It was fifteen minutes past eleven. The New Year was not too far away now. Merope lay in the bed with her baby resting in her arms. She stroked every inch of him, looking over his little hands and feet as her fingers trailed the length of his small body.
She couldn’t believe that something so beautiful could have come from someone like her, an awkward-looking figure that people stopped and pointed fingers at.
Her baby looked so perfect, so pure ….so innocent. So innocent that she questioned whether he could grow up and do the things she had seen in her visions.
“If only you could stay this way forever,”she thought.
Rose smiled as she peeked in on the mother and child. She was holding Merope’s coat as she entered the room. “I got it liked you asked.” Rose placed the infant in the bassinet next to Merope so that she could pull something out of her coat. Merope unfolded the balled-up newspaper that she had been keeping ever since Tom had left. In it were the baby booties that she had been knitting by the fire the night she and Tom had decided to have a family.
“Could you put these on him for me, please?” Merope asked as she handed Rose the booties. Rose was only too happy to oblige her. She looked so pleased as she took them and placed them on his little feet.
Merope unraveled the paper some more to pull out another object that she had been keeping. She handed the small shiny rattle to Rose, who looked at it with pure delight.
“To my darling Tom. With all my heart, ” Rose read from it. Then she shook the small thing to hear the bells jingling inside. “Amazing that you knew you were having a son.”
“Actually, I didn’t. I saw it at a store with some other baby items. The salesman said that only the elite or the well–to-do would buy these keepsakes, as a way to commemorate their child’s birth. He showed me a silver spoon at first, but I was leaning more towards the silver rattle. The man was kind enough to engrave it for me so that I could … surprise … my Tom.” Merope fell silent. She remembered she’d been planning to tell Tom the news that they were having a baby. She had hoped the good news would help him through his recuperation. But after he’d recovered from the shooting accident, it had done nothing to keep him with her.
He had left her so fast that she never got the chance to give him his gift.
Rose understood Merope’s unfinished words. She placed the silver rattle in the baby’s hand, who was lying peacefully in the bassinet.
“Well, no matter. Like I said before, he is a fool to not want a strong woman like you … or this child. He’s a stupid fool. Why, just look at the little one. He looks like a little emperor with his scepter in his hand. This child could rule the world some day,” Rose said to Merope. She smiled at Merope and told her to get some rest. Then she left the room.
Her words lingered in Merope’s mind for a while. If only Rose knew what she had seen in her visions. She had seen her son enslave the land, ruling it with an iron fist.
Merope lay in her bed, looking at the walls of the infirmary. Her body felt depleted of all energy and magic. She rummaged through her coat again to take out her wand. She remembered a healing spell that could give her body a little vigor so she wouldn’t feel so drained. She spoke the words and did the motions of the wand … but nothing happened. She tried it a couple of times but still nothing happened; she didn’t even get a spark from her wand. So she lay back in her bed, thinking some rest would help her regain her strength and powers.
“You did well,” said a gentle voice. When Merope looked over she saw the same little boy that had been with her in the alley. He was wearing the same white robe, with the same vibrant smile that he had given her when they first met. His green eyes were brilliant as he gazed down at her.
“Hello, Potty. That is your name isn’t it? Potty?” Merope asked.
“Yes, Merope …”
“How did I know that just now?” she asked again.
“You’ll come to understand soon,” he said.
Merope couldn’t help but to smile back at him. Nevertheless, as she looked into his eyes she felt a little afraid. “I’m leaving him, aren’t I? I won’t be there to watch him grow or to kiss his little hands when he gets hurt?”
“No, Merope, you won’t be,” he said gently.
“But why? All he needs is my love. And I love him so much. I know he won’t go astray if I’m with him now,” Merope silently pleaded with him. Potty just grasped her hand and stroked the tears away from her face.
“I’m sure you would have been a good mother to him. But there are outside influences that wish to do you and the child harm. As a matter of fact, they’ve already done harm to you.” Merope understood what he meant. She remembered the conversation out in the hall of the Leaky Cauldron between the two women. The poison must have been slipped into her food.
Merope thought it was somewhat ironic and almost a fitting end, since she had been sneaking a love potion into Tom’s food all those months. Now someone had sneaked poison into her meals to kill her.
“But what about the baby?”
“He’s fine,” said Potty. “The womb is a wondrous thing. It protects the baby by filtering all sorts of impurities in the mother’s body. So the baby grows unharmed.”
“Then what about the future? He will cause so much destruction, so much pain. If I can just be there for him, I can stop him from causing so much devastation!” Merope tried to bargain with him again, but she could see that it wasn’t doing any good. He just continued to be as comforting as possible giving her a solemn smile as he stroked away her tears.
“If only it were that simple,” Potty said.
More tears streamed down Merope’s face, “Well. I suppose that’s what I get for being selfish and wanting more out of life. Maybe if I had been a more dutiful daughter or sister, maybe spreading my legs a little more without complaint as my brother and father had their way. I suppose this is my punishment. To be without my son.”
“Nonsense! I’m her to help you not to charge you with any sin,” Potty said with a surprised look on his face. “This is not a form of punishment, Merope. This is just life’s way of bringing balance to things. Remember, you have a different path that you must take now. And you will be able to help your son … later. But it is not something that you can do in this life.”
“Not in this life? Then what are you saying? Are you speaking about those Horcruxes?”
Potty laughed a little, “No, we won’t be performing any dark magic here. Magic is not necessary in this case.”
Merope felt even more exhausted as she tried to understand what the boy was getting at. “If magic is not necessary, then what is?”
Potty’s smile broadened more as he explained, “I see you are still having a little trouble taking that leap that we talked about before. I’m talking about life, life renewing itself. To be reborn. Generally, this happens within a family’s bloodline. But there are occasions when the soul wishes to take on a new experience. This is how … how you say … ’Mudbloods’ are formed.”
Merope was amazed but still confused by this information. “How does this help me to help him? How can I be there to stop him from going too far?”
“His power is derived from you. Only that power will bring an end to his tyranny in the future. It must be passed on. Your life will end here, Merope. But a new life will be waiting for you as the New Year turns.”
“But how do I stop him?” Merope asked.
“Your love will guide you.“
And like that, he was gone. Merope was feeling even more drained after their conversation. She looked at the clock and noticed that it was just ten minutes till. The New Year was just moments away. She turned to look at her son, who was sleeping peacefully in his bassinet. She gently touched his round cheeks as she looked over his tiny features one last time.
“Oh, my love. I’m not sure how you go down that dark road or even why. But if it’s because of me not being there for you, I can only ask that someday you’ll be able to forgive me, because I never wanted to leave you this way.” She did not have the strength to pick him up to give him a kiss. So she placed her two fingers to her lips, then placed them on his.
“I love you. I’ll always love you.”
Rose snuck in with a little party hat on her head, “Shall we celebrate together, dear?”
Merope didn’t have the heart to object to her. Rose sat on her bed, and they looked at the clock together, “I would think this would be the last place you would want to be. Shouldn’t you be around friends or celebrating with family?”
“Well, I’ll see my family some other time. And since you are so nice, I feel that I am in good company tonight. Which is good because I hear that if you are ringing in the New Year with someone, then that someone will be with you in the coming year. So I hope that we can be good friends and keep in touch.” Merope was happy to hear it. She could tell that Rose’s intent was genuine, unlike that of the others at the Leaky Cauldron. She was glad that she’d been able to make a friend.
Merope felt so very tired but still managed a smile for her friend. “I would like that very much,” she told her. They held hands as the clock was starting to wind down.
Just then, Merope remembered something, “Rose, go to my coat pocket and pull out my coin purse.” Rose quickly pulled out the purse as she instructed and placed it in her hand. Merope pulled out the ten Galleons that she had gotten from Mr. Burke. “Hold out your hand.” Rose held it out and Merope put the money in the palm of her hand.
“What is this? I’ve never seen coins like this before,” Rose said.
“They’re Galleons. It’s … old money,” Merope said as she tried to find a way to explain this foreign-looking currency to the Muggle. “But I heard it’s lucky and one should hold a coin in their hand at the turn of the New Year. That way you will always have money when you need it in the coming year.”
“Well, I won’t argue with that. Let’s hold it together.” And so they did. The clock was winding down even more as the New Year was drawing close. Merope then remembered something else. She went to her coin purse and pulled out the gold vial that Cassandra had left her.
“Do you believe in magic, Rose?” Merope asked.
Rose considered this question for a moment, “I suppose I do. I believe that all things are possible. Sometimes things can’t easily be explained by science or religion. One must believe in things that are unseen.”
“Then take this,” Merope handed her the vial. “A friend of mine told me that it could bring you luck.”
“Really?” Rose looked at the pretty gold liquid inside. “Well then, I suppose I will be lucky this year. Maybe lucky enough to find a husband like my father always wanted me to do.”
“Or maybe become the doctor that you want to be.”
“Yes and with my newfound money I shall be a rich doctor with lots of children to care for,” Rose said.
“Or maybe you’ll find your love and be a good wife … with just a couple of children. Maybe he’ll show up … right as rain,” Merope said, feeling her life beginning to slip out of this world.
“If a man were ever so lucky.”
“Well maybe not a man. Maybe … just you,” Merope said. “And you can have pretty little girls … who will give you pretty granddaughters … all with pretty names … like Hope … Daisy … or Lily …. Lily is such a pretty name.”
“Well, if I have a daughter or a granddaughter I will name her Lily, just for you.”
Rose could see that Merope was getting tired. What she couldn’t see was that Merope’s spirit was standing on the threshold of life. The two held hands as the time counted down. When the clock struck twelve, Rose looked at her friend to see that she had fallen asleep … at least that’s what she thought Merope was doing.
“Happy New Year, Merope,” Rose quietly said as she rubbed her friend’s hands. “And a happy new life for us all.”
Rose turned out the light in Merope’s room and left her there … to rest.
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When word reached Rose of Merope’s death, she decided to take a walk in the park to remember her friend. Rose sat on the bench and looked out on the snowy place. It was a nice clear day with the sun shining on the icy playground. All the children were frolicking about and building snowmen in the field.
Rose dug her hands deep into her pockets to keep herself warm. As soon as she did the pretty gold vile fell to her feet.
“You drop this, Miss,” said a little boy. Rose took the vile from his hands. As she looked into the boy’s face, she felt a little startled but then mesmerized as she looked at his broad smile and beautiful green eyes.
“Thank you, dear.”
“No problem. You should drink that. It looks like something that you should drink to keep you warm in cold weather,” he told her as began to walk into the crowd of playful children.
“OK,” Rose said. But as quickly a she saw the boy, he disappeared from her sight just like that.
Rose looked at the liquid with strange fascination as she remembered what Merope had told her. She started to hesitate at first, but then the vision of the little boy with the bright smile and beautiful eyes flashed in her mind. So with a leap of faith, she drank the liquid. As soon as she swallowed it she felt this warm content feeling. Then for some reason, she felt reassured that everything was going to be O.K., even better then O.K. So she made her way home.
As she reached the steps of her apartment, she was greeted with a familiar face. Well, somewhat familiar since he had a few bandages around his head. But he was a lovely sight to see. Rose’s heart jumped as she leapt into his arms.
They have never left each other’s side since.
To her father’s delight, Rose and her love got married. They had beautiful daughters and even more beautiful granddaughters.
And just as she promised, Rose got the chance to name one of her grandchildren.
Lily Evans.
