NOTE: The U in the bracket basically means that the chapter is unedited. So, just bear with, in case you notice grammatical, punctuation, spelling or any other error. I'll come back and some point and edit it.
For now, enjoy!
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In his past life, Meredith had heard an argument several times: the argument about how giving birth was painful. The girls always seem to think there was no worse pain in the world!
'Well, F**k you all!'
Being born, in his opinion, was just as painful, if not more! Try being squeezed through a super narrow tunnel and see how you feel! He felt he was gonna come out of the other end not as a baby, but ketchup! And just when you thought it was over, your tender ass - Oh! gotta say arse now - was smacked just so that sadistic bastard of a doctor could take his pay!
As he was venting, he recalled his name in this life. Moonfluff. Yes, that surname was unnecessarily cute. 'Baby Moonfluff' was even more so! He could just imagine what his surname would do to his adolescent life.
'I don't even need to get to adolescence, just look at the pitying looks those nurses gave me when I was named!'
Meredith C. Moonfluff.
That was the name the reincarnated soul was given by his mother. 'Yeah, it was a good thing that weird cosmic entity took away my name. No normal person would be able to stomach that surname.'
That, however, didn't mean he disliked his name! He actually didn't care about his surname.
And the process of naming was apparently quite special.
He remembered the moment he was named. The moment Mrs. Moonfluff uttered his name, his Magic reacted to it. It became a powerful imprint on his Mind, Body and Soul. His Magic thrummed in acknowledgement of the name, changing his Mind, Body and Soul in a way he couldn't begin to comprehend. It gave him an identity. It was an incredibly wondrous experience: he felt as though he was suddenly whole, as if he was incomplete before. And the name completed him. Apparently, one's sense of self was more important than he'd initially thought. He didn't understand how the whole Name Magic schtick worked, but he definitely liked his given name.
Meredith.
'I like my name!'
This was his first thought upon hearing his name. He vaguely recalled it meant great lord or something like that. It was a name that was rather old; from around the 15th century or so. But he still liked it! It sounded cool!
"I am gonna be a great lord, indeed! The greatest Lord of Magic!" he exclaimed to the world.
And those around heard, "Gugu gaga, Gugagu! Gugu!"
Mrs. Moonfluff and the surrounding adults chuckled and felt that babies are indeed cute and bundles of joy.
Another thing Meredith noticed was the first time he was breastfed. That was another nightmare for little Meredith. If being born was a physical pain, then this was on an emotional level. The disgustingly large amount of 'culture' he had read and watched in his past life, which included tags that started with 'i' and ended with 'est', didn't allow him to think of breastfeeding as just something that is necessary. He had tried to escape - instinctively - from his mother's arms, but he was just a baby. He cried - which made her doubly sure that he was hungry. In the end he was fed.
However, at the moment of contact his Magic reacted once again.
A strand of his Magic seemed to stretch out and connect to his mother's. As he was fed, his Magic seemed to slowly grow stronger. He felt undeniable happiness when he was in close contact with his mother. A sense of warmth that made him feel incredibly comfortable. He felt a sense of safety, as if nothing could hurt him. And he liked that feeling a lot.
'Is this some sort of wizardly imprinting, or something?' wondered Meredith. As this woman was basically a stranger to him. Sure, with time he'd come to see her as his mother and love her, but he didn't expect it to be this soon. And he didn't mind it, the feeling of belonging came from the deepest part of his soul. This wasn't his Magic forcing him to feel love for his mother. His Magic only reacted that way because he wanted it. And he knew that his mother felt the same, possibly an even stronger and deeper emotion.
'Love, huh?'
As he thought about it, he realised that the protection Lily Potter had cast on Harry at the cost of her life probably had something to do with this connection.
'Magic is truly a wonderful phenomenon', these were his last thoughts as he slipped into the arms of blissful sleep.
-x-x-x-
It had been a month since he was born. For most of the first month he was actually just sleeping. He kept slipping in and out of consciousness as his body was adapting to the obviously stronger soul. By the end of the month he could keep his consciousness for a longer period of time.
During the next few weeks, he observed his parents. Well, parent. It was just his mother, his nanny and two house-elves that lived in their home. There seemed to be no sign of his father. He was probably no longer of this world. Meredith felt that it was a shame as he'd always wanted a younger brother or sister to bully.
'Oh well, you can't have everything', he sighed and let it be. 'On the brighter side, mum won't have to divide her attention between me and someone else'. Meredith loved that sense of happiness, warmth of comfort when she held him and didn't want to share. Meredith didn't know it, but he was slowly becoming a mama's boy through and through.
His mother - also, his current favourite person in this world, and probably for a long time to come - was a beautiful woman with jet black, shoulder length hair and equally black, almond shaped eyes. She had a sharp nose and sculpted lips. All of the features set on a beautifully sculpted face that gave off a strangely noble, yet kindly feeling. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. Although Meredith knew that, for magicals, this look could mean anything between 20s to 40s. They grew up fast and aged slower. Powerful magicals had super-long lifespans, the Headmaster of Hogwarts before Dumbledore, Armando Dippet, had lived for more than 300 years.
His mother's name was Joanna Moonfluff (nee Alberts). She seemed like a kind person. At least, to him. She loved to play with and pamper little Meredith. Her favourite game was showing Meredith his face in the mirror and watching him giggle innocently. His exact thoughts when he saw himself in the mirror, though, were anything but innocent.
'Mmmh~! Look at that face! I'm definitely gonna be a lady killer when I grow up.
'Ah! I already feel sorry for the girls whose hearts will inevitably break!', he lamented narcissitically. 'Maybe I should consider building a harem? That way, fewer hearts will break'. He felt it was very noble of him.
Of course, these dreams would remain just that - dreams.
He also had an uncle who visited on the weekends with his wife. Mr. Fredrick Alberts and his wife Mrs. Darlene Alberts. Uncle Fred - he called himself that when he was baby-talking with Meredith - was a portly man with a glorious moustache, the same black hair and black eyes as his mother, sharp nose and a face that would be handsome if it was not as round as it was. He was Joanna's elder brother by 7 years, a typical uncle that seemed to get along with kids.
Aunt Darlene was a rather tall - taller than uncle Fred - and attractive woman, with deep blue eyes, and blonde hair reaching her waist. She had a face that reminded him of that Elizabeth lady from Pirates of the Caribbean. She was a reserved woman who didn't like to talk much - at least that was something she wanted you to think. Now, why would someone say that? Well, it was one particular incident that had squashed Meredith's impression of Aunt Darlene.
It was on one of those weekends that Uncle Fred and Aunt Darlene had come over, in the evening.
It had been exactly 1 year and 9 months since Meredith had been reborn. After talking for a while, Joanna and Uncle Fred said they had some work at Gringotts; something about setting up a Trust Vault for little Meredith and Darlene had agreed to take care of him for the time they were gone.
At the gate, Joanna and Fredrick walked to the edge of the anti-apparition wards.
"Do you think she'll be alright?". Joanna was quite worried: this was the first time she'd be farther than 10 metres from her baby.
Uncle Fred just snorted, "Don't worry, she'll be alright."
With that short exchange they reached the edge of the wards and apparted away.
After waving them goodbye at the fireplace, Darlene briskly walked back to Meredith's room. At that moment, Meredith was sitting on the floor and staring at a ball intensely, with his back towards the door.
'Move! You little shit! Else, you will feel the wrath of the Lord of Magic!'
Like any other decent reincarnator he was trying to do wandless magic. He'd given himself several exercises: practising easy spells like Lumos, Reparo, Magic-based Telekinesis, Emotion-based accidental magic. He had been doing this for half a year now, with no success. The third which he had thought had the highest possibility of success also didn't work.
He was so concentrated at this moment that he didn't notice Aunt Darlene at the door.
'Aaargh! Just move, goddamn it!!' he internally screamed. He was raging as he pointed at the ball. Nothing happened.
'Damn it… Why's it so hard?!'
He pouted, feeling rather depressed. Right at that moment, he felt two hands pick him up and as he heard: "Aww~! Why is my sweet little Meredith so down~?"
Meredith didn't reply, as he was currently processing what he just heard. It wasn't that he didn't understand, no, he was having a hard time associating that tone with that voice. As he was turned around to face the one he'd dubbed the most lady-like lady: Darlene.
She squeezed his chubby cheeks into all kinds of shapes, then proceeded to rub them to her heart's content, while muttering something with a flushed face. All the while, Meredith had one question in his mind: 'Is this really Aunt Darlene?!'
That day he understood what people meant by not judging a book by its cover.