𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 -

❝ ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴀᴘᴏʟᴏɢɪᴢᴇ, ɪᴛ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰᴀᴜʟᴛ ❞

( descriptive bloody injuries and oc in pain )

"IT'S CRYING."

"Baby's cry, that's what they do," Lily tells the father werewolf while Magnolia cried in his arms and he cringed, not knowing what to do.

"Ya, but what do I do to stop it?" He asks nervously, making Lily raise her eyebrows with a laugh.

It was the day he came to the Potter Manor for the first time with Magnolia. They're all still awestruck by the fact that Remus has a daughter. They'd never imagine Remus with a child in his arms. For years and years - he never liked being around children or even wanted children because of his slight problem. It almost felt like a fever dream.

Sirius and James watched Remus from the couch with little Harry on his godfather's lap. They were silently laughing as Remus was worrying like crazy, wondering why Maggie was crying, still a little uncomfortable with a child in his arms since he keeps referring to his daughter as an 'it '. Lily was by him, trying to calm him down, laughing and smiling proudly at the new father.

"For one, stop referring to your daughter as an 'it' "

"Sorry," He mutters, bouncing his hip softly to soothe Magnolia's crying.

"Have you fed her?" Lily asks, making him nod.

"Yes."

"Has she had a nap?" He nods once again.

"Yes, she just woke up"

"How about a diaper change?" She asks, immediately making him cringe. Remus raises her up a little to sniff her butt, quickly pulling away from her bottom with disgust.

"Uh... Can we just skip that one?"

"No Remus, come on - I have a bunch of diapers in Harry's room"

~years later~

"It's crying"

"That's what babies do, they cry," Harry tells his fiancée as her she pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows as he couldn't help but laugh at her cute expression.

"How do we make it stop?"

"Okay well, first off - You need to stop referring to your little brother as an 'it' " He says, making her pout and Harry tries bouncing Teddy on his hip.

Andromeda Tonks is the one usually taking care of Teddy, being his grandmother and Nymphadora's daughter. But since Harry was his godfather and Magnolia was his older half-sister - he stayed with the couple pretty often. And these were one of the times - Actually, it was the very first time being alone and taking care of the mini metamorphosis.

Harry was a little more educated on taking care of the baby since he was always the one taking care of Teddy at Andromeda's, while Maggie was in charge of taking care of Remus and Nymphadora's will. She didn't have to do that, but she was still mourning and couldn't look at Teddy without breaking down, so instead, she busied herself. It took a while for her to recover, but now she felt as if she was finally ready to be present and help out with taking care of Teddy.

"Has he been fed?" Harry asks, making her nod and she reaches, wiping the tears off Teddy's face as they kept running down his chubby cheeks.

"Yes."

"Has he had a nap?" She nodded again, rubbing her hands worriedly.

"Yes, he just woke up."

"How about a diaper change?" She immediately cringed and hesitantly leaned down and sniffed his bottom. She quickly pulls away in disgust, shaking her head before rubbing her nose.

"Uh... Can we just skip that one?" Magnolia asks, making Harry shake his head and nod.

"He isn't gonna stop~" He sang, making her frown.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna do it" She mutters as Teddy looks towards Maggie and reaches his hands out to her with tears.

"Oh look at that, he wants you to change him!" Harry teasingly exclaimed as Teddy's hair turned into the same blonde ]hair color as Maggie's vanilla gold complexion. Maggie groans, taking the baby metamorphosis in her arms and he burrows his face into her shoulder with a little sniffle.

When Teddy wanted someone to take him, his hair usually took the color of the person's -he wants - hair color. At this moment, his hair changed to the same color as Maggie's because he wanted her. But it was very difficult when his hair turned ginger and it'd take forever to figure out which Weasley he wanted. It'd be havoc because every redhead at gatherings would be passing around the baby to figure who exactly he wanted, to stop the metamorphosis baby from crying even more.

"I'm scared." Maggie whispers, walking over to the baby room - Harry and her made it when they got their own home together right after the war.

"Of what?" Harry asks, pressing his hand on her lower back.

"Of what's in the diaper," She says in the same quiet tone, making him chuckle and his hand drags down to her bottom, dragging his fingers gently across her butt.

"Hey, this could be a little practice for when we have our own children-"

"Watch it Mr. Auror, how do you know I even want kids?" She asks, making his eyes widen and look down as he grows nervous out of embarrassment.

"Do you?" He asks softly, making her cheeks flush and smile softly.

They've never talked about having kids, sure when they were in Hogwarts, they would be in the Astronomy Tower and talk about their future together under the beautiful night sky. But they were only joking around in a way at that time - saying they wanted fifteen kids and live in a castle that's as big as Hogwarts.

"I mean... I've definitely thought about it - I'd love to have a mini you and me" Maggie says with a small laugh, making Harry turn his nervous look to a brightened expression.

"Really?" He asks, making her nod with a smile.

"Oh and actually - I like that nickname" He adds with a smug grin, making her raise an eyebrow in confusion as they enter Teddy's room.

"What nickname?"

"Mr. Auror, that's what I want you to call me from now on."

"You're so annoying" She mutters with a small smile as he kisses her cheek.

~present time~

"Magnolia! Maggie!" Harry shouts, walking through the Forbidden Forest frustratingly.

"Please..." He whispers, pressing his hands on his knees out of breath.

Harry was looking for Maggie, immediately after she flew away - but Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter started bombarding him with questions. Remus was trying to discreetly ask questions about everything she had told him, utterly confused. Peter was just going nuts, trying to figure what was happening in the moment. While James and Sirius were not only bombarding Harry with questions about what she was talking about, they also bombarded Remus.

Harry was so... He didn't even know what to think! He was furious - sad - every word that is a synonym to those two simple words. He can't believe what just happened. Everything went by so quickly - it was overwhelming for him and he wasn't the whole being yelled at and turning into a Veela. Then, the boys were bombarding him with questions - which just infuriated him even more. So once he started sprinting to find Maggie in the forest, he strictly demanded for the boys to stay put and not follow him.

And now, he's been calling and looking for his love and can't find her anywhere. It was important for him to find her because this was the first time in two years since she turned into her Veela form. It was during the Battle of Hogwarts - May 2, 1998. And after she did, she went through a bad episode and beat herself up badly.

After losing her father, and her friends, and going through those traumatic experiences. Then during the battle, she turned full on Veela and used her 'fire powers' against the death eaters but it was only for a little until she was just utterly exhausted.

She hated turning into her Veela form. She despised it - hating herself every time and second, it happens. It's never really happened throughout her life because she was always able to control it, even when she was just a toddler. It's like turning into a werewolf but you sort of still have connections with the world and what you're doing. But you can still be just as destructive and terrifying.

And every time, big feathered white wings that outstretched far burst out of her shoulders -ripping through her skin, ripping a bad wound in her back, also destroying the shirt she would be wearing in the process. Both her eyes turn completely black, like two black marbles for eyes. Long claws erupted out of her fingers, that were long and sharp.

Then for her hair.

Her hair grows quickly just above her hips and turns into a slightly bright whiter gold color than her usual softer vanilla gold and practically glows like the moonlight. Every time, she turned Veela and went back human, she always chopped off all her hair short because it was always a reminder of the monster she really was. So since then, she always kept her hair short.

Back to Harry - he was now wandering around as he cursed and worried aimlessly around the Forest. Completely ignoring the fact of how dangerous it is out here.

"Magnolia! My love, please! I'm not gonna stop looking till I find - Maggie?" He immediately perks up seeing a sliver of a glowing head of hair.

He quickly began to run, stepping over fallen moist leaves, tree stumps, and sticks. He finally came up to her and his shoulders immediately fell. Her wings were gone from her shoulders and she had her arms wrapped around her bare chest.

"Oh, my love..." He whispers, quickly shrugging off his jacket. She picks up her head and looks at Harry, sniffling softly.

"I'm sorry..."

"Please don't apologize, it's not your fault" He whispers, forcing her to put on his jacket as she shivers and cautiously puts it on.

He tried not to gasp and gulped as he saw the wounds on her back. There was so much dry blood on her wound, but there was no more blood oozing out of her skin.

His eyes traveled over her frame and felt tears about to prickle his eyes. Her cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes, back to normal but slightly red. Her nice shirt shredded off because of the wings - now covering herself with Harry's jacket as she zips it all the way up. She was covered in dirt and sweat, with a little blood on her lips and temple. His eyes then travel down to see her pants almost completely torn off.

"Are you comfortable in my coat? Or is it your jeans?" He asks in a whisper, softly tugging on her jeans.

"My jeans" She whispers, her voice very hoarse and exhausted.

"Do you want me to take them off of you?" He asks, making her nod and his hands cautiously go to the zipper of her blue jeans. He didn't want to make her even more uncomfortable and hurt her. He was afraid she would break again at any moment, and he didn't want to see her cry more. She felt as if she was so fragile, you'd think she was a precious glass china doll and one small thing could break her at any moment.

"Thank you." She whispers as he fully takes off her jeans and takes off his flannel, putting it under her to sit on so she wouldn't be sitting on dirt and leaves.

"Anything for you." He mutters, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him as she cuddles into his side.

It grew silent between the two. Harry felt her heart beating rapidly, so he began slowing down his heartbeat so she could sink with his and calm down. He smiled, kissing her temple and she laid her head on his chest as he placed his chin on her head.

"Have you ever cried so much that no more tears come out, so you just sit there and feel your heart break more into a billion pieces?" She spoke softly, wiping her nose, and looked up at him.

"Yeah." He answers in the same tone, making her smile slightly and cuddle deeper into his chest.

"Harry... I'm sorry-"

"Stop saying sorry, please, you did nothing wrong-"

"I practically told them everything... What if I messed everything up-" He shook his head quickly, making her look up at him with the tip of his finger. She held his intense and serious gaze, gulping soundly.

"You didn't mess up anything. I guarantee you - I think you did something we should have done a long time ago." She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head at him.

"Really?"

"Definitely... It's not like we have the responsibility to change everything all by ourselves, I mean I think we specifically came here because we had to warn them - Not just hint at things, you know?" She nods understandingly and shakes her head with a small giggle.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Your dad was such a lovestruck fool for your mum, I swear I saw him get on the table one time and tried to start a flash mob for her." She said with a laugh, trying to change the subject into a lighter tone, feeling the burning ache of pain in her back.

"James Potter - the original creator of the flash mob" Harry expresses, making her let out a small giggle.

"I love you." He whispers and she smiles.

"I love you too, Mr Auror." She says teasingly, making him roll his eyes and his cheeks flush into a tint of pink.

"Let's go" He whispers, making her nod and stand up. He goes to grab his flannel from the ground and wrap it around her waist but she stops him.

"No, put it on, I can see your cold"

"No-"

"Har, it's okay your coat covers everything I promise, please just put it on," She tells him as he sighs, sliding back on his flannel before dusting it off. His jacket did go just over her knees, drowning her in it. But then he realized she wasn't wearing shoes and stopped.

"What's wrong?" She asks as he smiles to himself before swooping her into his arms bridal style.

"Harry!" She yelps, making him laugh and hold her close against his chest. She tried getting him to put her down but he stood his ground and kept her in his arms.

"I don't think you understand how lucky I am to have a woman like you-" She raised an eyebrow and scoffed as he chuckled.

"I'm serious, I genuinely think you're perfect for me" She chuckles and kisses his cheek.

"Even when I turn into a nasty, scary-looking bird?" She asks smugly, making him roll his eyes.

"Even those moments, for I don't think you look scary and nasty because I still see my beautiful, caring, intelligent wife"

"Fiancée." She corrects, making him scoff.

"We're practically married, shut up," He says with a scoff, making her giggle softly at his annoyance.

Even though they weren't exactly ready for the conversation they were going to have with the marauders, they knew they're gonna have to have it once they got back. But the couple knew they all were waiting for the two for answers to their concerns. But this time, they possibly felt ready just for it.

authors note !!!

hope you're enjoying this slow burn plot because i love the details and depth in this book, so i hope you do too!

as many times as i've described magnolias veela form, hope you get lol and i know it says she shifted into her veela form during the war in this and that's true but i might have said in the later chapters she never did so just ignore that little error because i don't feel like going back and editing it lol

also!!! the title of the chapter might not make sense but since the beginning of this chapter was parallel moments between lily and remus with harry and magnolia and then this chapter ended with describing her scars from her veela form and how she felt about, it was almost a parallel with how remus got his scars and he feels about himself being a werewolf. it doesn't really make sense but that's how i named this chapter lol