Chapter 88

"Let me look at you," Victoire scolded Louis as he sat on an examination bed in St. Mungo's hospital forty minutes after the explosion.

"I'm fine," he told his sister, who had rushed in personally to see him when she'd heard he'd been in a fight out on a Muggle street which had resulted in Rick blasting the whole street nearly to bits. Louis hadn't wanted to be examined at all, but Victoire wasn't giving him much of a choice. She'd arrived two seconds ago and had immediately dragged him into a room. "Who is watching the girls?" he asked, suddenly remembering that Teddy had showed up on the street.

"Mum is with them," Victoire told him as she ran her wand over him. "She wanted to come to see you. Be thankful I won that battle."

Alright, he had to admit he'd rather have his sister than his mother at that moment. His mother was likely going to overreact to what were essentially minor injuries. It was just how she treated her youngest child. His sister healed something and he barely felt it as his mind went back to what he'd realized when he'd been holding Lena on the street. "I love her."

"What?" Victoire asked sharply as she stopped what she was doing to stare into his eyes.

His blue eyes were a near mirror image of hers and he wondered what she saw when she looked at him. He hadn't meant to say it out loud… or maybe he had. He needed his big sister just then. He needed her to tell him what to do, because he really and truly didn't want to screw this up. "Lena… you know how she's been my friend. How she's been helping me with staying sober and all that."

"Yes," Victoire said quietly as she sat on the bed next to him and took his hand. "Tell me."

"She's been… she's been a strong, steady friend. She's been there for me when James couldn't be," he said and immediately felt guilty even saying it. "I know James has had a lot going on and he has two children. His family has to be his priority, but when I was still drinking, I didn't know how to get past the fact that I felt like I'd lost my best mate and my cousin. He didn't want me around when I was drinking because it scared Caroline, which I get," he assured her hurriedly. "I was an arse. There's no question about that. But then I finally sobered up, thanks to you, and things were still different… I felt…"

"Lost," Victoire supplied quietly.

He was relieved she understood and he nodded. "I did feel lost. I wasn't part of James' inner life anymore. It was Caroline. It was Alex and now Asher. Lena has been there for me through all of it and although she's never once said anything or put any pressure on me… I sort of thought maybe she always had a crush on me."

His sister was quiet for a moment before she asked, "Are you sure that she did or could this be a little bit of arrogance since so many women fall for you?"

Louis felt his throat tighten just a little as he remembered her still form on the ground next to him. "I think… I think she really does care for me. And I think it was even worse than that. I think I kept that in the front of my mind because then I wouldn't have feelings for her."

His sister let out a long sigh and shook her head. "Your self-destructive tendencies coming back to get you."

"Yes, but also no," Louis told her miserably. "She's too good for me and I don't want to ruin what we have."

"Oh, Louis," Victoire whispered as she pulled him in for a hug. "That's for her to decide. That's not up to you. You can't only fall in love with people who aren't going to love you back and you can't keep trying to keep people away who do truly love you. You're a good person and you deserve to be happy."

He really didn't feel like that was true. "Can you go check on her, please?"

"Yes," Victoire agreed as she leaned back and kissed both his cheeks.

The wait felt like an eternity and when the door finally opened, it wasn't Victoire, but James who poked his head in. His cousin's relief was immediate and James rushed over to hug him in a firm, hard hug. "I came as soon as I heard! Your dad is here, too, but he spoke to Victoire who assured him you're okay, so he's gone to check in with Dad. He said he'll be here in a bit."

"It's just scratches on me," Louis said miserably as James pulled up a seat. "I stayed down with Honor, trying to keep out of the way so Rick could do his thing and Lena—" his voice cracked and James reached over and squeezed his wrist quickly. "She was fighting, too. I knew if Honor was hurt that Rick would lose his mind, so I focused on Honor since she's the least experienced fighter. I wasn't even worried about Lena."

"You called for help immediately and they arrived moments after she was hit. Al brought Nat to the hospital and they went straight to Lena to see if Nat could help her," James told him quietly.

It made him feel better. It wasn't a guarantee that Nat would be able to help. There was no coming back from the dead, after all, but if it was some kind of spell damage, Nat might be able to remove it easier than the Healers. Rick had tried, but he wasn't as good at doing that kind of magic as Nat was. "You should be home," he said suddenly, realizing how late it was and that James was here with him rather than with his family. Louis scrubbed at his face. "I appreciate you coming, but I don't want to keep you out! Caroline must be worried about Honor."

"Honor is already at our house," James assured him. "Rick sent her to us just as soon as she was cleared to go. She's safest at our place, especially with Rick being busy as an Auror. I left Caroline and Honor drinking hot chocolate and both of them telling me to come. I wanted to," he told Louis quickly, "but I also wouldn't have left if they'd felt unsafe. I knew you'd understand that."

And just like that, Louis did understand. He understood completely where James was coming from. Caroline was his wife. Honor was his sister-in-law. He had a duty to them that went beyond any other relationship in his life. But he'd still wanted to come.

Louis took a slow breath and finally said, "I'm in love with Lena."

Then to his utter horror, tears filled his eyes and streamed down his face.

"I know," James said with calm understanding. "And I'll wait here with you until we know how she is doing."

~*~

Nat was utterly spent and didn't even feel a little bashful about settling herself in Al's arms so he could hold her up.

They'd saved Lena. She'd been hit by a nasty hex that had to be a variation on a Stinging Jinx. But instead of one sting, it was like the hex was a nasty and pernicious ant that spread its venom all over Lena's body. Blessedly, she'd been knocked unconscious shortly after being hit by the hex or she'd have been in a tremendous amount of pain. As it was, it had been absolutely maddening for Nat, who had to tackle each knew welt by itself and the damn things kept multiplying! In the end, she'd stolen some of Rick's magic to finally banish the things, but it had left her fuzzy and dull.

"I've never seen anything like that," Harry admitted as he stood speaking to Bill, Victoire, Audrey, and Rick.

"But she's out of the woods," Victoire said with a long sigh. "I need to go tell Louis. He's worried sick and he wants to see her."

"She's not going to wake for a while," Audrey reminded her. "Make sure he knows that. She had a concussion from the knock to her head, so I'm keeping her out until that's fully healed."

"I'll tell him," Victoire promised as she left the room.

Bill sealed the door again and Nat turned her head so her nose, which felt cold, was pressed to the warm skin of Al's neck.

His arms, which were around her, tightened even more. "We need a blanket," Al told the room.

Audrey didn't miss a beat as she snatched one from a shelf and wrapped it around Nat, helping Al tuck it in around her.

"Thanks," Nat mumbled and that was the last thing she remembered.

When she woke later, very groggy, it was to find herself alone in a bed in the hospital. She blinked and sat up, but the room was fuzzy.

"Hang on," she heard a voice and realized it was Uncle George.

He lit the lamps and gave her a small smile. His vibrant red hair was touched with silver and the lines around his eyes were even deeper, showing the years of merriment, along with the years of grief. "It's all hands on deck just now. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, but I'm hungry," Nat told him, knowing she needed to get it out there before she became useless.

George rose and brought over a tray she hadn't realized had been sitting on a table. "Al said you would be, so I've been keeping this warm for you. Also, I have some water."

"Where is Al?" Nat asked, curious and also a little hurt that her husband had abandoned her.

George cleared his throat, but he looked… pleased? Nat couldn't tell what the older man was thinking. "About an hour after you fell asleep, he was called away to meet someone and that's when they called me in to wait with you. You've been sleeping about five hours now and it's almost daybreak."

"He had to meet someone?" Nat asked in confusion. "At the Ministry?"

"No, here at the hospital," George told her. "Eat up and we'll move along."

Nat knew she must still be groggy because absolutely nothing was making sense to her right now. But she ate, knowing that was the best thing she could do, and she drank a bunch of water. When she felt awake and steady, she told George she was ready to go and he handed her the cloak.

They left the small room that was near Audrey's office and walked down a hall that was often used when babies were brought into the hospital. Nat's heart sunk. Had another baby been hurt? Why hadn't they woken her up?! George stopped at a door and it opened before he could knock. Teddy grinned at them and silently ushered them into the room.

Nat came in and scanned the room, spotting Al asleep in one of the rocking chairs with a bundle on his chest. As soon as Teddy had the security in place, Nat pulled off the cloak and wordlessly, Teddy took it from her.

Nat went over to the baby and scanned the little boy. He had almost no hair, but what he did have was light brown and she could see he was healthy. She shot Teddy a confused look and asked quietly, "Didn't he need to be healed?"

"No," Teddy told her and at their words Al began to stir. "I'll leave you three alone. We'll be right outside."

She didn't notice Teddy back out of the room, taking George with him. She watched Al close his large hand around the baby's tiny back and a tinge of something… some kind of magic passed between Al and the baby, so quickly that she'd have missed it if she hadn't been focused on them. "Al," she said quietly, so as not to wake the baby.

He blinked a moment and then he looked up at her and grinned. "Hey, you're awake. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm good," she promised as she waited for him to explain why he was here when this baby wasn't sick. Where were the parents? Were they sick? Was Al on guard duty?

Al stood, carefully holding the baby and motioned for her to sit down. He'd had a lot of experience with his nieces and nephews and it showed with how easily he could move with the baby. "Here," he said, holding out the baby to her. "Take a look at him."

Nat did look and she tried to harden herself at the same time. He was a cute baby. Alright, he was a squashed newborn, but he was still beautiful. They were all beautiful in their own way, but none of them were hers, so she couldn't think too much about it. "He looks healthy. I see nothing wrong with him."

Al was studying her as she glanced back up at him and the oddest experience came over his face. "Didn't anyone tell you?"

Nat shrugged helplessly. Then she glanced back down at the baby who had stretched in his sleep and felt her heart melt a bit. The poor baby was in here without his parents. It might make her sad not to have children, but it wasn't this baby's fault.

She turned back to Al when he knelt in front of her. He cupped her cheeks and he was grinning. "Leah… he's ours."

Nat couldn't have possibly heard him correctly. "What?"

"He's ours," Al told her quietly, joy filling his entire expression. "He was given up for adoption by a Muggle teenage mother. The Ministry went for him as soon as the forms were filled out, which the mother had already done. There weren't even Muggle parents lined up for him. She hadn't told anyone she was expecting, she just went to the hospital to have him and she wanted to leave. He's Muggle-born just like you are. They brought him here to the hospital about an hour after you fell asleep and they came to find me to tell me it's our turn."

Nat felt herself begin to tremble all over. Tears of grief and relief and joy and hope and love began to pour down her cheeks. Al bent in closer, holding onto her as she held the baby. It took her a long time to pull together her composure. "He's really ours?"

"Yes," Al promised as he kissed her tenderly. He grinned down at the baby and brushed his fingers along his soft cheeks. "I've done one bottle and two nappies already, but he's likely going to want another bottle soon. I'm glad you're awake for this. I tried to wake you, but you wouldn't stir."

All at once she had the horror of thinking about sleeping through her baby's cries and panic set in. "Al—"

"Nope," Al told her, shutting down her panic. "I will be there and if I'm not there, Polly will be there. You may need to stop healing for a while. I know how you might hate that, but pulling the magic from that many people exhausts you."

Nat glanced down at the baby and was absolutely captivated by his tiny face. She could see what he would be in every stage and every place. But… "What will we call him?"

"You know my vote," he reminded her. He'd wanted to discuss it, but she'd flat out refused because they didn't have a baby yet to name. He'd wanted Willow for a girl and Wyatt for a boy.

And this little one was a boy. She could just… tell. No one had to tell her. She simply saw it. "If you get Wyatt, I get Albus for a middle name."

Al groaned, but she could tell his heart wasn't really in the protest. "I guess I can live with that," he teased as he studied the baby. "Wyatt… welcome to the family." Then he looked up at her and said, "I'm so glad you are now a mum. You're going to be the absolute best."

Nat didn't think that could possibly be true. She'd been absolutely conked out when the baby had arrived at the hospital. But she was going to try her best. She was going to try to be the absolute best she could be for this baby. She sent a silent message of thanks to the girl who had given birth to him and had taken care of herself enough to get healthy baby into her arms. She would do her best for him always. And Al was right. That might mean she'd have to stop healing women. "Does anyone else know about him?"

"Dad knows, so does Aunt Audrey, along with Teddy and George," Al told her. "We'll get him home and then tell everyone. It's more important to get him safely out of here and then we can celebrate."

She nodded and focused on the baby again. He began to stir and whimper and she could feel immediately that he was hungry. "Bottle," she said to Al.

"I'll make it now," he told her as he kissed first her lips and then the baby's forehead. He beamed at both of them. "This is the best day after being one that was pretty terrible."

"It's a new day," she reminded him and wondered if the sun was even up yet.

Author's Notes: We are quickly going to end this story. Okay, so by quickly I mean probably another 4 months or so... let's be real. If you haven't already followed me on Face Book on at Pa-treon, please do so (remove the hyphen as this site blocks that name which is dumb). It's Sarah Jaune. Pa-treon has all of my original work and I'll keep you somewhat updated on writing from the Book of Face (did you know that gets censored too?). I'm not sure if I'll continue with fanfics after this story. It's been a beast, and I don't want to lose touch! So go follow me. The one is a way to help support my art, but the other is freeeeee and I will sometimes post my work there.

Thank you Arnel for beta'ing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.