Chapter Text
The day Arcturus was born was one of the hardest days of Ursa’s life.
Until that point, a part of her hadn't realised what it was to love someone… so much that it hurt. She loved Poppy, of course she did, but… the moment she felt her baby against her chest, crying and squirming, and so much smaller than she realised… she realised she would watch the world burn before anything happened to her son. More than that – she would be the one to set it alight.
It made the endless hours of agony just before that moment seem like a distant memory.
Poppy came in to the delivery room soon after, followed by Ominis and Sebastian. They had all offered to be in the room with her, but she had refused. She loved them dearly, but this was something she felt she had to do alone. Whether to prove to her family, or even just to herself, that she was more than capable – she was a warrior.
Poppy was close to her own delivery date, for the baby that she and Sebastian had conceived at the same time that Ursa and Ominis had conceived the one she still held close to her chest.
It had been a difficult time, but both Ursa and Ominis had grown up with families who demanded the very best, and always stressed how important it was to continue their familial lines. Neither agreed with their families, but… they could admit that the idea of children of their own, with the ones they loved, was something they could probably get behind.
Neither the Gaunts nor the Blacks knew of their true natures – but it wasn’t their business even if they did. As soon as the four of them were of age and graduated from Hogwarts, they vanished. They had a substantial amount of money between the four of them, so they took what they could carry and relocated to a remote village in the Scottish highlands.
They found a discreet celebrant and got married on a Tuesday. Ominis married Ursa, and Sebastian married Poppy. The four of them stood in a circle as the vows were read. They planned to conceive children within the bonds of marriage (so the children could never be labelled as bastards), and then eventually re-marry their true loves – Ominis with Sebastian, and Ursa with Poppy.
Arcturus Phineas Black was the first child born to them – son of Ursa Black and Ominis Gaunt. About a week later, Theseus Elijah Scamander was born – son of Poppy Sweeting and Sebastian Scamander.
For the next five years, the four of them raised their two sons together. Poppy and Ursa worked with animals, rescuing both magical and muggle beasts from the poachers that roamed the highlands, and relocating them to safer areas. Sebastian worked on his research into both Dark Magic and Healing. They had all learned from their dabble into Dark Magic during their last few years at Hogwarts, and Sebastian wanted to make sure he could help anyone else in the future that fell down the path they did.
Ominis spent a few years finding himself and what he wanted from life, never having to figure that out before then. He dabbled in potions and charms, helping out with the others’ work from time to time, before he realised he loved to teach. He specialised in teaching both Arcturus and Theseus everything he could, the others helping out with their own areas of expertise as well.
After the boys turned five, the four adults decided to conceive again, wanting the children to have more family their own age.
Both Ursa and Poppy fell pregnant, but only Poppy carried to term.
Ursa lost her baby after six months. She refused to say a word for several weeks after it happened. Most nights, she would sit silently by the window, staring up at the night sky – directly at the constellation of Cassiopeia.
Poppy gave birth to Newton Artemis Scamander a few months later – son of Poppy Sweeting and Sebastian Scamander.
She had tentatively asked Ursa if she wanted to try again for another baby, but Ursa had merely shook her head. It was only two years after Newt’s birth, that the adults parted ways. They never got around to divorcing and re-marrying – marriage not being all that important on any of their agendas.
So Ominis remained legally married to Ursa, and Sebastian legally married to Poppy.
Ursa and Poppy took Arcturus, while Ominis and Sebastian took Theseus and Newt, all leaving without an exact plan of when to next meet up.
In the end, that was the last time any of the adults saw each other.
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