FicWad

Chapter 48



It's a Girl!





Gwen drove up to the 'Little Lodge' and parked at the edge of the gravel drive. Turning off the engine, she glanced at the house. It certainly looked as if no one was there, but Anna had told her that as soon as she entered, the spell would lift and she would see everything as it really was. Gwen also had to fight the effects of the anti-Muggle spell which was telling her mind, even now, that she was late and should really be somewhere else. Where, precisely, didn't matter, just anywhere but here.



No wonder no Muggle has ever seen Hogwarts/, she thought, /if it's this strong a spell for this little house.



Sighing to herself and ignoring the voice whispering to her in her mind, she opened the trunk and removed the two small crates and the aluminum suitcase, which she loaded onto the small, fold up luggage trolley. Wheeling it up the front walk, she unlocked the door and upon entering the front hall, felt the effects of the protective spells lift.



"Dobby?" she raised her voice, although she suspected he was watching. "Where are you?"



"Missy Gwen!" The grinning house elf emerged from the kitchen, spoon in hand and ran to greet her.

"You is here already!"



"Yes, the traffic wasn't too bad, and I made good time. How are you doing? Find everything you need? Any questions?"



"Yes." A voice came from the parlor and Narcissa Malfoy walked into the hall. "How do you stop that little light from blinking?" She pointed back into the room at the entertainment center and the LED clock on the VCR which was flashing 12:00 with determined regularity.



Gwen laughed and walked over to give Narcissa a hug.



"How are you Narcissa? It's good to finally put a face with a voice."



"Feeling fairly well, thank you, Gwen. I enjoyed our conversation on the telephone. I like watching your 'telly', also. It's been a real education about Muggle life, I'll say that. You are just as Anna described."



"Well, Anna told me all about you, too."



"Lies, all lies." They both said and then laughed.



"Her ears will be burning."



"Pardon me?" Narcissa looked puzzled.



"Old Muggle superstition; if your ears burn, someone's talking about you."



"Oh, I understand. Well, serves her right, too. Come in and sit down, won't you?"



"Dobby is just making lunch, Missy Gwen. You and Missy Narcissa sit and talk." Dobby headed back to the kitchen.



"Splendid. A quick chat before lunch sounds like just the ticket. Shall we?" The two women went into the parlor.



X # X # X



Settling on the sofa, Narcissa could contain her curiosity no longer.



"Any news from Anna about Draco?"



"Yes, I have a letter for you. I don't know what it says, as Anna did a charm on it so only you would be able to read it." Gwen pulled the small parchment scroll from her purse and held it out to Narcissa.



"Oh, thank you so much. We have been very careful about sending owls, as they can be traced, but it's been hard, waiting. I've been so anxious to hear about what's happening." Narcissa took the parchment and tapped it with her wand. "You don't mind, do you, if I read it now?"



"Not at all; I have a few things to unpack. I'm going to give you a quick check up and I've also brought a portable sonogram, so we can check on your baby."



"Sonogram? What is that?"



It's a Muggle medical devise. We will use it to see your baby. Even take a picture, if you'd like, or a video, so you can watch the baby move."



"Really?" Narcissa's eyes were wide in wonder. "Does it hurt?"



"No," Gwen was quick to reassure her, "but the gel is cold."



"What?"



"Nothing. Read your letter and I'll get set up in the bedroom."



"Oh! Right." Narcissa smiled, looking down at the letter in her hand. "I'm almost afraid..."



"Don't be; Anna told me to tell you that Draco is fine, but read," Gwen pointed at the letter. "It'll put your mind at ease."



Narcissa nodded and lifted the letter and began to scan the tightly written script. Gwen went out, quietly, lifted the metal suitcase off of the trolley and started upstairs.



X # X # X



"It's a girl."



"Oh, my stars! I'm so glad. How can you tell?" Narcissa twisted her head to look at the monitor.



"Look...see, there're her arms and legs and oh, she flipped over. There's her bottom...roll over sweetie... that's it, show mummy your pretty little face."



"Oh, oh, look...I see her," cried Narcissa.



X # X # X



Gwen pushed a button and a readout appeared. She ripped off the piece of paper.



"Here you go; her first picture. Sorry it doesn't move; it is a Muggle snap shot, after all. But I'm also doing a video of this exam, so you can watch her, again, later."



"Look at her!" Narcissa was holding the readout of the ultra sound for Dobby to see.



"Yes, Missy Narcissa. She is very small."



Gwen laughed. "That's not life size, Dobby, but you can see her clearly, can't you?"



"Yes, Missy Gwen." Looking at the humming equipment, Dobby inched closer. "Dobby is wondering how it is working."



"One day, Dobby, I'll sit down and explain it all to you, but basically it's a picture of the baby taken with sound waves."



"Oh." Dobby was thoroughly confused, as was Narcissa, who went back to gazing at the bay's movements on the monitor.



"Here, Dobby, here's a printout for you."



"Thanks you, Missy Gwen." The house elf took the small piece of paper and studied it intently. "I am seeing her fingers!" he exclaimed, and then he turned the paper around to show Narcissa, who nodded, smiling.



X # X # X



"Well, Narcissa, from my measurements and this sonogram, I'd say you were right on schedule for your October due-date."



"She's alright?"



"She looks just fine. Steady, strong heartbeat, all ten fingers and toes in place." Gwen smiled. "You're doing very well, so I don't foresee any problems. She's eating well, Dobby?" she asked, turning to the house elf.



"Oh, yes, Miss. Missy Narcissa is getting very good foods, Miss. She is liking Dobby's cooking." He puffed out his chest.



"Excellent!"



"My cooking skills are sadly lacking, Gwen, I admit," smiled Narcissa. "Dobby has full authority in the kitchen."



"Well, lunch was superb, Dobby." Gwen leaned over and patted him on the back as he blushed scarlet.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you; Winky sends greetings, as do the other house elves at Hogwarts."



"Thank you Miss, and could you be telling them Hello from Dobby, also?"



"Of course, I'll pass the greeting along."



X # X # X



"How is Anna?" Narcissa finally asked the question that had been lurking at the back of her mind.



Gwen finished wiping the gel off of Narcissa's belly before she answered.



"She's lonely. Even with most of the students and staff trying to bolster her spirits, it's the fact that she's lost Severus as a friend that upsets her most, I think. She's been talking about everything with Dad."



"Her husband? But he's a Muggle and he's dead isn't he?"



"Yes, but Anna had his portrait done magically, before he died. He's in residence at Hogwarts."



"Amazing." Narcissa sat up on the bed and swung her legs over the side.



"Yes, he's been helping her work through her feelings about...what happened last month and that's finally starting to ease the guilt and shock of...killing your husband. She really was terribly upset about having to resort to that, but..."



"She had no choice, Gwen." Narcissa took hold of Gwen's hand. "Believe me; I know first hand how Lucius could be. I will admit, now, that many a time I harbored thoughts of killing him myself, but I knew that wasn't an option. Anna saved two, no, three lives when she shot him: hers, mine and my baby girl's. Tell her that. Tell her I said thank you. She'll understand."



"That's very generous of you, Narcissa. Having seen too many victims of domestic violence in my practice, I have to agree with you. She saved more than herself that day."



"What happened to me happens to Muggles, too?" Narcissa was flabbergasted.



"Yes. Unfortunately, cruelty and violence knows no bounds: social, economic, religious or it appears, magical or Muggle. And too many times it ends tragically. What I don't understand and you don't have to answer if you don't want to talk about it, was why did he physically beat you? Why didn't he use magic to hurt you?"



"Actually Gwen, I have thought about it and I think the physical action of hitting or pushing or kicking me was a thrill for him, a physical pleasure. Doing it himself, with his own hands, seemed to make him more powerful, I suppose; actual physical control as opposed to flipping his wand and throwing me across the room.



Narcissa shuddered and Gwen sat down next to her and put her arm around Narcissa's shoulder.



"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you, just my professional curiosity coming through. But...you're here, safe and you and the baby are healthy, so, let's be thankful for that, shall we?"



"You didn't upset me, it's just a fact in my past life, now, and I also need to thank /you/, Gwen, for doing this; for saving me and my baby girl, and giving her, especially, a chance at life. I couldn't believe Anna and you would be that generous. I'm still not over it."



"Oh, well, that's our Anna. Never could resist a lost puppy or an old friend in trouble. Me, either, truth be told."



"Give her my thanks, again, when you see her."



"Don't know when that will be, actually. When I saw her the other day she said that she's really busy at Hogwarts, what with end of term and what are they called, O.W.L.s. and N.E.W.T.s exams?"



"Oh, yes, those are the qualifying exams for further studies. Yes, she'll be busy alright."



"Personally, I think it'll get her back on track. Oh, that reminds me; Anna sent something for you to do, to help her out with her preparations."



"For the war?"



"Yes, come with me."



X # X # X



"Thank you, Dobby," said Gwen, as she took the second crate from the house elf and put it on the kitchen table next to the first, the contents of which Narcissa was emptying.



"What does Anna want me to make with all of these potion ingredients?" Scanning the labels quickly as she worked, her eyebrows shot up as she read the contents. "Some of these are really rare. What on earth?" She held up a packet which rattled with a metallic sound. Narcissa shook it tentatively, read the label and shrugged.



"She's enclosed a letter and instructions, somewhere, in one of these crates."



Gwen began unloading the second crate. The surface of the table was rapidly filling up with the contents.



"Ah ha, here we go; a packet." She pulled a large manila envelope out of the crate. "It's got your name on it, so here you go."



Handing the envelope to Narcissa, she continued unpacking; reaching down into the crate, pulling out boxes and vials and odd shaped bundles. Narcissa sat on a nearby stool and opened the flap and peeked inside.



"There are a lot of pages in here. I'm in trouble."



Gwen laughed as Narcissa pulled the entire stack of paper out and put it on the table.



"Ah, /the letter/."



She picked up the top page with two fingers, shook it and then held it up and read aloud.



'Dear Cissa and Gwen,

Enclosed, please find the first stage preparation instructions and supplies for a potion I think could be deciding factor in the coming war. And yes, Cissa, Draco will have his ration of this potion, so don't worry about that.'



Narcissa looked up. "She knows me too well."



"Tell me about it." Gwen nodded. "Not much gets by our Anna."



Smiling Narcissa continued.



'It will take about three weeks for the prep work and then six months of brewing/.'/



"Six /months/!" Gwen stopped, aghast.



"Oh, yes, a lot of potions take months to brew correctly. Most take two or three, but six months isn't that unusual."



"Hummm, read on."



"Right. We'll be making a big batch of Felix Felicis,"/ /Narcissa looked up at Gwen. "My god, that's brilliant! But dangerous, too. This potion is toxic in large amounts, but used correctly, in very small doses..."



"What does it do?"



"Gives you good luck, for a short period of time. Three - six - twelve hours, tops. It's tricky to make and I'll really have to go over the instructions several times to make sure I don't miss anything. Goodness, where ever did Anna some up with this idea?"



"Maybe she says in the letter."



"Oh...let me see." Narcissa scanned down the letter and then continued from where she's left off.



'I'll bring the final ingredients to you in time to start the brewing at the end of term. You should be able to finish all the prep work by then. Take your time, you're going to have to do lots of chopping and grinding, but I find that really satisfying work.'



Narcissa looked up. "So do I."



Turning the page over, she read the end of the letter.



'I remembered the potion when I was thinking about the duel I had with Lucius fifteen years ago in my parents' garden. Actually, it was something Mad-Eye Moony said to me, after I regained consciousness in St. Mungo's. He said he guessed I had taken some Felix Felicis, otherwise he wouldn't have been talking with me. I told him, no, it had been sheer dumb luck. He never believed me, but the thought stuck in the back of my brain.'



"Let's hope Voldemort doesn't think of this potion." Gwen sighed.



"If he does, he'll reject the thought, as he doesn't believe in luck, just his own brilliant plans."



"A little bitter, there, Narcissa?"



"You noticed? Yes, and I'm going to do what ever I can to help Anna and Professor Dumbledore ...and Harry Potter and Draco, if he decides to join in the actual fighting against Voldemort. SO...let's get started sorting all these ingredients and get them ready for chopping and grinding."



"Right."