Chapter 44: Chaos and Shenanigans

Sister Ann woke me up the very next morning, presenting me with my baby. She apparently was as hunger-orientated as me.

While she taught me the various tricks of breastfeeding and I instantly forgot them through exhaustion, my baby gurgled and blinked at me.

Sister Ann finally sat down in the crappy plastic chair next to my bed. Everyone had gone home to catch up on their sleep and allow me to do the same. Mum and Astoria had to practically drag Scorpius out of here, but he was almost as tired as me and gave up fairly quickly.

"I need to talk to you about contraception," the midwife said with a dry smile. I looked at her as if she had just grown a second head and hitched my baby up higher on my chest.

"Thanks, but you're about 9 months too late..." I trailed off, still looking at her as if she were mentally unstable. She laughed heartily and offered a finger to my daughter to grab with her tiny hand.

"I meant from now on, have you thought about what you're going to use?" she said, still smiling.

"Hmm. Well I was hoping to just cling to the edge of the bed and threaten to call the police if he comes near me. How's that?" I offered, realising that she might not even know what police were.

She laughed again. I'm such a hoot.

"That's excellent. But just in case that master plan doesn't work out, here's this potion," she said, handing me a huge bottle of something liquid and violently pink and, noticing my huge yawn, taking my baby and leaving me to sleep once more, the bottle still gripped in my clammy hand.

It was days until I was allowed to leave the hospital. I still had to be injected every four hours to keep my animagus self under control. After that, we stayed at the Malfoy's for a week while our new house was being finalised, and then we spent another week at my parents because there was a problem with the wards around our place. Apparently some obsessed fan of mine or Scorpius' had managed to breech the defences.

Scary stuff.

Scorpius stayed with me the whole time, holding my hand in the night when the baby woke me up, stroking my forehead while I drifted off to sleep and being tolerant as ever with my ever-excitable family buzzing around. Right now, Scorpius and I were somewhere familiar. Somewhere cosy and out of the way… somewhere we probably weren't supposed to be.

Our pack was gathered around us one last time; in the cabin we had made our school home. It had taken a very nice floo-call to Uncle Neville, but we'd managed to get in without trouble and had taken our seats as usual, the door flung back to let in the balmy evening air.

James had taken his usual seat in the biggest red bean-bag with Sarah next to him like his proud Queen. His old cheeky grin was back, and she was practically glowing with happiness. Opposite, Becky was sat between Dom and Albus, her hand on Albus' knee. Hugo and Lily sat cross-legged on the floor by the fireplace and Scorpius and I sat together on the sofa, our daughter being passed around excitedly.

"Flights are booked. Me and Becky leave next Friday," Dom offered, looking down at Baby, who was clutching her finger.

"You're actually doing the France thing?" Scorpius asked. The 'France thing' was a crazy idea that Dom had apparently had in the last fortnight – her and Becky would be travelling to the south of France to stay with her Aunt Gabrielle and over the next six months would work their way back up to England.

Having spent time with Dom camping and sleeping rough, I was grateful I had an excuse not to go. Lily was practically sick with envy though. She and Hugo had another year of school to go, and without us I think she felt it would be boring. Maybe she's right – we definitely are the party.

"Yeah, we're actually doing 'the France thing'," Dom replied, rolling her eyes with a grin as she passed my daughter to Lily, who looked as excited as ever to see her.

"It's a shame you guys can't come," Becky added to the room in general.

I nodded. Scorpius and I had the best excuse – a baby on a camping holiday is no fun at all.

"Sorry sweetheart, my destiny waits for no man!" James replied, grinning and pulling Sarah into him.

"Yeah, how did your trial go?" Hugo asked. James shrugged.

I was glad he wasn't going to go back into a blow-by-blow account of his spectacular trial again. It made me jealous.

"Nailed it," he said with his cheeky grin, "I've got a meeting tomorrow night to decide who's going to be the new captain. Apparently Adrian Jones wants to leave sooner than we anticipated so the team has to decide whether I'll be the captain as well as the new seeker so soon or whether someone will be captain until I know it all a bit better," James added.

Hugo nodded.

"What's your excuse then?" he asked with a smile, pointing to Sarah and Albus.

"Work!" Albus barked a laugh. As always, he was the unpredictable one. Harry and Ginny had rented him a flat near the ministry where he would soon be starting work in the Department of Mysteries, though he couldn't say (more likely didn't know) what his job would involve.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Stop going on about it, Al!" she sighed. He had apparently been gushing about it for days.

"When do you start your job anyway?" Lily turned to Sarah, who was absently stroking James' hair out of his eyes.

"I leave for Rome tomorrow night. I'll be back next weekend," Sarah replied. James looked at her sadly, just for a second. I think perhaps he thought their life together would be just like school – living in each other's pockets.

Unlike Scorpius and I, James and Sarah had decided not to move in together just yet – Sarah had rented a flat near her modelling agency and James would be living the other side of London near where England trained – I found their decision to be a good one; they would be seeing each other all the time, there was no need to move in straight away, James was only nineteen and Sarah eighteen after all.

Scorpius and I had made the choice based on our daughter… She was the catalyst for our feelings finally being out in the open, and I've honestly never been happier. James and Sarah have years to do things in their own time.

Lily gave Sarah an excited reply that I didn't hear as my daughter was passed back to me, and the world began to melt away again.

We sat in comfortable chatter the entire night, finally getting to say goodbye to the school we loved, the cabin we cherished and the friendship that time and distance could never break.

"This is going to be your room little one," I said, pointing with the hand not holding the baby, who looked at me blankly.

Scorpius came in past me and set down the hospital bag. Moving day had come around too quickly and too slowly at the same time.

"Sar!" I called, and Sarah appeared with marigold gloves on and a sponge in one hand. I held out the baby to her and she discarded her gloves quickly to take my daughter.

"I've been desperate for a wee for about half an hour," I sang as I came back into the living room, drying my hands on my trousers. I smoothed down my weird smock-top over my considerably smaller stomach and reached my hands back out for my little girl.

"Worth all the stretch marks!" I yawned down at her before dropping into the rocking chair next to the crib, still smiling.

I was woken up three hours later by James applying the finishing touches to the paint on the crib. Someone had relieved me of my daughter and I stretched and smiled down at my cousin.

"You guys didn't have to come and help with this today," I said to him, noticing that the room was empty and quiet.

"Well, we're only down the road really," he shrugged, sitting down on the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked tentatively. He looked up suddenly and defensively.

"Yeah, of course. I just thought there'd be some time for me and her together before life got in the way," he said, dropping his defences immediately for me. I nodded.

"You're young. You have all the time in the world together," I said simply, knowing that he would never let anything get between him and Sarah ever again. He nodded again, this time more hopefully and got up, grinning in his cat-like way.

"I'll see you later; I've got to go to that meeting with the team tonight," he said, ruffling my hair, "you're going to have to think of a name for her soon!" he added before he left, laughing to himself in his insane way.

Not longer than a minute passed before Scorpius came in, shirtless and sweating.

"Our parents are coming over to help us later. Mum wouldn't take no for an answer," I laughed. He shook his head with a knowing smile.

"You okay?" He asked, grinning as he came over and stood over the crib beside me, where our baby was sleeping soundly.

We looked down at her together before I turned my eyes up towards him.

"Yes. Everything is going to be okay," I said, smiling.

"Perhaps life will be a bit more peaceful now," he grinned.

Just as he drew me into a tight bear-hug, our daughter began to bawl at the top of her lungs and I laughed crookedly, picking her out and bouncing her on my hip.

"What was that about peace?" I asked, shaking my head.

"I meant apart from the crying," he said rolling his eyes at me.

"Yeah, well apart from the crying it's going to be peaceful, I hope," I replied honestly.

"ROSE," James' panicked voice came from downstairs, "WHY IS THERE A BABY DRAGON IN YOUR GARDEN?!"

Peace might be too much to ask for… perhaps just chaos and shenanigans happily ever after…

.

A/N: So there we have it… years of work finally finished! I can't say I'm happy, but I'm not too sad either – everything has to come to an end. I want you, dear readers, to know how much your continued support has meant to me, and without you, this would not have started, let alone finished. I doubt this will truly be the end of my interfering in the pack's lives – I actually have already started writing little bits that I might squish together into a prequel/sequel at some point, but until then I must get on with other ventures.

I would like to extend my heartfelt personal thanks to the following readers:

HalfBloodBanana

HPfan109

Hpfan2013

Katy-kat15

GryffindorBeth

JustMeMarissa

HarrietMitchellx

Thatperfectsomeone

Grace2girl6

Cathy20

Reheni

Noelle95

TheMethod2MyMadness

For your continued support, wonderful reviews and positive feedback, I thank all of you.

Until next time,

- Sarita x

P.S. I know I didn't give her a name... you can give her a name yourself... for now :)