Having called for the lift, he looked once more towards Isla and found himself saying, “I’m sure that everything will be fine.” With confidence. When they had finally discovered that Isla was with child, he was undeniably ecstatic. Perhaps not for the best reasons, but he was excited all the same. They had made it this far and he refused to harbour any thoughts that would deny his, or rather their, success. Everything was going to be fine.

As the lift opened on level five, Isla stepped out, stopping for a moment to locate Healer Strout’s office. “It’s just down the end,” she told Rab, waiting for his acknowledgement before they made their way to the office, knocking lightly on the door.

The healer who opened the door was a middle-aged Witch, a mop of brown curly hair tucked under her healers hat. “Mr and Mrs Lestrange, please come in,” she chirped, ushering the couple in, “I hope you’re well.”

He had tried to ignore such feelings in the past, but they only seemed to keep growing. He was trying to ensure that his way of life would not disappear before his eyes. While he was not sentimental, he was still loyal to his family, Isla, and a few select others to varying degrees. He rolled his shoulders in an attempt to loosen them and where that particular train of thought led. Now was not the time to think of such things. Much easier to just focus on the long term, and not the short. There would be time to figure out his more personal loyalties once the Cause had succeeded. 

Having arrived in the dining room, he stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded at his wife’s parting phrase. Waiting a moment to ensure the path was clear he weighed the Floo Powder in his hands. The hairs on the back of his neck rose when he realized that he would be entering a situation that he knew nothing about. A situation that was just so domestic. He could not believe that he was doing this. Should have just let Isla go by herself.

With an air of one preparing to head into battle, he stepped into the clean fireplace. “St. Mungo’s.” He demanded in a voice that did not reveal any of his unease. Everything would be fine. He had larger concerns to plague his mind. 

Stepping out of the mantel at Mungo’s he checked his watch before scanning the hallway and catching a glimpse of Isla. He was about to usher her onwards, before coming to the realization that he did not, in fact, know where to go. He begrudgingly had to admit his lack of knowledge, grinding out the question: “Where are we going?

Within moments of arriving, a bubbly blonde Welcome Witch bounded over to Isla. “Welcome to St Mungo’s! Can I help you find something today?” Blinking at the enthusiasm of the young girl, Isla nodded. “Yes — yes, I have an appointment with Healer Strout,” she answered, looking behind her to see if Rab had arrived yet. After a few more moments of small chatter, Isla heard the fire behind her rile open, Rab stepping out soon after.

Isla found herself calming as soon as she set eyes on him. With how much they had tried and failed to fall pregnant, coming to this hospital — to these appointments — always made her feel nervous. With Rab by her side, it helped her remember she wasn’t alone in this. Thanking the welcome witch, she turned to him, “We’re on level five.”

Turning to look at the fireplace in question he couldn’t help but to raise his eyebrows loftily. “My office fireplace is not connected to the Floo Network.” Paranoid he may be, but he preferred misplaced caution over another exit into his home. “Perhaps the fireplace in the dining room.” He suggested instead, opening his arms to direct her away.

Rabastan had been trying to be more understanding of late. Considering that he no longer lived alone. It took some effort, but he was able to pull a solemn apology from who knows where. “Sorry for not telling you sooner. It just didn’t make any sense to have this fireplace connected to the Network.”

Isla looked over at Rab from the fireplace, her smile fading slightly. “Oh -- it’s fine,” she shrugged, albeit rather confused. She had the fireplace in her entertaining room linked to the network, for the convenience of her guests, and she thought Rab would have done the same. 

Sighing, he ran his hands through his hair.  Had anyone walked in at that moment they surely would have seen his hair going off in many different directions. Definitely not the collected appearance that he usually aimed for. There was so much to do and so little time. Time.

Pausing with his pen mid stroke he stared into nothing. Time. There was something important that he was supposed to remember, but what? Sticking the pen between his teeth, he flipped through the papers on his left, looking for something that he had forgotten. He shifted his jaw ignoring the pen moving from side to side in his frustration. He did not forget things. What was so cursed important about this day? Just as he was aligning the papers onto his desk he caught the glimpse of cursive on a bright piece of paper. “Mungo’s” it read in his own hand.

“Shit.” The appointment. Throwing the papers into his drawers and locking them with a spell, he hastened towards the door. Walking down the hallway he took a moment to re orient himself with his situation. Isla was finally pregnant and they were to see the doctor today. The back of his mind whispered the question of how good of an idea it was for him to be present. While he was not active in the field, that did not mean that he was not important to the Cause. A place like St. Mungo’s was sure to have at least a few unfriendly eyes. Rab knew that because he had placed some of his own operatives in Mungo’s. That thought itself relaxed that tiny part of himself. He had done his research on this doctor that they were seeing. They had no obvious ties to either side, and if that changed, well. Rab would fix it.

Rab reached for the door of their bedroom. He was about to turn the handle when he decided against it. There was no point in bothering her when he had a spare set of clothes in his office. He would see his wife soon enough, and deciding such he turned back to his office.

Rab was just settling his jacket on his shoulders when he called Isla in. “Yes, almost ready.”He replied, catching a glimpse of his reflection and was pleased to see that every hair was once again in position. 

Rab froze at his wife’s second question. Not because it was obscene, but because he had never thought about it. He had just assumed that someone else would deal with it. He didn’t treasure the idea of shopping for clothes for his son, but he also didn’t treasure the thought of the criticisms that he would get from his mother if something went wrong. 

So he was somewhat surprised to hear himself say, “I still have a fair bit of work to do, but we’ll see how long this appointment takes. I may be able to squeeze some time in for,” He felt the twitch of a smile “shopping.” Glancing around the room to make sure that everything was secure once more, he turned to his wife. “Shall we get going?” 

“I was thinking we could use your fireplace to floo into Mungo’s,” she offered with a small smile. She’d often found herself unable to stop smiling lately, no matter who she was talking to. Even around Gregor, she found herself getting less irritated with his antics than she normally did, an attribute she was just relating to her joy of finally being pregnant.

Closing the gap between them, Isla went up on her heels, brushing a small piece of lint off of his jacket. She knew that he, like her, wanted to appear completely put together — not a hair out of place.

Here’s the group of people that are interesting enough to be friends with, *raises his hand in a ball*