Life After Death - An Erica Black Continuation (4)

Fourty Two

Remus Lupin looked up at the sound of a soft knock on his door. The room that he occupied at the Black home was generic and simple but comfortable and in the short time he had spent there, he had made an effort to make it his own with the encouragement of his God-daughter. He had done this mostly through old photographs and books he had left at Willow cottage.
"Come in, it's open." he called quietly from his seat on the bed, lowering his book.
He smiled as the door creaked open and his God-daughter's head poked into view,
"Hello Pu-" His pleasant smile dropped into a soft frown and his brow furrowed when he saw the tears streaming down the girl's face.
"Dra-Draco left." she hiccupped, collapsing onto the bed besides the man, leaning her head on his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around her;
"Oh Pup, I'm sorry" He consoled awkwardly.
"He's moving back to his old house with Astoria.. Oh, Mooney, what am I going to do? I'm carrying his baby. I'm married to him, we own a home together.."
"Well, you do what I did, you try your hardest to raise that baby to the best of your ability. You've done it before." he sighed, pulling her close. Taking a moment to hesitate before speaking again,
"What happened with the twin's father?"
"He was a one night stand. The only man I've ever slept with. A Ministry official, I told everyone I never told him but I did, I reached out when the girls were born and made sure he knew he had twin daughters.. He was worried about his reputation and insisted he wanted nothing to do with them but vowed to set aside 20Galleons a month for each girl in a vault at Gringotts for them to gain access to once they turn eighteen... Which I have been meeting so they should both have a decent sum once they reach adulthood." Remus Lupin was slightly astounded by what he had just been told. It made perfect sense but it was, in his opinion, a little old fashioned.
"And I suppose you will do the same for the baby. Make the same arrangement with Draco, offer him visitation if he would like it, and then go about it in the way that best suits both of you." Erica nodded, she knew it was a good idea to come to her God-father, he always knew exactly what to say to make her feel better, he was right. Of course she could do this. She had done it before, with twins none the less and this time there was only one child but she knew she would have infinitely more support, Remus and Ginny, Draco - whom she was sure would be involved, more so than Edward to say the least. She had her twins, her father. For the first time in her life, Erica Black had a support system, a secure and reliable safety net of friends and family. There was a long pause before Remus spoke again,
"Where did their names come from, the girls I mean?"
"Willow Elladora and Charlotte Neoma?"
"Willow, after my mother and Elladora after my great-great-great-great aunt, it means one filled with light. Charlotte after Charlie and Neoma after you"
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Neoma mean's new moon, I wanted to save Remus for Teddy in case he had a son and wanted to use it. It is his birth right."
"Well I would be lying if I said I wasn't flattered. What about her?" he smiled softly, nodding his head towards the woman's stomach.
"Juniper Eurydice..." she sighed, letting the name coat her tongue slowly, tasting it, as if she were savouring it. "That's what we're thinking at least; Juniper as I reference to both Narcissa and Druella Black. Druella broke the Black family tradition when she named her youngest daughter after a flower instead of a star. She was an incredible woman.. I actually have her portrait in my study, amongst others.. And Eurydice" Her God-father cut her off with a soft smile, glancing up at the woman beside him.
"Orpheus's wife - You used to beg me to tell you that tale when you were a girl, it was your favourite." Erica met his gaze, her pale cheeks lightly flushed, she was surprised he remembered.
"Yes, it still is once of my favourites, even to this day. But it is also Astoria's middle name, we thought it fitting to honour her." she elaborated, explaining the final name to the man who sat beside her.
"You didn't name them after your father?" He asked, curiously.
"Of course I did. I named one of my daughters after the man who raised me." She shrugged nonchalantly "And besides; Harry used my father's name along side James'"
"What was he thinking?" Chuckled Remus, referring to the poor Potter children and the names Harry had so.. lovingly selected. Erica burst into laughter at the tone of distaste in her God-father's words.
"I'm honestly not sure, Ginny hates their names, apart from Lily's she quite likes that one but poor Al, she simply can't stand it and James' is on thin ice. She never minded paying homage to James and Lily but Merlin's beard..." she trailed off, sighing to herself in amusement.
"You see, Lily won when it came to Harry's name, you may even remember- James wanted to call him Fleamont after his father or Euphemia after his mother" The man laughed, pulling a face of mock disgust, Erica snorted and mumbled her response which sent both of them into a fit of laughter;
"It's probably a good thing she won, Petunia would've never taken him in if he had a name like Fleamont Potter the second".