31_days | [5 August] [Harry Potter -- AU] Firstborn

Title: Firstborn
Day/Theme: 5 August - A boy
Series: Harry Potter -- AU
Character/Pairing: Bellatrix, Rodolphus
Rating: R for language
Authoress's Note: Random fluff drabble from an AU where the Dark Lord won the First War. Accept this, move on.

It mattered little that Rodolphus was sitting three rooms away while Bellatrix was in labour; her shrieking and cursing resonated throughout the entire South Wing, and Rodolphus heard his own name attached to uncomplementary epithets no few number of times. Every so often, Narcissa would dart out to inform him of the progress, and at one such point, the anxious father-to-be asked, "Are you quite sure everything is all right? That -- That cannot be normal."

Narcissa only giggled. "She's fine, Rodolphus, really. You know how... vocal Bellatrix can be."

"Nothing's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Narcissa assured him, smiling. "She's doing quite well, and you'll have a fine child soon. But I'll let her know you're worried."

"What? No! I'm not--" But Narcissa had already gone back to her sister. Rodolphus sighed and raked a hand through his hair. He was worried, even if he didn't care to admit it. The miscarriage three years earlier had been so painful that he couldn't help but be concnered for his wife this time around.

Bellatrix, for her part, showed no sign of weakness. "Bloody hell, I'm going to kill him!" Narcissa and the two Mediwitches, Hermia Desante and her young assistant, had long since stopped taking any notice of Bellatrix's death threats and inventive invectives. "Bloody bastard, I'm going to strip the flesh off of his balls and choke him with it!"

"I think she's contracting again," said Hermia calmly.

"Blasted harpies, if you're not going to make yourselves useful--!"

"You're sure we can't convince her to take a painkilling potion?" asked the assistant, hopefully.

"Fucking incubus, I'm going to kill him!"

"Push, Bella!"

The stream of curses gave way to an agonised, piercing shriek. The naive assistant went to offer Bellatrix her hand, but Narcissa wisely snatched it away, just inches ahead of Bellatrix's slashing fingernails. "She's really better off on her own, dear, trust me." Bellatrix, when in pain, tended to lash out at whoever was nearest, as though she might transfer the anguish from herself to her victim. For this reason, Narcissa had hidden Bellatrix's slender hawthorn wand in the next room several hours earlier.

Hermia had heard more than her share of women in childbirth threatening to use Unforgiveables on their husbands or lovers, and so was not fased in the least by Bellatrix. She did, however, credit the woman with the most ingenuity she'd ever heard. "Alright, my Lady, the baby's crowning. Another push or two should do it."

Bellatrix clutched at the sheets, clawing at the yeilding fabrics, and released another howl to tremor the heavens. After another minute, her scream was joined by another, and Bellatrix collapsed back against her pillows. Narcissa, in turn, took up the shrieking. "It's a boy, Bella! Bella, darling, you've got a son!"

Bellatrix closed her eyes and smiled. 'An heir... well done, Bella, well done...'

"Denise, clean the baby up. I'll take care of the afterbirth," Hermia ordered.

Narcissa was bouncing about the room in unbridled joy, nearly as ecstatic over the birth of Bellatrix's son as sh ehad been over her own two years earlier. "May I go tell her husband?" the blonde asked.

"You can tell him, but he can't come in yet. You might want to summon some house elves to help clean up."

Narcissa nodded, and pranced out of the room. She ran first into Bella's loyal house elf Galie, who was wringing her gnarled little hands anxious. "Missus? Is Mistress Bellatrix all right?"

Narcissa smiled benevolently. "Yes, she's just fine, and you've got a new young master."

Galie's enormous yellow eyes went even wider. "Oh, Missus! This pleases Galie very much, Missus, yes, it does."

"Go fetch some of the chamber elves. Madam Desante is asking for cleaning help."

"Yes, Missus."

The house elf disappeared with a pop!, and Narcissa went on to the next room to find Rodolphus, who stood when she entered his sitting room. "Is she-- did she--?"

Narcissa grinned. "She did. You have a son, Rodolphus."

Rodolphus blinked for a moment, then gave vent to a short shout of joy. He grabbed a giggling Narcissa's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. "A son? A son! And he's healthy?"

"As healthy as ever a new born was. All the requisite fingers and toes, I counted them myself."

Rodolphus laughed. "Most wonderful! A son!" When Rodolphus was finally allowed to go in to see his wife and the newborn, he was well aware he had an idiotic grin on his face, but he couldn't help it. He normally disdained such overt displays of emotion, but what better cause did a man have for unchecked mirth than the arrival of a healthy son?

Bellatrix and the room had both been cleaned up, and now the new mother sat propped up against her stacks of pillows, cradling her son in her arms. She looked neither happy nor peaceful, as new mothers often did, but rather a strange mix of proud and puzzled. She gazed down at the tiny infant as though wondering just how he had gotten there.

For his part, Rodolphus felt much the same. After four years of trying and nine months of waiting, he finally had the heir he needed. He sat on the bed beside Bellatrix and slipped his arm around her shoulders. The boy was awake and wide-eyed, staring about the room and looking questioningly up at his parents. "Bella..." Rodolphus breathed, reaching out to touch the downy dark hair. "He's... he's perfect."

Bellatrix bounced the baby with the gentle ease all mothers know. "All right, little one... this is your father, so pay attention." She blinked over at her husband. "I never did understand why people talk to infants. They can't understand us, but I can't seem to stop myself."

Rodolphus gave a low laugh. "So. Rasalhague Medraut, is it?" Bellatrix groaned, and Rodolphus leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"It's a terrible name."

"It's a fine name." Rodolphus ran a finger over the infant's smooth skin. If possible, the boy looked slightly annoyed. "Rasalhague Medraut Lestrange."

"Black-Lestrange," Bellatrix said, trying to be imperious despite the sleep crawling into her voice. "If you're getting Rasalhague, I'm getting Black-Lestrange."

Rodolphus quirked an eyebrow, but after a moment nodded, conceding, "Black-Lestrange, then." What harm did it do, after all? The Blacks needed a proper heir as much as the Lestranges did, and if it kept Bellatrix happy, Rodolphus was willing to go along with it.

In unison, both parents looked down at the infant, and in unison both said, "He looks like you." Bellatrix laughed. "I suppose," Rodolphus said, "we'll have to wait until he's grown a bit to see who he favours."

"I don't think there's much room for error, really," Bellatrix said. "Unless something wandered in from either of our parents. He'll be dark-haired and dark-eyed no matter what, I'd wager."

"Well, perhaps the next one will have light eyes. We both had light-eyed parents, after all."

"You're already thinking of the next one?" Bellatrix exclaimed. "Don't make me hurt you, Rodolphus, I really haven't got the energy at the moment."

Toying idly with one of Bella's dark curls, Rodolphus laughed. "A girl, next, I think. I'm so happy we have a son, but I'd have been just as happy with a girl this time around, too."

"Liar," Bellatrix challenged. "You wanted a boy as badly as I did."

"Well, I want a girl next. Someone I can spoil as badly as I do you," he teased.

"I don't need the competition," Bellatrix replied, trying not to yawn. She hadn't realised quite how tired she was, and didn't understand how something so wretchedly common that every woman could do exhausted her more than any battle she'd ever been in.

Rodolphus grinned, looking down at his son. "A boy..."

Bellatrix nodded, though she was in serious danger of dropping off to sleep at any moment. "A boy."