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The Brewmaster's Mystery | ||||||
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Category: Post-Hogwarts Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Sexual Situations Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 150 Summary: MMB is growing, Charlie and Seph are about to be parents and Harry and Ginny will be wed in mere months; life appears to be perfect. But when unexplained failures begin occurring around the brewery, Harry can't help but wonder if something is afoot. Hitcount: Story Total: 88268; Chapter Total: 2576 Author's Notes: Since all of you were so nice, here's another chapter this week. Enjoy, Bumpy is finally here! Thanks to my beta, Arnel and my pre-reader, Stephanie. They take care of my stories even when they feel icky and busy. I don't deserve them. See you next week. MNF |
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Chapter 10: A Baby Just Like You / By, Baby Bunting January 1, 2000 1:38 a.m. Charlie POV: I was in heaven right now. No other place could possibly be this perfect. Never in my life had I felt the depth of love which coursed through me in this moment. I wanted to hold onto it, savour it, never forget it because I knew all too soon it would be over. Looking at my girls as the medi-witches cleaned them up, I was amazed at their...perfection. Every other description fell short. My eyes locked with my dear Seph, and I could see she was feeling the same thing. Even as exhausted as she was, she was beaming with joy. A few weeks ago, she’d told me about Connor’s birth at the Muggle hospital. It was memorable for all the wrong reasons. She’d laboured for seventeen hours, the medications they were giving her for pain didn’t work fully due to her magic, and it had caused her to labour longer. There were doctors and nurses in and out of the suite, and with only a sheet draped over the bottom half of her body, she felt very exposed. It was also quite embarrassing when they kept referring to Remus as the ‘Dad’, even though his wife was right there helping Seph through her labouring. They’d also needed to Confundus Charm the Obstetrician to let Seph and Connor go home, where she could at least take potions and heal quicker. Overall she’d said it was a miserable experience. I didn’t even ask how she felt when she saw her son, and how closely he resembled his deceased father. Today was different though. I was here with her, she’d gotten to St. Mungo’s in enough time to have every possible potion given to her. She took the ones to speed up the labouring, ones for pain, ones for hydration and blood strengthening. We arrived at 8:43 and she was ready to give birth by 11:30. We’d been joking about whether we wanted to have the last baby of the millennium or the first baby of the next. Pricilla, the medi-witch assigned to Seph, brought my daughter over to me and put her in my arms. “Here you go, Dad. She’s absolutely healthy although a lightweight,” she remarked. “Five pounds, two ounces is a little less than we’d like to see, but with the early arrival, that’s to be expected. In a little while, we’re going to try to get her to latch on and feed; however, she’ll need supplemental bottles with her potions in them to be given to her regularly. You up for the challenge, Dad?” “Definitely,” I answered. “I’ve been dreaming of holding this little sweetheart for a very long time.” No one but Bill and Seph knew exactly how long I had hoped for this, and how I had come to believe it might never happen for me. I’d only ever dated one girl, Darlene Smithson, and it ended badly when I told her I was becoming a dragon handler. Apparently living in Romania for three years for training, and being in a rather lowly paid profession afterward weren’t to her liking. I had sat through Bill and Fleur’s wedding convinced there wasn’t a woman who would look at me seriously. How wrong I was. In less than two years I’d found the most perfect woman in the world, who’d given me children to love and father. “Does she have a name yet?” Pricilla asked, pulling my thoughts back to the present and our overwhelming joy. “I think so,” I answered, still not taking my eyes from the beauty in my arms. “It depends on what her Mummy has to say.” “I say she looks like an Olivia,” Seph said from the bed. Her healer was doing something down below her waist, but I had no desire to know exactly what it was. Another medi-witch had helped my dear one wash away the sweat and grime from the work of giving birth and then change into a nursing gown. “Olivia Elizabeth it is then,” I proudly announced as I watched her sleep. Her fontanel was pulsing with her rapid heartbeat, which was visible even through the wisps of red hair she had. The poor girl was destined to be a redhead. I was quite certain she’d freckle up in the summer as well. She’d opened her eyes earlier, and they were a surprising blue. Pricilla explained most Caucasian babies were born with blue eyes, and they’d settle on a colour in the next six months. I couldn’t wait to see what Olivia’s were. I walked the few steps to Seph’s bedside, and sat down in the high-backed recliner they had sitting there. “She’s amazing, sweetheart. Just amazing. I love you so much.” “Oh Charlie,” she eked out, as she had begun crying. “I’ve never seen anything so lovely as you holding her. You’re such a good Daddy. Hello, little Olivia, I’m your Mummy.” With that, our precious little girl opened her eyes and looked at me. How stunning was her face, how inquisitive her eyes. She looked at me, as if she knew so much already; if she knew secrets I was yet to figure out. “Hi there, princess, I’m your Daddy.” Seph reached over and brushed her hand over the soft red curly fuzz which covered our daughter’s head and then onto my arm. I looked over and Seph was bawling. “Oh, sweetheart, everything is okay. Everything is perfect. Why are you crying?” “Because I just gave birth,” she stammered out. I shifted Olivia a little so I could pull my arm out and wrap it around my wife’s shoulders. When the healer was finished, the bed would be expanded so we could get some rest. I couldn’t wait as it was quite an uncomfortable position I was in right now. “Okay, this little one is all ready too,” Pricilla said as she brought Olivia’s younger twin sister over. “Mum, she’s wide awake, so why don’t we get her latched on and feeding, okay?” “I still can’t believe we have twins,” Seph remarked as she wiped her face with the bed sheet and then reached for the baby. Together Seph and Pricilla worked to get everything situated. I was surprised just how easily our daughter took to nursing. “She’s a little smaller than her sister, four pounds-ten ounces, but she’s equally strong and healthy. Now, as I told your husband, the bottles are going to be necessary for them both. We need to slip them the potions, and it’s the easiest way to do it,” she explained. Seph and I both nodded. Olivia had closed her eyes again, and I was happy to allow her to sleep in my arms. “How is it no one knew we were having twins?” I asked, and Seph’s healer looked away from her work to address us. “Well, your wife only had one projecting spell done on her, since things were progressing so well, and Seph didn’t want to expose the her belly and the baby to any unnecessary charms. I should have suspected something when we heard an exceptionally strong heartbeat, especially given twins run in your family, Charlie, but I swear it sounded like only one heartbeat. I suspect they were in time with one another. Magical twins usually synch in magic and thought while they’re inside, it’s not too much to expect their bodies would do the same. They do it outside as well, which I’m sure you remember from your younger brothers,” Healer Bogerjin said. I remembered all too well how Fred and George were. Thinking we might be in for the same lot gave me shivers. “Do you have a name for her?” the healer asked, and Seph and I just looked at each other. “We only had one girl’s name and one boy’s name. I don’t think we can call her Arthur Harold, do you?” Seph joked and I shook my head. She’d never forgive us for that. “I would like her to have the middle name of Molly, in honour of your Mum, since Olivia has Mother’s name. I guess we’ll need to think on her first name. Given the brightness of her hair, though, I think we should nickname her Sunny.” My wife always had such brilliant ideas. While Olivia had red hair, it was a deeper red, like mine. Sunny’s hair was brighter than any of ours had ever been, save Ginny when she’d been out in the sun all summer. Our younger daughter had hair which was nearly orange. The nickname was perfect. The healer announced she was finished, and immediately set about putting the expanding charm on the bed. When she was done, I hastily kicked off my shoes and climbed in with Seph. Sunny had finished her snack and had slipped back into sleep. I looked at the girls side-by-side and marvelled that while they were identical twins, they were also different. The shade of red of their hair was different, as were the shapes of their noses. Olivia had more red in her cheeks while Sunny’s lips were darker. It was amazing how two girls who had the exact genetic make-up could look so different. “You’ve got some people out there who would like to see all of you,” the second medi-witch said. “If you’re finished, Healer Bogerjin, and you both agree, can I send them in?” “Definitely,” Seph excitedly said, checking her gown to make sure she was completely covered. “Persephone,” the healer addressed her as she stood from the little stool she’d been using during the delivery. “You’re going to need to drink all the potions Pricilla is going to bring you. One of them will make you sleepy as well. For tonight I want the babies to come down to the nursery and sleep in there. We can monitor their body temperatures and administer their potions without waking you up. You’ll have enough sleepless nights soon enough, tonight need not be one of them. Alright?” “That’s fine,” she answered. “Charlie can stay with me, right?” “I wouldn’t even attempt to send him home. My colleague will see you in the morning, and I’ll be through tomorrow afternoon. I suspect you’ll be here for a few days, to make sure you’re healing correctly and the babies put on weight.” “I won’t complain about having help,” Seph said. “I’ve been through this before, remember?” “Ah, yes, Master Connor. He was quite excited about getting a sister, if I’m remembering correctly?” “That he was,” I responded. “Do you think he’ll be as excited about having two?” “Most definitely,” Seph replied. “He enjoyed helping decorate the baby’s room ... Charlie, we’ve only got one crib, and one carrier, and a single pram! What are we going to do?” She was near tears again. I thought the pregnancy mood swings were bad, this was much worse. I wonder how long this phase lasts? “Love, we’ll just send Ginny and Harry or Fleur and Mum out to get what we need,” I answered. “Don’t worry about supplies.” “Okay,” she seemed to be doing what I’d asked, although she still looked bemused. The door opened and Harry, Ginny, Mum, Dad and Connor walked in. “Connor, what are you doing up at this hour?” Seph asked, looking from our son to my parents. “We had just gotten back from the party when Harry’s Patronus arrived telling us you’d had the baby,” Mum explained. “We weren’t going to get him to bed after he heard the news.” Connor pushed his way forward and looked at us, and both of our full arms. “Where did de odder baby come from?” Connor POV: The lady said we could come in and see Mummy and Daddy-Charlie and the baby. It was about time. We were in that hallway a long time. Grandmummy went first, I was holding Pop-Pop’s hand and my Mummy was asking why I was here. Silly Mummy, to see the baby. What was she thinking? I was standing behind Pop-Pop and Ginny and I couldn’t see anything. I thought about asking Harry to pick me up, but I figured it would be better if I just went to the bed. I looked at Mummy. I looked at Daddy-Charlie. They both had a baby. “Where did the other baby come from?” I asked. “We had twins,” Mummy said. “Isn’t that neat? We wanted one baby, and we got two!” “Yeah!” I cheered. I must have scared one, because Daddy-Charlie’s baby began crying. I ran over to the other side of the bed and stood next to her. I remembered how I had to be gentle with Victoire and Teddy, so I would do the same thing with my sister. “It’s okay, sister,” I said very quietly while I patted her tummy like Mummy had taught me. “I sorry I loud. It’s okay.” She quieted down. “I Connor. I your brother. What’s your name?” She didn’t say anything, she just burped. When I burped, I had to say excuse me. She didn’t say it. “You gotta say sorry when you burp,” I whispered but she still didn’t say anything. “Connor, she can’t talk yet,” Daddy-Charlie told me. “Teddy only just started really talking, and he’s a year and a half old. She won’t talk for a long time.” That wasn’t good. There was stuff I needed to know about her. “But, hows I gonna know her name?” “Her name is Olivia Elizabeth Weasley,” he told me. “Do you like her name?” “O-wib-e-a?” I asked and he nodded. “Owibea E-wiz-a-bef. That’s a long name. Can I just called her Owibea?” “You can. We don’t call you Connor Sirius do we?” “Only when I’m a bad boy.” Everyone laughed. I didn’t know why so I just whispered in Olivia’s ear. “You need anything, you tell me and I get it for you. Harry does that for me, so I do it for you, okay?” She yawned, so I took that for yes. “What’s the odder baby’s name?” “Well, see, we weren’t expecting her,” Mummy told me, so I moved closer. “So Daddy and I don’t really have a whole name for her. We know we want her middle name to be Molly, but we don’t know what her first name is. We thought we’d call her Sunny for now, since her hair is so bright and sunny. Grandmummy was crying, and Pop-Pop had his arm around her. Grandmummy cried a lot. “Sunny is an okay nickname,” I told her as I went to see her baby. “But, she needs a real name. Owibea isn’t called Rainy, she got a good name, Owibea.” Everyone laughed again. I didn’t get grown-ups. They laugh at dumb stuff. “Do you think you can help us pick out her name?” Daddy-Charlie asked and I nodded. “We’ll come up with some ideas and then talk with you, okay?” Harry lifted me up on the bed and I snuggled between Mummy and Daddy-Charlie. “Mummy, we sing to the babies now? Like you told me?” Mummy and I had worked on a special lullaby which would be our own. “I think that would be very sweet. Do you want me to sing with you?” I nodded and then Mummy started. “By, baby bunting Daddy's gone a hunting To get a little puffskein fur All soft and sweet, just for her” The adults all made funny noises, like they were meowing like Auntie Hermione’s Crookshanks. I didn’t care, I was with my Mummy and Daddy-Charlie and my sisters. I was the happiest big brother in the world. Okay, Harry might be as happy. The grown-ups talked and talked. I didn’t understand most of it, but I did find it funny that Owibea was born on one day and Sunny was born on another. “Why that happen?” I asked. “Because the day changes at twelve at night,” Pop-Pop told me. “Olivia was born just before twelve and Sunny just after, so they have different birthdays.” “That’s good. I think they should have their own birthdays.” I snuggled back next to Mummy, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I was happy. I a big brother. I'm taking suggestions for the second baby name. Review and give me an idea and you might just get to name Sunny! |
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