S/V Quarters [May 1, 2019]

In a time when it seemed only darkness, pain, and fear for the future haunted everyone's mind with the threat of the Purgers growing, the Grace of the Heavens had seen fit to bestow upon those upon Earth one day of peace and perfection, where Mother Nature had halted in her crusade of thunderstorms and lightening that oft accompanied the wet, spring weather, allowing at least one day of perfection. A beacon of hope in the long, dark night of uncertainty and fear.

The sun's morning rays had just begun to caress the Hogwarts grounds and lake, slowly bringing the Castle's residents and occupants into a state of awareness, ready to greet this day of Grace. All except for one witch, that was, for she had been up for quite sometime, standing before her window, and staring at the light-kissed land with her emerald orbs deep in thought and contemplation, though with an aura of soft serenity upon her, glowing.

Being awake in the early hours was nothing new to the witch. After all, for nearly twenty years she had suffered from severe insomnia preventing her from any sleep. However, the reasons for that were catalyzed mainly due to factors such as stress and depression, the former due to the atmosphere of her high profile and high-pressured career, and the latter just being aftershocks of a lonely, isolated childhood. This mini bout of insomnia had nothing to do with stress or depression though. Quite the opposite, in fact..

With her arms wrapped gently around her waist, standing in front of the window above the grounds, Viper allowed her mind to wander. Exactly one year ago had been the Wizengamot ordered termination of ECHO, shattering Viper's entire world. She had spent the following weeks and months in severe depression, drinking, and misery, hating the world and all who inhabited it. The hand that Fate had dealt her had been her undoing, and she took out her frustration on anything and everyone that had come into her path. To the witch at that time, the termination of ECHO had marked the end of her life.

It was only when she had arrived at Hogwarts and encountered a new, different world than the fast moving one she had used to, and ultimately met Sevastyan, did she realize that it while the end of ECHO had been the end of an era, her time at Hogwarts was the beginning of another.

When she graduated from Hogwarts as a student, she had left assuming that the school had nothing more it could offer her, no lessons to teach her. Her time of arrogance and naivety was over, for with each passing day she learned more and more. Life now seemed limitless, beyond that of the greatness of careers, with the ocean of life blessed with the freedom to navigate all possible courses and outcomes with her Captain, Sevastyan.

It would be a lie to say that this was the life she had dreamed off, or the life she had desired. After all, for all intents and purposes, she wanted nothing more than to run an international Potions Lab. She wanted her name to live on in immortality with her Lab's glory shining on in her name. She never wanted to linger on in her roots at Hogwarts, educating the next generation of students, teaching them to make dull, simple potions such as cough relief.

And yet, at the end of the day, back in ECHO, she came home to an empty flat. Assuming she made it home at all and wasn't bound to the office night after night. She would wake alone; she would work alone, and ultimately go to bed, alone and unloved.

With a glance to her side, Viper gazed with adoration at the form of the man that held her very heart, deep in the sweet bliss of peaceful slumber. She would never be alone or unloved now. She had found her partner in life, and someone to always hold her hand, for whatever may come their way. A soft smile illuminated her face as she placed her hand over the bump in her abdomen, staring at wonder at the small flicker from within she had begun to feel a few days ago, but had now become quite pronounced into mini nudges, causing the witch to revel once more in the fact that in just a few months time she would become a Mother.

Was this her ultimate wish and plan in life? No, not at all. But was she happy? Yes. more than she ever thought possible.