Counting Legs Part One
A girl.
Remus couldn’t quite believe it. His eyes drifted once more down to the magical photograph that a smiling Hestia Jones had handed them just a few minutes before, watching as the small, half-formed, but nonetheless recognisably human little shape on the paper twitched and floated before his eyes. He could hardly believe that that same delicate little creature was alive and nestled at that very moment in the womb of his wife. And it was a girl. A daughter.
He was going to have a daughter.
His eyes ran over the picture once more, automatically and obsessively checking that his first assumptions on seeing this image projected above his wife’s bare stomach by Hestia’s scanning spell had been correct “ there were indeed two arms and two legs, a head and a tiny little body curled up neat and cosy in it’s “ in her “ warm home. And when Hestia had imprinted the image onto paper for them and asked with a smile if they’d like to know the gender…
They’d had none of this with Teddy. Even if it had been safe for them to visit St Mungo’s during those turbulent times of war, the scanning spells, borrowed from Muggle ideas, had not developed until those post-war years when he and Dora had been “ for want of a better word “ absent. He hadn’t even known that he was having a son until a perfect, fuzzy-crowned, warm little bundle had been lowered into his arms for the first time and looked up at him with those big eyes…
And now, there was going to be another. A daughter.
Back in his youth, if someone had told him he would become a father even once, he would have simply laughed at them. The prospect of twice would likely have left him bitterly hysterical. And as for the idea of becoming a father to a little girl as his son was planning his wedding to Bill Weasley’s daughter…
He’d woken up that morning so uncertain as what his day would bring. Though Teddy seemed genuinely happy for them both at this turn of events, Dora continued to suffer from periodic bouts of guilt about enjoying the idea of this pregnancy and the prospect of another child when her experience with Teddy had been so different. She had confided to Remus the day before that she was worried that the pregnancy wasn’t really real to their son and that this scan might make it so. And if it was another boy, would he see him as some kind of replacement?
Remus, who had spoken privately to Teddy on that self-same subject, knew that his son did indeed feel sorrowful in regards to the upbringing they hadn’t shared but that he also knew far better than most that the past was the past and nothing could change what had happened. And Teddy was far too generous a soul to ever begrudge his parents happiness with a new child just because they hadn’t been able to share that with him, anymore than he would begrudge a sibling a share of their love.
But Dora had remained unsure, uncertain that she would be able to raise a new child, to give it the love it deserved without feeling guilty about the past, unable to enjoy the experience she couldn’t have with her first baby, right up until the moment when the delicate little image of her daughter had hovered before her eyes…
Remus had known then that it had not been Teddy for whom the pregnancy had not been really real…
It was a new start. For all three of them. For all four…
His eyes fixed once more upon the picture. A daughter…
“Oi!” As they stepped into the reception area of St Mungo’s, small fingers snatched the picture rather unceremoniously from his grasp as a shoulder barged playfully against his arm. “I’d like a look too, you know! You’d better not hog her like this once she’s born, Remus, I’m warning you… Poor little thing, she’ll probably end up cuddled to death…”
“I’d like to think there are worse ways to go.” In spite of the abuse, Remus was far too happy to turn to his wife wearing anything other than a broad smile. Dora beamed back at him as she fingered the picture herself, her cheeky smile fading into a kind of misty sentimentality that she rarely submitted to in public. Given her oft stated assertion that violet made her look peaky, Remus and Teddy had been surprised that morning at breakfast when Dora had appeared with her hair morphed into a vast sweep of purple curls. When questioned, she had simply grinned and declared that she was waiting to see whether blue or pink would be more appropriate, so for the time being, she was hanging out in between.
She was hanging no longer.
It had been a strangely magical moment, as he’d stared down at her, lying there on the bed, hypnotically watching the image she’d just been handed and listening to Hestia’s confirmation that it was indeed a girl. The change had started at the roots, a slow blossoming of pinkness like a trickle of water that spread throughout her hair, not of her usual bubblegum shade, but a gentle, pastel pink that had looped its way around her curls, softening them like down to rest against her shoulders as she stared at the image of their daughter with joyous awe writ large across her face. Framed as she still was by that gentle, almost hazy halo, her features almost seemed to glow.
They still did.
Dear Gods, I love that woman. My wife, the mother of my children…
He cleared his throat sharply against the lump that was forming there; to avoid making an embarrassingly emotional spectacle of himself in public, his eyes darted around to take in the usual orchestrated chaos that was the St Mungo’s waiting area. The lines of rickety wooden chairs were as crowded as ever with the usual interesting array of accidents “ a thin, stooped old man on the far side of the room was arguing fiercely with a lime-robed healer as green fur sprouted wildly across the length of his body whilst another wizard in lurid red robes was pirouetting continuously on the spot whilst whistling The Blue Danube in a decidedly dizzy and sickly manner. A green-tinged man was crouched in a corner, pausing every so often to vomit something large, wriggling and silvery into an orange bucket and a pale faced witch who had only moments before stepped out of the nearby Floo, was shouting at her healer the top of her voice that she couldn’t really hear what he was saying because of the invisible bananas her sister had stuffed in her ears. His eye also fell upon several of his students who had apparently, in the four days since the Hogwarts term had ended, managed to find efficient ways to come a cropper. Sebastian Hardcastle, the lynchpin of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, was covered in an array of vicious scratches and bruises that suggested he’d ploughed his broomstick into something foliage related. Elias Burke, a NEWT level student who he had told repeatedly not to try breaking the curses on items from his uncle’s shop over the holidays, was wearing his lack of eyebrows and writhing serpentine hair with as much dignity as he could muster in the face of his blatant disobedience. And Remus didn’t even like to speculate on how young Marion McCready had ended up with loaves of bread in place of her hands and feet.
Say what you would about visits to St Mungo’s, they were certainly never dull.
Not that any day when he first saw his daughter could ever be classed as such.
His eyes turned inevitably back towards the woman he loved more than life itself. Dora was still staring at the picture, one hand resting gently on her abdomen as though trying to fuse the two together in her mind.
“I wish Teddy had come today,” she said softly. “I’d like him to have shared this.”
Remus smiled quietly. How did I know that would be coming? “He will. But he and Victoire have barely had any time to start planning their wedding because of the Hogwarts exams and her apprenticeship here and I don’t blame him for wanting to take advantage of his first few days off to get a few things sorted before the women in his life burst from impatience. From what Bill’s told me, Victoire, Fleur, Molly and Andromeda have already picked out everyone’s dress robes from Madam Malkin’s and are chomping at the bit to haul us all in for a fitting.” He chuckled. “Poor Teddy. He seems so daunted by the whole business. I told him elopement was the way to go, but would he listen?”
Dora actually giggled, much to his relief. “And it’s a family tradition too. My parents did it, his parents did it…” She started to smile more widely. “I think my mum’s thrown herself into this so heartily in an effort to make up for the fact that’s she’s never had a real family wedding before! And to be honest, rather her than me!” She gave a mock shudder. “I hate all that girly fussing! Looking at recipes with Molly, dress designs with Fleur, picking shoes, choosing flowers… Nightmare territory.”
“It’s lucky you’ve been excused on grounds of a prior commitment then.” Remus gently touched his fingers to her stomach, causing her smile to bloom further. “Mind you, the way Teddy and Victoire are going, I doubt it’ll be all that long before they’ll here at St Mungo’s looking at scans of their own. And we won’t just be parents then, we’ll be…”
“Oi!” Yet again, Remus’ shoulder was viciously abused. “I’ve warned you, Lupin. We do not use the g-word in the presence of any biologically under thirties, whether it should apply or not.”
Remus couldn’t help but laugh. “All right then. For the time being, we’ll just stick with mummy.”
The same strange, wistful look that had become so familiar to Remus over the course of this pregnancy flitted across Dora’s face. “Mummy,” she muttered softly. “I’ve never been mummy. Teddy wasn’t old enough to call me anything when…”
She broke off into sudden silence as Remus quietly laid his arm around her shoulders. She glanced up at him, her dark eyes a turbulent cocktail of joy and regret.
“Remus, I’ve been thinking,” she said suddenly. “About names.”
Remus gently cocked an eyebrow. “Well, it’s a little early, but since we know the gender, I guess there’s no reason not to start thinking. Do you have one in mind?”
“Not really.” Dora pursed her lips, staring out over the chaotic room with a stare distant enough to imply that she hadn’t even noticed the ballet-wizard, or the furry old man or even the man with eight enormous spider-like legs protruding from a hunch on his back who had just stumbled out of the green-glowing fireplace to be received by a rather wide-eyed healer. “But I do have a suggestion. Why don’t we let Teddy name her?”
Remus had to admit to being a little taken aback, if not unpleasantly. “Teddy?”
“Yeah, Teddy.” Dora’s expression was intent. “I wanted to give him a tangible connection to her, you know? I mean, she’ll be his sister, but there’ll be twenty-four years between them in age and it won’t be the same, especially now he’s moving out…” She sighed. “I want to make sure they bond. I want him to feel included in her life. He’s her brother, so he can hardly be her godfather, but I thought if he was the one to name her…”
Remus gently tightened his hold around her shoulders. “I think that’s a lovely….”
“Sweet Merlin, it’s alive!!! ”
The piercing scream shattered the familiar chaos, ripping away whatever else it was that Remus had been about to say. The healer who had screamed was stumbling, scrambling back, groping for her wand and suddenly, she wasn’t the only one as patients and healers alike erupted to their feet en masse and surged backwards, sending wooden chairs, magazines, light globes and the poor, beleaguered pirouetter flying in all directions. Remus barely had time to yank Dora back against the wall before the crowd slammed passed them like a surging tide, scrabbling over each other, yanking and screaming as they tried to force themselves as one through the double doors into the narrow corridor beyond. Robes, hair, arms and faces slashed their way across Remus’ vision, barging and buffeting him as he clung to his wife, shielding her as best he could from sudden battering of limbs, cloth and bizarrely, wet fish from the man who had until moments earlier been vomiting his trout more privately.
What the hell was going on?
A more sensible man would probably have joined the crowd without waiting to see what had spooked them. But Remus had spent too long as a lynchpin of the Order of the Phoenix not to keep his head when all around were losing theirs and he knew that fear for her baby or not, Dora’s finely honed Auror instincts would stay her just the same. His fingers tightened around his wand. If there was trouble, he was staying.
Of course, it was always useful to know what in Merlin’s name you were up against.
Something black and hairy flashed through the gaps in the flailing limbs. Still shielding himself and his wife from flying hands and scrambling fingers, Remus peered desperately through the insane stampede in search of danger. A flare of emerald caught his eye “ whipping his head round, he caught a glimpse of a silver-haired, narrow-faced man in shabby clothes diving forwards towards the fireplace. As the flash of Floo powder illuminated his face in vivid emerald, Remus just had time to place him as the man who had appeared moments before with spider legs across his back. But there was something else about him, something more, half forgotten, something naggingly familiar…
But there was no time to ponder it. With a tight grin, the man leapt into the flames and vanished.
But as the last of the crowd thinned, Remus realised that the spider’s legs he had arrived with did not. And nor indeed did the spider’s body.
“Oh bloody hell, ” he heard Dora mutter fervently.
Well. That certainly explains the screaming and the running away…
The Acromantula was balanced precariously between the desk of the Welcome Witch and several of the overturned chairs, clearly slightly thrown by the massed chaos that had marked its arrival. It was perhaps three quarters-grown but a ten-foot leg span was still nothing to scoff at and its multiple eyes were swivelling after the fleeing hordes as though unable to decide whether to follow.
But not everyone had fled. The green-furred old man, tangled in clumps of his ever-growing mane, was crouched in the corner by the glass pane of the public entrance, clinging to the robes of his now frantic healer and screaming. And from the floor in front of them came a clatter and a painful wail as the pirouetter, knocked to the ground in the chaos, continued his helpless rotations lying prone amongst the scattered chairs.
Eight eyes swivelled in all directions, drinking in the scene as the last of the patients who were able to fled clear. An ominous clicking echoed across the room almost drowning out the frantic tumbling beat of Remus’s blood against his ears.
Dora. My daughter. And we’re in a room with an Acromantula.
An upset and angry Acromantula.
Where’s Hagrid when you need him?
They could have fled. The door was not far enough away to make it unreasonable. But Remus knew more than enough about dark creatures to realise what would be the fate of the three left behind if he did.
And as for Dora…
Well, it was worth a try at least.
“Get out!” he flung back sharply.
“Get stuffed!” was the immediate response.
Saw that one coming. And she knows I haven’t time to argue…
One long, hairy leg arched down towards the floor as the clicking sounds redoubled, echoing around the near deserted reception. The pirouetter screeched as a second leg arched over to brush almost lovingly down the length of his ever rotating body…
“Stupefy!”
“Petrificus Totalis! ”
Their rapidly flung spells struck the beast almost simultaneously, but to little impact “ whilst Remus’ stunner drove it back only a few yards, Dora’s Body-bind struck the extended leg, causing it to stiffen in an awkward, painful looking arch. The creature screeched and lunged towards them with shocking speed, but a burst of flames from Remus’ wand tip sent it staggering, rearing backwards with an unearthly scream. Gritting his teeth, Remus increased the intensity of the flame, desperate to drive it away before it could pounce onto any or all of its potential victims.
“Accio spinning bloke! ”
Even in spite of the gravity of the situation, Remus had to fight not to smile. Dora grabbed the red blur of the beleaguered twirling wizard out of the air, hurled him back on his feet and with a mighty shove, propelled him like a human top through the double doors and into the corridor beyond. One civilian cleared, her wand flashed out and a surge of white light coalesced sharply into the form of her werewolf Patronus. After an instant’s hesitation, it surged through the wall and was gone.
Gone for the cavalry. Thank Merlin, because I don’t think I can…
With a sudden burst of speed, the Acromantula darted out of the way of the surge of flames and launched itself into the air. A spit of web against the ceiling was all it required to make it airborne and suddenly Remus’s vision was filled with black legs and a terrible screeching sound. He felt himself thrust backwards as pincers slashed just inches from his face, his body ricocheting sharply against the wall for an instant before a second hairy-legged blow send him flying into the scattered wooden chairs. He heard the sound the breaking wood beneath him; pain surged through his left arm as a chair splintered viciously against his skin, but he had no time to contemplate his injury as a black leg slammed down against the floor mere inches from his face. Light was blotted out in an instant as the enormous spider straddled his body, pincers clicking, maw widening as it dived in for the kill.
“No! ”
The chair swung out of nowhere, striking the Acromantula with the force of an errant hurricane. The creature reared, legs flailing as wooden splinters filled Remus’ vision and with instinctive speed, he responded, grasping a broken chair leg and thrusting it upwards with all his might.
The result was not as satisfying as he might have hoped; the blow scuffed the spider’s side, spilling out a brief squirt of green ichor, but was enough of a distraction for him to scramble to his knees and shove his way out from its grasp. Small hands caught his robes, hauling him to his feet “ he had time for one quick glimpse of Dora’s ice-white face and dark eyes staring at him with a mixture of relief and terror.
“Thanks!” he gasped out. “You…”
A flash of misty white skimmed past his head “ reacting on instinct, Remus dove to the ground, pulling Dora with him as a vast dollop of webbing smacked against the wall behind them. A blur of black was quick to follow “ slapping against the wall, the Acromantula launched itself violently around the edge of the room for a moment before hurling itself across the reception, skidding against chairs and magazines as it skittered towards fresh targets. The green-furred man’s scrambling had left his healer hopelessly tangled in his now three-foot loops of dark green hair but at the sight of an enormous spider bearing down upon them both, adrenalin galvanised him into action “ grasping his charge firmly by the robes, he hurled them both bodily out through the rippling glass pane that led onto the Muggle street.
And with barely a hesitation, the Acromantula surged forwards and followed them.
Remus felt his jaw drop with horror. Oh, that is phenomenally not good…
Dora was already running forwards; in spite of knowing it was futile, Remus decided to give it one last try.
“Dora, you should stay…”
The look she shot over her shoulder was enough to still his tongue. “I’m pregnant, Remus, not an invalid!” she snapped back; it was only then that Remus realised that she was still clutching their precious picture of their daughter in one hand. “And I’m doing my job. Those Muggles need all the help they can get!”
She’s right. Even if…
But there was no more time to ponder it. Running forwards to join his wife, the couple surged through the glass pane together.
TO BE CONTINUED
Beyond The Portal by Pallas
Chapter Notes: This is the first half of a fic I wrote for a metamorfic_moon challenge on Live Journal and follows on a couple of months after Family Ties.