@warringpeace‘s delphini || time for the inevitable angst
The war was over. There was definite cause to celebrate and for once in what felt like decades, they could all breathe a little easier.
But Ben couldn’t, no matter how desperately he tried. After they rounded up the few Death Eaters that survived the battle, which didn’t end so well considering the fight they put up, he struggled to process the words Rodolphus Lestrange had spat at him before he was carted off to Azkaban. Very few knew the truth about his parentage, even fewer that still lived. It could be nothing, just the ramblings of a mad man trying to save himself, but if there was a slight chance that there was some truth to it, he needed to investigate.
It was an ordeal that he hadn’t expected. Euphemia Rowle wasn’t a young woman, but she still fought with a ferocity he wasn’t ready for. Even so, he managed to knock her unconscious, chest heaving as he wiped the blood from his face. Once he caught his breath and his heart wasn’t hammering in his ears, he heard faint gurgles and whines coming from the next room. He stepped into the room, heart seizing for a moment at the pearly white bassinet in the center and the tiny hands grabbing at the air.
He wasn’t entirely familiar with babies, not after growing up an only child. But he knew that a crying baby was never a good thing. Reaching into the bassinet with trembling hands, Ben carefully lifted up the newborn, one hand cradling her head while he supported her body with the other. He couldn’t leave her with these people, not when he knew what they could force her to become.