`A New Life || OPEN; LIAM&XANTHE??

[Wilhelmina Rose Smith]

This was so strange, to have a baby that actually belonged to her. It was so different compared to the few times she had spent with other people's children. She had loved them, she always did, but this love was not what she had expected. It was so much more intense and never-ending. That thing had kept her almost every night for the past week, and even last night she had only managed to get a few hours of sleep. Yet, she couldn't help but look down at that beautiful little creature and love every single part of it. It was so amazing to think that she was holding something that her and the love of her life had created, something that had been brewing within her body for months now. And hearing people change how they spoke of her. She was no longer just Professor Smith, she was "Professor Smith and the baby". It was so wonderful, even if she hadn't been out of her office for this first week.

Mina was completely obsessed with the tiny little thing, and even though she missed teaching her classes she was more than happy that she was being allowed some time off. It wasn't like she planned on leaving Hogwarts, not when she knew Liam would come to her in a heart beat. Even now, as (a much thinner) Mina sat quietly on the soft grass of the courtyard, she refused to move away from the new born who was laying just as quietly on a folded up Gryffindor blanket, a memento she had snatched before leaving when she was younger, on the ground just inches in front of it's mother. The pale little thing didn't cry much, unless it was hungry or needed a new diaper or just happened to be in a bad mood. It was on those frequent occasions that the little thing would wail like it was dying, but Mina had even fallen in love with the soft cries of her first child. Any noise that the child made was absolutely spectacular.

They were both content at the moment, enjoying the outdoors and the small amount of sunshine that had been around recently. It was a little cold, but both Mina and baby were wrapped up warmly to keep out the chill. One of the few things Mina had learned while away from Hogwarts, and Liam, was to knit and sew. And, of course, she had created several little things here and there for the new baby. Her favorites being a collected of cute animal hats, and a small swaddler to keep the new human warm which it was currently wrapped in. Of course, Mina was in her usual attire. A cute dress, warm tights, and a sweater that Liam had bought her that hadn't fit in ages. She felt it was the right occasion to wear it again.

Mina leaned over the quiet, watching it's wide eyes focus as she hummed softly to the child. To use the lullaby her father had used on her on so many restless nights on her own child, to keep that memory of him alive, was almost as amazing as having Liam on his way to her, to them. "Your daddy is gonna be here soon. You haven't met him yet, at least not outside of my tummy." Mina's smile grew into a small grin as she ran a finger gently along the child's cheek and jaw. "You're so perfect. I can't wait to show you off. There are so many people that you need to meet. Your father, of course. But Xanthe is going to adore you, especially when she finds out what I've decided to call you. She'll be in love."

--
The baby, with it's current hat. Of course, the child isn't nude.

Swaddler that I mentioned, in case you're confused.

Same baby, only without the hat. OF course, Mina is keeping all of the hair a secret right now.

[Liam Smith]

There are often times where words can't even come close to describing a feeling you radiate because it is so strong. For Liam Smith, this was one of those times.
He'd spent most of his days alone in the old flat they shared, frantic over baby proofing it even though it wasn't very likely that Mina and the baby were coming home anytime soon.
Home.
He remembered when he used to call this place his home, when he would spend the days of his youth trampling all over this place. He had never realized then how amazing Hogwarts really was, being the home to discovery and love and silly socks. Of course, he had come out of his proverbial shell and was more of a socialite than a social-awkward, but Liam felt, well, more of the boy he was. Carefree, not careless. Different, not unique.
And it was there that he wasn't alone anymore, and coming back to that feeling was exhilirating.
The Black Lake was visible from where he was standing, wand in his pocket and his heart in his throat. For that moment, Liam examined his life to every fine detail - and he tried to imagine how it would change when he made his way down to the hut.
McGonagall's letter was vague; maybe she was getting back at him for all the years he infuriated her in his boyhood days. Maybe she was too afraid to tell him bad news simply over parchment...
He didn't know what he'd do if the baby was hurt or if Mina was hurt. He'd never forgive himself, he'd find a way to make it his fault. It always was, every pain in her life was his fault. But to tell her his secret, that would shatter life as he knew it.
Liam walked down to the beat of an unknown tempo. Whether it was his funeral knell or his procession to something extraordinary, he wouldn't really know until he made it to where Mina and the baby were.
But then, looking out farther, he knew which.
His thoughts came to a sudden halt when he saw a golden sputter down by the Black Lake. It was her hair, and she was bent over something wrapped around in a knit swaddler...
The baby.
Her words were illegible murmurs from this distance, cooing something to the baby. The baby, that was so perfect and amazing that he couldn't believe he could call his own...
It took a lot of effort not to break down right then and there.
Liam walked quietly through the dewy grass of the lakeside, not wanting to disturb the baby or Mina. It took a few quiet strides to make it about thirty feet behind her before he stopped.
Somehow, he found the effort to speak in the midst of all this.
"Mina?"
He walked toward her, crouching down when he came closer to the worn out blanket. She was there, she was safe and alive and so was the baby...
He grabbed her free hand, thinking for the moment how he could have deserved this, because he really didn't.
Liam smiled, the feeling inside of him capable of making the world's best Patronus.
And he kissed her with more passion than he probably ever had before.
When he broke away from the kiss, he looked down at the pale baby inside the knit swaddler in the animal hat. Liam gently grabbed it up, trying desperatly not to wake it.
He was at a loss for words. He was responsible for something incredibly beautiful, a feeling that felt new to a low-confidence man like Liam Smith, and all he could do was mutter like an idiot.
"I didn't know you could knit."
He looked down at the baby, the tiny thing he would protect from the world with his life.
And that was when he cried.
He hated crying in front of people, and he didn't cry often. It made people look weak. But being so...so shot at with all of this, he couldn't help but weep in happiness just for being around all this.
Liam looked away from the baby for a second and up at Mina, blinking his red eyes.
"Sorry....I....didn't even ask if I could...pick the baby up."
He smiled again.
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
Not that it mattered. His life was perfect, as of today. [/size]

[Wilhelmina Rose Smith]

"Mina?
She looked up from the small child, an even larger grin forming quickly on her face as her eyes landed upon her very missed husband. "Liam!" Mina almost threw her arms around him, but he had already taken her hand with his own."I've missed.." her words were cut off by his sudden kiss, and she happily returned the loving gesture. For a moment, while lost within his grasp, she had forgotten about the child just in front of her. However, everything was returned to her as Liam moved away and Mina watched as the man's eyes moved from her, to the new life. Her heart thumped in her chest as Liam held the baby in his arms, so gently. It was a bit of surprise to see him taking on the role so quickly. She had known so many men that were afraid of even touching such a new baby, afraid they would hurt it. Seeing him with the tiny creature cradled in his arms so perfectly, it only reassured her that he would be an amazing father.

"I didn't know you could knit.."
"I learned a few months after leaving here, actually. Then I learned how to sew. I figured it might come in handy eventually, and especially since we don't have much money to spend on clothes for us and the baby now. I think I can handle making things for all three of us now." Mina kept her eyes locked on her small family, a silly grin spread across her face. As he began to cry, though, Mina quickly moved closer to him and looked happily upon the human they had created. "It's weird, isn't it? The feeling that you get. I still haven't gotten over it and it's been a week." Her eyes were filling with tears, but Mina had gotten fairly good at holding back her tears over the past week. Crying was all she wanted to do recently, not only because she was so overwhelmingly happy, but because she didn't have Liam around. Now she did, and the tears still threatened to come.

"You don't have to ask, Liam." Mina spoke softly, moving her hand to run a finger over the baby's chin. "She's your daughter. And she should be waking up soon, so don't worry too much about waking her up. It's about time for her to eat again, considering she's been out of it pretty much all morning." With a quiet laugh, Mina reached and gently tugged the bear cap off of the child's head. Under the hat was a very thick head of hair, dark hair. "I've never seen a child with so much hair in my life, and I've been around a lot of children. And it's so dark."

Just as Mina had pulled the warm cap from the baby girl, the thing started to squirm a bit. Apparently the new baby had noticed a change in it's attire, and probably a change in body heat. Her eyes squeezed tight for a moment, her nose scrunching (particularly in a way that Mina frequently wrinkled her nose), before her eyes slowly opened to gaze up at her parents. The sun light was different, and it caused frequent blinking, but her big eyes (still not much color to them, though) were clearly visible. "She looks like you." Mina smiled, looking up toward Liam as the child yawned and stretched weakly in his arms. "And I really hope you don't mind the name I picked. I know we talked about it before, but we never really came to a decision."

"I named her Darien. I know it's more of a boy name, but I think it means a lot to both of us. Besides, I thought it was just as fitting for a girl, and adorable."

[Liam Smith]

Liam turned to face Mina for a moment.
"I learned a few months after leaving here, actually. Then I learned how to sew. I figured it might come in handy eventually, and especially since we don't have much money to spend on clothes for us and the baby now. I think I can handle making things for all three of us now."
"Sewing, too?" Liam queried, a snarky, boyish grin spreading on his face. "I must say, I'm impressed. Mina Smith, handling untamed animals by day, darning socks by night. You just might be losing your edge."
But still, as he further processed her words, he felt infuriated at himself. His parents hadn't exactly left him with a fortune, and life had been paycheck to paycheck even in the old flat. They should have extra money, they shouldn't rely on sewing and knitting to get them by, and he didn't want to trouble Mina and the baby. To Liam, they deserved more than that.
Liam looked away for a moment, his eyes resting on his baby daughter. His forehead scrunched together in guilt.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there." he sighed. "I'll never forgive myself for that."
Liam half smiled.
"But I'm sure McGonnagall had a jolly good time in making me worry, giving me a vague letter and all, just telling me to come to Hogwarts and that it was urgent. I'm sure it was revenge for all those times I stressed her out as a kid."
His look got a little brighter.
"But I guess that doesn't matter now, since you and the little Turniphead are okay."
Liam watched as Mina's hand moved to the baby's hat, and she pulled it off her head. There was a thick mass of dark hair underneath the hat, which made Liam whistle in acknowledgement. Were babies even supposed to have hair at a week old?
"Whoa. I see what you mean."
The tiny thing in his arms began to blink its eyes open. Liam smiled gently as his daughter yawned and stretched, crinkling its nose in a way that he had been used to seeing in his wife.
"Looks like me?" Liam responded when Mina told him the baby girl looked like him. "I think she looks like you, too. 'Cept the dark hair and all. Maybe a mix."
The baby blinked from the bright sunlight in its eyes, her eyes clearly visible. Liam carefully adjusted the way he was holding her to keep her face out of the sunlight.
Mina's voice was the thing that brought him out of the moment with his daughter.
"And I really hope you don't mind the name I picked. I know we talked about it before, but we never really came to a decision."
Liam blinked, too.
"Of course I don't mind."
He looked from her to the baby and back to her again.
"I named her Darien. I know it's more of a boy name, but I think it means a lot to both of us. Besides, I thought it was just as fitting for a girl, and adorable."
Liam's mouth opened slightly. Darien, that wasn't a name he had heard in years. Darien and himself were in the Order of the Phoenix together until he met his demise at a rather young age. He knew that Darien knew Mina, too; the pair had dated briefly, moreso in spite of their classmate Xanthe Murder. But Liam had known that Xanthe and Darien were meant to be, just by the way he talked about her to him. Most times, he considered Darien Wakefield as one of his best friends.
"Darien..."
After pausing for a moment, he smiled.
"I don't mind it, it's a great name."
The new father turned to the baby girl in his arms.
"Hey there, little Darien." he murmured softly.
Not much was known about Darien's death, except that he was murdered on a mission at the Malfoy Manor. Would the same name be a curse to his daughter?
Liam internally flinched at the thought. No, nothing would happen to Little Darien, not while he was around. He'd easily give his life for this child.
Nothing would happen to this child nor Mina, not when he was there to fight against it. More than ever, he felt the need to protect.
He smiled at the baby.
"Don't you ever worry, little Darien." he said, the words for the baby alone as Mina seemed to vanish for a moment. "I'll always be here."
After a pause, he looked back at his wife, saying words they both knew.
"I love you, you know."[/size]

[Xanthe Lynnette Murder]

“Aw, I love you too, Liam,” Xanthe Murder said as she neared closer and closer to the married couple and their child. She had a bright, partially smirked smile on her face, and an incoherent gleam in her eye. The Potions professor wasn’t normally in a cheery mood like today. Though, something in the air must have triggered Xanthe’s happier feelings, and that was a good thing.
“Just kidding.”
She had heard about the birth of her best friend, Mina Smith’s, baby from the constant fluttering gossip that somehow always, no matter the extension of importance, made its way to all ears. Miss Murder had found out herself only minutes ago. She was always either one of the last to know, or one of the first to spread what she had heard. This was probably all due to her dark past and how no one trusted her these days, but it was all the same. At least she could see the baby herself with her own eyes.
Xanthe looked at the baby in Liam’s arms, grinning toward Mina not too long afterward.
“Congratulations, both of you!” Her focus switched between the two of them, unsure of who she should be congratulating first. “The baby’s so cuuuute! Wait.” Her hands flew up in front of her. “Don’t tell me the sex, I want to see if I can tell for myself!”
The young woman hopped up and down with jittery excitement before bringing her gaze to the newborn child again. Big, bright eyes. Round button nose, small curled hands, and to top everything off, a thick head of dark hair. How surprising - a baby with a handful of hair already!
What a healthy baby.
To be honest, Xanthe had to peer down at the child for a few lengthy seconds before making the decision on the sex. It was actually kind of tricky, since no colors were there to really give it away.
“Well, I heard girls grow more hair in the womb than boys, so I’m gonna guess she’s a little girl. I hope I’m right because if I was a boy, I’d be insulted…”
She put a finger to her lips before speaking again.
“I bet she has a pretty name to match that pretty face.”

[Wilhelmina Rose Smith]

Mina smiled, happily watching on as her husband enjoyed a moment with his daughter. Her mind whirled. She could have never expected this, ever. If someone had told her all those years ago when she was a student here that she would grow up, marry Liam Smith, and then have a baby with him? She would have laughed in their face, and in fact..she was pretty sure Xanthe had mentioned something like that before, on several occasions. It wasn't that she didn't like Liam back then, she just never expected to end up with him. Someone from school? Someone who was just as magical as she was? She thought something like that was impossible. Apparently, it wasn't.

"I lov.." she was cut off by a familiar voice, and immediately Mina turned to face the red-headed Potions professor, and long time 'friend'. Her eyebrow raised toward the other woman, she knew she was joking, it was something she had done since they were young. With a shake of her blonde locks, Mina turned back toward Liam and the baby, grinning. "Thank you, Xanthe. Although, I think congratulations goes to you as well. You'll be taking care of the little bundle of joy if something ever happens to us." God forbid something ever did happen to both of them, but she understood if there was ever a reason why. Both Liam and Mina were part of the Order now, and everyone knew the danger of joining the Order. It actually wasn't until now that Mina had even thought about the possible risk toward her new child. It was a half-blood, and both her parents were completely against the Dark Lord. And then there was the child's name, keeping alive the memory of someone who was killed by His servants.

Xanthe's voice pulled her away from her own thoughts, and back to the happy situation at hand. "She is a girl. And I'm sure her father is going to spoil her with every thing possible." Mina yawned quietly, these sleepless nights were starting to get to her. "Her name?" She grinned, looking toward Liam, then back at Xanthe. "Well, I was keeping it a secret from everyone. However, I guess since she's born now I might as well get use to telling. I named her Darien."

[Liam Smith]

Mina had started to answer back to him, but a snarky response reached his ears first and they both turned to find out what it was. He peered over a bit, looking directly at a small redheaded Professor was making her way toward the reunited family. Before he could even try to guess who she was, Mina answered her quite smoothly, and Liam was just as confused as ever.
Xanthe and Mina - friends?
Xanthe and Mina were never really that close at Hogwarts; Xanthe's typical Slytherin pride lead her to taunting the Mudblood 'Will-hell-mee-nuh'. Not to mention, the two had shared a love life connection through Darien Wakefield, whom Mina had briefly dated mainly to spite Xanthe. But even more puzzling to Liam was the time when Mina mysteriously dissapeared for a few months and came back, ignoring Xanthe like she was the plague. Not out of hatred, no - out of fear. And of course to top off the whole shebang, his girlfriend of that time and up until the middle of the seventh year had turned Mina's skin green, which lead to even more teasing. Long story short, it wasn't a very good time towards the end of their Hogwarts years.
"Hello, Xanthe." he said while nodding and smiling toward her direction to be polite, though a slight bit of confusion showed in his eyes.
"Although, I think congratulations goes to you as well. You'll be taking care of the little bundle of joy if something ever happens to us."
Xanthe was the godmother?! Maybe he missed something along the lines here, but entrusting the child of two Order members with a Death Eater didn't sound like the brightest of plans. Liam looked down at baby Darien, a little wary of all this.
Of course, nothing would happen to them, right? Even though the threat was made obvious when in the Order, there wasn't much action nowadays to even call it a movement. It wasn't like the Order was on a mission or task every day; in fact, their activity had been slowing with the falling of the power of the Dark Lord.
But still, he knew that Xanthe Murder was comfortable using unimaginable hexes and, worse, Unforgiveables, and he wasn't sure if he'd trust his daughter in her care...
When Xanthe asked the name of the child, Liam shifted around a bit in discomfort, his look a little more cautious. Worst case scenario was that Xanthe went into some kind of fit at the mentioning of her deceased lovers name, and he didn't exactly have much field experience in calming down a hysterical, mourning woman.
Mina started to speak again, and Liam half did a prayer that nothing major would happen.
"Well, I was keeping it a secret from everyone. However, I guess since she's born now I might as well get use to telling. I named her Darien."
Well, here it was. No avoiding it now, but even still as a bit of an automatic response, he shuffled his arms up a bit in a careful manner so that Darien was closer to him.[/size]