What Comes From the Unexpected

Chapter Three: Michaela and Jeremy

The screams of Professor Minerva McGonagall reverberated through Gryffindor Tower. Xiomara Hooch and Sylvia Sprout were on either side of her holding her hands and encouraging her. Poppy Pomfrey, on the other hand, was guiding Minerva through the births of her two children. Albus Dumbledore paced outside the third year girls' dormitory, listening to the screams of agonizing pain coming from the other side of the door. The Gryffindor students all waited anxiously at the bottom of the steps leading up to the dormitories. The could hear the cries of pains from their Head of House clear as day and looked at each other nervously every time they heard another cry of pain.

"Come on, Minerva, one more push! You can do it!" Poppy encouraged her.

Sylvia had taken to dabbing Minerva's forehead with the cold rag as she was now burning with pain and frustration.

"Oh, Poppy, I can't! It hurts too much!" Minerva moaned.

"Yes you can, just one more!" Minerva gathered what strength she had left and pushed with all her might. Another scream escaped her mouth as the child was freed from its mother. "Minerva! You have a girl!" Poppy said holding up the baby for Minerva to see. When she did, tears sprang to her eyes as Poppy gently handed the baby to Sylvia so she could clean the baby up. Minerva could hear the piercing cry from her daughter and more tears came to her before Poppy broke her attention away from her firstborn child. "All right, Minerva, now we've got to concentrate on getting this other one out." Poppy resumed control and urged Minerva to push again.

Sylvia cleaned the baby with the cloth Poppy had long ago conjured up for that purpose and then brought the baby to see her father. When Dumbledore saw her for the first time, his eyes instantly filled with tears. "You have a beautiful daughter, Headmaster," Sylvia told him as she placed her in his arms.

The joy of holding his daughter for the first time was almost too much for him. He nearly collapsed when she placed the baby in his arms. He smiled at Sylvia. "Thank you for my daughter, Sylvia."

"You're most welcome, Headmaster. She has her mother's lungs."

"I know. I could tell the moment I heard her cries." Just then they both heard another cry from within the room. Sylvia left Albus with his daughter to aid Minerva once again.

"Come on, Minerva!" Poppy and Xiomara were encouraging her as she stepped back into the room.

"Squeeze my hand to take away the pain, Minerva, if you have to," Xiomara told her as she hugged her from behind. "Come on, sit up, you can do this. Just one more."

Minerva moaned again and another scream emitted from her as she pushed. The students waiting at the bottom of the stairs all cringed when they heard it. Elizabeth crouched even lower into the chair she was sitting in. Tears slowly found a way to leak from the corners of her eyes. She could not bear to hear the cries of pain from her beloved professor. It made her wish she was the one in Minerva's place. She said a silent prayer to the Virgin for Minerva and both her babies and they all would be in good health as she cried. Another cry from Minerva brought Elizabeth from her prayer and her head snapped up.

"Oh, Minerva," Xiomara said hugging her friend and kissing her head, "you did well." A strained cry could be heard from the baby as Poppy cleaned of the blood and the amniotic fluids. Minerva began to cry once again for the joy of finally becoming a mother as Poppy placed the baby on her chest for her to hold.

"Oh, a boy and girl, Minerva," Poppy said. "You're so lucky," she whispered into Minerva's ear and kissed her friend's head as she hugged her.

Minerva turned her attention to her son and kissed his forehead. She looked up at Poppy. "I want to see Albus."

"Of course. Sylvia, will you go get him please."

Sylvia nodded her head and went back out to bring Dumbledore into the room to see his wife. Albus had been marveling at how beautiful his daughter was when Professor Sprout came out to let him in the room. "You have a son also, Headmaster."

"Is she alright, Sylvia? I mean Minerva."

"Yes, she did wonderfully. She is already requesting to see you. I'll take you to see her," she said leading Albus into the dormitory. The first sight Albus saw was Xiomara and Poppy cleaning up the mess of blood and fluids from the floor and the bed sheets. They both looked up at him and smiled. Minerva was lying on the bed holding their son and cooing at him. She looked up and saw him.

"Albus," she breathed. "Come look at your son."

He went to her willingly and kissed her forehead as he handed their daughter to her as well. He marveled at his son they way he had their daughter. They both had cerulean eyes like Minerva's. Their skin was soft to the touch that it almost was like velour. Their daughter had light strawberry-blonde hair and their son had rich ebony hair like his mother. Albus took their son in his arms and gazed down at him. By this time, Poppy, Xiomara, and Sylvia left the new parents and their children to their privacy.

The Gryffindor students at the bottom of the stairs had begun to slowly fall asleep but when the cries of their Head of House stopped, they immediately perked up. They could hear a shuffling of feet coming down the dormitory steps and instantly crowded around them. Poppy, Xiomara, and Sylvia came down and Poppy went over to Elizabeth while the other two stayed near the stairs.

"Miss O'Brien," Poppy said gently, "are you hurt anywhere from the boggart?"

"No, Madame Pomfrey, just shook up, I guess."

"I think that you should come to the hospital wing when we bring Professor McGonagall there as well, in a few moments." She stood up to go back up to Minerva and Albus but was stopped by Elizabeth's shaky voice.

"M-Madame Pomfrey, is Professor McGonagall okay? I mean, she is not in any pain, is she? She- she is happy right?"

"Of course she is Miss O'Brien, she couldn't be more happy with her son and daughter."

"She has a boy and a girl?"

"Yes, two healthy children. And she is healthy herself, so you needn't worry about her any longer. You wait here while I go get Minerva so we can get her back to the hospital wing." She stood up to leave again and went back to Xiomara and Sylvia and whispered to them about going back up to bring Minerva to the infirmary and went back up the stairs.

Dumbledore had sat down on the edge of the bed beside Minerva, holding their son. Minerva looked up at Albus and smiled. He was a natural at being a father and he had been so worried that he wouldn't be a good father. He held his son's tiny fingers in his and kissed them before turning his attention to Minerva and kissing her head as well.

"I never imagined that our children would be this beautiful, Minerva." She looked at him, a wide smile creeping into her features. His tilted his down and kissed her lips. "I love you, Minerva, never doubt that my love won't grow stronger now that we have our children."

"Michaela and Jeremy, Albus. Our daughter is Michaela Annelies and our son is Jeremy Andrew," Minerva said still smiling at Dumbledore.

"Yes of course, dear, Michaela and Jeremy," he said subconsciously gazing down at his two children in his arms after Minerva placed Michaela in his arms as well. Minerva laid back against the pillows on her bed and closed her eyes. Albus stood up, holding his two children, and went over to the window of the girls' dormitory. It was still dark, but the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon at almost six in the morning. He looked back at his wife, his Minerva, lying there with her eyes closed. She looked like an angel, Albus's mind, a perfect angel. You could suppose that was what going through childbirth did to you; it made you look as though you had just come down from the heavens.

Dumbledore heard the door to the dormitory click open and he instinctively turned his head towards the door to see Poppy come in. he acknowledged her presence and smiled at her before he spoke.

"Thank you, Poppy, for your help... and skills," he added as an afterthought. "How is our young Miss O'Brien?"

"She is just fine, oh and Minerva, she's dead to the world, I'll bet," she said walking over to Minerva's bedside and gently touching her shoulder. "Yes, well, it would be best to get her down to the hospital wing, for her to get some decent rest, Headmaster. She needs it after going through this. It most definitely wore her out.

"Yes, I'll carry her down if you will take Michaela and Jeremy here," Dumbledore said to Poppy, who gladly held her arms out for the now sleeping infants. Dumbledore gently placed his children in the nurse's arms and slowly picked up the sleeping form of his wife. They descended the stairs together, slowly. Most of the Gryffindor students had fallen asleep in the chairs by the fire and some were sprawled out on the floor. Xiomara and Sylvia were standing against the wall half asleep, when Poppy and Albus came down. Elizabeth had fallen asleep in the chair she'd been crouched down in. Some of the Gryffindors were still awake almost instantly perked up when the headmaster and the mediwitch entered the room, however they didn't say anything. They just looked at the sleeping infants in Poppy's arms and the small form of Minerva in the headmaster's arms. Sylvia and Xiomara both walked up to them.

"Sylvia, could you go clean up the rest of the soiled linens and the bed, please, while we bring Minerva, Elizabeth, Michaela, and Jeremy, here, to the hospital wing?" Poppy asked.

"Of course, Poppy," she said and went back to the dormitory to clean up any of the remaining linens.

Poppy directed her attention to the Hogwarts flying instructor. "Xiomara, would you kindly gather Elizabeth into your arms and follow the Headmaster and me down to the infirmary? I think it's best for her to come with also."

Without a word, Xiomara nodded her head and walked over to where Elizabeth lay in her chair and gently scooped the frail girl into her arms. She and Poppy walked to the portrait hole and stepped out while Albus remained to speak with the Gryffindor students who were awake.

"Is Professor McGonagall going to be alright?" the Head Girl, Caroline Walker, said looking at the limp woman in Dumbledore's arms.

"Yes, she is just utterly exhausted and in dire need of a few days rest. And to answer the question that is burning inside all of you, Professor McGonagall and I have a beautiful son and daughter named Jeremy and Michaela. Now I must get your professor down to the hospital wing, so that she may rest. All of you should head up to your dormitories to get what sleep you can before the sun is entirely raised. And I shall inform all the teachers at breakfast that you all are exempt from your lessons today, so that you can catch up on your sleep. Now, off to bed with the few of you who haven't fallen asleep down here already."

All of the Gryffindors smiled widely and then scampered up the stairs to their dormitories as Professor Sprout came down.

"All cleaned up, Headmaster," she said upon seeing him, still in the common room. "Shall we leave the rest of the Gryffindors, who are asleep down here, Headmaster?"

"Yes, we'll just let them sleep here until they wake from the sunlight peering through the windows. I have to get Minerva down to the hospital wing. Poppy and Xiomara are probably still outside the portrait, waiting for me, no doubt."

"Then let's not keep them waiting. We don't want Poppy to scold us for anything," Sylvia said as they made their way to the portrait and stepped out. Sure enough, Poppy and Xiomara were still waiting. With a nod of the head, they all followed Poppy to the infirmary, Minerva and her children and Elizabeth still sleeping soundly.