Under the canopy, she snored peacefully, her black curls spread across the pillow. The pale morning sunlight shone on her face, causing Rosette to lazily open her eyes. She ran her hand over the mattress, realizing that Phineas had already gotten up.

Rose struggled a bit as she got out of bed. She had been experiencing back pain since the day before but chose not to say anything to her husband. Phineas had been acting overprotective ever since they found out she was pregnant with twins.

She made her way slowly to the dressing table. Sitting down, she delicately began to brush her hair, which reached shoulder length. The almost hypnotic movement of the brush made the woman lose herself in her thoughts. She was happier than she ever remembered being. It hardly seemed like it had been almost five years since she and her husband had shared their first kiss. Now, with the arrival of their daughters, life seemed perfect. She only lamented that her mother was no longer with them.

She was brought back from her reverie by feeling one of the daughters kicking her belly.

"Easy, sweetheart. Mommy will get up and fix our breakfast."

Rose changed into a dress, putting on something light and comfortable. When she was almost at the bottom of the stairs, she heard her husband's voice.

"So Corbin and Cassius took Pericles to Lyon, to visit your husband's barding masters?" he said. "How old is your nephew? Seventeen?"

"Yes," a melodious female voice replied. "But I believe Pericles' excitement is more about the trip to Paris afterward than the meeting with old druids."

While Phineas chuckled at his wife's comment, Rosette smiled, recognizing the red hair and usually gentle expression of Aribeth Thorne, her husband's former Hogwarts colleague.

"Betsy," she said warmly. "If I knew you were here, I would have gotten up earlier."

"Not at all," the redhead replied. "You're about to give birth; you need to conserve energy."

Rosette just smiled in response. She approached her husband, leaning in to give him a warm kiss on the lips.

Phineas got up from his chair, offering his arm to his wife and helping her to sit in the nearby chair.

"I hope breakfast is to your liking and the girls'," he said.

"I believe so."

Aribeth watched her friends with great affection. It was noticeable to anyone how much the two loved each other.

"Even though I know how much you value Betsy," Phineas began to explain, "I didn't want to wake you, dear. Her visit is mainly about business."

"I like your discussions," Rose replied before taking a generous bite of raspberry jam-covered toast.

"Don't let her off that easily," Aribeth interjected. "I've been told it's not good to contradict a pregnant woman. So, Mr. Black, what do you say?"

Phineas finished sipping his Earl Grey tea before responding to his friend.

"I agree. I imagine you've come here to talk to me about the latest editorial I wrote."

The redhead nodded with a slightly serious expression.

"My friend, don't get me wrong, I even admire the ingenuity of Muggles. As a former member of Ravenclaw House, I can't help but respect those who use their intellect to triumph. Cars, planes, ships are there to prove that they are not as inept as our wizarding counterparts believe, although I have reservations about the issue of interbreeding between us and them. However, the majority of the magical community is much more intolerant."

"Including your brother?" Phineas couldn't help himself; he had never been very fond of Cassius.

Aribeth rolled her eyes; she admitted that her older brother could be quite uncompromising when he wanted to. It even harmed her nephew more than she would like to admit. Despite being a matrilineal lineage and her being the Clan leader, there wasn't much more she could do than try to put a little less prejudice into her brother's head, every time she argued with Cassius.

"Including my brother, but you have to admit that there are people more radical than him, perhaps even willing to resort to violence," she retorted.

Phineas ran his hand through his hair. How could he explain to Betsy how dear that position was to him, that he would hardly give up his beliefs?

"Are you going to stop funding the newspaper?"

The redhead looked sideways, watching Rosette out of the corner of her eye. The brunette remained silent, just waiting for the conversation to unfold. Betsy didn't want to bring up such a thorny issue to someone in the state of the friend's wife, but it was preferable that Rose knew the truth. Sugarcoating reality never brought benefits.

"No, I'm not going to stop, Phineas. Although we disagree on some things, I believe your newspaper is important. You know Grindelwald's power is increasing, and there are things Minister Fawley prefers not to be reported. The Prophet may question the government sometimes, but they're not as incisive as you are. That's why your work is so important. I just ask that you be careful."

Black lowered his head thoughtfully, reflecting on all of that. Knowing her husband, Rosette realized that the conversation would extend much further until he and Aribeth reached a consensus. She got up, picking up the teapot from the table.

"I'll heat up more water for us."

As she took two steps, she let the teapot slip from her hands, falling loudly to the ground. Rosette leaned over, holding her belly with one hand due to a sharp pain while using the other to support herself on the table. Phineas got up suddenly to help his wife, knocking over the chair in the process.

Aribeth also offered to help Rose. She placed her hand on the brunette's belly, murmuring words in the language of her Celtic ancestors. Although she had attended Hogwarts, the school of High Wizards, it was the Ancient Magic taught to members of her family that she turned to in situations like this. The bracelet she wore began to glow as if it were becoming incandescent metal, and a blue light emanated from the redhead's hand. Rosette felt a comforting warmth, the pain decreasing significantly.

"I'm fine... it's passed," she murmured.

"Even so, I'd rather not risk it," Black retorted. "Let's go to St. Mungo's."

Phineas placed a kiss on his wife's forehead as she slept soundly after the hours she spent in labor. It was understandable, given so much effort.

He approached the crib where the daughters slept peacefully. Both had dark hair like his and Rosette's, but Phineas had noticed, when they were awake, that one of them had green eyes like her mother's, while the other had blue eyes.

Cassiopeia Marguerith and Betelgeuse Sandrine. He and Rosette had argued so much about what names to give the girls. Despite being expelled from the family, Phineas wanted to maintain that tradition of giving names of stars or of mythological origin to the descendants. His wife, on the other hand, didn't think it fair that only he had the final say on that matter. They opted for a compromise, each choosing one of the names for the daughters.

The man smiled, enraptured. Those girls were confirmation that he was doing the right thing. He would fight for them to grow up in a better world, without prejudices, where they could choose their own path.