The Heir of Merlin
A/N: I do not own Harry Potter; however Evie is my own OC!
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Chapter 8
"There's no need for that, Evelyn." a voice cut through the silence.
Evie whirled around, only to drop her wand in shock to the floor.
He was sprawled out on the sofa in her lounge, his dark grey eyes fixed on her. Her eyes traced his form avidly, it had been so long since she'd seen him and she felt her heart begin to beat faster at the sight of him.
"Indeed Evelyn. We could never hurt you."
Evie gasped at the voice behind her, and she spun to face the man who had just spoken, her mouth gaping. He looked healthier. His gold eyes stared back at her, faint amusement in its depths. She shivered as she felt rather than saw the grey eyes behind her rake over her form slowly from behind her.
She remained utterly still as Sirius made his way over them silently, taking his place beside Remus both still watching her intently.
"What are you two doing here, anyway?" She burst out, unable to contain herself and her tongue any longer.
"You should have known we'd find you Evie. We would never stop looking for you. We understand why you left. We don't like it but we get it now."
She stared at Sirius, surprised he wasn't shouting. He was usually so hot-headed.
"I left to protect you! I had to find and destroy the Horcruxes."
"You did not have to do this alone, especially in your condition. We could have done it together. We are a family. Families rely and trust each other. " Remus said in a strong voice.
Evie closed her eyes at Remus's words trying to hold back her tears, her mind reeling and her heart racing. Her thoughts had been on them all the time since Voldemort's defeat, and every time she would touch her stomach, she would see a pair of dark grey eyes in her mind. She jumped slightly as a pair of warm calloused hands reached out to her, bringing her into an embrace. She didn't resist, and it was as if the part of her, that she hadn't realized was missing, was now back and she was complete. She sighed, breathing in Sirius's scent; relishing in the pleasure it brought her.
"Why did you leave Evie? You never even asked us if you needed help. You never let me tell you that I love you."
Evie closed her eyes at the sound of Sirius's voice and the pain in it, her heart breaking all over again at the hurt that seemed to lace the words.
"I love you so much it hurts Sirius. But…I had to do it. For all of us. To keep everyone safe."
"You shouldn't have made that choice for us." Sirius murmured. "I would go to the ends of the Earth for you. It was torture not being able to be with you, not knowing where you were, if you were safe, touch you, or kiss you, especially since we knew you were pregnant."
"How did you know?" Evie choked. "I didn't want anyone to die…not when I could search and destroy them myself. Not when I could keep everyone safe from them."
The emotions she'd held in for so long suddenly burst out at her confession, and she held on to Sirius tightly, tears pouring out of her eyes, aware of Remus gently rubbing her back while Sirius held her.
She had truly thought she was doing the right thing, not only for them and everyone else, but for her as well.
"How did you find me? I was so careful." Evie asked, more to herself than to the others. Remus responded regardless.
"Yes indeed you were." Said Remus grudgingly. "Sirius and I were in Diagon alley when I caught your scent; we followed you to the hospital and then found your home address in their files before coming here to wait for you."
"That's what the feeling was, then? The feeling that someone was watching me, it wasn't paranoia, it was you two!"
Sirius seeing that this could leave to a very long conversation, he intervened, knowing that Remus would understand.
"Right Remus, you need to leave. Evie and I need to talk. Go tell everyone that we've found her." Said Sirius.
"Sirius…"
He put one finger on her lips to stop her from talking. Remus smiled at the pair, with a quick kiss to Evie's cheek, and a nod to Sirius, with a pop he was gone.
Evie still had tears running down her cheeks and her breath was coming in small gasps. Sirius gently guided her over to the sofa and sat her down before sitting down next to her.
"First, you need to calm down, you probably know it isn't good for you or the babies to get all worked up. Second, we are going to talk. Okay?" he said, putting his finger under her chin and forcing her to look up into his eyes.
He saw fear in her eyes, and maybe a little relief. He wiped away her tears that had traced their way down her cheeks. He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her forehead. "Okay?" he confirmed. He felt her nod her head.
He felt her relax against him. Her protruding middle was pressing into him, and he felt a hard kick. Surprised, he pulled back, and looked down at where the kick originated, and then at her. "That been happening a lot?" he said with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips
She sniffled again, and looked up at him warily, "Yeah, all the time actually, it's very distracting. I'm due to give birth in 2 weeks." she remarked
"Wow." was all he could think to say.
"Are you mad at me?" she asked him worriedly
"I am not happy with what you did, but however if it had been me in your situation, I would have probably done the same thing to protect you and Harry. So I can't really scold you for doing what you thought was right. I'm just glad I finally found you. But no more running away or disappearing ever again Evie you hear me?"
Evie felt the prickle of tears behind her eyes at Sirius's words, but she refused to let them fall.
"I hear you Sirius. I swear I won't."
"Good, because I am nothing without you, Evie." Sirius said roughly, pushing her chin up so that she could meet his eyes. Green gazing into grey.
"Now where is the bedroom Evie, you need rest. Too much excitement can't be good for you or the babies."
"This is only my muggle flat. I've been living at Avalon Palace. One of the most secure places in Britain, probably as secure as Hogwarts."
"Avalon Palace? The legendary home of Merlin himself."
Sirius looked gobsmacked. Evie chuckled before grabbing both his arms tightly.
"Hold on tight I'll apparate us there. My wards will allow me through along with anyone I am touching at the time."
A minute later Sirius and Evie reappeared with a crack in one of the day parlours of Avalon Palace.
In silence Evie led Sirius up to her room, a quick glance across the room confirmed that the four meddlesome founders and Merlin had vacated their chairs for the evening. Probably off terrorising the other portraits of the Palace she thought wryly.
The two of they were soon comfortably cuddled together in bed. Sirius with his arms wrapped tightly around the woman he loved, as if he was scared that if he let go she would disappear in front of his very eyes.
"I've missed you Sirius." Said Evie .
The man in question nodded but seemed to be lost in thought.
"Sirius? What are you thinking? Say something?"
Sirius turned his head to look her straight in her eyes.
"Marry me Evie."
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Remus walked through the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place with a wide smile on his face, only for it to disappear at the sight of his clearly furious girlfriend.
Thinking fast, before she could start yelling at him, he kissed her. When they both broke for air, she gave him a weird look.
"What's with you?"
"Nothing, come on we need to get to Hogwarts and fast. Floo the Weasleys as well, tell them to meet us there."
Half an Hour later Dumbledore's office was crowded: The faculty, Harry and all his friends, the Weasley's and various members of the Order.
"Remus what is going on?" asked Harry "Where's Sirius?"
"Yes Remus, we are all curious. And indeed where is Sirius?" asked Dumbledore.
Remus took a deep breath and then spoke.
"This afternoon Sirius and I found Evie. He's with her now. She is fine, in good health, almost 9 months pregnant with twins, and only two weeks away from her due date."
There was absolute silence…
Then pandemonium as everyone cheered, and rejoiced in happiness and relief that she was finally found and more importantly safe. Then everyone started to question Remus about everything they could think off.
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Back at Avalon Palace Evie was staring at Sirius in shock.
"Did you just ask me to marry you?"
"Yes, what's your answer?"
"You don't have to marry me just because I am pregnant." Said Evie her eyes looking anywhere but at him.
He kissed her long and hard. When he finally released her lips, she looked flustered and a bit light headed.
"Evie I love you, yes the fact that you are pregnant and your disappearing act may have sped things up a bit, but I've wanted to marry you since Valentine's Day. That's when I realised I would never let you go, I love you too much for that."
Tears shone in Evie's eyes as he revealed his heart to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him before saying:
"I love you Sirius."
Sirius smiled.
"I love you too, so Evelyn Sangria will you marry me?"
"Yes! God Yes!"
Sirius let out a whoop of joy before leaning down to kiss her. When they finally broke apart he grabbed his wand and with a complex wave and a Latin phrase, something appeared into his outstretched palm.
Taking her left hand he gently slipped a ring onto her ring finger, which once he let go of it resized magically to fit her finger. It was a simple silver band with a single diamond in the centre of it with 3 smaller diamonds set into the band on either side. Simple yet tasteful. It was perfect for her.
"I bought this after the final battle, promising myself that I would never lose you again once I found you. Do you like it?"
"It's perfect Sirius. I have everything I could ever want."
Completely at peace with each other the pair fell asleep in each other's arms.
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The next morning the faculty and the student body of Hogwarts were peacefully eating breakfast when the Great Halls doors slammed open and a harried, panicked looking Sirius Black ran in yelling for Madame Pomfrey.
Dumbledore stood quickly, worried, there were few things that could make Sirius panic. Even Snape looked slightly worried.
"Sirius what is the matter my boy?"
Sirius went to answer when a loud, angry yell interrupted them, the whole Great Hall fell silent and turned to stare at the clearly livid witch standing in the door way.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! GET YOU USELESS ASS OVER HERE AND HELP ME GET UP TO THE HOSPITAL WING NOW!" Yelled Evie as she tried to remember to breathe.
Barely 30 minutes ago the two of them had been eating breakfast when Evie's water broke, and the back pains she had been feeling turned into full blown contractions. Sirius had promptly started to panic and Evie had had to find his clothes and shoes for him before she managed to get him to floo them to Hogsmeade.
Sirius immediately ran back over to his fiancée. However when he tried to help her she yelled at him:
"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU ARE NEVER TOUCHING ME AGAIN!"
Poppy and McGonagall promptly hurried over to help Evie up to the hospital wing while Dumbledore got stuck with the task of trying to get the anxious father to be under control and up to the hospital wing.
Beforehand Dumbledore sent out a Patronus message which would inform everyone of what was going on.
After they had left the hall it only took Harry and his friends a few second to run after them, the rest of the Hall breaking out into gossip and chattering. Thankfully it was a Saturday.
Word travelled quickly, the floo was going continuously as people kept arriving. Remus was almost as panicked as Sirius. Harry and his friends ended up being the ones trying to keep him calm since Tonks just laughed at the situation.
An hour later Evie was ready to girth birth, Poppy was ready for action along with two nurses who had flooed over from St Mungo's when Sirius walked in the room. Evie was evidently in pain, sweat on her forehead, knuckles white from grabbing onto the sheets, bottom lip already a little swollen from where she was biting on it to keep from screaming.
"What happened to the pain killers?" Sirius asked frantically
"They wore off" a nurse answered
"No time for another" Poppy said before he could say anything "It will be all over by the time it kicks in."
Poppy and two nurses where running around the wing, setting up for the babies. Sirius froze, staring from the doorway without knowing just what to do. Poppy looked at him and gestured with her head for him to go to Evie's side. Sirius moved to Evie's side and took her hand but to his surprise, she smacked him and pushed him away.
"This is all your fault!" she yelled "YOU'RE NEVER TOUCHING ME AGAIN!"
The nurses didn't even blink but Poppy looked up at Sirius and tried to hold in a smile.
"Don't worry about it, Sirius." she smirked "They all say that."
With a significant look, one of the nurses handed Sirius a towel and a cup of ice chips for Evie before she and the other nurse got on either side of the bed and took a hold of a leg. Evie didn't care for the ice so he concentrated on wiping the sweat of her forehead and stroking her hair to soothe her and let her know he was there for her.
When the doctor asked Evie to begin pushing, the nurses were unable to hold her legs. Pain and adrenaline made it impossible for Evie to control her strength and she nearly kicked the nurses. Frustrated and wanting to help and end her pain as soon as possible, Sirius pushed the nurses aside, lowered the bed, sat behind Evie and grabbed a hold of her knees.
The nurses were not happy with his action but his glare was enough to keep them quiet. Concentrating solely on Evie, he ignored the sour faced nurses and held on tight to Evie, whispering encouragement into her ear as he kissed her cheek and shoulder.
Everything seemed to go into fast forward. A few pushes later and Sirius heard a sound he would never forget. The soft, heart-warming cry his baby made entering the world.
"It's a boy." Poppy smiled "A beautiful, healthy baby boy."
Tears instantly filled Sirius and Evie's eyes. There was no way he could ever describe the joy and the love that they felt when they saw their little boy for the first time. So small, so delicate, so perfect and their most valuable treasure.
"I love you." he whispered into Evie's ear, his voice heavy with emotion as she rested back on him.
One of the nurses took the baby to weigh, measure and wash up, while Evie took a minute to rest up. She didn't get long before a loud moan escaped her.
"You're doing great, Evie" Poppy smiled "Almost done. One more push…." A laugh escaped her as the baby nearly shot out into her arms "This little boy is obviously impatient to meet his parents."
Sirius couldn't believe his sons were finally born, everything was now so different. It seemed like a lifetime before Poppy was done with the babies and he was able to hold them in his arms. He and Evie took turns holding them and couldn't stop smiling, or in Evie's case crying.
While Poppy finished up with Evie and the babies, Sirius ran out of the hospital wing and into the hallway, which was filled with anxious friends and family members. As soon as the double door opened, everyone rushed to him and all eyes were on him. Harry and Remus in the lead.
"Our first born son is 22 inches long and weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces" he smiled "And our second born son is 21 inches long, weighing 9 pounds 8 ounces"
The hallway was instantly filled with cheers and hollers. And a few tears. Sirius readily caught his godson as Harry jumped on him with a big hug and a smile. Sirius hugged him tightly, realising more than ever that for Harry this was as important as it was to him. After all Harry had become like a son to him.
"Evie did great. Poppy is finishing up and she needs to rest but she's perfect, once they're done you can visit in small groups." Said Sirius proudly after Harry had released him.
As Sirius received congratulatory hugs and pats, Poppy came out.
"Evie wants everyone to meet the babies at the same time." she smiled "Says to get inside and meet them before she comes out her herself."
Once Poppy opened the door, they all quietly made their way into the hospital wing. Once inside, the room was immediately filled with 'ooh's and 'aw's and teary eyes.
"Shhh!" Molly Weasley scolded everyone "You're going to scare the babies."
Evie nodded toward the cribs. Sirius picked up his first born son and held him up.
"I want everyone to meet Ardeth James Black" Sirius walked over to Harry and motioned for Hermione to come stand with him. "Your godson" Sirius smiled, handing Ardeth to Harry. Leaning forward slightly he whispered into Harry's ear: "and both are your baby brothers. You are my son as well Harry, you always will be."
Harry's smile couldn't get any wider and his green eyes were wide open. His heart was overflowing with emotion. He finally had a real family. Looking into his godfather's eyes he realised that Sirius had found the same.
Hermione discreetly wiped away a small tear, and gently kissed Ardeth's little hand. Sirius walked back to the crib and picked up his second born son.
"And this is Orion Remus Black" Sirius finished while Remus teared up slightly in shock that his best friend would give his son his name as his middle name.
Sirius walked directly to Tonks and Remus and held Orion out to Tonks, whose eyes nearly bulged out.
"I can't hold him" she practically squeaked "I might hurt him, or drop him"
"Come on, Tonks" Evie laughed
"You can't be afraid to hold your own family member Tonks" Sirius said.
Nymphadora's face was priceless. She held Ardeth like she was made out of glass. It was so funny to see the always brazen, cocky woman, so sweet and gentle to the little baby boy.
"Tonks, are you crying?" Sirius asked as he smiled
"No!" she snapped, wiping her teary face "Shut up!"
All the tears, all the challenges they been through and overcome as a family was worth it when they could also enjoy moments like the one they were having in that overcrowded hospital wing.
Looking at his sons made Sirius realize that even though he was twice her size, Evie was by far stronger and more powerful that he would ever be. Not just because she was an amazing witch but because she created life, gave him two beautiful children and held his heart, just like he knew he held hers.
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