Chapter 43

The dull undertones of the Hopkin's household had managed to vanish in just a matter of days. Friends came and gone, with a surprise visit from Marlene which made Adria cry with joy at the sight of her friend she had grown to miss without much thought of it. Seeing the girl was a scarce occurrence, she spent most of her time with her family.

She had a large family filled with many, Adria had visited plenty of times with Lily too and sometimes Sirius would join - sometimes, though, the girls faced the pain of old memories alone and cried on the way home in Adria's car.

Apparating was too dangerous, now.

Alina had apologised, as did Adria - the girls sorted out as much as they could with the tension between them. Alina still thought that she was ready to fight, that she could handle it and Adria secretly agreed...but she couldn't handle the thought of mourning another death so close to her.

"She's going to burst at any minute!" James said, patting Regulus' arm in passing who only nodded and hurried through the hall. The boy spent most of his time in his room, none saw much of him.

Adria had asked Sirius if he was always like that, and with a sorrowful look that Adria only saw rarely - Sirius silently shook his head.

"I give it a month," said Milo, leaning on Finn's chest who had a tight arm around his boyfriend. Bags had formed under the blonde boy's eyes, drowning with a lack of sleep and biting back another yawn. He had so much work to do...to live, to survive such harsh conditions and times that he could hardly cope.

That's what Milo had told Adria one morning during a breakdown. He had arrived at her door with tired eyes already filled with tears, and she was the only one in with Jude at nursery and Sirius off on some motorbike ride - that ended terribly - with James.

"A month?!" Lily screeched as though it was the silliest thing she had ever heard, "I give it a week!"

"Isn't she at nine months?" Adria piped in, handing out mugs of tea with Sirius and Isaac following suit. She went through four giant boxes of tea bags a month with the many visits from her friends, she had to go out and get more mugs just for their many visits.

"I'd say maybe in the next week," Benji soon said, Arden wrapped in his arms and Mila sleeping in Arden's lap.

What was once a quick catch up with Finn and Milo turned into a full-on get together when Adria and Sirius' friends just so happened to pop in.

"You know, I'm right here!" Blair soon announced from behind a very large and very round stomach. Remus, beside her, seemed to be stressed out of his mind every time someone mentioned anything about her pregnancy that she announced months prior to November, and now she was ready to give birth at any moment.

"Well, what do you think then?" Sirius soon asked, carefully handing her the tea that Adria had made to her liking. Her pregnancy had given her some very...unusual cravings.

"Can we all...maybe shut up?" Lily soon said, rubbing her temples whilst James fixed the pillows around her. The girl had been complaining of having a sore...well, everything. They had been on a very hard mission just a few days ago, and whilst James had fully recovered - Lily was taking much longer to come around.

"Sorry, Lily!" Sirius grinned sheepishly, indicating for everyone else to be quiet so that the girl could have some peace. She didn't want to miss the fun of their friends all getting together considering she hadn't seen many of them for at least a few weeks but with her entire body aching, and even sickness - it was hard to get out of bed.

What was even more embarrassing were her sudden bursts of emotions at the oddest times that she couldn't seem to help. It wasn't as if she was over-emotional to begin with, but never once did she lose her composure on a mission until just a few days ago when the sight of the scene sent her into hysterical sobs that she couldn't seem to help.

James stood for half an hour after the fight just holding her in their home when they returned after cleaning up her wounds and getting her into bed. She apologised multiple times, unsure as to why she was so...sad, but he didn't mind.

He would hold her for as long as it took if it meant she was okay - he loved her far too much for her to be sad and when he finally patched up any cuts he had, he pulled her into him when he climbed into bed with her.

They had whispered until the early hours of the morning, just talking about the war and pain and how they were lucky to have each other until Lily finally managed to fall asleep tangled with him and practically lying on top of him and he kissed her head and dozed off not long after her.

"Have you had enough sleep, Lily?" asked Thea who had some sneaking suspicions that the missions weren't the reason she was feeling so much pain...and of course, the other symptoms.

"Well...no." Lily soon frowned, curling up closer to James who laced his fingers with hers. He kissed her forehead softly, pushing the hairs from her face and smiling down at her when she hummed quietly, "I've been so bloody sore the past few days I can barely sleep. The only time I get a good sleep is when I'm practically on top of James!"

Thea laughed, holding Eva closer to her as she slept peacefully. The babies, or well toddlers, had managed to fall asleep as they all chatted to each other with Mila lying on Arden and Jude previously announcing - rather sassily - that he'd rather have a nap in his bed as where he could have peace and quiet.

"So!" Isaac soon said when the laughter around the room died down, "baby names? May I suggest Isaac!"

"I suggest Elvendork," James smirked, aimed towards Sirius who spluttered the tea he was drinking out of his mouth that it almost went everywhere. It seemed as though the two knew something the rest didn't which left them extremely curious as to why the mention of an odd name could gather such a reaction.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, soon adding, "It's unisex."

That sent James into a convulsion of laughter, having to bite his knuckle to stop himself when Lily nudged him roughly beside him.

"If this is about that story with the muggle police, I'd rather not relive that-" Adria shuddered, remembering when Sirius came home very late with a grin so wide that Adria thought he'd won the lottery, only to hear about him and James getting cornered by muggle police.

She was furious, as much as it was funny, the two could've been arrested and thrown in muggle jail and they wouldn't have had the faintest idea of what to do!

"Let's be serious here-" Alina soon cut herself off when Sirius smirked wider and soon flipped him off, "I also suggest a name...Alina - of course, but have you thought of any?"

"Well, we've thought of a few," Blair trailed off.

"None are certain though, but for the middle name...well, we really did think that Isaac would be nice," Remus soon said, his hand tightly placed in Blair who smiled with her best friend clasped his hand over his mouth, tears already welling and eyes wider than they once had been.

"Are you...are you serious?" he whispered, soon standing and making his way over to sit beside Blair who nodded, "you're not serious, no! I was just joking about naming it after me, I promise!"

Blair couldn't help but laugh, pulling on Isaac's arm and hugging him tightly, "Isaac you have been with me through almost everything that's ever happened in my life. I'm sure that If I wasn't with Remus, the two of us would've ended up married and just lived as best friends forever until the end of time.

I want a constant reminder of my best friend, and I love you so much I think that this just seems right." He was crying and couldn't quite help it, and he didn't quite care either.

He loved Blair more than anything else in the world and the thought of her son or daughter having his name felt like a shot of love right to his heart.

"Are you...sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure Isaac!" Blair laughed, "It was actually...well partly Remus' idea. We both thought it, but he suggested it first."

Remus couldn't help but laugh when Isaac practically tackled him, hugging him as tight as ever. Isaac felt as much like a brother to Remus as the boys did, and he loved him as much as Blair did.

Well, that was quite impossible, but almost.

"This is making me cry!" Adria announced soon after, wiping her tears and falling onto Sirius' chest who held her tightly.

It was a wonderful moment shared between the two and Adria's tears were from the happiness but...there was an underlying tone of jealousy that bubbled in her stomach that she tried her best to sweep under the rug every time she saw Blair getting bigger and bigger.

When Adria lost her baby, she was only slightly showing. Just past three months but that didn't mean she didn't experience everything.

The morning sickness, the aches everywhere, the emotions - and much more.

She didn't have her baby though, that was ripped from her and as much as she was and still is young and scared, too...she still wanted it. She wanted her baby, she wanted that little baby and wanted to give it a life to live.

It was horrible and heart-breaking and neither she or Sirius allowed themselves to think of it for more than a minute but they hadn't fully accepted it yet. They didn't let themselves grieve for their lost child, and now more than ever...their friends had kids too.

It wasn't a normal time for adults their age to have kids. They were still young. Yes, adults in the name of the law, but teenagers too and partly stripped of their childhood - they were thinking more of their life during the war.

It showed with Adria and Sirius' marriage. Their friends had thought of marriage, with Lily and James' spur of the moment engagement, with Blair and Remus engaged too...and a baby on the way - it seemed more like building in the sense of now or never instead of setting up for the future.

The war was tearing lives down each second, with death eaters near their doorsteps and missions almost every day and it seemed as though the ones they love could be gone in a second.

They were all lucky to find those that they loved so soon. They were lucky to have someone to share their life with, that being now and the future if they were lucky to get that far and they all hoped that they would.

"Are you alright?" Sirius had taken Adria's hand when the talking had started up about the baby that Adria was ecstatic for, but bitterness was a bitch and Sirius noticed the change before anyone else had the chance to and pulled her away from their friends.

"I'm just...coping right now," she took a deep breath, his face in her hands and her lips finding his for only a second, "I don't like to think of anything that happened at the start of this year except marrying you...but talking so much about babies is just reminding me of what we lost."

His arms wrapped around her so tightly that she could hardly breathe with her head on his chest and the warmth he emitted but she couldn't have needed the comfort he gave her at a better time than the one we had.

"When this war is over," he whispered, brushing the stray hairs from her face, "we are going to have the cutest family. Maybe that family will just be us and Jude, or maybe we'll have more kids - but my hope for the future and for the end of this war will make sure we have a good life."

She smiled, nodding her head in agreement. There was something about the hope he had that made her have hope too.

[a/n i just want to note that i'm still not writing. if you don't follow my instagram you may not know that but i am now back at uni full time and the work load is way past drastic oh my gOd. i feel bad to admit that these chapters have been in my drafts for a long time and the reason i'm only now publishing them is because i didn't think i was going to continue this book

but i think in the future i'll find the time to do just that. i have many fan fictions, but poems was one of my firsts and i owe it to you all to finish adria's story, so i plan on doing that at some point or another

please don't ask for updates because i don't know when that opportunity will arise - i will update when i have time and the motivation to do so. the only break i get is when i have little to no uni work to do and that is very rare (being in my last year) so i will try my hardest

in the little spare time that i get, i have been working on an original fantasy (mostly to keep me sane and in touch with writing) and although i haven't written much i am very much enjoying it. if you wish to check it out it's called beating hearts, i'd be very grateful if you did

the cover is by erumpent and i love it so much]