[ French Veela Coven, February 14, 1960. ]
— POV Ariel —
And here I am again in the coven I fled from, back where I returned. Though the conditions here are completely different, since French veelas have the same rights as ordinary wizards. Moreover, many admire their beauty and abilities.
No, like everywhere else, there are purebloods supporters here, as well as those who simply hate magical creatures, but there are far fewer of them and they're not as zealous as in England.
For the first time, I felt some attitude toward myself other than contempt, pity, or lust. Of course, Viktor was the first, but he occupies a special place in my heart and beneath it. But for everyone to treat me this way, this was new, despite my empathy, I literally couldn't believe it! And this frightened me.
Besides, there was quite a bit of money: enough for a couple of years, I didn't want to leave my child at such an early age alone or with a nanny and go to work. Another reason was studying magic, which I missed because of those damn English! How I hate them now!
Before, when I didn't see the difference, when I was used to that life, I simply didn't understand how terribly they treated us! Though, more likely, I just tried not to understand it, deceived myself.
I'm afraid if I return there again, I'll either kill myself or finish off more aurors who come after me. No, I wanted to give him or her as much love and attention as I possibly could. That's exactly why I rented a room in the coven dormitory, which cost three to four times cheaper than a similar one would cost in Flower Alley — the Parisian equivalent of Diagon Alley.
…
Half of my free time, besides household chores, I spent studying the textbooks Viktor left behind, to which I added the complete Beauxbatons course for comparison, and training with a magic wand, which I had to replace with a more suitable one.
However, I would never throw away Viktor's wand, I'll keep it for our child as a symbol of memory of him.
Only after several days did I realize that I didn't even have a photograph of him left, which made the things he bought and gave me the highest value for me, especially the bracelet he asked me to keep.
The second half of my free time I devoted to French and meditations, which my beloved taught me. I myself felt how I became stronger after them, I was filled with energy, which I spent on practice, and some part was absorbed by my child. Which made me happy, because he or she will become stronger!
True, lately I've been oppressed by the feeling that something is interfering with his development, foreign energy was penetrating into him! I activated true sight and felt nothing, they also couldn't help me at the French magical hospital, named after Louis de Fernier, saying that the child was growing healthy and strong. Even too strong, judging by the fact that due to magical interference they couldn't determine the gender.
However, this didn't calm me, and I began to meditate even more often and purposefully fill my body with energy. Moreover, though Viktor said I needed to absorb energy from different sources, I got more and easier from fire, which wasn't surprising, all veelas can control fire without any wands, especially in our second form.
Therefore, transforming, I would light a fire near the dormitory — and absorb as much energy as I could. I won't let anyone harm my child!
***
— POV main character —
I tried with all my might, squeezing my reserves to the end. Eventually I fell into a trance from constant meditation — and entered a state without time and space, where only I and my goal existed for me.
Only, one day I was simply sucked into my body, and I couldn't do anything more, only guess that my vessel's shells were merging with mine. Thanks to the emblem and my infusions, there was no rejection and the process was apparently going successfully, and then I lost consciousness.
I woke up from all-consuming pain, as if I was being dragged through a tube smaller in diameter than myself. And then horror overwhelmed me, am I being born? What the hell? Can this be skipped? Please, I want to lose consciousness again!
Eventually they pulled me out of the womb... a blurry spot, can't see a damn thing! And this spot said something in French, too bad my ears are clogged. What the hell? Can't see a damn thing, can't hear, and can't move, reminds me of the bachelor party at university when I overdid it.
Only then my whole body didn't hurt, my lungs weren't coughing up amniotic fluid, and they weren't hitting my ass. Why are you hitting me, you bastard? Everything hurts already! Want me to scream? Well listen, damn you...
***
"What an active boy you have," the doctor told his veela patient, handing the child to the nurse, who immediately carried him away. The patient was surprisingly quiet and calm. Usually, during childbirth, representatives of their magical species are quite aggressive and often transform into their second form, making the obstetrician's work much more difficult.
Once one of his colleagues compared delivering a veela's baby to taking an egg from a dragon, and he agreed with that. However, everything went well, and all the better for him.
"Don't worry, I checked him, and diagnostic charms showed that he's healthy and has no abnormalities."
"I want to see him, may I? And thank you for everything, Dr. Bonnar," Ariel asked excitedly.
"You're welcome — it's my job. For now, rest, the child will be washed and brought to you," the man replied with a tired smile to the new mother.
Not only does childbirth exhaust the woman in labor, but also the staff. Though magic solves many problems, it can't be used at the moment of birth itself. Babies are still too weak and sensitive, so they must be delivered the old-fashioned way, by hand. Otherwise, foreign magic can harm the mother or child. In extreme cases it's used, but usually they try to manage with anesthetic charms.
Also, the doctor didn't voice his suspicions about the child, because he had delivered dozens of little veelas in his career and could always easily determine by the face whether it was a boy or girl. Veelas are very similar to each other and have light hair and blue eyes.
And today for the first time he was puzzled observing clear veela features in a boy. However, he quickly dismissed these foolish thoughts, who knows, maybe his father was a blue-eyed blond?
***
"Hurray! My little pepper?!" — I was crying, I pissed myself, but I didn't care at all. How is this possible? After all, my efforts weren't in vain and my Jr. is with me!
And the increased reserve, healed scar on the astral body, and strengthening of all shells didn't concern me at all. Ariel tried to calm me down, shoved her tit, nice-looking by the way, into my mouth, and I gladly latched onto it. My great battle is won!
When I woke up, my groundless joy subsided, they fed me a delicious tit and even changed my diapers to clean ones, so I could think a bit more rationally. By the way, about thoughts, I was thinking even in soul form, without a body! This question will need to be considered in more detail when I get access to the translation, there was something like that there.
And so, I'm lying here, meditating on autopilot and feeling that everything, I'm done for, the nous is overflowing! The feeling is like drinking ten liters of beer with the toilet occupied. What to do, who to pray to?
There are children around and if I explode with a magical discharge here, I'll be guilty of the death of a couple dozen infants. Not the best start to life, I'll tell you.
Going through everything that settled in my leaky head after the translation, and quite a lot settled — after all, I had to translate almost every word, I remembered one interesting spell from healing magic — return of life, which can be performed by direct control. It converts mana into prana, that is, into life energy.
Urgently, I began performing the necessary actions and felt the excess energy flowing away like water into dry sand. Phew, it worked.
I'm now my own hero — I find myself problems and valiantly solve them on the edge of a foul. Should have thought earlier, idiot. And the idiotic habit of constantly meditating doesn't excuse me. But now I can convert mana to prana, albeit with a terrible coefficient of about twenty to one, if not less, and not suffer magical discharges when it's not needed or frankly dangerous.
That's how my second life began.
***
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