A/N: Here it is, the beginning of "Woven". This is very short, but the first chapter will indeed be up tomorrow, so just a little something to whet your appetite. Many thanks to Peter, my amazing beta, who is diligently editing this project so that I can continue to update twice a week. We'll see how long we can keep that pace up. The story is completed, so it's simply a matter of editing and publishing. Song for this chapter: "Clocks" by Coldplay. Thanks again for your reading and the reviews, they rock my socks off. MNF

Prologue: Woven

Spring 1991

Anwen POV:

Three minutes...who would have thought that three minutes could feel so darned long? Okay, well, I have three minutes to kill...what should I think about? I was sitting in the master loo at my home, Grimmauld Place. I was still in my dressing gown, sitting on the edge of the tub, looking a a stupid potion phial, hoping that it would change from black to a nice light green, but I still had...two minutes and 48 seconds.

How did I get here? Not here, as in sitting on the side of the tub in the loo, I walked in here when I woke up this morning, now 10 days late for my monthly cycle. I understood that part, and I certainly know how I could have gotten pregnant...I definitely understood that part... I thought with a sly smile crossing my face. Our little jaunt to Brazil. Who said that a work trip can't be fun; just take your husband along. That's the part that's weird...how did I end up married to one of the most notorious pranksters and playboys that Hogwarts had ever seen?

I've known Sirius my entire life, well, my entire magical life. Dumbledore showed up on my eleventh birthday, told me I was magical, did my shopping with me and then promised he'd see me at school. It was so surreal, I wasn't supposed to be a witch, I was supposed to grow up and be an Opera prodigy, well I already was one; but then I found out that I was magical and everything changed. Meeting Dumbledore that day was the most important event in my life, it changed everything. Told me that there were mermaids in the Black Lake, neglected to tell me that he was the Headmaster -- interesting the way he uses information. I sighed again, and checked my watch. Two minutes and thirty seconds. UGH!!

Okay, so I went to Hogwarts, met Sirius on the train, we became fast friends, best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, members of the Order of the Phoenix, got engaged. He lived in exile for four years in Greece while I tried to catch the supposed killer of our best friends -- James and Lily Potter -- and their infant son, Harry; except that they weren't dead, they were saved by a binding potion. Anyway, Sirius was in exile, got mad at me one night and went out and picked up a woman. Horrid days, I nearly left him...okay, not thinking about that anymore.

We were finally able to bring him home when I caught Peter Pettigrew -- the fourth of their quartet of mayhem -- the rat. Nothing so wonderful as watching him squirm as they took him away to Azkaban. Oh, and why did you catch him? Because you're an Auror and a damn fine one at that! I sighed again and looked at my watch: Two minutes, two seconds, a third of the way there...you can do this, I told myself getting up from my seat to walk around the room. A watched pot never boils, maybe a watched potion won't turn colors?

Think about something else...anything else...um, think about your work. Yeah, being an Auror is pretty awesome, and it's good work too. Can't believe that I became one in six months, but that's what happens when you're a projecting visualist and you come of age during a war. I'm one of only two alive in all of Britain, and the other is my mentor. I love being able to see magic and manipulate it in my head. Love the fact that I do wandless magic too. But back to becoming an Auror, those were hard times, I don't think that I'd be able to do it again, I just kept pushing and pushing and hoping that it would all be all right when we got to the other side, which it was. The only thing that made it bearable, was Sirius. There are days that being in love with him is overwhelming; I never knew that I could love someone so very much.

That's what I still can't quite figure out: how it all happened without calling it divine intervention. We ended up having a wedding that was organized and financed by the Ministry, married with ancient customs, some of which hadn't been used in a half a century. It was remarkable, our wedding, the whole damn three parts of it. I feel his heart beat within my chest, our bodies are tied together and our magic flows between us. I share his emotions, and he shares mine. Hell, we even have the same Patronus now. It's just...amazing.

I glanced down at my watch again. One minute, thirty three seconds, we're half way there. We want this so badly. I went off the potion nearly three years ago, hoping to start a family right away, but that didn't happen. I knew that it would be hard, my body is small and I have a very demanding job; but I can't even begin to think if we can't... I pointedly looked away from the phial and took a deep breath. Stop it, the healers just say that it's taking a while. It would have been easier if your best friend wasn't pregnant, but she'd had nearly as much trouble getting pregnant with her second child.

Lily Potter is my best friend, more like my sister; and her husband James is Sirius'. They've known each other since they were eight and they met the remainder of their trio, Remus Lupin, when they all started Hogwarts together. I started three years later, and Lily was my first friend on the train there. James and Lily have a wonderful son, Harry, who'll start at Hogwarts this fall. He's a remarkable young man, especially given what he has to do...I shuddered at the ideas that crossed my head, and decided that this was a time for life, rather than a time to be thinking about death. Fifty seven seconds, we're almost there.

So this is it. I sat back down on the side of the tub, and returned to staring at the potion phial. It wouldn't be so bad if we had to try another month... I closed my eyes and pushed the tears back that were threatening to fall.

"Winnie honey," I heard Sirius call from the other side of the door, "you all right in there? You feel...worried."

"Uh-huh," I responded non-committally. Only problem with sharing emotions with your spouse, you can't hide anything.

"Oh, okay," he said, and I heard him slide down to the floor. He knows that I'm in here waiting...I just don't want him getting his hopes up; I think he wants this more than I do. Sirius desperately wanted his own family, one that he could love and that would love him in return. He didn't grow up like I did, being loved by parents and surrounded by siblings; he had a rough childhood that only got worse as he went through adolescence. My family may not have understood me, but I know that they loved me...Sirius never felt that. I wanted to give this to him, I wanted to start this family with him...

What if you can't? What if being a mother just isn't in the stars? What are you going to do then?

Put those thoughts out of your mind, you're still young and he's certainly more than willing to keep trying to make those babies...I was pulled from my own thoughts as I watched the potion begin to swirl in the phial. Seventeen seconds...

The waves became more pronounced and ordered, and a vortex was created within the small bottle. I stood up, staring at it. I could feel my heart racing and I took in a deep breath and held it.

Ten seconds...

Nine...

Eight...oh God if doesn't change colors...

Six...

Five...

Four...please turn green, please turn green...

Two...

One...

And I let the breath that I was holding out, and grabbed onto the bathroom counter. The swirling stopped and the little phial shown with a bright white light.

I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, could barely keep myself on my feet. It felt like the world had stood still. My mouth dropped open and I started crying.

"Sirius," I called him, he was only on the other side of the door so he was inside before I had finished his name, and his arms were around me. We were both staring at the counter, both of us had tears in our eyes...

the potion had turned green.