach, "I'm allegedly in the second trimester now, but I can't keep anything down these days without anti nausea potions every five minutes." She plucked at her loose waistband, "I've lost weight I didn't really have to lose."

Newt found himself grinning, the last of his initial fear subsiding. He'd thought she'd been too far gone already, but that didn't seem to be it. Somehow, she had managed to somewhat tame the Obscurus without it poisoning her. Possibly. "My Tina used to swear by a nice cup of chamomile tea."

He summoned his kettle and cups back from the abyss of his bag and set about making tea. Several minutes later, he passed a steaming cup into the wane witch's unsteady hands, watching as the Malfoy heir shadowed her hands with his own to ensure she had a good grip. Newt settled onto the stool with his own cup, "Tell me about your childhood."

Her eyes narrowed over the steam she'd been previously enjoying the smell of, "You mean tell you about what made me a dark creature?" He simply stared at the wall above her shoulder and sipped his tea, so she sat on a chair he hadn't stowed, which was likely more comfortable than that stool she'd first sat upon anyway, "I was repeatedly raped by muggle boys in the orphanage I spent the first ten years of my life in. It wasn't the rapes though, not really, I'd gotten used to them. It was the fact that my brother finally found out. I idolized him, he protected me, and I protected him by letting the bastards have their way with me. I was so ashamed. Something snapped inside me, and…the whole affair ended with one of the boys dead at the bottom of the stairwell. I spent years thinking it was him who'd done it, but…turns out it wasn't the last time I killed someone when the monster got loose."

"You're a killer." Newt stated plainly.

Miranda grimaced, "In my defense, I didn't know. My brother hid it from me, and my Papa, who adopted me shortly after, obliviated me every time it happened after that. I never realized what was happening. I never noticed the gaps of time I would lose, the bloody shirts, gowns that would go missing and reappear days later looking better than they had in months. He kept me in the dark, apparently rather successfully because I've been able to somewhat leash it." She stopped to take a breath, but added delicately, "My Papa, of course, was Gellert Grindlewald."

Newt jerked his eyes directly to hers. That was what had been so familiar about her. Her blue eyes. They were exactly the same shade as Gellert's. "He's your father?"

Miranda hummed slightly, but shook her head, "Adopted. My birth father was a muggle my pureblooded mother, Merope Gaunt, bewitched."

"Your eyes."

She blinked slowly, shifting in the chair, raising one arm, "From what I understand, my eyes are hazel naturally. I was born blind, but this gives me sight. Apparently changes my eye color too."

Newt stood and stepped towards her, all his attention on the silver snake twined around her slim forearm, red eyes glinting. Draco cleared his throat, "Careful, it bites sometimes."

Miranda glared at her companion, "It bit you once. It was your own fault, you're the one that grabbed at me."

"You were about to get run over by a third year in the halls." Draco argued, "And I got bit for my trouble. Should've let you get run over, maybe then you'd pay better attention to your surroundings…"

Miranda ignored his snippy tirade, and watched Newt and the snake stare at each other. Once Draco finally took a breath, Miranda explained wearily, "It can be rather protective of me," watching as the snake reacted to Newt's gentle touch, opening gleaming red eyes to stare at him. "It likes you, I suppose."

"Beautiful," Newt gasped, trying to ascertain if the lovely thing was truly just an enchanted bauble. Then the girl hissed at it. A parseltongue. Of course. The snake responded, unwrapping from her wrist to drop into his hand. Newt watched the color fade from Miranda's eyes, but the thing in his hand felt no different than any other snake he'd ever held.

"I've seen you lecture." She whispered, hazel eyes fixed blankly in front of her. "I love dragons, and you were talking about them. It took me forever to convince Papa to let Walburga, Alphard, and I go."

Newt frowned at the snake that had settled around his arm after making microscopic movements to get just where it wanted to be, "I'm getting old. I have a chronic ache in my left knee. It's not hurting at all right now."

Draco sat beside the young woman, "You think that thing is healing more than just her eyes."

Newt nodded, and handed the possibly living creature back to her, "That would require investigating. He was a brilliant wizard. Maybe after the child comes we could experiment, but I don't think it wise for you to be separated."

Miranda blinked her once again blue eyes a few times, "Draco, please see to it that Mr. Scamander gets my snake when I'm gone."

"I will." The Malfoy heir said dutifully.

Newt frowned, "You are giving up? You've lived this long against the odds. We could try…"

"There's a prophecy, Mr. Scamander." She said in an airy voice that reminded him of Queenie's. "If I make it to October, full-term, it'll be a miracle. Obscurial or not, I'm not long for this world. The Obscurus is just the only thing I can try to keep from killing me. My death will have a different face if I can keep my magic from doing me in first. Or the baby. There's so many ways to die." She crossed her arms across her stomach, accentuating the tiny lump there that could have been mistaken for a good meal on her emaciated frame, "It's funny, I had come to terms with dying. Having to delay it is much more difficult." She suddenly caught Newt's gaze with her own, "I have to live long enough for the baby to live without me."

"The next Malfoy heir." Newt mumbled.

Draco laughed heartily, "Not a chance. Potter's the only one stupid enough to forget to put a rain slicker on his wand."

Miranda shot her companion a sharp look, "He really didn't need to know that."

Draco smiled easily at her, "Just doing my duty to remind you daily that Potter is an idiot."

Her glare faded and the corners of her lips turned upward, "He's my idiot. And he'll be a fabulous father if I can just make it long enough."

"I am sorry I can't be of more help." Newt said with a sigh as the ache settled back into his knee with a vengeance.

Miranda shook her head and stepped towards the doorway again, "Nonsense, you've helped tremendously. What is it they say…I heard hoof beats and thought of unicorns instead of horses. Farewell, Mr. Scamander."

Once back outside, Draco found that he liked her new plan even less than he'd liked her plan to track down a magizoologist and spill her guys. The conclusion of her plan was, naturally, punctuated with her vomiting into nearby bushes. So much for the tea.

"I don't have anyone else I can trust, Draco." Miranda hissed, wiping at her mouth. "Just take me there without getting us splinched, and I'll let you know when I'm ready to come back. You can go shag Pansy and make sure the simulacrum haven't caused any ruckus." They'd left brilliant fakes of themselves to pace their rooms at Hogwarts, but they weren't real enough to carry on a real conversation. They'd be noticed if anyone really wanted Draco or Miranda's attention on a Sunday morning. As it was, the magic holding the puppets together would dissipate at sunset. It was safer if Draco was back early.

So Draco left her outside of Ottery St. Catchpole. The clear skies above warmed the air around Miranda to a tolerable temperature, but her now constant malaise had her pulling up the hood of her cloak and wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck as she walked in the direction of her destination. Or so she hoped. Once there, tears threatened to spill again.

The Burrow had been abandoned.

"Shit." She murmured, straightening the sign at the entrance of the property. In spite of Draco's strong desire to see her back inside the walls of Hogwarts, Miranda let herself in to what had once been the lively Weasley home. It was just a house now, if even. The pigpen the building had once been was glaringly apparent without the warmth and verve of it's family. A thin layer of dust covered everything. They'd been gone for weeks.

The clock on the living room wall held and kept her attention. They'd added Harry in the time since her last visit though, Fleur and Hermione too. Why they'd bothered, Miranda didn't know, because as far as she'd seen the hands had only all ever pointed unwaveringly at 'Mortal Peril'. Still, it was somewhat comforting to see Harry's tiny face on the hand.

"Move and you're dead."

Miranda went still, a small smile tugging at her lips as she recognized the voice of the man behind her. Of course, it would be him, obviously checking up after she triggered whatever spell they'd sat when they'd left. "Hello, Remus."

The wizard took her wand from her hand, and spun her around. "Miranda?" He asked incredulously.

"We've got to stop meeting this way." She replied in an attempt at humor, but that triggered a sudden welling of tears. "I really need Molly."

Remus stared at the weeping girl. She looked terrible. Paler than he remembered, somehow thinner too, tears running down sharp cheek bones, and then she lurched to the side. He almost cursed her, would have if he hadn't taken the moment to notice she was heading for a wastebasket. Where she promptly vomited.

Then he cursed under his breath and sent off his Patronus. The girl was sick, possibly delusional. Why else would she have come back to the Burrow now that they all knew who she was?

Miranda sank against one of the Burrow's walls when she was finished, scrubbing at her face with her hands, still sniffling through tears. At least the vomiting had brought some color back to her face though. She looked a tad less gaunt.

Molly apperated into the center of her kitchen a moment later, bursting into the living room and coming up short at the sight of them. "Miranda?"

The girl in question nodded, hiccupping as she tried to stop crying, "I'm sorry I was sick in your house!"

Molly's initial anger at the traitorous girl being in her home dissolved in an instant, and she knelt at her side, banishing the offending mess with a flick of her wand, "There now, nothing a simple charm can't fix. Why are you here, Miranda?"

The young witch shivered, but Remus watched how she seemed to curve both in on herself and closer to Molly with every ragged breath. "I can't eat." She said softly, "I'm afraid if I can't eat soon, the baby will die."

Silence shot through the Burrow at her words.

Molly recovered first, pulling the still crying girl to her chest, "Hush dear, we can't have a proper chat with you so upset. I know all those hormones cause big feelings, but you'll make yourself sicker carrying on like this."

Miranda clung to the matriarch, who shared a nervous look with Remus. He cleared his throat, "We can't stay here. It's not safe anymore."

Molly shook her head, "We'll be fine. Leave if you'd like, but we can't take her anywhere else without the whole Order being involved. This is woman business." She pulled some of Miranda's dark hair back from her face, "How far along are you?"

Miranda finally gained some control over her emotions and put an end to the tears, but she couldn't bring herself to let the other woman go. "Thirteen weeks, give or take." She finally answered, and added, "Turns out I was sleep dream walking for over a month. As soon as I realized they weren't dreams, I put an end to it to keep Harry safe, but…" One hand went down to press meaningfully against her stomach.

"You've been at Hogwarts." Remus said accusingly. They'd all heard it: Voldemort's twin carousing around Hogwarts with Draco Malfoy in her wake.

Miranda forced herself to let go of Molly, but looked at the woman as she spoke, "I think Harry and I are Soulbound. The only way I can think of that explains how I could find him. It's supposed to be a myth, but…the victors wrote history, don't they?"

"A pure blood myth." Molly confirmed.

"Exactly. Harry and I are both half-bloods though, which I'm sure is why it's been advertised as a myth for centuries. Hard to lord something as being linked to blood status when it's not." Miranda said it all so calmly, adjusting the scarf around her neck.

"You apperated to Harry through the wards of Hogwarts?" Remus asked doubtfully.

Miranda shrugged, "I don't really know. As I said, as soon as I realized I was going to him, I stopped." She sighed shakily, "Will Dreamless Sleep hurt the baby?"

Molly guided the girl into the kitchen, "Not at all. I had horrid night terrors while pregnant with Bill, had to take it every night, and he turned out smashingly. Sit. I'll whip up some favorites of mine. I've done this six times, you know?"

A bleary crooked smile affixed itself to the younger witches' face, "That's why I needed to find you. Madame Pomfrey keeps telling me this is normal. I never had a mother to tell me about any of this, but I can tell this is wrong, something is not right. You've got loads of experience, and I don't know anyone else who wouldn't turn me in or kill me."

Molly stopped her kitchen work and wiped a tear from Miranda's face, "I've got you." She continued chattering as she worked, "There's a bit of trial and error, but I've got loads of things that have a mighty fine chance of pleasing a finicky babe who won't let it's mother eat."

"Does Harry know?" Remus asked abruptly.

"No." Miranda said swiftly, "If I muck this up, he doesn't deserve to lose any more. You two can't tell him. Please."

"You're asking us to hide the existence of his child from him."

"I know, and I hate it. I want to tell him so badly, but I can't. At least not until I'm healthy, better yet once I'm out from under my brother's thumb. I'm planning on escaping at the end of term. There's a simulacrum in my place right now, but the magic will start to fall apart in a few hours. If He discovers I've gone…he'll kill Draco and hunt me down to do the same." Miranda said honestly.

"We can help you." Molly said gently, stirring the pot in front of her.

"It's too dangerous for you all. I'm not sure He wouldn't be able to find me once I get away. Best if Draco and I just muddle through on our own. If I don't starve to death first." Miranda groaned, sounding like the teenager she actually was.

Remus held out a chocolate bar, "Try this?"

Miranda took it and tried not to burst into tears again at his kindness, "Thank you."

In the next two hours, Molly walked her through multiple meals and snacks to try, gave her several books (which Remus enchanted to look inane to snoops), and got a solid meal of toast, broth and watermelon into her. The hug the two witches shared when it was time for Miranda to leave almost sent the girl back into hysterics, but a gentle shoulder pat from Remus settled her.

"I hope to see you both again." Miranda said softly as she waved goodbye before walking back down the road she'd first approached from. Back to Draco. Back to Hogwarts. Back to the fear of discovery... but at least hopefully she could eat something now.

How was she to know that, five days later, the father of her baby would do something as foolhardy as robbing Gringotts bank?

I just love Molly!

The Final Battle will begin in the next chapter!

Your reviews and favorites are always appreciated, especially since I went MIA for so long. Thank you!
-Jenn0509