One Moment In Time (Leah/B)

Leah was visiting the Boulangerie for the first time in a week. She had been too ecstatic over her newest job to spend any time in Muggle France. She had been hired as a professor (A professor!) at Beauxbatons; it was a dream come true!

She didn't know for how long (as was usual with her lack of childhood memories), but the brunette had always wanted to be a teacher. Working at the bakery hadn't been enough for her, especially when she relearned everything that she had assumed had been forgotten. Apparently, Leah had an affinity for Charms, especially ones used in healing, and the Headmistress at Beauxbatons had noticed it when she had applied for the position of Healing Professor.

Of course Leah was upset to have to leave the bakery, but it was a small price to pay to make her dreams come true.

The first thing that greeted the new professor as she opened the door to the bakery was the warm, heavy scent of brownies. Leah breathed it in eagerly, having missed it in her absence.

She greeted the bakery's owner, exchanging pleasantries, emphasizing the point that she was there as a customer, before she started examining the many delicacies displayed.

Blaire smiled as she walked down the streets of muggle France. It had been much too long since she had been here in the beautiful place. For the first time in about two years, she felt herself truly relax. Blaire was in France on official Hogwarts business, though, and so she could not do everything that she wished to; she had to hurry and get back to Hogwarts.

As Blaire continued down the street, the smell of brownies and other pastries overcame her. Unable to pass it up, she let her nose lead her to the place where the smells were coming from: a little French bakery called Boulangerie. She took a step in the door, inhaling deeply.

Blaire walked up to the large display case and began looking through the glass at all the different sweets. She was completely engrossed in them when something caught her attention: a flash of dark hair, very familiar dark hair. Blaire did a double take, not believing her eyes. She walked towards where the girl was, and for the first time got a good look at the woman's face. Blaire almost screamed out loud. It was Leah, Leah DeLuna, her best friend that had been missing for over two years.

"Leah!" Blaire said loudly, unable to control herself. She had begun to believe that she would never see her best friend ever again.

Leah barely registered the sound of the door opening and closing as tried to decide between brownies with almonds or brownies with chocolate chips; quite the predicament it was. She was interrupted, however, by a very loud scream.

Her head whipped toward the sound, not because it was attention grabbing (though it was), but because the person just happened to be screaming a name, her name.

Her hazel eyes landed on a small blond woman who was looking her as if she were looking at a ghost (well, as if a muggle were looking at a ghost).

Leah glance around uneasily, wondering how this woman knew her and why she was talking to her.

"Erm, do I know you?" she asked politely, trying to keep the wariness out of her voice.

Blaire walked towards Leah a bit, but stopped dead in her tracks when the words came out of her mouth. Blaire grew very confused at that moment. She doesn't know me? I'm her best friend! What the HELL is going on? Blaire thought, not registering anything.

"Leah?" She asked softly, moving closer to her. She looked her best friend in the eyes, but all she saw was confusion. "You.. You don't know who I am? Leah, what happened to you?"

Not wanting to draw any unwanted attention, Blaire walked away from the counter and towards a table, gestering for Leah to come with her, hoping with all of her heart that she would.

Leah watched as the blond approached her. Her happy mood was completely gone now (taking a vacation with her memories, most likely), and all she felt was confusion that was deeper than the Laurentian Abyss.

What does she mean 'what happened to me'? Leah thought confused. "No; not a clue," she said warily, taking a subconscious step backward as she answered her question. "Should I remember you?"

The blond walked over to a table, away from the counter, and gestured for her to follow. Leah hesitated. Her curiosity demanded her to follow her. But was that a good idea? A voice in the back of her mind told her that 'curiosity killed the cat', but then her curiosity jumped in and told that voice to 'shut up; knowledge brought it back'.

Still torn, Leah decided to just follow; she would regret not following later, she was sure.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" the brunette repeated.

"You really don't know me," Blaire breathed out. She couldn't believe it. Her best friend didn't remember her. She shook her head is disbelief. She breathed a sigh of relief when Leah joined her, albeit reluctantly, and leaned back in her chair a bit.

"Me? I'm Blaire Vandever," Blaire told her, feeling a bit of tightness in her chest. "I'm your best friend. And you don't remember me. And I need to know what happened. I haven't seen you in over two years! You just disappeared! You left your daughters with me! I had no idea where you were or even if you were still alive! Are you okey? What happened to you?" she repeated, anxious to know.

Leah's mind couldn't even begin to process what the blond woman, Blaire Vandever, had said. Best friend? She actually had one of those? Leah didn't consider herself to be the kind of person to have a best friend; everyone was on an equal plain of friendship for her.

Two years? That was as long as Leah can remember, nothing before. Could she really be her best friend? From before? The brunette couldn't believe that; she never gave her past much thought (mostly because it resulted in headaches when she tried to force her memories back).

Daughters? That was like a kick in the face. She had a daughter? No, she had daughters. That wasn't possible. No way in Hell could that be possible. But then again...

Leah's hand dropped down to her flat stomach without thinking. Having children would explain the stretch marks. So i wasn't fat, she thought dejectedly before she mentally stomped that out.

She stood up from where she was sat before, staring down at the blo--Blaire with a mix of apology and determination.

"I'm sorry, but you've got the wrong girl. I would remember having daughters, I'm sure," Leah said, attempting to put as much confidence into her words as she could. Secretly, she was trying to convince herself of this as well as Blaire.

Blaire sat there and watched as Leah took all of it in. There was a mixture of many different emotions, mostly surprise and disbelief, dancing across her face. A pained look crossed Blaire's face. All of this must be so much for Leah to take it. She should've thought about that before she opened her big mouth. Blaire mentally slapped herself as Leah replied.

"I'd know you anywhere. We've been best friends for 4 years," Blaire told her, a crease forming between her eyebrows. Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she reached into the messenger bag slung around her shoulder and dug around until she found her photo album. Blaire flipped through it and easily found two worn looking picture. The first was of the two women dancing with their dates at the Head of House party a few years ago. The second was of Leah holding two tiny pink bundles in what was easily recognized as a hospital room. "There, maybe those will help you remember," Blaire said, sliding the pictures over to Leah.

Four years, Leah thought, her confident mask cracking a bit. Maybe she's right...?

Blaire reached into her messenger bag and started rummaging for something. Leah watched, her resolve to leave dwindling in strength as the seconds ticked by. When the blond pulled a photo album out, her interest peaked, and she slowly sat back down.

Leah looked down at the pictures Blaire slid towards her. She was shocked; that was her! She examined the first picture thoroughly, trying to remember something. Nothing. No matter how badly she wanted to recall some form of memory for the two baby girls, nothing came up.

The second picture, however...

"I know that man!" Leah exclaimed, staring at the picture of the man she was dancing with in the picture. "He was found with me when I woke up," she murmured, calling the first moment she remembers 'waking up'. "I didn't know who he was; nobody did. He died a few minutes after the accident..."

A cold chill ran through the brunette as her grip tightened around the photo. She had known him? "Who was he? To me, I mean. What was his name?" Leah asked, glancing up at Blaire for answers.

Blaire watched as Leah looked at the pictures, looking for any sign of recognition in her eyes. In the first picture, there was none, but in the second, she saw a bit of a spark.

"C-Cain is.. dead?" Blaire asked, voice cracking. Cain Valerian, dead? She just couldn't get it in her mind. She sat for a moment and composed herself before replying. "His name is.. was.. Cain Valerian. He was your husband. You two were leaving for your honeymoon that last time I ever saw you. Accident? Were you in a car accident, Leah? Is that why you can't remember anything?"

Husband? Leah thought, alarmed. "First daughters, now a husband?!" she yelped, not wanting to believe it. "How much did I forget?" she whispered, glancing down at the pictures with wide eyes.

"We...we were just married? H-how long did I know him? How old were my daughters? What did we name them?" Leah asked, desperate to get as much information as possible. The man, her husband, Cain, had been buried in a cemetary nearby, with a headstone that was bare of everything but his death date.

"I-I'm not sure if it was a car accident," she murmured. "I just know it was an accident. The, the healers told me, when I first woke up, but I wasn't paying attention. I was more focused on why I didn't know my name," Leah explained, chuckling without human towards the end. She felt so stupid for not knowing what the cause of her amnesia was.

"Well, Cain was a coworker of ours. We've known him for about.. 3 years now. Your daughters are two years old, and their names are Kaytlin Hope and Katerina Faith. They were nearly a month old when you two got married. You left them with me when you left for the honeymoon, and I've raised them ever since," Blaire told Leah, wanting her to known as much as she possibly could.

"I may have to go talk to the Healers to see what it was. It must've been bad if they couldn't fix your memory, even with magic," Blaire said quietly. Things had just gotten so much more serious, and frankly she was a little scared. "Do you remember anything, anything at all, from before the accident?"

"Wait, I got married after knowing Cain for a year?" Leah asked, flabbergasted. That did not, in any way, sound like her. But it wasn't as bad as her next thought, "And I got pregnant after less than a year? I wasn't a slag was I?"

Despite her questions being focused on her lack of class in her older days, the brunette's mind was focused on her daughters. Twin daughters. Kaytlin and Katerina. I wonder who named them...

Leah thought hard, trying to remember something from before the accident. She had done it countless time before, and, just like those times, she couldn't recall much of anything. "I, I remember smells. And colors. Blue most of all; why is that? I remember eating chocolate chip pancakes, too. But, other than that, not much," she said. "Sorry."

"Yes, but you loved each other. So very much. From the moment you first met, there was something there, something that anyone could see. The way you looked at each other.. It was if you were made for one another," Blaire told her solemly. "No, you weren't a slag. The twins were a surprise. The best surprise ever. Those girls meant the world to you, and they mean the world to me."

"Blue was your favourite colour. And it had alot to do with your job, too. Chocolate chip pancakes... I'm afraid that's best left for stories at a different time!" Blaire said, face turning red. "Nothing else? Maybe taking you back to Scotland with me will help you regain something?"

Leah sighed. Blaire had answered her questions, but each answer just added a dozen more questions. She couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around loving someone; she hadn't even had a crush on anyone for as long as she could remember. "He was like my other half?" she asked uncertainly, not being able to grasp the concept. "And now he's gone."

The hazel eyed woman listened to her blond friend with rapt attention. Blue was her favorite color? Huh. She had always thought it was yellow. What was her job anyway? Why would it be associated to blue? And why did Blaire blush so much when she mentioned the pancakes? And, wait, "Scotland!?"

Leah stared at the smaller woman, gobsmacked. "Why would we need to go to Scotland? What's over there? Why aren't you answering any of my questions?" she rushed out, taking no breath in as she voiced her questions.

"Yeah, I guess you could say he was your other half," Blaire sighed. She had found her other half in David, Leah in Cain, but now Cain was gone, and Leah was alone. "I'm sorry, Leah."

"It's where you're from, Leah. You've been there forever, until recently. Our job is in Scotland, our friends and family! I'm trying, Leah, really trying to answer your questions! I just don't want to to get so overwhelmed you explode! This is alot to take in in such a short period of time!" Blaire told her, wanting so badly to tell her everything, to try in every way possible to get the old Leah back. "We work at a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in Scotland. You were the Charms Professor, and I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. You used to be the Head of Ravenclaw, and Ravenclaw's colours are blue and silver. I guess that's why you remember blue. Is there anything else you'd really like to know? About the girls?"

Leah didn't know how to feel; was she supposed to be heartbroken over someone she didn't even remember knowing? She sighed. Not remembering was a lot easier when you didn't know who you were.

"What are they like?" Leah asked after a few seconds of silence. "What do they look like? Can they walk? Talk? Do they look like me? Cain? Do they think you're their mother? Do they know about me? Do they think I'm dead?" The questions just kept coming, and Leah felt a twinge of guilt. She didn't want to overwhelm Blaire.

She wouldn't admit it, not yet at least, but the brunette felt a ravenous need to go back with the blond. But she knew she couldn't. Leah didn't remember anything; there was nothing there for her.

Nothing but your life, your daughters, your friends, your house, and everything you had ever known and loved, the same voice from earlier piped up.

"They're amazing. They look like both of you. Aside from their eyes colour, they're identical. Kaytlin has Cain's eyes, and Katerina has yours. They can both walk and talk, though Kat is alot more talkative than Kate. They know all about you. I promised myself that I'd tell them everything about you, and I kept that promise. They do know that I'm not their mother, though every once in a while they do call me mom, but only when they're sick or something like that. They usually call me Auntie," Blaire told her, feeling a pang of guilt in her heart. Leah didn't get to experience all the things a mother should with their child, like their first step and first word. "I tell them every night that one day you're going to come back, that you're not dead, and every morning when they wake up, they search the entire house, looking for you. They've got an entire photo album of nothing but pictures of you and Cain. They talk to your pictures sometimes, wishing you were there with them."

Blaire stopped for a minute to take a breath and think of anything else that Leah might want to know.

"They've both showed signs of magic. It won't surprise me at all when their letters arrive when they're 11. They are best friend, and they'd do anything for each other," Blaire told her more calmly, a sense of pride in her voice. She loved her goddaughters more that anything in the world.

Leah felt tears gather in her eyes. She'd always wanted children, and, knowing that she did have children but couldn't remember them, it made her feel so pathetic. "Th-they sound wonderful," she whispered, staring at the picture of her twins with something akin to awe.

The brunette glanced up at Blaire, wiping her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. "You really love them don't you?" she asked, smiling slightly. "I w--thank you, for taking care of them. I, I wish I could remember them; I want to remember them so badly.
I want to remember being pregnant with them, naming them, holding them, but I can't."

Leah breathed in a deep, shuddering breath. "I want to see them, to meet them, but I don't kno--", she stopped. What didn't she know? "I don't want to meet them, and not remember them. They probably know more about me than I do, Blaire. I mean, I don't even know who my parents are! What if I'm not everything they imagined? Or, if they meet me, what if they ask me why I never came home? I can't tell them that I didn't remember them, that I didn't know I had a home or a family to come home to."


She sniffled, mentally cursing herself for crying so much. "I don't know if I'd be brave enough to do that," Leah mumbled, staring at the table through bleary eyes.

Blaire was barely able to hold back tears. She wanted nothing more than for Leah to be able to remember, to know. She wished so badly that she would've never let Leah go, then she'd still have her.

"Yeah, I do. I do everything thing I do for them. I never make a decision without thinking about them first," Blaire whispered. It was all trie, all of it. "I want you to remember, too. But not remembering doesn't mean anything. They love you, no matter what. I've made sure of that."

A few tears rolled down Blaire's cheeks, unable to keep from falling any longer. "You're strong, Leah. I know you can do it."

Leah bit her lip. It was so strange to want to see someone so badly even if she didn't remember them at all. The desire was burning a hole inside her, and it just wouldn't go away. Blaire's words only made it worse.

"You're strong, Leah. I know you can do it." The words kept echoing through her head. Was she really? Could she really?

"Where are they now?" Leah asked, the thought occurring to her. Were they in France? Or were they back in Scotland? And, if they were, who was watching them? "Can I visit them soon?"

"They're back in Scotland. My house elf is watching them," Blaire told her. She had left the twins in the very capable hands of Specs, her house elf. "You can visit them whever you wish."

Blaire sincerely hoped that that would be soon, because the sooner, the better. The girls had been waiting for years to see their mother again, and Blaire knew they would be so happy to see her. Blaire smiled widely just thinking of the way their faces would light up when they saw her.

"How long are you in France for?" Leah asked, trying to think of how long she'd have to wait to see her daughters. "When do you think I can see them?"

The brunette was smiling now, albeit a bit nervously. Some time during their conversation, a swarm of butterflies seemed to have made its home inside her tummy. The fact that she didn't know who anybody from her past was left her wary of the outcome of her future visit, but the chance that she might get everything back made her ecstatic.

Above all, Leah wanted to see her children. Being a mom was all she ever wanted, and she had that. She had the chance to actually be a mom. She'd be damned if she didn't at least try.

"Unfortunately, I'm only here for a few more hours. I'm here on business," Blaire explained with a sad smile. She loved France and wished that she didn't have to leave to beautiful place so soon. "You can come back with me today and see them, or you can wait for whenever you feel ready."

Blaire wasn't sure if Leah was mentally prepared to see the girls yet, but if she wanted to, Blaire wasn't going to stand in her way. The girls' happiness was her number one priority, and she knew they'd be happy to at least know that their mother was okey.

"I want to see them," Leah said confidently, nodding her head determinedly. "But this is too much for one day," she added, sighing. "I know I want to see them, that I'm going to see them, but I'm not sure that would be the best for now."

As much as she would love to see her daughters (and she really wanted to see them), Leah knew that that wasn't the smartest idea. The last thing she wanted to do was a have a mental breakdown the very first time she met her children (that she could remember, at least).

"I-I think it's best if I met them later on," Leah smiled. "I have something I need to do before I confront my past," she added, thinking back to Cain and his grave. She had always made it a habit to visit the nameless man and leave a single blue rose there. She was determined to get his headstone engraved properly now.