The veil fluttered perpetually to an unseen breeze in an archway always on the brink of collapse. So old and mysterious was this construct that wizards and witches built their headquarters around it to study it. After many years of studying the veil it is believed to be a one way passage to the land of the dead and if you stand close enough to it you might be able to make out the whispers of lost loved ones. Over time and many years of stunted progress in understanding the workings of the veil has losts its popularity with magic researchers and the war going on above its chamber has made sure the veil is left alone, unchecked, unguarded. On the cusp of the climax of the war the veil did something it had never done before or was ever intended to do by its unknown maker. The veil bulged silently in small places slowing increasing all over its surface until it could hold no more and tore in several places releasing the souls that stressed it to its limits. The souls shot off in all directions looking for bodies to contain them while the veil quickly fixed itself to stop any more renegade souls from trespassing on the land of the living and settled back down into its timeless flutters once more. Of the souls that broke through one in particular traveled halfway around the world to the country of Australia to a woman in the early stages of pregnancy. Upon reaching its target it barreled through her and into the unborn child claiming its new body.
Mary’s strength left her like a kick in the guts causing her to stumble and almost fall if not for the quick reactions of her husband Zac.
“Woah you ok there dear?” Zac said with a hint of worry.
“Maybe, it feels like I have been drained all my energy just now” She replied on slightly shaky legs.
“Just give me a minute or two to get my bearings and I should be good”
“You look like you need a bit more than a minute or two, we should go to a healer like I said, they are much better than these muggle quacks you call doctors.” They had found about Mary’s pregnancy last week which gave rise to celebration but that didn’t last when the topic of where they should go for assistance with preparing for the arrival of the baby became a concern.
Zac’s comment earned him a glare from his wife. “I thought you agreed to stop calling us muggles after all you married one.”
He really needed to get a handle on that old habit, it really wasn’t doing him an favors.
“Besides I already told you I'm not putting our child in danger by going to them while they have their war going on, it's why you came all the way down here to get away from it after all.”
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The start of the war and appearance of you-know-who had shocked the wizarding community to the core causing some people to flee for their lives with zac being one of them. He wasn’t invested in the political conflict over purity of blood nor was his skill in magic much for praise so he figured he better get out of there especially when the death eaters started going after wizards not on their side. Zac fleeing from the war finally ended him up in Australia where he eventually meet Mary and was enthralled by her. They hit it off well and after a year of skirting around it he finally showed her magic which was meet with less amazement and wonder then he expected but it didn’t cause any problems and a few years later they got married. They went to visit Zac’s side of the family back in Scotland because unlike him they decided to stick out the war and were not to pleased with him fleeing let alone marrying a muggle. The visit was brief due to the war and hostile interactions with his side of the family they moved back to Australia where Mary become pregnant a year later.
“There are magic people here you know and so what if their magic is a bit unconventional I'm sure it will work out fine in the end.”
“I thought you said wandless magic was difficult and dangerous to do.” Zac has to pause a bit before responding.
“Yes… but while it’s not as reliable as using a wand they have been taught this way for years so I’m sure it's mostly safe.”
“No we agreed on this, we go to the doctors and you can ask them any questions you want since they are not like your healers with their trade secrets, now come on we are almost there.”
The pregnancy went well and the doctors did their job even under the barrage of constant questions from Zac. He still couldn’t get his head around how they were able to see the baby in the womb using something called ‘ultrasound’ let alone tell its gender. The only problem if you could call it that was when the doctors came back after delivering the baby boy asking to run tests on him because something felt off about him. The result showed the baby was perfectly health but they just couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness coming from the little one. Zac figured it was probably due to him giving off a little magic from the stress of being born and managed to convince wife it was nothing.
“What should we name him?”
“You don't have a name? Your his mother, shouldn’t you already have five or six planned out?”
“I couldn’t think of any and neither of our family have people I want to name him after”
They sat there for a while throwing names that popped into their heads back and forth.
“Dick?”
“Mmm no I'm not calling my son dick.”
“How about Jason?”
“He doesn't look like a jason.”
“Ok… hmm... you got any?”
“I was thinking maybe Tim.”
“He kinda looks like a tim but not quite there.”
“Ahh I got it, Damian.”
“Yeah I can see that, will go with it.”
Mary stares into the light blue eyes of her baby boy.
“My little Damian Anderson.”