Merope bolted upright in her chair. She had another dream, but this time it wasn’t as bad as before. Yet it was still eerie since it was about her son and this time … Salazar Slytherin! As odd as it was, Merope dismissed it from her mind. It has been ages since he had walked these lands. There was no way that meeting could ever take place.
Merope struggled with Cassandra’s words as she sought to stay awake during the evening. She was still scared to go to sleep after seeing Tom’s death in her dream. Every now and then she would nod off, and when she did, more visions of danger would appear. If she could rest, she doubted it would be any more peaceful than what she was going through now. The baby was more active then ever. She knew she it was only a matter of time before she went into labor.
“Good morning and an early Happy New Year to you, dear!” said the barmaid as she brought up breakfast.
Time had passed and it was now the morning of New Year’s Eve. The day had started off dreadfully, since the weather had not subsided. The snow was still coming down and the sun was nowhere to be seen. It looked like night outside during the early hours of the morning.
Merope gave the barmaid an appreciative smile as she looked at her meal. But inside she was tired and still withdrawn as the hours passed one after the other. The barmaid left Merope to herself again, after telling her to try and get some rest. She gave Merope the same reassuring smile that she had greeted her with days ago. Merope truly felt grateful to have run into such good people in her time of need. It was a goodness that she hadn’t experienced before while growing up at home. And even though she wasn’t quite used to it, Merope felt a measure of comfort and hope as she thought back on the kindness that had been shown to her.
Merope thought of her newfound friends as she ate her meal. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of responsibility for them, for she knew that her child was going to bring much havoc into this world. She could tell that it was more than just her husband’s family that would feel his wrath and devastation. Merope felt other lives hanging in the balance as the birth of this child drew near.
“But what can I do?” she asked herself.
She would periodically look to the flames in the fireplace, hoping to see the same smile that had left her yesterday. Cassandra had not left her with much instruction in what she needed to do regarding the baby. She had only told her to have the child despite the turmoil she knew it would bring. Merope would have thought that most people, under similar circumstances, would advise her to abort or possibly do away with the baby, if they foresaw the trouble the child would bring. But Cassandra just expected her to trust in life’s balances and to hold onto the goodness within herself and in this world. Despite the great evil that would be born, Cassandra felt it best to let the good outweigh the damage that this child would cause, and that it was life’s natural course to let good prevail.
But Merope still felt her concerns burning inside her. Most proud parents would have high hopes for their child’s future. But she could not see what to hope for when she thought of her child causing so much pain and suffering. If she were a Muggle living a Muggle’s life, then maybe things would be different. And that’s when it struck her.
What if she could live a Muggle life? What if she could raise her child outside of magic? Maybe without magical influences, he would be less likely to travel down a dark path and could possibly avoid his destructive fate.
Merope’s sharp mind worked quickly as she felt hope stirring within her. It would be hard at first because of the baby, but she could get a job a little ways out from here and just save what she could. And if worse came to worst, she could do a little magic here and there when needed to help them get by. As long as the child was not aware of it, she would be able to manage what she needed just fine. Merope felt a great sense of relief as she brought her plan together. She didn’t have much, other then the ten Galleons Mr. Burke had gave her, but she could make a fresh start with the baby. And what better time to do that but in the New Year! She knew that even though this baby didn’t have his father with him, she had more than enough love to make up for his absence.
She loved her baby so much. Despite the lies and the love potions that it had taken to conceive him, she felt blessed to even feel some kind of love or kindness, since she had done without it most of her life. And even though he had left her to struggle, she was still thankful to Tom for being present in her life to give her the much-needed happiness that she would have had to struggle for, if she’d never done what she’d done.
Merope rubbed her belly as she felt the baby trying to calm down, “Oh sweetheart. The love I have for you is great. But it may not be enough to get us out of this rough patch right now. Until I can get us situated, I can only trust that it will have to do … at least for now … and hopefully not for long.” Merope felt herself nodding off again, but this time she didn’t fight it. After coming to a conclusion about what she was going to do, she felt comfortable enough to go to sleep without fear.
This time when she slept her dream was beautiful and filled with joy. She saw herself with her child. She was holding him and cooing over him, as he did the same with her. It was truly a bonding moment that she and the baby shared. But as her dream went on she could see shadows looming in the background, voices coming from them.
“It must be dealt with now! We cannot let her leave with the child! It’s too great a risk to let him live when too many others will die by his hands.”
The shadows surrounded her. They started to pull the baby from her arms. Merope tried to stop them by holding on to the baby as tightly as she could. But the shadows were pulling at her, trying to break free the grip she had on the child. The strain was too much and she felt her grasp beginning to slip. And then she remembered …
“Expelliarmus!”
She woke up. She was back in her room. Merope looked to her belly and felt her child’s movements. A sigh of relief came as she realized that it was just another bad dream. But in the quietness of her room, she could hear the whispering voices again. This time, the sounds were coming from the hall. Merope walked over to the door and tried to slowly crack it open. She could barely see them but she could tell that it was two women standing a little ways down the hallway, whispering.
“You heard what he said! It is getting too close to time! The child will be born soon. And from what he said, it is a danger to us all. He wants this dealt with tonight!”
“You mean right now? It’s still a little early, although it looks very dark outside. If he wants this handled discreetly then he should have enough patience and give us more time!” said the other voice.
“No. It will have to be done soon. It is New Year’s Eve and she should be going into labor soon, like the little girl said. He feels this unnaturally bad weather is related to this child’s growing power. So as soon as the baby is born, we will have to take him then,” said the other voice.
“What about the mother?”
“We’ve already taken measures on that.”
The voices grew closer to her room. Merope gently closed the door as the two women stopped at the entrance. There was a long moment of silence, as if they were trying to listen in to see if she was asleep. Satisfied, the voices trailed further down the hall and back downstairs to the pub.
Merope felt a chill run deep in her bones. Someone knew about the baby! But how had they found out, and from whom? And what plans did they have in store for her? She looked at the clock and saw it that it was just three in the afternoon. However, from the way it appeared outside, it looked very late in the evening. She didn’t have much time! She gathered herself and the few things she had together and made her way into the hall. No one was around during this time and everything was quiet. She crept down the hallway towards the stairs to make her exit.
As she reached the top of the stairwell she did not hear any voices below. With the weather being so bad outside, the pub did not have many patrons this day. But she did notice a few shadows looming around. She inched her way down the steps, being careful not to be seen or heard. Once she got near the bottom landing, she saw the two women again, cleaning off tables and straightening the chairs. No one else was around. The ladies picked up the dishes and their cleaning supplies and made their way to the kitchen. Merope used the opportunity to make her move to the door. She walked out onto the streets and into the Muggle world. She felt somewhat safe but very cold. It was frosty and windy outside with snow up to her ankles, but in her mind she was still safe. Despite feeling betrayed, she was still determined to make her way for her and the baby. And she was even more determined to keep him safe.
She hoped her escape had gone unnoticed … but it hadn’t. Still, no one made any attempt to go after her.
The barmaid looked out the door and saw the small footprints in the snow that led away from the pub. She smiled and locked the door, then went to the fireplace to throw some powder in it.
“Ministry of Magic. Department of Mysteries, Level Nine.”
The flames turned green so she closed her eyes and stuck her head in. When she opened her eyes again she saw an old man sitting at his desk holding a small glowing orb.
“It has been done,” she said.
“Where is the child?”
“Well - we don’t have the child. It hasn’t been taken care of just yet.” There was a little strain in her voice.
“WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? You heard the prophecy you extracted from the little girl. YOU KNOW WHAT IS AT RISK AND YOU LET HER GO?”
“Sir, with all due respect, you wanted this problem handled discreetly. If word got out that you were planning to take the newborn, however dangerous that child may grow up to be, there would be an outcry within the Ministry and our government would be shaken,” she reasoned with him.
“Then tell me, how do you EXPLAIN letting this woman go and the child with her? The time is drawing near for this evil to be born!”
“She has not had the baby yet. We gave her the sleeping and binding potions with her meal this morning. She’s been fighting sleep for most of the day, so we had trouble taking the child then. But she won’t be struggling much longer. With the bad weather outside, she will be discovered in the streets dead. The child will die with her. The Muggle authorities will chalk it up to another homeless person getting caught in the harsh winter cold. They have no way to detect the potions, so there will be no further investigation into her death. All will be cleared and the child will be no more.”
There was a long silence as the gentleman considered her words, “I hoped it would not come to this. I would have preferred the child to be taken someplace where it could be kept under observation.”
“Sir, you said yourself that this child will bring some unspeakable terror into our world. This is for the best,” she said.
“Maybe. I know our job is to do whatever is necessary. So I guess we were left with no other alternative. You had better be right! The child’s power is great even from within the womb. It is very unnatural. For the last nine months that woman has been a walking time bomb. Each episode she had kept getting stronger and more destructive. No one in the Ministry is taking this seriously! Her family history alone should be cause for worry. There is no telling what influences that child would have been raised with, from that Gaunt woman. Yet Ms. Cassandra Trelawney has her supporters within our government, so there was no way for us to approach Merope to take her in. No one wants to stand up and take the risk because they’re afraid of how it would look,” the man said with a somber tone.
“Well it won’t be a problem much longer. My regret is that we couldn’t reach her sooner. The child’s powers prevented us from getting into her room the first night. By the time we were able get inside, there seemed to be some shield surrounding her. Every time we tried to touch her, we had to fight off furniture or flying objects. It was as if the child knew we were coming. We couldn’t administer the other dose until she woke up. That bound the mother’s and child’s powers until we were able to get to her… and take the child.”
“Well now she is out there with the baby. Are you sure that potion is going to work?” asked the man.
“Sir, as bad as it is outside, whether it works or not is not the issue. She will be dead before we know it. Between the sleeping potion we gave her and the cold conditions outside, she will not get far. Muggle authorities will discover her body once the weather has cleared. It will look like a tragic coincidence.” Silence again came from the man. “Sir, are you starting to have doubts?”
“No, no. Ms. Cassandra passed earlier this morning. I was able to see her just before she died. I was trying to reason with her about the situation. But she wouldn’t budge on her opinion on Merope and the baby.” The man leaned back some as recounted his final moments with the great Seer. “I was able to extract the memory of her recent talk with Merope. She looked into the child’s future and saw the great danger it will bring. Yet Ms. Cassandra still relied on hope that things will work out. That maybe there is something about Merope that will avert the trouble ahead.”
“Then do you think we’re being to rash in our efforts, sir?” the barmaid asked.
Again more silence from the old man as he weighed his thoughts, “The things that I saw in her memory … the horrors that it will bring … we’re doing the right thing. Some people may think otherwise, but our position does not afford us the luxury to reconsider. With the way that woman has been brought up in that family, there’s no telling what she could teach that child. I cannot rely on mere hope when the future of the wizarding world is at stake.” He was resolute in his position on this. He sat more upright in his chair as he looked at the face in the fire. “Make sure you wipe the memories of your associates. I do not want any lingering thoughts of Merope’s visit in your establishment. I’ve already wiped little Sybil’s at her great-great grandmother’s. I’ll put these visions in a safe place. We’ll let nature’s fury handle the rest.”
“What about the other members of the Ministry?” she asked
“They’re not looking at the situation seriously enough in the first place. They find it hard to believe that an unborn child is exhibiting such magical potential. It’s really unheard of, and they think it’s being blown out of proportion. So when word of her death gets out, they will not give it a second thought or consider any foul play. And since dear Cassandra has passed, there will be no one around to raise any doubts. After tonight, we will not speak on this any further. Our job is done.”
“Well then, Sir … Happy New Year.”
“Indeed. Once this night is over with. Happy New Year to you.”
