Hi Readers,
I am trying out the Friday and Saturday release schedule, depending on the results, I will decide the future release days. Enjoy the chapter, this one is 2222 words long, so it is 2 chapters combined in one.
Sincerely yours,
NoFearRuler
August 5 1982
The delivery had gone without any major issues. She had given birth in a large white room, with medical equipment that stood near the bed and a crib around the sofa for guests to sit at. The room was on the second floor, with a window that opened onto a view of the parking lot and the nearby park.
The family gathered around her as she held a small girl in her arms. Henry was seated on her left, near her arms, facing her as he stared at the small girl in her arms.
Francis was standing to her right, as the bed was too small to fit him as well, but he too, was staring and grinning widely.
The doctors had already left after giving the nurses some instructions, so it was just them in the room. She looked at Francis and gave him a look, which he thankfully understood, as she had previously instructed him to use the Confundus charm on the staff involved to keep them from making any official documentation of the birth.
Even though You-Know-Who has been said to be killed about a year ago, it was only seven months ago in January when she read in the Daily Prophet about the torture by the means of Cruciatas Curse of Auror Frank Longbottom and his wife Alice. She wouldn't start letting her guard down now that the pureblood movement seems to peter out.
A cornered animal is as dangerous as a wounded one, and a wounded animal has nothing to lose and would attack anyone rabidly. She had no intention of putting her family in the sight of the dying embers of the Death Eaters.
That is why she had to take all the precautions she could, otherwise they could have just gone to a magical hospital.
She saw Francis make his way towards the nurses and raise his wand at them.
She looked away and focused back at the baby in her arms. She trusted him to do the job well enough; now all that was left was to Obliviate the staff involved in the birth process so there wouldn't be any record of them ever having come to this hospital.
She would be doing the obliviation just like the time when Henry was born, as Francis didn't have enough knowledge of the spell; she didn't want the minds of these Muggles to be damaged.
As she was lost in thought, staring at the newborn baby, she saw a tiny arm enter her field of vision. Apparently, her baby boy was no longer content with just staring, and now he was poking the little girl's cheek lightly instead.
"Whoa, she is really wrinkly," he said with a bright smile on his face, while still playing with her chubby cheeks. She was just about to say to be careful with the newborn baby when she noticed how gently he was caressing his sister.
She couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped her.
"You were like this too," she said, looking up at her baby boy, "when you were born."
"Really?" he looked up at her in disbelief.
She just nodded, smiled, and went back to staring at the small life in her arms.
"Can I hold her mummy?" her baby boy asked, looking up at her and lifting his sight from the newborn baby.
"Yes, come here, Henry."
She would be worried and hesitant if she didn't know how smart or gifted he was, but she was well aware of how advanced her baby boy was, so she trusted her baby boy to hold his little sister properly.
She saw him scoot closer towards her and stretch out his hand, on which she gently placed the baby.
"Place one hand underneath her head and wrap your other arm underneath her body, then place her in your lap while still supporting the head," she instructed him.
Seeing as he did exactly as she directed, she leaned back on the bed and looked at the sight in front of her.
Henry had his little sister lying on his lap with his right hand still underneath the head, his other hand however, would sometimes softly poke the newborn's cheeks, and then move up to gently poke the nose. He would wait for a moment as if expecting a reaction, then continue his poking and prodding.
"You will wake her up if you keep that up," she said softly, looking on as Henry got to know his newborn sibling.
He stopped but still continued to caress his sister's soft cheeks.
She smiled as she looked at them both. She was curious to know what Henry was feeling at this moment, so she gently reached out to the magical connection between them.
She had stopped passively feeling things from their connection ever since that time when he bowed in the garden, almost ripping apart their whole house.
He had continued to do so the next day, he would wake up early in the morning, before anyone else in the house woke up, and as soon as he did, he would run down the stairs and go to the garden to bow.
The only reason she knew of this was the number of proximity charms she had put up around the house to alert her to anyone in the area.
It felt as if each day that he bowed, he gained more and more control of his magic. She saw him use his levitation charm with increasing mastery and gain control over their magical connection.
Only a little less than a year later, today, she had to actively reach out to the connection to get an idea of what he might be feeling. It seemed as if he had gained some control of his accidental magic and no longer passively broadcast his emotions.
'Thank magic I am still able to do this,' she thought. It would be a sad day when she wasn't able to feel what her baby boy was feeling through their connection.
She feared the day might be closer than she would like, when Henry would have complete control over their connection and close it off. She truly hoped that it wouldn't happen for many years to come, but at the rate Henry was improving his magic, she had little hope.
She closed her eyes as she felt what Henry might be feeling: a mix of wonder, caution, pride, and sheer happiness.
Her restless and ever-curious Ravenclaw mind tried to decipher why Henry might be feeling such things.
The wonder and happiness she could understand, as this was the first time Henry was seeing a newborn baby, and the happiness was obvious, as he had already expressed that he would like a little sister.
The caution might be from wanting to be careful with the newborn baby and not drop her; the only emotion that threw her off was pride. She wondered where that came from.
"What will you name her?" she heard, while lost in thought.
"What do you think we should name her?" she said, asking back, curious to know what he was thinking.
"How about something to do with light, so it's close to your own name?"
She kept smiling as she looked at him; she knew there was more coming. She reckoned he had even already thought of a name.
"How about Eleanor? We could even call her Ella as a nickname," he said, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at her.
"Eleanor," she repeated the name, looking down at the baby in Henry's lap.
The baby was sleeping soundly, swaddled in the clothes the Muggles nurses had wrapped her in. Her face looked peaceful as she slept, even through all of Henry's pinching and poking.
As she thought on the name, the corner of her eyes caught the swaying drapes.
It was a rare sunny day in London, and the window that opened onto the parking lot brought in a gentle breeze, which gently ruffled the thin white window drapes.
She could see the afternoon sun shining down, illuminating their room as well.
"Eleanor," she said again.
She looked back at her children. Henry had already looked away from her as he focused back on the baby in his lap. He was gently caressing the baby's head as the small, thin, sparse hair of the newborn swayed in the breeze.
Her eyes widened as she barely managed to avoid flinching back, as she saw the light from the zenith sun now bending and twisting and shining directly on the pair.
The very same light that had been brightening the midday outside while they were in a covered room in the hospital was now shining directly on her children, as if the sun were setting and its rays were streaming horizontally.
What could she say after that? What should she even say to someone who had done accidental magic just to give emphasis on a name? She knew this had to be accidental, as Henry had never shown any hint of doing any magic with light.
After all, she would know; she had observed him any time he attempted to do magic, as she would have to be ready in case it got out of hand like last time.
She looked at them and noticed Henry wasn't aware of what was going on in his surroundings, as he was wholly focused on the little life in front of him on his lap.
"Eleanor is a good name," she finally agreed.
"Why did you think of that name?" she questioned, wanting to know where and how he thought of that name.
"I read a poem recently, Raven by Edgar Allen Poe," he said as he looked up at her. "Although the poem is a sad one, about him losing his lover, I still get the feeling of undying devotion from it."
Ahh, she knew that one, about the raven that visited the man.
"In there, the one he isn't able to forget is called Lenore, 'the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore,'" He paused, she nodded and smiled at him, encouraging him to go on.
"I kept thinking along that line, about undying devotion, and light, which I found out is what Lenore means, well, that and old north."
"Then I came across Aliénor, the queen of France, and I really like the modern variation of the name, Eleanor."
She briefly questioned the type of literature he was reading rather than focusing on schoolwork. She then remembered how advanced he was compared to the other kids his age and let go of the thought.
Nowadays, instead of focusing on schoolwork, he mostly read on his own, while the other kids interacted with their classmates.
Even at home, he perused her library of books she had collected from her time at Hogwarts and her life outside of Hogwarts.
The only time he ever even moved was during his ballroom dance classes, which they had enrolled him in. She was glad Francis had suggested starting Henry on ballroom dancing lessons instead of ballet; so far, Henry seemed to enjoy himself in the classes.
It had already been a couple of months since she had started taking him to a studio that was twenty minutes away from their home. She had watched as he was partnered with a different girl each class as they learned the basics of ballroom dancing.
She too enjoyed the classes as she got to talk with the other mothers who accompanied the children.
Their conversation mostly revolved around their children and what they did that day. She usually gleefully bragged about how brilliant her baby boy was, while keeping the magic part of his day hidden.
She was glad that Henry was getting some exercise, as he was forced to move around during these lessons. Otherwise, she feared he would spend his time just reading in the living room on the sofa or be alone in his room doing magic.
His effort to spend time with her while he read didn't go unnoticed by her; she was happy that even though he had such passion for magic, he didn't focus on it solely, and also spent time with her.
"Everything okay?" she heard suddenly.
She looked toward the source of the voice and saw Francis closing the door behind him as he walked into the room and towards them.
"All done?" she asked instead of answering his question, wanting to know if he had confounded the doctor and the receptionist involved in the birth.
Seeing him nod brought a smile to her face as she finally responded.
"Good," she said. "We are good."
"How is my little girl doing?" he asked, taking the baby from Henry and carrying her.
She saw Henry pout and glare as he watched his little sister being taken away from him.
She softly chuckled at this.
What a rare look that was. She couldn't remember the last time Henry pouted, if ever.
He was usually so calm and rarely showed any emotion that a normal child often displayed, but she did sometimes see these emotions when it came to magic.
He would be excited, scream gleefully, frown, or chuck his toys across the room in anger, depending on the result of his magic attempts.
"What do you think about the name 'Eleanor', dear?" she asked as she looked at Francis, who was making faces at the baby, even though she was asleep and wouldn't be able to see for a couple of months.
"Eleanor?.... I like it!"
"Alright, Eleanor, it is then," she said, making it final.
A/N: For those of you curious what the pride was for, it was from getting to hold a newborn baby. I got to hold all of my nephews and nieces as soon as they were born, when they were released from the hospital, and it's a great feeling to be trusted with a newborn baby. That is why he is feeling pride.