Love and Loss ~ Marauders Era~

Chapter 46

"No wait put it over there." Noelle pointed at the opposite corner of the room. Sirius groaned and dragged the bassinet over to the corner of the pale yellow baby room. "Nevermind I liked it more over there."

"Sweetie there's only so many places to put this thing and i'm pretty sure it's been all of them twice." Sirius sighed loudly, looking at Noelle with annoyance.

"I know." Noelle admitted, rubbing her hand over her baby bump "I just want everything to be perfect for our baby."

"Everything will be perfect. She will have a wonderful, loving mother. And a caring father. And parents who love her very much." Sirius said, walking over to Noelle and setting one hand on her stomach and the other on the side of her face lovingly. Noelle just smiled and leaned up to kiss Sirius lightly. "C'mon doll. Let's get some rest. It's been a long day."

Noelle grabbed Sirius' hand as he lead her to their bedroom with a smile. Sirius jumped on the bed, smiling widely at Noelle as she giggled at his antics. Sirius laid with his head propped against the mountain of pillows behind him. Noelle carefully crawled onto the bed, resting her head again the upper part of his chest and tangling their legs together happily.

Sirius kissed Noelle's head, smiling against her hair as she hummed in content. "We should think about names."

"We don't even know the gender of the baby yet." Noelle pointed out, rubbing her hand over her stomach softly.

"It's a girl. Obviously. She's my little princess." Sirius cooed at Noelle's stomach with a look of adoration at his 2 favorite girls in the whole world "And you're my queen." Sirius placed a light kiss on Noelle's lips before pulling back with a smile. Noelle made a sound of protest, pursing her lips at Sirius who just laughed at her pouty face.

Noelle wrapped her arms around Sirius neck before pulling him down for another soft kiss. She was so happy. She was pregnant with the child of the love of her life. Even though there was a war waging on right outside their door she couldn't have been happier. Sirius was perfect, their baby was perfect.

Noelle couldn't ask for anything more. She just wanted to stay in her bed with her husband and their child forever. She just wanted to be happy forever.

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St. Mungos had been busy ever since the war had begun. Day after day Isabelle tried her best to help every person who came in. Every so often a familiar face from school would enter making Isabelle only work harder. Why had so many people have to go through this? Isabelle was busy cleaning up a wound from a young man who had been caught in a fight with Fenrir Greyback. He had a large gash down his back along with a few scraps on his face. Isabelle sighed as she wiped away the remaining blood that was on his face. Exhaustion was clear in his eyes as he looked at her. His eyes closing as sleep started to overwhelm him. Isabelle gently helped lay him in a comfortable position as he smiled weakly up at her.

"Thank you." He said weakly as he opened his eyes to look at Isabelle. "My wife...tell her I am alive."

Isabelle nodded as she covered him with a blanket. "Your wife will be very happy to hear that. You were very brave. Now get some rest." Isabelle spoke softly as she smiled down at him. She watched as he fell asleep with a faint smile on his face. It was moments like those that kept Isabelle going.

"Lupin, we need you now." A nurse yelled at Isabelle as she rushed into another room. Isabelle was immediately on alert as she rushed to see what the problem was. As she made it into the room her heart clenched at the sight of the couple standing before her. Alice and Frank Longbottom were being supported by two other St. Mungos workers as they lead them to a bed. Both were covered from head to toe in gashes and blood as their eyes were filled with nothingness.

"Isabelle, we need your help now. Stop standing there." Another nurse yelled snapping Isabelle out of her trance. She immediately got to work grabbing potions that could help ease the pain each of them were going through. They were the last people besides her close friends that she expected to see. The thought of their young child couldn't leave Isabelle's mind as she started to help bandage them up.

"They are going to be okay, right?" Isabelle asked as she looked down at the sleeping couple. The two of them went through hell and everyone could see that.

"They were put under the cruciatus curse for far too long. I can't tell you an exact answer right now." her co-worker replied as they ran a hand through their hair. Isabelle pulled up a chair and sat down next to Alice's bed.

"I'm going to stay and watch them. If you need me let me know." Isabelle said as she sat her hands in her lap. She had to try and help them in anyway she could. She couldn't leave their child alone without parents.

About an hour later Frank woke up with wide eyes as he looked around the room frantically. Isabelle immediately ran to his side and calmed him down by gently talking to him.

"You're safe. It's alright you don't have to be afraid anymore." Isabelle said soothingly as his breathing returned to a normal pace. "Can you tell me what happened?" She asked as she helped sit him up. Isabelle expected broken sentences or even just a simple word but not what came out of his mouth. Frank spoke in gibberish and mumbles as he looked up at Isabelle. The empty look still in his eyes from when they first arrived. Isabelle stuttered a bit as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"O-oh okay. Thank you for telling me." Isabelle replied as she tried her best to smile. Alice had awoken in the bed next to them a displeased grunt coming from her. Isabelle walked over and help sit Alice up.

"Do you want some water?" Isabelle asked as she went over to fetch a glass. Alice looked at her husband then back at Isabelle before speaking, and just like her husband nothing but a string of nonsense. Isabelle's heart sank at the couple before her. If this continued they were never going to get better, let alone be able to raise a child. For now all Isabelle could do was stand back and watch the two slowly start going insane.

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"What do you mean they got Frank and Alice?" Noelle asked, her voice shaking as she stared at Isabelle's traumatized face.

"They- they were put under the cruciatus curse for too long. It-it broke them. Their eyes are empty. They can't even speak in full sentences. They're not even coherent!" Isabelle cried out, tears falling down her face as she turned to Remus and cried into his chest. Noelle silently turned to Sirius and hugged him, tears falling from her eyes as she thought about the horrors that awaited them.

"Promise me we'll all make it through this." James said, looking around to all his friends with determination. "You all have to promise me we'll all get out of this war. We all have to live."

Sirius was the first person to nod "There's no way i'm going down without a fight."

Remus was next, his grip tightening on Isabelle as he looked at his friends with resolve "I'm not letting anyone hurt any of you."

Peter nodded next, his eyes nervously shooting across the room at his friends "Promise."

Lily followed Peter "I'm smarter than all the death eaters combined, there's no way they're getting me."

Isabelle was the next to speak, her voice was hard as she thought about Frank and Alice's faces. The torture that will no doubt stay with the for the rest of their lives "I won't stop until they're all dead for what they did."

Noelle looked around at all the determined faces of her friends, resolution filling her as she thought about the happiness all these people deserved. Everyone in this room had been through so much because of this war, they all deserved so much more than what they got. They all deserve so much more than this. "We're all going to make it." Noelle looked down at her stomach "All of us. I'll make sure of it."

If only those promises held.