The Marriage Decree

Chapter 138: I Think We've Established You Are

A bead of sweat drips down his forehead as he walks down the corridor towards one door in particular. He wasn't supposed to be here, but he was on a critical mission. Softly, he pushes the door ajar and slides himself into the room. His eyes scan the faces of the three occupants, and all but the baby were asleep. A chill runs down his spine as his eyes catch those green ones of the newborn Potter lying in his bassinet. He knew from his training that babies could only see about twenty centimetres ahead of them. Still, he felt seen, and that in itself was uneasy.

Slowly, from inside his work robes, the man pulls out a card, placing it atop the blanket that the baby was wrapped in.

"Good luck, Albus Severus," the man whispers, then jumps in fear when the baby's father, who's sleeping in an armchair, lets out a soft snore.

Heart racing, the man, picks up the mother's file, noisily flipping through the parchments to check on her chart.

Harry Potter awakes with a start, glancing around their St. Mungo's suite. His eyes land upon a figure at the foot of his wife's bed and relaxes. "Morning, Simon," Harry's voice croaks sleepily.

Simon, the junior healer who had supported their healer during the delivery, glances up, "Oh, Mr Potter, did I wake you? I apologise."

"Not at all," Harry stands, stretching his back. "I thought your shift had ended at midnight."

"No, I just went on break," Junior Healer Simon answers. "Mrs Potter's vitals are looking good. By this rate, you should be able to leave around midday today." He explains.

"Great, I'd much rather be in my bed than this chair.," he jokes.

Simon chuckles politely as he scribbles notes on the chart.

"What time is it?" Harry asks.

"It's one o'clock, sir."

"Good grief," Harry removes his glasses, then runs his hands down his face, exhausted.

"You should try to get some more sleep, Mr Potter," Simon suggests, replacing Ginny's chart on the end of her bed.

Harry shakes his head, "Thank you for taking care of us; I'm very appreciative of you and Healer Rachel. I'm glad we made it here in time for the birth; Ginny did not want to leave home."

"Did she have a negative experience with her last healer?" Simon asks curiously.

"Not at all. It was my birthday yesterday, and I think Ginny didn't want me and Albus to share a birthday." Harry admits, believing that to have been part of the reason and not wanting to end his party early.

"You know, I share a birthday with my sister," Simon states, staring off. "She's six years older than me. My parents couldn't afford two parties so close together, so we always shared the day, which I grew to hate as I developed my own interests and friendships." Simon's forehead creases into a frown, seemingly remembering his childhood too vividly. "Birthdays are supposed to be a special day, they're supposed to be all about you, and my sister loved to remind me that our birthday was her birthday first." His eyes fall to the ground. "I stopped celebrating my birthday in my second year at Hogwarts, the year after my sister graduated and she turned eighteen. My parents held a massive party for her to celebrate, and in all the planning, they seemingly forgot it was also mine. I didn't even receive a card."

"That can't be easy," Harry comments, for lack of a better reply.

"Sorry, I'll leave you to...." Simon turns to leave, pausing as his eyes fall on the bassinet and an excited smile forms on his face. "Look who's awake." He reaches into the crib and lifts the newborn Potter into his arms.