REGULUS!

MAY 1979

• • • •

"The flowers are looking great." Remus complimented, as he and Holland took a walk around the manor, arm in arm.

"Thank you," Holland blushed, "Mopsy did really well."

"And you." Remus said, nudging her lightly.

Holland smiled, "I just handed her the plants."

"Yes, but you did it so well," Remus smirked, making the girl laugh, "Have you thought more about the whole moving thing?"

The Irish girl let out a soft sigh, "Yeah. I have. I want to keep the house, it's lovely and I can afford to. But I think I want to buy an old house, refurbish it, you know. Like we talked about, you know, before."

Remus nodded, "I think that's a great idea."

"Ooh!" Holland remembered, excitedly, making Remus smile fondly at her, "I've got a job."

The boy raised an eyebrow, grinning, "Really?"

"Yeah," Holland nodded excitedly, "You know, after talking to Lily the other week, I realised that it's time to start actually living the life that is mine. So, I got a job at a flower shop. I start next month."

"That's great." Remus told her.

"And," Holland nervously continued, "I talked to Dumbledore. I'm joining the Order."

Remus turned to her in shock, stopping both of them from walking.

"What?"

"Before you say anything, this is my choice and what I want to do. You, Max, Bron, Lily, Maggie, James, Frank and practically all of our friends are a part of it," Holland told him, "Reg died to protect his family. I also want to help protect my own."

"I know," Remus sighed, taking his hands in hers, "I'm just worried."

"I know," The Slytherin nodded, "I worry about you, too. But at the end of the day we take care of each other, right?"

Remus smiled, "Of course."

Holland gave him a grin, "Good."

The two stood, smiling at each other for a moment and Remus licked his lips nervously.

"Holland, I-"

The girl cut him off with a gasp, grabbing tightly onto his arm, making him react quickly.

"Holland?"

"I think," Holland gasped, "I think my water just broke."

"Oh Merlin."

***

"Okay, you just need to lie back and relax." Margaret instructed an in pain Holland, as Remus helped her onto the bed in the guest bedroom.

"Relax?!" Holland exclaimed with wide eyes.

"I know, it's crap advice, sorry." Margaret winced as a contraction hit and Holland let out pained noise.

"Oh, I'm going to have to deep clean this room after this." Holland said, making her friends laugh.

"You're about to give birth and you're thinking about cleaning?" James asked with a chuckle, Sirius and Peter joining in as they stood in the doorframe of the bedroom.

The women of the room turned and glared at them.

"We'll go chat downstairs with Frank." Peter said, the three boys rushing to get out of the room as fast as possible.

Holland glanced up at Remus, who was sat on the side of her bed, as Margaret rushed around the room, preparing, "You can go too, if you'd like."

Remus chuckled slightly, taking her small hand in his own and placing a light kiss on it, "I'm not going anywhere."

Holland smiled at the Gryffindor, before another contraction arrived, making her clutch the boy's hand in pain.

"Mags, do you think you could give her something for the pain before she crushes Remus' hand?" Lily suggested, lightly pressing a damp towel on her best friend's sweaty forehead.

"That might be a good idea." Margaret nodded, searching her bag for just that.

"Might?!" Holland yelled, before throwing her head back on the pillow.

"Okay, we got the towels." Marlene said, as she, Bronwyn and Maxine entered the room.

"What took you so long?" Lily asked, taking the towels from them.

"Well, we couldn't decide on the colour." Bronwyn told them.

"Yeah, we don't know the gender and we didn't know if it would be a good idea to bring a blue or pink towel, so we settled on white." Maxine nodded, "That way we're all good."

Their friends all stopped what they were doing, turning to stare at the three of them, speechless.

Holland groaned resting her head on Remus' shoulder, "This was not the birthing story that I was hoping for."

***

A tear fell out of Holland's eye as she looked at the small, fragile baby in her arms, not being able to comprehend the fact that this moment was real.

A soft knock on the open door made her look up.

"Hey." The girl smiled, speaking quietly, careful not to wake her sleeping child.

"Hey," Remus grinned, his voice matching the tone of her, "How're the two of you doing?" He asked, sitting on the bed next to her.

"We're doing fine," Holland nodded, "He fell asleep a few minutes ago."

"You always knew he way going to be a boy." Remus chuckled.

Holland shrugged slightly, "Mother's instinct."

Remus stared at her and the child in her arms with a soft, fond smile residing on his face. Taking her eyes off of her beautiful baby boy, Holland coked her head to the side.

"What?"

"Even after being in labour for eight hours, you still manage to look stunning." Remus muttered, mesmerised.

Holland blushed, looking at the boy with a smile, "Thanks."

A quiet knock on the door, made the pair look up to see a hoard of their friends peeking through the door.

"Godfathers, godmothers and uncle, asking for permission to come in." Sirius smiled cheekily, making Holland gesture for them to enter with her head.

"Oh, Holland, he's precious." Dorcas gasped.

"What's his name?" James asked.

Holland smiled up at her friends, before looking back down at her son.

"Regulus Sirius Black."