Starting a family.

CHAPTER 7: THE VISIT.

 Albus and Minerva went to visit her parents. Rosemary was crying when they got to Minerva's parents' house. "It's alright, my little kitten," Minerva said, trying to get the little baby in her arms to calm down. "She's overtired, my dear," Albus said. "I know and she's also getting hungry," she said. Albus knocked on the door, and a woman answered. "I thought I heard the three of you," Isobel said, after opening the door. Isobel invited them inside to sit down.

Minerva sat down with Albus next to her and started to feed Rosemary. "Are you going to go back to teaching in September?" Isobel asked once everyone was settled. "Yes, I am. It's going to be hard to be separated from her for so long during the day," Minerva said. "I know, when I went back to work after you were born, it was hard for me to leave you, especially since your father didn't know anything about magic and I was afraid of you having magic," Isobel said. "Everything was fine mom, and with Albus, I don't have to worry about a thing," Minerva said. "Has she shown any magical abilities?" Robert said. "She's shown a few magical abilities, like when she cries long enough, she does. We try to take care of her and keep her calm and not have her use too much of her magic and make a mess of everything," Minerva said. "Your pregnancy must have been hard," Isobel said. "No, it wasn't that hard. Poppy, the school's mediwitch, told me that if I didn't use my magic, I would have a smooth pregnancy and eventually a smooth labor and delivery," Minerva said. "She's so perfect," Isobel said, smiling. "She is," Minerva said. "Even if she was born a few weeks early," Albus said. "She was a perfectly healthy baby girl overall," Minerva said. Minerva passed a now sleeping Rosemary over to Isobel. "She looks just like you," Isobel said. "I know, mom," Minerva said softly.

Minerva went to put Rosemary down for a nap. Minerva made sure Rosemary was peacefully asleep in the crib that Isobel set up in Minerva's room. There was enough room in the crib for Minerva to curl up with Rosemary in her cat form. Albus came to check on her and Rosemary. He picked the cat form of his wife up and moved her to the bigger bed in the room. She woke up, stood, stretched, and shook herself out on the bed as her cat form. She jumped off the bed and transformed into her human form in midair. "Darling, she'll be fine," Albus said. "I know. I was just worried about her sleeping," she said. "You fell asleep yourself. You could have said if you were tired," he said. "I know," she said. She sat down on the bed.

"Is it wrong to want to go back to teaching so soon after the baby is born? I mean, I love teaching at Hogwarts, but I also want to be there for Rosemary when she needs me," Minerva said. "We were able to convince the Ministry of Magic to let us raise our child at Hogwarts, even with all the dangers that are around. You want to be there for little Rosemary. I want to be there for her myself," he said. "She needs us there for her. I want to be there for her as her mother," she said. "Tabby, you've hardly been able to sleep in the last few weeks," he said. "Rosemary wakes up in the middle of the night, I need to take care of her," she said. "You don't sleep in between feedings," he said. "I know, I just feel like when I close my eyes, something's going to happen to her or the fact that she's going to start crying again. Oh Albus, I don't know how to feel about anything right now," she said. "You're exhausted," he said, giving her a hug. She buried her face into his robes. She started to feel better by being held by her husband.

Early the following morning, Albus woke up to purring. He knew that Minerva was in her animagus form. She just had to be. He turned over in bed and saw Minerva sitting next to him, feeding Rosemary. "How are you doing that, my dear?" he asked. "Doing what, Albus?" she asked in return. "Purring without being in your animagus form," he said. "Years of practice and a few weeks of being a mother," she said. "She seems to really like your purring. I like it myself," he said. "Albus Dumbledore," she said, purring like the cat her animagus currently is.