A Twist In Time

Hard Decisions

I had stomach in my butterflies, I mean butterflies in my stomach.

All my fears of hating the baby when he arrived were gone. His dark blue eyes shone up at me and he hadn't even cried since entering this world.

I was vaguely aware of the healers arriving, I was also aware that Ada screamed upon their arrival from the fireplace. It would have been comical if I wasn't bewitched by the baby in my arms.

"What are you doing?" I asked as one of the healers tried to take Tom from my arms.

"I just need to check him, ma'am, you mentioned he isn't due till December," the healer said, her hands trying to take the baby from me. What if she was a death eater in disguise? This would be the perfect time to take him when he couldn't even defend himself.

"It's okay, Romy," Polly assured me, setting her hand on my shoulder as she crouched down next to me. "They just want to make sure he's okay."

I let my hands loosen on Tom and watched carefully as the healer cast a few spells on him, giving a small smile as she handed him back to me.

"He's doing perfectly given the circumstances. Has he got a name?" looked over at Merry, who'd been covered by a sheet and gently placed on a stretcher ready to be taken back to St Mungos.

"Thomas Marvolo Riddle," I told the healer looking back down at the baby. Merry had agreed when I suggested calling him Thomas instead of Tom. It had resulted in teasing from Merry because she thought I was calling him Thomas after Tommy, but in reality, I thought Thomas suited the boy better.

"What a strange name," the healer muttered, waving her wand and filling out the birth certificate. "Parents' names."

"Merope Riddle and Tom Riddle," I replied, stroking my thumb over Tom's face, smiling slightly as his blue orbs turned to me.

"Well, we've got a potion that will enable you to breastfeed him, if that's an option." I frowned at the thought of breastfeeding him. Not that I didn't want to do it, part of me wanted the best for him, but this was supposed to be Merry's job. I didn't want to take that away from her. Not when she sacrificed herself for him. "I can leave that here, but we also have a formula for him if you choose to go down that path."

"How long will she have to decide?" Polly asked, taking over when it became clear I wasn't going to talk to the healer.

"The end of the week. The baby will make it known what he wants. If he refuses the formula, it'll have to be breast."

"How does that work? She's not his mother," Ada said, curious over the use of this magic.

"The late mother and Miss Lupin must have signed over parental rights. The baby recognises Miss Lupin as his mother now. They have a familiar bond that's created between mother and baby after birth." The healer paused and I glanced up at her as she smiled down at us fondly. "There are some things that our magic does that are simply outstanding."

"What does that mean?" Ada asked in a hushed tone, afraid she would be yelled at for knowing about magic.

"In every sense of the word, Miss Lupin is Thomas' mother."

Polly thanked the healers and arranged a time for us to collect Merry's body for her funeral. I was left alone with Ada and the baby as Polly rushed upstairs at the sound of Edward crying.

"How did you become Tom's mother?" Ada asked, sitting down in front of me, her eyes on the baby. "I get it had something to do with magic, but how?"

"We have these things called blood-contracts. If you sign a contract in your blood it can basically do a lot of things. In this case, when Merry asked me to become Tom's legal guardian she wanted me to do it with a blood-contract. Because we signed the contract with our blood, it kind of mixes and now my blood runs through Tom's and his through mine, because he shared the same blood as Merry." I was surprised that Ada was able to understand what I was saying as she gave a small nod as I explained to her.