The main pairing for this one is Lilia/Melody. Also, Liatris can mean "A desire to try again" in the language of flowers.
"Come on Melody, let loose for the night and just have fun!" said Ginny.
Melody sighed, as she had heard this argument before. Many times, in fact. To be fair, she was the only one of her friends who had yet to settle into any sort of relationship due to her circumstances. She was lucky to find that muggleborn therapist who at least knew the value of being discreet.
To that end, Ginny had suggested a week-long girl's trip to the magical dimension that the purebloods knew about, but kept quiet from the muggleborns. Mostly because the smarter ones knew damn well the second the muggleborns learned there was a realm they could have their magic and make an actual living without the Ministry's influence keeping them down, they'd leave in droves. And that would cripple their economy.
At the very least, Dumbledore had been quick to erase all mention of them from the Hogwarts library to avoid that scenario. He wasn't an idiot after all, or so he claimed.
Melody had simply chalked it up to yet another sin that had surely sent his wrinkly arse straight to hell for all the damage he caused and moved on.
Briar Valley was the cheapest option, and the closest.
So here they were, in a bar run by faeries, beastkin and mages about to have a proper girl's night on a week-long vacation.
Melody wanted to sigh, expecting to find more of the usual nonsense she had to deal with, sans the fame and unwanted interest beyond being a beautiful woman in a bar.
That was when she spotted...him.
There was a party of four, clearly celebrating some achievement or another for one of the younger two. Likely the silver haired one with the aurora-colored eyes, by the look of things.
It was the smallest one of the four that caught her attention though she couldn't explain why.
She shrugged it off, and went to get some drinks. By the third hour, her friends were well and truly loosened up and were already discreetly hitting on the guys. She went to the bar to get a quiet whiskey for herself, since she was once again designated as the protector of the group. Hermione and the others knew they could trust her to get them away from any obviously toxic men that wanted to try something.
She was mildly surprised when the smaller of the group she noted earlier sat down and ordered a hard drink for himself.
"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself as much as your friends are," he commented.
"I'm the one who keeps the alpha males that can't take the hint from bothering them too much," she replied. "That and the one designated to get us back to the hotel we're staying at, since my alcohol tolerance is higher than theirs."
Right now her friends looked fine, so she turned her attention back to the obvious faerie in front of her. He had garnet red eyes that were slit in a way that indicated his inhuman heritage, if the pointed ears didn't already. His hair was obviously self cute, but in a way that was cute and somewhat charming. It was primarily black with a few odd pink strips highlighted. There was a sense of age about him that made him more appealing than the other males in the bar. He wore far more 'modern' clothing than she would have expected, but it only added to his charm.
For some reason, she had the odd impression of a bat in front of her...yet not one that reminded her of that damn Snape.
"So what are you guys celebrating?"
"My son has finally been given status as a rookie knight," he replied. "What of yourself?"
"A vastly overdue girl's night slash vacation," said Melody.
One that they hoped would lead to her finally getting laid and actually relaxing for once, though she wouldn't state as much.
Something seemed to pass between them, and she felt a strange sense of kinship with the odd fae.
"Lilia," he said, holding out his hand.
"Melody," she replied, shaking it.
Later that night...
Melody didn't know how, or even why. But shortly after becoming properly loosened up by the faerie booze she consumed at Lilia's suggestion, she found herself staring into his red eyes while in the throws of passion. Her friends were sleeping off their soon-to-be hangovers in their own shared rooms, having become well and truly drunk once the night progressed.
If this was what having sex was like, no wonder her friends kept telling her to go out and let loose for once.
It helped that Lilia was not some wet-behind the ears human, but a faerie with literal centuries of experience. It was definitely enough for her to want a repeat, preferably during the rest of her vacation.
The next morning came, and Hermione was predictably the first to realize it once the potion kicked in.
Melody swore her friends instantly became sharks the second they realized she had finally gotten laid, and damn the pain of the hangover because this was too juicy for them not to gossip about.
It did not help her case that they would smirk knowingly when Lilia came back on the third day of their trip for a repeat...or that he cheerfully acted as an unofficial tour guide in between.
Most enjoyable vacation she had since the war ended, that was for certain. She made a note of the town they visited, with the full intent of returning sometime soon.
She really shouldn't have tempted fate, or at the very least should have expected her luck to come back with a vengeance.
"I'm pregnant?" she said calmly.
"Looks to be about seven weeks along," said the doctor.
She had thought she had caught a stomach bug from overwork, but when her magic felt off, she had decided to get a proper diagnosis...if only so her friends would be quiet about her health.
How was it her fault everyone and their grandmother expected her to do most of the heavy lifting when it came to cleaning up the Ministry? She barely survived her magical education, for Morgana's sake!
Melody did some quick calculations and wanted to groan. Of course the fact she forgot to retake that extended birth control potion had come back to bite her in the ass. Especially since she had also forgotten when it was due to wear off.
At least she had a fairly good idea who the father was. She had only been with one person!
She took the prescription for prenatal vitamins, as she knew she would be keeping it regardless. She had already been in the works with adopting Teddy, to give Andromeda a chance to go on an extended vacation to parts unknown to heal from losing her daughter.
The woman had argued, but had reluctantly agreed to the idea. With the firm agreement that Melody would contact her immediately if anything serious happened to Teddy.
Besides, it kept Melody from overworking herself if she had to be responsible for a small child.
Melody sighed, but already began planning for what to do for the next nine months. She knew she couldn't keep this a secret for very long...after all, her friends were intimately aware of the warning signs of a pregnant witch. At the very least Ginny would likely spot it before the rest.
To that end, she went straight into damage control mode.
"You're pregnant, aren't you?" said Hermione bluntly on their next girl's night.
"I would ask if it was obvious, but the fact I'm not actually drinking gave it away, didn't it?" said Melody calmly.
"More like we know you too well, and you've ramped up your personal protections times eleven," said Hermione. "At first we thought it was because you were taking in Teddy, but Luna figured it out first."
Melody said nothing, as she knew her friends wouldn't judge her for it. At least, not to her face anyway.
The real issue was certainly going to be Mrs. Weasley, who would likely insist she marry the person who knocked her up. She was a big believer in having a 'complete' family.
Honestly, Melody would rather be a single mother than be miserable with someone she wasn't compatible with. She was well used to hardship at any rate.
"I totally called it, and I'm moving in next week," said Ginny firmly.
"Anyone else?" asked Melody.
"I would say Luna, but she's currently out with Rolf exploring. And I have yet to decide if I want to stick with Ron or not," said Hermione.
Melody accepted the invasion of personal space, mostly because she was very well aware that pregnant witches were especially vulnerable in the later months. Ginny made sense, as she didn't have anyone in particular who caught her eye and this meant she could avoid her mother for a while.
Honestly, she didn't know why Hermione even looked at Ron as a potential partner. He had grown up, but not by much.
She could do so much better.
Six months later...
Melody looked at her new son and felt only love...and an odd sense of dejavu.
"What are you naming him?" asked Teddy. He had been rather eager to be a big brother, and had been fascinated with the idea of having one.
"Liatris Raven Potter," she replied.
"...Melody, I love you as a sister, but that is a horrible name for a child," said Hermione, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Like Scorpius is any better? Or Nymphadora?" she countered.
"I hate you," said Hermione.
"I don't see the issue with it. I mean Raven is at least a somewhat decent name," said Ginny.
"I was referring to Liatris," she replied.
"Can I hold him?" asked Teddy, innocently.
"Maybe later," said Melody. "He's still too sleepy from coming out."
Teddy pouted, but understood.
Molly was none too pleased that Melody had decided not to track down the man who knocked her up the second she found out she was pregnant, but had kept her silence.
However Melody knew there was going to be issues the second she saw the crib the Weasleys had sent her way, as it had been passed down for generations. It was something the family shared between new mothers, and had been around for a few hundred years at least.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have minded being gifted what was obviously an important family heirloom.
The problem lay in one of the decorations that was permanently affixed to the wood. It was in a position that it wouldn't harm the child, but Molly was all too happy to explain the purpose of it.
The decoration in question was a wrought iron horseshoe. It was, according to Mrs. Weasley, something that had been imbued with countless protection spells and was more of a superstition from the old days before they had to go into hiding.
Liatris hated the horseshoe, which made sense because the primary purpose of the thing was to prevent the infant from being swapped out for a changeling child. The rest was added later, mostly to the crib itself since iron generally repelled magic.
Melody knew just by looking at it that she would have to do damage control yet again, especially since she was perfectly aware that the man she slept with wasn't human to begin with.
And faeries did not react well to iron. Something that would later drive Melody to relocate far, far away from England.
It had been a few months since Liatris was born, and things had seemed to be going well. At least until the incident.
Melody became hyper aware of something wrong in the house. Molly had come over with some baby items, mostly a few odds and ends. Arthur had come as well, mostly to spend time with his semi-adopted grandchild since Liatris was the youngest of the brood.
While the Weasleys had never formally adopted her, they still considered her a second daughter which she appreciated.
So you could imagine her protective rage that rose upon seeing Molly holding Liatris in her arms...and a small piece of iron in her hand. Liatris was screaming bloody murder, as the iron burned into his skin wherever it touched.
Arthur had a sad paternal look, as if he had feared as such but hadn't wanted to confirm something.
"What the bloody hell are you doing to my son?" she snarled.
"You mean the changeling," said Arthur.
Melody stormed up to Molly, reclaiming her son from her. Molly wisely didn't try to prevent this, as Melody's wand was sparking in a way that implied violence would break out if they said the wrong thing...adopted family or not.
"He's not a changeling," said Melody.
"Only changelings react to iron like that," said Arthur gently.
She glared at them both.
"This is no different than you testing Teddy with silver to see if he inherited the werewolf gene," she snarled.
They both flinched as if struck, as Melody was rather hex-happy if anyone even looked like they would use Teddy's werewolf father against him. Most of the packs knew her to be an ally and supporter for their rights, as she would happily hex anyone who even attempted to hurt them with new laws or regulations for something they had no control over.
"Melody..." started Molly.
"Get out. I am not going to let you use the fact my son is half-faerie to hurt him," she growled.
The two adults left, mostly in shock that Melody was already aware of Liatris being something other than fully human. Then again, they had no idea that she had slept with a faerie in the first place.
The damage done, Melody knew she couldn't stay in England.
If the Weasleys felt it necessary to test her son for being a changeling, then there would be others. She would not subject either of her sons to that.
