Gideon Prewett had disapparated to St. Mungo's and hurried into the registration lobby. The line for the check-in desk was too long, and he decided to play his auror card - guilty as he felt about it as he passed by witches and wizards with maladies, he held up his badge at the witch at the counter and pushed his way past her, directly into the corridors of the hospital. He ran to the lift, but the thing was just closing, full up, and he looked about and then ran for the stairwell.
Sprinting like he'd never done before, Gideon Prewett was hurrying up those steps two or even three steps at a time, his heart pounding in his chest.
Who the bloody hell put the delivery ward at the very top, he didn't know - even the bleedin' waiting area and shops were below deliveries.
Six floors up.
He finally crested the top of the last landing, his breath coming in sharp, painful gasps, his lungs aching, a stitch in his side, and he pushed through the door into the delivery ward. People were rushing about, and a woman in a chair was pushed past, smiling and holding her child and Gideon felt a rush in his stomach as he pitched himself toward the nearest Mediwitch.
"Dorcas Meadows?" he asked, breathless. "My - my wife, she's here - she's - baby! I'm having a baby! She's going to be a father!"
The mediwitch laughed and pointed, "Just over that way dear. Third door."
Gideon suddenly found the energy to run again, and he was off, down the corridor where the witch had pointed, his eyes focused on the door she'd said - and he shoved his way into the room.
Dorcas was sobbing. "Please, no, make her stay in there until Gideon comes! Please!" but even as she sobbed, her contractions were too close to deny - the room was prepared, Lily Potter was there, wearing one of the medical gowns, standing beside Dorcas on one side, a mediwitch directing her lamaze breathing on the other. Dorcas was draped at the waist, her legs up in the stirrups, her face flushed deep reddish-purple as she cried and screamed - the mediwizard positioned between her knees, bent low, as she delivered the baby.
"We have a crown," the mediwizard announced.
Lily clutched her hand and whispered encouragements and drew the anxiety out of Dorcas as much as she could, taking it on herself. She found herself in tears, too, shaking as she held onto Dorcas and felt emotions that she could not explain, her hands shaking and body aching with an emptiness in her stomach that she'd never noticed before but knew she'd never be able to ignore again.
Gideon skid across the room, coming up beside the bed and nearly tumbling right onto it in his hurry. The mediwitchon that side saw him and smiled, "Dorcas, honey, Dorcas look who's made!" she hurriedly dropped Dorcas's hand into Gideon's and backed away, making room for him. He took Dorcas's hand in his and leaned over her as she opened her tear-filled eyes to focus on him.
"You made it!" she cried and her face showed so much relief and pain equally as she clutched onto his hand, their fingers laced together and she sobbed, "You made it, you made it!"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Gideon answered.
"Push!" the mediwizard directed.
And Dorcas let out a scream that shook the world at least as much as the giants' steps had done, Gideon's hand in hers, she took a deep breath and pushed.
Remus had no money, but he wandered around the gift shop just the same because he'd been sitting in the waiting room for well over an hour and heard nothing and he was anxious and getting bored and had to do something. Even if it was just walk to the end of the hall and wander in circles looking at shelves of knitted hippogriffs and houseelves, binkies, blankets, playing cards, snacks, balloons, flowers, and get-well-soon cards.
He came 'round a bend and found himself facing the shop keep, who was staring at him, clearly suspicious because he'd done about twenty laps without pausing to actually look at anything, and he flushed, realizing he probably looked like he was casing the place for a robbery, so he ducked out and into the corridor with a sigh.
He decided to go downstairs and pop home by floo just long enough to update Sirius and then he'd floo back. Surely if he'd been waiting for an hour a five minute pop-in back home would be no big deal. So he took the lift down to the ground floor and walked out to the hall where the floo networks connected in.
There was a line for the floos and he stood, looking about and reading the placards under the portraits in the hallway, all of whom looked bored sniffy.
Suddenly, there was a commotion behind him, people shouting and Remus turned around to see the reception hall. In the middle of it was a very large, bright white patronus. A stag.
Remus stared at it for several long seconds, stunned, and then he abandoned his spot in line for the Network because he knew that Stag. He knew that Stag exceedingly well, and he rushed up the corridor - just as a second Stag patronus appeared and his eyes widened because it was the same - a duplicate, and the message it was delivering echoed - James Potter's voice coming from the stags mouths.
"Send immediate help to Dunlewey Village --"
"-- Giant attack, collapsed houses --"
"-- there's been a giant attack --"
"-- Dunlewey Village --"
And suddenly there was a third- and a fourth stag, and Remus could feel the crackling of the power coming off the stags, the desperation in the voice. The fourth stag sounded weaker than the others and a thrill of fear coursed into Remus.
"-- many injured, giant attack, collapsed houses --"
"-- children --"
"Send immediate help to Dunlewey Village --"
"-- Dunlewey Village --"
People in the waiting room were shouting in fear at the words giant attack, and there were whispers of You Know Who going up among them, panic rising up, and several people screamed in terror and a few ran from the waiting room. There was a surge of people racing for the floos and for the disapparation hall so that Remus was tarried backwards in the flow of the mad rush. He struggled to get out of the center of the crowd, pressing himself against the wall to one side and watching the people rush past, mania on their faces.
And then through the front doors there burst Fabian Prewett, carrying Edgar Bones, and Mad-Eye Moody stomping along side him, followed by several other aurors from the department, including Frank Longbottom and McKenna Alliston.
Mad-Eye looked around at the chaos and directed the others to go on and even though he himself had several deep wounds - including a gash on his face that looked very deep - he stopped in the waiting room and shouted, "EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" and there was a loud thumping sound as he thumped his wood leg to the floor and drew his wand. "Paxquillitar!" he shouted and a blast of light shot up, hit the ceiling and spread like a pale white smoke around the room.
A sense of peace fell over the room, calming everyone, and Remus felt his nervousness relax, felt the worries dull and fade, as though he'd been worrying for no reason, and he laughed at himself, at his own panic.
"That's more like it," grunted Mad-Eye, and he stomped off toward the corridor, past the smiling welcome witch.
Remus shook his head. Wait, he was worried for a reason - and he had to get to Mad-Eye. The stags, which had disappeared by now, were swimming in his mind and he rushed after Mad-Eye. "Moody!" he called, running after him.
Mad-Eye paused and turned, seeing Remus Lupin, he waited for him to catch up. "What're you doin' here, Lupin?" Mad-Eye demanded.
"Dorcas Meadows almost had the baby on my living room carpet," he explained quickly, "But I've just seen James Potter's patronus in the lobby asking for immediate help. What's happened? Giant attacks in Dunlewey? Ireland?"
"Ah yes, boy, Ireland. The north. They've been stopped, though, no reason for panic."
"Where's James Potter?"
"Underhill's gone to see to him, I ain't sure, I had my own aurors to see to."
"Is everyone alright?"
"Aye of the aurors, that is at least, Underhill's assessing the village. At least five houses were stepped on that we know of, there's sure to be some casualties coming out of this, just don't know the details yet." He paused, "I tell yeh this because yeh're of the Order but be keepin' it quiet, boy."
"Is Gideon here?"
"Aye, left the fight to see his daughter born, Prewett One said." Moody nodded, "Now excuse me, I've got ter get this cut done up before I've bled all over the hallway."
"Yes sir." Remus stepped back as Mad-Eye thumped off for the lift.
Remus waited a few moments, then hurried back the way he'd come, headed for the disappration hall instead of the floos now, and the moment he was past the line he turned on the spot.
He came out in a grassy knoll and his eyes widened as he caught his balance only just in time before he took a spill into a crater - a footprint, he realized in horror, and he turned around to face the way the print had gone and he saw the edge of Dunlewey Proper, smoke rising ominously and yes, just as Mad-Eye had said, he could see homes in the trajectory of the footprint that were decimated - piles of rubble giving off smoke and dust.
There was a small crowd of witches and wizards in the Mungo's robes and he knew that was James Potter's doing, and he rushed toward where they were, passing the first destroyed house and finding in the crowd a few faces he knew including Annalee McKinnon, standing with a boy who looked vaguely familiar from school and an old woman, a witch leaning over the boy, who sat on the ground. There was a woman with dark hair sobbing, looking for her husband, and an elderly couple holding onto one another, and a cluster of a family, a husband and wife clearly reunited, their children at their feet, one boy holding a howling cat...
"James Potter?" he asked a mediwitch.
"You mean the bleedin' hero of the day?" she asked in response.
"Hero?"
"Saved all these folks, didn't he?" she asked and before Remus could answer, she pointed, "Just over there."
Dazed, Remus pressed around them until he found James, laying on the ground, a mediwizard waving his wand over him.
"James!"
James looked up with confusion, "R-Rey?" he asked, his eyes squinting, glasses cracked, his face dirty and bruised along his chin. "Bloody hell, what're you doing here?"
"I was at Mungo's when your patronuses arrived," Remus explained, hurrying over, "Are you alright?"
James attempted at sitting up but the mediwizard stopped him quickly. "Stay still, boy, you've got a concussion, I'm waiting on a potion to set you right. 'Til we've got it, you need to stay still."
"Sorry," James murmured. He looked up at Remus, his eyes sad, "I couldn't save them - there's - there's loads of people killed --"
"But there's loads of people back that way that aren't because of you, I'm hearing," Remus murmured.
James shook his head, "I could've done more - I could've --"
"Oi," Remus said, kneeling down, "James. Stop that. You're a bloody hero. That mediwitch back there, she just called you the bloody hero of the day. She said you saved all those people... I - don't you dare say you could've done better, it sounds like you did incredibly..."
James's face was crumpled and he shook his head, covering his face with his hand, "Not enough... I'm not enough..."
The baby was perfect. She had a little red face and downy black tufts of hair across the top of her little head, big wide eyes and tiny precious pink lips. Gideon held her first, the mediwizard handing the baby into her father's arms with joy, those precious eyes staring up at her dada. Gideon's face was flush with pride and love and he was shaking when he handed off his wee girl to her mama, who was crying. Dorcas held the little nugget to her chest and sobbed, the pain and joy overflowing her equally as she stared into the little face.
"Oi, you're what's been makin' my life a livin' hell for all this time, huh?" she whispered, then added, "You're so worth it, darling."
They named her Hannah.
And when they'd each taken a turn - two of them, passing the baby back and forth, glowing with joy - Dorcas asked, "Lily, do you want to hold her?"
Lily nodded and she felt overwhelmed as the small but weighty bundle dropped into her arms and she gasped, feeling the baby press to her chest, the tiny limbs moving, the tiny face looking up at her. Her lips were like little rosebuds, and Lily could scarcely breathe.
When it was time to let her go, Lily struggled to do it. She slid into Gideon's arms again and Lily stared after the baby as Gideon cuddled her to his chest and leaned down to Dorcas so the three of them were close, Giddy and Dorcas's heads touching as they looked at the baby. The sight of them made her arms ache with jealousy and she felt the breath in her lungs quake as she stared.
When Gideon and Dorcas's best friends - the baby's godparents, Sara and Justus Abbott, arrived, Lily realized it was time to go and find Remus and update him. Oh Sirius would be a wreck, she thought, unless he could feel her now. Would be be feeling this longing tug her arms now held? Like moving underwater looking for air.
Numbly, Lily walked through St. Mungos, down to the waiting room on floor five, looking for Remus Lupin. She'd been there but a moment when Remus came in the room, looking nervous.
"There you are," she said, dazed and still reeling from the feeling of longing that was filling her up. "She's had the most precious little baby that I've ever seen, Remus, and --"
"Lily," Remus said urgently, breaking through, "James is here. He's downstairs, being admitted."