(Gilderoy Lockhart)
As the celebration feast continued around me, I was doing my absolute best to ignore Sirius Black.
This was proving very difficult.
Because ever since Harry's victory, Sirius had become completely insufferable.
"I'm telling you, that's my godson."
"Yes, Sirius."
"A dragon."
"Yes, Sirius."
"A dragon!"
"I was there."
"He turned it into a giant canary!"
"I noticed."
Sirius slapped the table.
"A giant canary, Lockhart!"
Several nearby students jumped.
The man looked as though Harry had personally saved the world.
To make matters worse, every time someone walked past and congratulated Harry, Sirius somehow took it as a compliment directed at himself.
"Good parenting," he declared proudly.
"You met him last year," I pointed out.
"Still counts."
"No, it doesn't."
"It absolutely counts."
I sighed and reached for my drink.
Perhaps if I ignored him long enough, he would eventually run out of things to say.
Which turned out to be a foolish hope.
The man had spent twelve years talking to himself in Azkaban.
Silence held no power over him.
Then suddenly…
POP!
A house-elf appeared beside my chair.
I immediately recognised the enormous eyes and butler outfit.
"Dobby?"
The elf was practically vibrating with panic.
"Master Lokihart, sir!" Dobby squeaked. "Mistress Rosie be having the baby!"
The goblet slipped from my fingers, but fortunately, magic caught it before its contents spilled.
My heart, however, received no such protection.
"What?"
"Mistress Rosie be having the baby!"
I shot to my feet so quickly that my chair toppled backward.
Around me, several professors turned in surprise.
Aurora had accompanied Rosmerta back to the Three Broomsticks earlier after she complained of feeling tired.
At the time, neither of us had thought much of it, but apparently, that had been a mistake.
A very large mistake.
"Dobby."
The elf straightened immediately.
"Yes, sir!"
"Take me there."
There was another pop as we vanished from the Great Hall.
…
A moment later, we appeared inside our room at the Three Broomsticks.
The situation was...
Considerably further along than I had expected.
Rosmerta was already giving birth, right there and then on the same bed we slept in every night.
It seemed there would be no leisurely trip to St Mungo's.
No Healer waiting patiently with reassuring words.
No carefully planned hospital visit.
Just immediate, undeniable reality.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Rosmerta's scream nearly stopped my heart.
She was drenched in sweat, her hair sticking to her face as she gripped the bedsheets with white knuckles.
Beside her stood Aurora, looking calm and focused.
Which was fortunate, because someone in the room had to be.
The moment Aurora noticed me, she immediately started issuing orders without even looking up.
"Good, you're here."
Her hands never stopped moving.
"Quickly, get a Blood-Replenishing Potion. She's going to need it soon."
My stomach dropped.
Blood… that sounded important. So I didn't waste another second.
Turning on my heel, I practically sprinted toward the potions cabinet.
Behind me, Rosmerta let out another scream and my pace somehow increased.
I yanked open the cabinet and was greeted by multiple rows of bottles.
Normally, I kept everything perfectly organised, but at that moment, every single vial suddenly looked identical.
"Where are you..."
I scanned the shelves frantically.
Healing Potion.
Pepper-Up Potion.
Dreamless Sleep.
Calming Draught.
Hair-Growth Elixir.
Why did I own so many potions?
Then…
There!
I grabbed the Blood-Replenishing Potion and rushed back.
My robes nearly caught on the doorway, making me stumble.
But I recovered quickly and burst back into the room triumphantly holding the potion aloft.
"I have it!"
Perfect timing.
Because the very moment I arrived, Aurora calmly announced:
"The baby is crowning."
Rosmerta let out a truly impressive scream that somehow conveyed suffering on a spiritual level.
Against all better judgement I took a look and immediately regretted everything.
There are certain sights that a man is simply not prepared for.
This was one of them.
My brain attempted to process what my eyes were seeing.
Failed.
Attempted again.
Failed harder.
The room spun.
The potion slipped from my fingers.
Fortunately, Aurora caught it without even looking.
But unfortunately, nobody caught me.
The last thing I heard before darkness claimed me was Aurora's completely unimpressed voice.
"...Seriously?"
Then the world went completely black.
…
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying flat on the floor, with someone patting my cheek repeatedly.
I blinked and noticed Sirius staring down at me.
I stared back, and for several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he grinned.
"Oh good, you're alive."
I frowned.
"What are you doing here?"
"Dobby came to get me."
That explained absolutely nothing.
"Why?"
Sirius shrugged.
"He said Master Lokihart fainted."
A pause.
Then:
"I thought he was joking."
I closed my eyes.
Of course… of all the moments in my life.
All the battles.
All the monsters.
All the impossible magical feats.
And I had been defeated by childbirth.
Somehow, that felt unfair.
From somewhere nearby came the sound of a newborn baby crying.
My eyes snapped open.
Sirius straightened.
A smile appeared on Aurora's face.
Rosmerta laughed weakly through her exhaustion.
And suddenly...
Nothing else mattered.
Because the baby had arrived.
…
"It's a boy," Aurora announced, and with a practiced wave of her wand, warm golden magic flowed over the newborn.
The traces of birth vanished instantly, and then a clean blanket wrapped itself gently around the tiny infant.
Another flick of her wand straightened the sheets, cleaned Rosmerta's clothes, and tidied away the evidence of the frantic delivery.
Then Aurora retrieved several potions from the bedside table.
"Drink."
Rosmerta obeyed without argument.
A Blood-Replenishing Potion first.
Then a Pain-Relief Draught.
And finally, a restorative tonic.
Colour immediately began returning to her face. The exhaustion remained, but the frightening paleness faded considerably.
Aurora nodded in satisfaction.
"Good."
But I barely noticed any of it because my eyes were fixed entirely on the baby.
My son.
He was...
Well.
Objectively speaking, he wasn't particularly impressive.
He was red.
Very red.
Wrinkled like a mandrake that had spent too long in the sun.
His face was squashed, his eyes were closed. And apart from a tiny tuft of blond hair, he was completely bald.
If I had encountered him in any other circumstance, I might have been mildly concerned.
But none of that mattered.
Because he was my son.
And therefore, naturally, the most beautiful child in existence.
I approached the bed slowly, almost cautiously. As though moving too quickly might somehow break the moment.
Rosmerta accepted the baby from Aurora and settled him carefully against her chest.
The tiny bundle immediately relaxed, and for a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Even Sirius remained silent, which is a miracle in itself.
As I stood beside the bed staring at my son, my heart felt strangely full, a feeling that was impossible to describe properly.
Then a thought entered my mind. A perfectly brilliant thought.
I leaned forward slightly and muttered, "Gilderoy."
Rosmerta blinked. "What?"
I looked down at the baby and repeated it a little louder.
"Gilderoy."
Aurora immediately groaned.
"Oh no."
But I ignored her. His name had already been decided.
"Gilderoy," I said firmly. "His name shall be Gilderoy Lockhart Junior."
Rosmerta stared at me.
Sirius made a choking noise.
But I pressed onward regardless.
"He will be as great as his father."
The baby yawned, which I took as a promising sign.
Then inspiration struck and I pointed dramatically toward the ceiling.
"No."
I corrected myself.
"He will be even greater!"
Sirius let out a loud snort.
Aurora buried her face in one hand.
Rosmerta looked down at the sleeping baby, then back at me, then at the baby again.
And to my immense relief, she didn't immediately reject the idea.
Instead, a small smile appeared on her face.
"Gilderoy Lockhart Junior..."
She tested the name aloud, and the baby chose that exact moment to make a tiny happy noise.
I immediately pointed at him.
"You see? He loves the name."
"That's not proof."
"It absolutely is."
"He is three minutes old."
"And already demonstrating excellent judgement."
Sirius laughed so hard he doubled over.
I ignored him too.
Rosmerta looked down at our son once more before nodding.
"Alright."
My eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Really."
A grin spread across my face.
Victorious.
Magnificent.
Unstoppable.
My son had a name.
And it was an excellent one.
"Welcome to the world, Gilderoy Lockhart Junior."
The baby opened his eyes briefly. They were bright blue, almost identical to mine. Then he made a cooing noise and snuggled closer to his mom.
"There."
Rosmerta laughed softly.
"There what?"
"Proof."
"Proof of what?"
I gestured grandly toward the baby.
"He's clearly inherited his father's greatness."
Aurora threw a pillow at me, which I caught without looking.
And for once...
I didn't even feel the need to show off.
I simply stood beside the bed, watching my wife hold our son, listening to his tiny breaths, watching his little fingers curl around Rosmerta's thumb.
A daughter.
A son.
A family.
For all my accomplishments, all my titles, all my adventures...
This felt bigger than any of them.
Much bigger.
And as Gilderoy Lockhart Junior slept peacefully in his mother's arms, I found myself smiling.
The future suddenly looked very bright indeed.
…
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