✧THE OMAS AND OPAS✧

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Clarissa Lestrange
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The day had finally come when the twins would get to see their aunts, uncles, and grandparents all in one place. Personally she was more comfortable with Bella holding her babies than her own mother.
She was scared to voice her opinion to her husband, though it was the given consensus.

He informed his parents that one bloody comment, he would kick the Walburga out. And with Aurora having the Lestrange name, it was indeed a form of protection now.

His wife had woken up early that morning, getting a shower in and looking downright beautiful. There was no reason for her to try the past few days as she either passed out in her study or on top of the bed comforter without any pillow.

Rabastan was more than worried, within the warning to his parents he asked his mother if this over-exhausted feature was normal. And his mother laughed, she even admitted she was shocked that Aurora was surviving with two babies to watch over after feeling the way she was.

On top of all this, Rabastan couldn't feel any more proud when his wife had shown him designs of protective gear that potion masters and mistresses could wear. Lestrange senior had laughed as the new mother was working on such a big project. Though Otto had indeed been supportive with the idea, and soon the idea would be brought to Edgar as well.

The master of the house attempted to settle his wife but failed miserably. She had the elves make a feast, had them clean the foyer as well as get the babies presentable.

"Rory. Darling, they're just a few weeks old." 

"But clean babies are happy babies." He didn't think it was entirely true, but seeing as they were calm and delighted to see their papa, he couldn't ask for more.

The first guests had been Narcissa, who was followed by Dobby. He watched the poor elf lugging the biggest gift basket Rabastan has seen.

"A niece and a nephew to spoil!" He was downright going to have a heart attack if they receive anything more. Relatives from out of country and friends have sent enough clothes for the entire Hogwarts student body had they been babies.

"Perhaps you can help my wife to pick an outfit for them both, it's reaching the ten-minute mark." The woman squealed as she hurried along in with the invitation.
"No husband?" He questioned, and the woman already knew that everyone attending today's get together hated her husband. And for the moment, she hated him as well.

"What does Cassi call it? 'In the dog house?'" With that face, he didn't want to know what Lucius had gotten himself to, not that Rabastan could judge.
He was probably in a worse boat.

With the formalities in check, the woman had rushed up the steps and continued to find her cousin.

It hadn't been much longer until his brother and Bella had appeared, a proud greeting graced the older Lestrange son and Rabastan was indeed living for every minute of this.

He was simply talking about their duties for the following days, but the second a playful giggle had filled the hall the conversation had ceased.

It was hard to control his smirk. But seeing two of the highest Death Eaters absolutely melt at the mere sight of his children's presence was worth it.

Narcissa looked mighty content in carrying Halsey in her grasp, while the eldest Lestrange was in the arms of his mummy. The two babbling to one another as though they had some sort of code.

Romulus had taken one look at the two newcomers and hid away in his mummy's hold.
Had he sensed them?
The evil lurking in and around their aura?

"Looking fit Cassi." How Rodolphus had managed to make this entire greeting inappropriate had her shake her head. "I think your uncle is lucky that I can't use my wand for another week." A crooked smirk rallied on his face at the term of uncle.

He was indeed an uncle, and his brother a father.

But it was one of the strangest things, seeing Bella come forward in such interest and love in her eyes as she held out her hands.

"May I?" The mother dragon in the youngest Mrs.Lestrange had simmered tremendously and she nodded, transferring the babe to her sister.

Had Romulus really made her heartbeat again?
He hadn't even tried, and yet here she was. Unable to make a comment as she settled the baby further into her hold.

"What's his name?" Rabastan had pulled his wife into his hold as it was indeed a moment.

"You are holding Romulus Demitri Lestrange, and that there is Halsey Imara Lestrange." The two could only blink, being without children in their lives for the entirety of their marriage this had returned the spark of interest.

Aurora was a daughter from the Black family, and Rabastan from the Lestrange. So there shouldn't be an issue as Bella and Rodolphus were seemingly a mirror of the couple...Just older.

 Rodolphus had taken the same approach as his wife and asked to hold Halsey. But this one had a little more curiosity than her brother and was eyeing him, playfully as her parents were starting to understand their personality.

The little witch was soon passed to her uncle and gurgled seconds after staying in his hold.
"I did something wrong."

Aurora shook her head. "They make noises, I know...Bit of a shocker." Halsey continued the sounds as she patted her uncle's facial hair and even took a grab at his long locks and pulled.

"Fiesty little thing...Your mummy's being mean to Uncle Roloph, can you save me?" The girl slapped his cheek and wiggled, eyeing this section of the house as she turned to see her brother playing with Bella's hair.

The long and curly locks were far too desirable and hard to not catch their interest.

"How about we sit down...Our parents are coming soon." They followed the couple into the foyer as either lead to the given couches.

"They're going to be trying for their own tonight, just you wait." Aurora swatted him playfully, but she was indeed thinking the same thing.

Especially from Bella's reaction.

The Senior Lestranges had arrived and settled their gifts off in the other room beside the rest, Aurora vowed she was going to get through them this weekend after she finishes the sketches to get them sent out.

The senior Lestranges' had arrived next, only sending Rory into further anxiety to course through her veins.

Both Rommy and Halsey had been excited to reunite with their grandparents and meet the aunties and uncle. But the second the elf had come and announced the Black family, Rory stilled.

But of course, Regulus was holding up a big stuffed bear having her sister groan. "I thought I made it clear when I said no more gifts Reg."

"They can sit on him when they're older, it's practical!" Rabastan had chuckled into his drink after hearing his brother's comment on practicality.

The babies indeed remembered Regulus as they cried out for his attention, leaving Clarissa's arms empty as Romulus found comfort in his uncle instead.

For once Aurora didn't have to cater to their attention as they were indeed distracted.

But Walburga Black indeed looked out of place, entirely out of place. And now Aurora was feeling the true aspect of being guilty for treating her like this.

And Rabastan couldn't soothe her through it.

"Mother, would you like to hold Romulus?" Mrs.Black had shot her attention off towards Cassi, and such a kind approach had been met with hesitation and distaste for her daughter.

The woman had been put into place by her own daughter at the age of nineteen.

"Are you sure Cassi?" Her father had issued, and she nodded. Taking the babe from Narcissa and walking the given way to her mother in an offering.

The hateful eyes were far too ready to pounce if Walburga steps one pinkie out of place.

"Course, she won't do anything...Right mother?" The woman nodded desperately, as the child looked beautiful. Her daughter had completed her task in a little bit over a year of marriage, and to make it all even better, the pregnancy had blessed the family with two.

Aurora had wanted to show her mum the gazebo Rabastan had built in the garden, and since it was still warm out she brought out Halsey as the sunlight would be good for her.

"You have a beautiful home, two beautiful children...I am so proud of you darling." Her mother hadn't mentioned her career or education but it was a start.

"It's been a full year...And these cuties are perfect." The three generations of women had all shared a cheerful smile.

"Have you given any thought to who she is going to marry?" Aurora had been grateful as she was facing away from her mother at the moment and turned to shake her head.

"She's barely a month mother, we're still deciding godparents."

"Nonsense, your father and I had plans on who you and your brother were going to marry before you were two weeks." The daughter had wanted to make a comment about how she hasn't had a normal pregnancy in any regard.

But she straightened her posture, being the mistress and mother surely put her onto a better pedestal.

"But neither of them went through."
"Of course they did, you were set to marry Rabastan since you were--" Aurora stilled, had there been anything else in her hold she would've dropped it. But with Halsey, she had just tightened her grasp.

"What?" She breathed, and her mother carefully nodded.

"You were betrothed to Rabastan the same time when Rodolphous had been with Bellatrix..." It was indeed a hard potion to swallow as she looked to her mother.

"I...I didn't know." She whispered, and Walburga had suddenly realized she had outted the secret. And Narcissa joined them at the wrong time.

"Cassi..." Cissy whispered in a start of an offering hand, apparently Walburga had failed in remembering that Cassiopeia was more than hormonal and a bit sleep deprived as luck would have it.

The woman's aunt had looked desperate for a segway in conversation and it was brought from Aurora herself.

"Funny how you tell me you're proud when I got engaged then..." The voice was indeed frightening, sending her mother directly back to the day she had been given a dose of her own torment.

But a cruel smile grace as she began walking back to the rest of the guests, and Narcissa did not waste a moment to share her disagreements with her aunt. Again.

The rest of the time spent wonderfully, though in the back of her mind she remembered the truth. And it was tugging at the likes of her heart, how much of all this was a lie then?

Was Rabastan pushed in her direction as much as she was to him?

Is that why he was a mess of panic when they broke up?

Why he waited to do anything sexual, because he knew they were going to end up together?

All those years of constant torture on who she is going to end up with were wasted anxiety. And good gods was she in a mess as she told everyone goodbye.

Though they didn't want them to just drop by unexpectedly, it was all still new territory and nobody faulted them for finding their proper footing as a family.

However, the babies were all set for bed and tucked in...And while Rabastan was taking a shower Aurora hurried into her husband's study to find the bloody document.

Surely her mother had been lying, she was going to be married at eighteen when she was barely a toddler?!

There was too much rubbish on the work with his father, important yes, but she was getting antsy in finding the damn contract.

She signed it sometime during the in-between of her engagement and before the wedding. Then again in her dress, it felt oddly horrifying that it was so contract-based.

And she signed with Cassiopeia Black, two names that she sort of identified as anymore.

She's Aurora Lestrange now.

Finally she uncovered the damn folder, and it was far too aggravating as she continued to scan through the contents and it all.

Not only had the Lestranges gained twenty million Galleons for their marriage, but in the event of her not giving heirs, they would've gained more.

Then the date popped into her vision.

October 18th, 1962.

It was fucking true.

Now the question was did Rabastan know?
Surely he did, and now it was a mess of her own emotions and struggle to understand if it was her own aching feeling or the bottled up everything else crashing at her.

It felt like a mess as she laid on one of Rabastan's meeting couches in a whirlwind of thoughts, and being sensitive to them all it caught for a counter.

Rabastan, on the other hand, had been surprised that his wife had left the room, but it wasn't at all questionable as she most likely had a spur of the moment idea, and although he wanted to wait for her to return, he didn't want the light glaring in his children's faces.

Instead he shut off the light and waited patiently, but it grew onward of half an hour, and something was clearly not right. After the stress of today, his wife should be snoring by now and not up brainstorming.
She needs sleep almost as desperately to when they graduated and came home after their NEWT exams.

He threw on his own robe and walked through the house, but she was not in her study. Nor the family room. "Daisy. Where's Aurora?" Panic was laced into each word in worry that something was wrong.

"Mistress in master's study...Mistress fall asleep." That was an odd place, entirely out of the ordinary. But falling asleep in a given area was defiantly in her character.

Peeking his head into his study did he come strolling in, but his wife was still in a heavy dream state. He kneed down beside her, removed the locks of hair that covered face and tucked it kindly behind her ear.

"Love...It's late, and this couch is nowhere near as comfortable as our bed."

"No."  She hid away, attempting to fall back asleep but Rabastan wasn't going to take that as an answer.

"This is not up for discussion Rory, there's a bed and blanket in our room...And I believe Halsey has started to wake up." Her eyes shot out instantly, so perhaps it was wrong for him to use their child's name to get her to wake up further.

And when she finally did, she huffed in aggravation as she caught him in the lie.

"Git."
"I don't believe that for a second, I simply want you to be comfortable. In a proper bed." She perked her lips and shook her head.

"I believe that you woke me up because you want a warm cuddle." His wife wasn't wrong, and he watched her raise her position and rub her eyes.

But then the remembrance of what her mother had said and what she uncovered had come to light. "Your mother did say something, didn't she? What was it." He didn't leave for questioning.

She attempted to save it for tomorrow but Rabastan was far too persistent to leave it.

"She asked if we sorted out or thought about Halsey's future husband." So perhaps the new father had ignored what having a daughter meant, or he simply didn't want to think too long on that considering she is less than a month old. But here he was, gritting his teeth.

"She is not getting married until she's twenty-five." He deemed, and Rory let out a strong laugh as it humored her.
"That's hypocritical Raba, We're not even twenty yet." Now he was faced with an even worse reveal of having the kids being only nineteen years younger than themselves.

It was starting to get rather frightening.

"Did you know we were engaged since we were toddlers?" She questioned, and he stilled. Rabastan Lestrange could no hold his stature well. So much so that it told her the truth in a matter of seconds, causing her to sit up further in response.

"You did." She pointed out, and he swallowed with a firm nod.

"When did you find out?"
"Rory that's not—"
"Of course it's important, you did it out of obligation and—" Rabastan had heard that bloody word far too much for him to not feel any anger in it.

"My love for you is an obligation? Are you saying what I'm feeling for you is a complete lie...That—That you didn't want me to propose?" Her being brought to tears had instantly washed away his own temptation at continuing this argument as he realized it was all the stressed and aggravation with her mother.

"When did you find out?"
"Summer going into sixth year." Her eyes sparked even further, three years.

"I knew and I had to wait patiently to get the chance to propose, to be with you entirely...To start this next chapter with you...Should an arrangement and a paper really shift our love?" He had taken a page from his mum's book, to be reasonable and talk through the issue at hand.

As Rory was still sensitive and will be for a few more weeks.

"I was left in the dark while you knew, you knew I was scared and you just—"
"Rory my brother told me, he wasn't supposed to say a word. I acted surprised when your father and mine told me." Her mouth gapped further as he only knew out his brother whims in telling him.

"Rory...I wrote my mother in a drunken panic asking if I could marry you...I did it because of what you said one day in the library." Confusion rallied and so he placed his hand to her cheeks. Whiping her tears as they came rolling down with his thumbs.

"You wanted to be a potions mistress...And you didn't go to your meeting because you were afraid that it would be pointless and your husband wouldn't allow it. I would've been damned if you were promised to someone else." He had fought for her, unknowingly fighting for her when he was already promised to him.

"So why didn't you tell me?" She cried further, her hands grasping his wrists in an attempt to get him to let go. But now it was his turn to ignore that and answer her question.

"Because the last thing you needed was to think about marriage, to know that it was myself and be distracted...Instead you were able to focus and not mind it as much. But I counted down those days in pure agony." A sad smile appeared as he dug deep and told her a small secret.

"I started writing the beginning of the proposal in my dorm room...And gods if I didn't have a personal heart attack when you broke things off with me." He leaned in now to kiss her lips, gaining the taste of salt from the tears he hadn't wiped.

"I get to kiss you as my wife, not my girlfriend. My wife...I get to return you to our bedroom, though we currently share it with our children...Now I'll ask again, is the paper really worth getting worked up about?" Aurora shook her head, her hand moving from his wrist to the outsides of his hands as she leaned to kiss his inner palm.

"Just thought you asked my father...Not—Not the other way around."
"I still asked either your father and brother for their blessings, their true blessings. Rory we've dated since fourth year...I knew what your mother meant by being excited about the summer. It was a good surprise, wasn't it?" Squeezing his hands had she instantly nodded.

"Of course it was, but I was terrified of losing you Raba...You don't understand, I thought...I thought you didn't want to marry me and—" 

"Now what in the world gave you that impression?"

She choked a rough sob as she leaned forward, and he too easily caught her, lifted her up and returned both to the couch. Though she was lying rightly in his lap with her arms around and head in his neck.

"Because of S-Sirius." Yes, that was indeed an issue. So he kissed her cheek and hummed.

"It almost did end the contract, but we started dating when Sirius was starting to act up...Mother held to it." So many secrets for her to reveal, and now Rabastan chuckled.

"I'm surprised it was your mother who told you, Reg's been—"

"REGULUS KNEW?!" Whyever Rabastan couldn't lie to his wife was surely going to be his downfall, granted Rory is withholding the biggest secret.

But for right now that was for the greater good.

"He heard a conversation that same summer in your manor, our fathers were simply discussing it for whatever reason and he stormed off to me...Imagine my surprise when he comes in threatening his wand at my chest because he just found out." Her little brother going into fourth year and trying to defend his sister, was the sweetest thing that she could possibly think of.

"I was horrified, I've never seen him that angry...And all the times we've had fights the following years he's come and threatened me...Merlin sake Rory he cursed me when he came to tell me you were alive. Your brother didn't tell you because he agreed that you shouldn't worry about it." Snuggling further into his hold did she continue to cry, it had been a big breakthrough for her, he couldn't deny that.

"I didn't marry you out of obligation, I was prepared to riot to marry you. And if that failed we could've always forced a marriage as well."

"You never told me." He sighed, shaking his head as he truly didn't want her to know, which he explained as well.

"I never wanted you to think that I did it because our father's told me to...My parents adore you Rory, they want the best for us." She nodded, her tears finally starting to calm down. But now Rabastan had to get through the guilt phase, where she would apologies until he accepted.

"No. Your apology could be letting me carry you back to bed." She pouted, but didn't disagree when he lifted her up. Even after the children, Rory weighed close to nothing.

"What was that food you had with your Ravenclaws that one night?" 

"Pizza?" He hummed, claiming that tomorrow they were going do be eating that for lunch, and she smiled. Even if her eyes remained closed.

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Date Posted: 09-27-19

Time:  10:23

Words:  3864