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Gregory Goyle had expected a quiet day at home. It was his day off, he was going to make sure dinner was ready when his witch got home from what was sure to be another taxing day of dealing with students who refused to study or turn assignments in. She loved teaching at Hogwarts but the end of term with exams never failed to make her want to swear off teaching for a couple years.
What he was not expecting was a knock at his door. He stood and went to answer it. As he opened the door he didn’t see anyone. No one on the street, no mail carrier that might have left a package. And then he heard a whimper. The saddest of cries. He looked down at his feet and there was a small bundle. It whimpered again and he picked it up, expecting a puppy or possibly even a kitten. Hermione was known in the neighbourhood for being fond of animals so that wouldn’t have been a surprise.
He quickly closed the door behind him and started to unwrap the thing in his arms and he collapsed back against the door as a pair of eyes stared back at him from the face of a baby. No more than six months old, this little one looked grateful to be somewhere warm. Such a look on the face of such a little child was heartbreaking and he instantly snuggled the little one to his chest. He wasted no time in going to the next door neighbour’s house and knocking on their door.
“Greg? Oh my goodness what have we here? Come in!” Mrs. Abernathy ushered him inside and sat him down on their couch.
“Someone just left him at my door Cathy. I don’t know who he’s supposed to belong to but who just leaves a baby outside on some random person’s doorstep?” he questioned and she tsked in reply.
“I’m going to go make him? Her? Doesn’t matter, I’m going to go get a bottle for you to make sure that baby is fed.”
He looked down again at the little face, staring back at him with such trust that he knew he couldn’t just be the next in line to abandon it. He thanked Mrs. Abernathy for the bottle when she came back into the room and sat next to him on the couch.
“Cathy, what would I need for the next couple days to make sure Hermione and I can take care of this baby?” Greg asked quietly as the little one practically inhaled the formula before falling asleep in Greg’s arms.
“Well, basics really. Diapers, wipes, formula, bottles. I’ll send you home with enough to get you through tonight. Poor little dear. This is absolutely me prying but have you and that cute girl of yours talked about children at all?”
Greg huffed a short laugh. “We’ve been lightly discussing the idea for the last couple months. Her being a teacher though, trying to plan things around the school year has been a hang up. The Headmistress of the school would be ecstatic if Hermione and I were to have kids though. She watched us grow up together at the school while she was still a professor there and has a soft spot for Hermione.”
“Oh? That’s sweet of her. Your Hermione is such a nice girl,” Cathy said fondly. “And you two would be such wonderful parents.”
“Thanks. I know kids are in the cards for us someday. Might even be sooner than planned though now thanks to what’s happened in the last hour.”
Greg made sure that the baby was secure in his arm before standing up from the couch. “I think I'm going to head back home and see if I can’t get things settled for this little one.”
“Let me go grab those things for you, don’t you move,” Cathy ordered and she hurried out of the room, coming back in a few minutes later with a backpack full of supplies. He thanked her again and promised to let her know what happened with the baby before walking back into his own home. There were still a couple hours before he expected Hermione to be home, and he figured taking a nap while the baby did was a good idea.
He gently unwrapped the blanket from around the child and saw it was dressed in a simple short sleeved onesie. He grabbed a diaper from the backpack and changed the baby, before wrapping it back up.
“Alright little man,” Greg said softly. “Nap time, and then my witch is going to come home and she and I are gonna have a talk about what to do with you. Whoever dropped you off at our door is either just really lucky or knows how soft Hermione is for things that need help and deserve better from the world.”
He settled into an armchair, the baby resting on his chest, and dozed off for the next while.
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks after stepping out of their fireplace. She had flooed home expecting to have a relaxing dinner with her husband before taking a hot bath and curling up in bed with her wizard. What she was not expecting to see was said wizard making dinner with one hand while rocking a baby in the other arm.
“Sounds like she’s finally here champ. Let’s go see just how quickly you win her over eh?” She heard him say before turning around to look at her.
“Hi babe. We have a visitor.”
“Gregory, what is going on?” she finally said, her heart still not recovered from seeing her husband so naturally holding a child.
“Someone left this little man on our doorstep this afternoon. I went next door and got some supplies from Cathy so we’re covered for tonight and then we can pop to the shop tomorrow for anything else we might need.”
The baby cooed and Hermione swallowed hard.
“I know you’re in shock and I still am too. But we’ve been talking about a family for a couple months now, and this may be our answer for now.”
Hermione walked over to him and looked down at the little face now staring at her. He was absolutely adorable and she couldn’t say no to that little face, but her mind was already whirring with a million different scenarios.
“Greg, we don't even know if he’s wix. Can we raise a muggle child in a wizarding home? Especially if we have other children later on who do have magic? We don’t even have anything to make him comfortable for tonight let alone any kind of nursery set up and…”
“Hermione. Breathe. We can make an appointment with St. Mungo’s for tomorrow and they can test and see if he has any magic and give him a full once over to make sure he’s healthy and okay. He eats like a champion and he’s been fairly easy for me today, though I’m sure it won't stay that way forever. Whoever left him at our door didn’t do so by accident,” he said as he transferred the baby into her arms.
Hermione teared up as she looked down into that little face, so open and trusting of her already after being so abruptly abandoned by someone who should have cared for him. His blue eyes broke her resolve and she snuggled him close, pressing a kiss to his dark hair as she looked back at Greg.
“First thing tomorrow we go to Mungo’s,” she said and Greg grinned back at her.
“First thing. I guess that means we should think of something to call the little guy.”
“Liam. Liam Alexander. Because he’s our little survivor,” Hermione said quietly and the little boy picked his head up the moment she said the name. Greg chuckled as he replied, “Either you guessed the name he’s been hearing for his entire life or he just likes the name. I think it’s perfect.”
“Alright then, Liam, why don’t we go see what daddy’s made us for dinner huh?” Hermione asked the little boy and Greg coughed at the new title.
“Your mummy thinks she’s being funny by springing that one on me, but you helped me make dinner and we both know she’s going to cuddle you to sleep tonight if I let her.”
“If you let me?” she asked indignantly as they walked back to the kitchen.
“I should let you because I’ve already taken a proper afternoon nap with him, but he’s so snuggly I don’t know if I will because then you’ll never give him back,” he replied as he pulled the plates from the cupboard and she huffed.
“Daddy’s trying to be mean, but we won’t let him, will we?” she cooed at Liam and he tried to talk back to her, gurgling some of the most adorable sounds she’d ever heard in her life. Unexpected was an understatement of this kind of curveball to their lives, but as Hermione met her husband’s eyes she knew that no matter what the mediwitch told them about his potential for performing magic, this little boy had just become their son and they would give him the best life any child could ask for.