Author's Note: Hi all. Now that In The World Around Us is finished, I will be devoting my writing time to this story. That said, it's going to be a slow go. I love these characters. Thanks for reading and reviewing, MNF

Chapter 6:

Violet's Secret

1 August 1980

2:24 p.m.

"You're amazing," Sirius cooed to his wife as he nestled against her, stroking her hair. "You deliver Neville just before midnight on the thirtieth, then little Harry yesterday morning and you give birth last night. You're simply the best witch in the world." Anwen was in the bed, resting, with little Violet nestled between her breasts. Born three weeks early - which surprised no one as Anwen had been working too hard – their daughter was a very little girl, but she had ten fingers, ten toes and her parents were thrilled. Sirius had placed Alfie in the bassinette next to the bed. Sirius had decided Alfie would go with the nanny elves too, so Anwen could sleep while Violet did. Lily had nicknamed her life 'boob on demand'. Sirius didn't have the heart to let Frank and James know he'd had Anwen's breasts on demand for years.

"I'm exhausted. Violet is fed and clean, can an elf take her please?" Anwen mumbled.

"Of course, Luv," Sirius replied and called Hindsa, and she took Violet to the nursery with Harry.

"I wish she wouldn't call her Mistress Violet," Anwen mumbled. "I am not the mistress of this house."

"Like hell you aren't," Sirius swore as he slipped behind the scrim to change out of his jeans and tee and into his sleepwear. So many people had been in and out of their room that Anwen conjured the screen to save her modesty. "Lily doesn't have a clue what it means to be the Lady of a Manor like this one. You had to clue her in over the holidays, and what we generally do for the people of the town," Sirius said over the top of the barrier. As he came out, Anwen couldn't help but smile at the pyjama pants and tee-shirt. He had always slept in the nude, until Alfie needed night-time feedings, and the elves were in and out to care for him. Suddenly pyjamas were the norm.

"Look, I know that Lily is technically Lady Potter, but you are going to be Lady Black one day, when Grandfather passes, and you will always be Lady Parker."

"Sirius, they're babies, let's not saddle them with titles before they can even hold their heads up without assistance. Do you have Alfie's bottle over there?"

"I don't, he's going to the nursery just like the rest of the children."

"But he's always stayed in our room," Anwen retorted. She worried that he somehow knew his mother had abandoned him, even though he was only a mere three months old.

"By that reasoning, Violet should be here, yet you expressed your milk so you could get some sleep. Alfie will be fine," Sirius reassured her. He called for the same elf, and Alfie was soon in the nursery with his sister and cousin.

"Are you sure about the birthday, Anwen? We are lying about it," Sirius asked his wife. As he climbed into the bed. This was a discussion they needed to have yet had avoided since midnight.

"We aren't lying, sweetheart, we just fudged the time by a few minutes. It happens all the time at hospital. If someone doesn't specifically mark the time, or tell a medi-witch to do it, we put down something close. The minute a child is born is usually not that important."

"Will Eva tell?" Sirius asked. "I mean when the kids are older. Do you think she'll tell?"

"Sirius, of all the things we have been through in the last twenty-four hours, the fudging of Violet's birth time is the least of the things that I'm concerned about. And no, Eva will not tell. She's a sister to me and she is Remus's partner. I know I trust them completed, don't you?" she asked as she buttoned up the pretty cotton gowns Eva's mother had bought for the new mums.

"Anyway, I think it's good for each of the children to have their own birthdays. Neville has July thirtieth, Harry the thirty-first and Violet August first. It will be enough that the three will share a birthday party because they will always have the same friend group."

"So, we're going to keep it from our friends?"

"The way Lily gets when she finds out I've bought clothing without her knowing; no, I will be telling Lily and Alice. They can choose to tell their husbands or not. I know Eva has already shared the whole thing with Remus. He came in earlier trying to interrogate me about Violet's arrival. I'm not even sure what to make out of it."

"You have to admit it was unusual," Sirius said. "How are you going to explain it."

"Well…" she paused for a long time. "I don't know. We can see what I say when the time comes. I thought I'd ask everyone to meet for dinner tomorrow, rather than each couple eating when they can." The kitchen had been open nearly twenty-four hours a day for the last few weeks of the witches' pregnancies, and it was continuing. "Speaking of food, is there any of that really good salami still?"

"You never liked it before. I distinctly remember you telling me it was too salty for your taste," Sirius gently teased her.

"Eh, my body wants what it wants. At least I won't crave grapefruit with onion crips anymore. The pair made the strangest tea-time treat."

"You are not lying. I'll be right back." Sirius Disapparated to the kitchen to return to their bedroom and find his wife asleep.

A&S A&S A&S A&S A&S

"I know we're all tired," Sirius started when everyone had settled in the rear, informal sitting room, dinner was over and somehow, all four babies were resting quietly. "But Anwen and I need to talk with you about something." He looked nervously to his wife, who nodded her head slightly in response. She was snuggling their little girl, Anwen's cardigan wrapped around them both. "What is said, however, cannot leave this room."

"Win, what's he talking about?" James immediately jumped in.

"First, and this is barely relevant to anything, we fudged Violet's birth time so her birthday would be August 1 rather than July 31. I was selfish and wanted each of the kids to have their own day. It was a matter of three minutes, and Eva will tell you, it happens all the time at the hospital. Unless someone specifically notes the time, the medi-witch or healer does a guess-timation. We did the same. It'll be bad enough that they will always have one joint birthday, as they'll share the same friend circle until they're in Hogwarts, and even then, they'll probably still share a friend group. Sorry, I'm babbling."

"It's okay," Lily said. "You've had a busy week." Anwen just nodded her head and then looked to Sirius.

"You tell them, if I do it, I'll mess it up," he whispered. Eva was next to Anwen, and she took her hand.

"They'll understand," Eva whispered. Anwen took a deep, shuttering breath and began the tale of Violet's birth.

"You all know that I started to have labour pains while I was delivering Harry," she stated and the others nodded. "Well about ten p.m. my labour stalled. I had been at it for hours; I was exhausted, and my body was spent. Eva left to get potions from the lab downstairs to either restart labour or to prep me for a caesarean birth. I knew Eva was worried about doing the procedure, so I was going to need to talk her through it, which had made me anxious. Then…" she stopped while a few tears dropped down from her lashes onto the baby's head.

"Suddenly Violet was there, on my chest, and the afterbirth was on the floor," Anwen let tumble from her mouth. "Before you pepper me with questions, I don't know how it happened. I certainly didn't do anything. We had even put my bracelets on so that I wouldn't have some sort of discharge."

"Sirius, come on, man, you can't prank us like this," James said to his best friend cum brother.

"Does Anwen look like she's pranking you?" Sirius said with a tone tinged with anger.

"James, I came in a moment later, and they were dumbfounded, and Violet was screaming her head off," Eva interjected. "I picked the baby up and started to clean her and do her Apgar test, and Anwen and Sirius were just looking at each other, not saying anything. I assumed it was Anwen doing something extraordinary again. A few minutes later she told me what happened. By then it was twelve-oh-one, the time I marked on the information for St. Mungos."

"You're serious, aren't you. Your baby transfigured or charmed their way out?" Remus asked.

"I'm not sure which it was," Anwen admitted. "Hell, she could have Disapparated for all I know. Thing is, you can't tell ANYONE outside this room. Sirius and I were prepared to have a powerful child, given who her parents are – we weren't prepared for this. Thankfully, she's not going to have the problems I did when I was small. This house is built to withstand magic, so she can't blow up the outbuildings." There was a whisper of disgust when Anwen talked about her early childhood with her Muggle parents. Her mother hated magic and Anwen couldn't control hers. She was taken away at six and adopted by Fleamont and Euphemia.

"Anwen, Sirius, don't you think Dumbledore should know?" Alice asked.

"No," Anwen said with some force. "Our daughter is not an experiment and him knowing puts her in more danger. My grandmother was hunted by Grindelwald to the point that he murdered her husband and daughter and put her sons into hiding. We know Voldeyshorts wants me for my skills, can you imagine what would happen to a powerful child he raised? I don't want him knowing, therefore the only people who will know about her birth are the eight of us in this room."

"Win, I already told my mother," Eva admitted.

"It's okay. Aurora can protect herself from Him and Dumbledore."

"I understand your fear, but surely Dumbledore or Alastor or someone in the Order –" Frank pleaded.

"We are all in the Order, so that's quite enough members. Please," Anwen quickly responded but she began to cry.

"Everyone, put yourself in our shoes. Dumbledore has manipulated Anwen over the years. Fleamont often ran interference, which we didn't realize until after his death. His journals have clued us in on some 'tests' he did on Anwen when she was small. We know he'd do the same to Violet. If she's been gifted the Parker power and sight, and we think she has, it's going to be difficult to keep her safe. We are trusting you, our closest friends and family, to help us do that."

"Lily and I will do anything, you know that. You are all the family we have left, and I'm not about to lose my sister, brother, or niece!"

"I will protect your children, all of your children, with my life," Remus said with an almost majestic bow of his head.

"You already know how I love the four of them," Eva said. "I had the privilege to be one of the first to hold all four and I will not forsake them."

"You know we love them, even Alfie, whose father was a thorn in my side since childhood, but if I am asked a direct question about the children, I will direct them to the baby's parents. Is that fair?" Frank asked.

"That's fair," Sirius said.

"I'll have an easier time than Frank since I'm taking six months off to be with Neville. You know I love all of them," Alice said sweetly.

"We won't speak of it anymore," Anwen said. "So, when are you going back to your own home?" She was looking at Alice and Frank.

"Er…" Frank said. "I love my mother and father, but she wants us to raise him by her rules and she wasn't an affectionate mother."

"We would prefer to stay here a while longer," Alice said. "We could go to Mum and Dad's, but their house is smaller and with Dad not feeling well…"

"Look, the Dowager House is open, and the elves have cleaned it up. Why don't you move in there, you'll be close to the healers and still be safely within the protections on the grounds. Not quite as strong as the keep beneath this house, but you could be here and in the keep quickly. You're keyed to Disapparate within the grounds."

"That would be outstanding," Frank said, shaking James' hand. "You're family, you really are."

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"I'm surprised to find the three of you in here," Sirius said as he walked into the conservatory after searching the house for his wife and their children. Anwen was lying sideways on the wide chaise, usually intended for two, using the high back and pillows as one blockade, her arm crooked over her head to create another barrier, and her feet stretched out at a ninety-degree angle from her torso to create the other two sides of her barrier. In the square she had created were the two babies, Violet sleeping while Alfie was cooing at the golden stars Anwen created with a wiggle and swirl of her fingers.

"I was sick of being in bed, and this room is always so lovely. It reminds me of Mum, and I needed to feel close to her. I so wish she was here to ask questions," Anwen said wistfully.

"Luv, you're doing splendidly," Sirius said, kicking off his shoes and peeling off the green robes of a Hit Wizard. "Look at her, one week and we don't have the problems Lily is having."

"Lily is having issues breastfeeding, and it isn't her fault. Some babies just don't latch well. Both Eva and I agree that if Harry doesn't learn to latch soon, she's going to need to bottle feed."

"Can you believe it's been two weeks? Oh, and Noreen Bones sent a gift in with Edgar today. It's bulky, so I think she knitted Violet something," Sirius said. The volume of gifts from members of the DMLE had overwhelmed the three couples. James and Frank each had a bulky box as well.

"I feel inadequate," Anwen moaned, knowing her own embroidery projects for Harry and Neville were unfinished.

"Sweetheart, Noreen, and Edgar have six children, three of whom are at Hogwarts and the other three are taken care of during the day by their tutors. She's rather bored, or so Edgar says. Knitting seems to fill that time and with the baby boom in the department, she's had lots to knit."

"Didn't Edgar's younger brother just have a baby too?"

"Well, his wife did," Sirius said with a smirk. "They gave her Amelia's middle name. I seriously hope the little girl is less formidable than Madame Bones is, because if not they are never going to get any sleep."

"Sirius," Anwen mockingly glared at him, "you should never wish that on a couple with a baby!" She nudged him with her foot before swirling more magic to entertain Alfie. Violet's eyes opened and she was excited by the golden whirls, as evidenced by her little 'o' shaped mouth. Had they not already settled on naming the child after her great-grandmother and grandmother, her eye colour would have cinched it. She had the most beautiful grey-purple eyes; a seldom seen but highly prized trait of Black family women. The most recent Black girl to have them was Bellatrix and Walburga before her.

Violet had dark brown tresses that were already falling in lovely waves like her daddy, and she had her mother's cute nose and delicate colouring. Her father claimed her cheeks were like the hydrangeas in the yard and her lips the colour of the roses climbing up the rear garden wall. The pair walked through the gardens every day; he whispered her fairy stories as they go. He did the same with Alfie, although theirs were stories of daring battles fought on the Potter grounds. Now awake, Sirius picked up his daughter and smiled at her. "She's the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Um. I'm right here," Anwen complained in a near laugh. "What am I then?"

"You are my stunningly beautiful wife who is the mother of my wonderful children," he said before gently kissing her.

"Good save. How was work?"

"Nothing unusual," he answered. "Testified this morning regarding a gent who was selling "Dark Mark detectors". Things were rubbish. He is serving eight months in the tombs."

"Better than Azkaban," Anwen said. "The food is cooked in the canteen, and he can have visitors. Nothing else?"

"Win, please," he begged.

"I need to know what's going on, and the paper is nothing but a talking head for the Ministry. What happened?"

"Family of five, two of the kids were Muggleborn wizards, were killed in Shropshire. Bellatrix was there and she tortured the mother into insanity," Sirius said defeatedly. "We only find out AFTER we see the Dark Mark. Something must give."