And Then Comes Baby in a Baby Carriage
Characters: Madam Pomfrey, Druella Rosier, & Cygnus Black III
Taking note of the potions she needed more of as she went through her stock, Poppy cursed softly when she realized she was completely out of Dreamless Sleep Draught. Yes, it was one she rarely used with the students, but it didn't mean it was okay to be completely out of it. What if something happened? What then? It would be highly embarrassing for her and unfortunate for the student or professor who needed it. Putting a big circle around it after scribbling it down on her list, Poppy took a step back to straighten out her back.
"Oh," she grunted as it cracked. She wasn't forty yet, but already she was feeling some of the aches of age. She was quite lucky being a nurse to adolescents wasn't a strenuous profession. Minor aches and pains would (hopefully) be all she ever had to deal with. Suddenly, Poppy was pulled from not only her thoughts, but also her task by a familiar student's entrance to her office.
Putting on a smile for the teenager, she said, "Hello there Miss Rosier. What can I help you with today?"
Grim-faced, Miss Rosier asked, "Remember when I was twelve and you had to explain about the… that time of the month?"
Poppy gave a perplexed dip of her chin. "I do," she answered. While Miss Rosier was not the first girl, or the last, she had to explain menstruation to in the past three years, it was not so many that Poppy couldn't recall the names of the ones she had. All in all, she felt it was a strange thing for Miss Rosier to bring up. Unless… Was this her way of alerting Poppy about another girl who needed the talk?
"Oh dear, do I need to talk to someone?"
Miss Rosier's face flashed with something akin to frustration. She shook her head. "No."
"Well, then…?"
"I haven't had one in over two months now and I don't–" the teenager stopped abruptly, looking down to the floor as to hide the tears Poppy had just barely glimpsed. "I'm not dying, am I?""
Poppy clucked her tongue and approached swiftly. She knew she should have explained safe-sex to her! Trusting that a letter to Miss Rosier's mother would prompt the woman to take charge of her daughter's sex education was complete naivety on her part. Poppy would never be making that mistake again – consequences be damned! "No. Miss Rosier are you seeing a boy?"
"Yes, Cygnus Black."
Feeling the urge to sigh overcome her, Poppy pressed her lips tightly together as she took Miss Rosier by the hand and lead her to the armchair she kept in front of her desk. Giving the girl a gentle nudge to take a seat, Poppy went and sat on the other side of her desk. "Have you two had sex?"
Miss Rosier's face flared red. "Are you going to tell my parents?" she asked.
Poppy didn't hold back her sigh this time. "Miss Rosier, if my suspicions prove correct I will have to," she said.
The teenager wrung her hands together. "What are your suspicions, Madam Pomfrey?" she asked.
Leveling Miss Rosier with a lengthy stare, Poppy studied her face. There was quite a bit of fear there, embarrassment too. Poppy considered how to best broach the topic; should she do it indirectly with a soft voice and simple questions that would let Miss Rosier realize herself what it was that Poppy feared? Or should she just tell the girl outright what she thought the issue was?
If Miss Rosier was in the trouble that Poppy suspected, it was likely best she broke it to her now. That way, if it was confirmed, when her parents came for her she'd have her bearings together a little more than she would otherwise.
"I'm inclined to believe, if you and Mister Black have had sex, and you've missed more than one period, that you are pregnant."
Hands flying to her mouth, Miss Rosier exclaimed, "No! I can't! Cygnus always pulls out before–"
Poppy shook her head. "Pulling out isn't enough to prevent pregnancy," she said.
Shaking in her seat, Miss Rosier whimpered, "My parents are going to murder me!"
Poppy closed her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts. It was at times like these she wished the School Board would pass her proposal for a yearly seminar on puberty and sex for the students. It would, without a doubt, cut down on instances like these. It was more the pity that the ones who blocked her proposal were the same people who sent their children to Hogwarts clueless of the physical changes that they would go through in their final leg toward adulthood. They were also the same parents who never said a word about sex, which left their children to learn about it from friends and schoolmates who would misinform them on how to have sex safely.
It was thanks to those same parents that their sons and daughters ended up in the very situation Miss Rosier now found herself in. They were also the ones who would blame Miss Rosier for becoming pregnant and that, above all else, was what infuriated Poppy the most. If they would just let her teach the children about sex, she could (maybe) once and for all debunk things like the pull out method and prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Now, though, was not the time to be angry. Miss Rosier needed her. Standing up, Poppy walked around her desk to embrace the teenager. "Shh… Everything will turn out fine, you'll see Miss Rosier."
Voice muffled by Poppy's shoulder, Miss Rosier asked, "How do we find out if I'm really pregnant or not?"
"A potion. You let several drops of blood fall into it and then it will change to either blue for pregnant or yellow for not pregnant," Poppy explained, already reaching for her wand so she could summon the potion to them.
When the girl stepped back, Poppy brought out the potion. Pouring it into a bowl she also summoned, Poppy set it on her desk and then reached out for Miss Rosier's hand. The girl gave it. Pricking Miss Rosier's finger, Poppy let it bleed over the potion for a moment. After the liquid began to swirl, Poppy took her handkerchief from her apron pocket and wrapped it around the teenager's finger.
"Keep applying the pressure," she told Miss Rosier as she watched the potion begin to take its final hue. Miss Rosier gave a small sob when it settled on blue. Sighing, Poppy vanished the potion and said, "I'm sorry Miss Rosier. I know this must be a shock for you."
Dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of her robes, Miss Rosier asked, "Before you call my parents, can I… Can I go talk to Cygnus? Let him know?"
Poppy frowned. She wondered if this was a ploy. Once she'd let another girl leave her infirmary after finding out she was pregnant to tell the father. Instead of telling him, she'd gone to the library, found what plants would induce a miscarriage and then gone to raid Horace's potions stock for one of them. The resulting mess was something Poppy did not want to repeat.
"Please Madam Pomfrey? I promise I'll be back within the hour."
Poppy stared into the teenager's desperate eyes for almost a full minute before relenting with a little wave of her hand. "I'll be timing you. If you're not back, I will inform the other professors to find you for me and tell your mother and father about your pregnancy without you present."
Miss Rosier smiled. "I promise I'll be back in time. Thank you, Madam Pomfrey! You don't know how much this means to me." Canting forward, the girl wrapped her arms around Poppy's middle in a quick embrace before turning heel and hurrying out of Poppy's office.
Falling back against her desk, Poppy whispered, "Please let this not be a mistake."
-v-v-v-
Watching the clock, Poppy felt her stomach begin to knot as it entered the last five minutes Miss Rosier had to return before Hogwarts professors were sent to find her. Crossing her arms, Poppy grumbled to herself, "I should never have let her go."
It had been one thing with that other girl. Poppy had only just started her training then. While it had been stupid of her, letting a girl leave the infirmary in a state like that, it had been forgiven because Poppy was new and young herself. Poppy wasn't that twenty-six-year-old girl anymore, though. She was going to get in trouble for this if it turned pear-shape.
Getting up, she was just about to Floo call the headmaster when her office door swung open.
"I'm sorry, we're not late, are we?" Miss Rosier asked as she burst in.
Poppy glanced to the clock. "No," she said.
She smiled and looked behind her, "Thank Merlin!" she exclaimed.
Craning her neck, Poppy was surprised to see the girl had brought her boyfriend with her. "What is Mister Black doing here?" she asked.
The boy stepped forward. "I want to be here when Druella's parent's come." Glancing back at Miss Rosier, his eyes gentled as he reached for her hand. "No child of Black will be born a bastard if I have any say; and I wish to express this to Mister and Missis Rosier."
Miss Rosier beamed.
Poppy gave her own small smile and thanked whatever fates had played part in convincing this teenage boy to take responsibility for the life of his unborn child. Then she prayed to the same fates that he would not shirk on them once the weight of it settled fully on his shoulders.
"If you insist." Turning back to the fireplace, Poppy made a call to the Headmaster and alerted him to the situation. Gesturing for the teenagers to approach, she said, "We will have the meeting with your parents in the Headmaster's office, Miss Rosier. There will be much more to discuss than just the baby once your parents are told. A child has a way of altering how one's education path."
"I understand," she replied while giving Mister Black moon-eyes.
Returning her affectionate gaze with a smile, Mister Black said, "I'll take care of you and our child no matter what you choose to do."
"I love you," Miss Rosier whispered, leaning for a kiss.
Realizing the two were falling into a world all their own, Poppy cleared her throat and gestured for them to exit her office. "Come Mister Black, Miss Rosier, we mustn't dawdle. The headmaster and Mister and Missis Rosier are likely waiting for us."
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," the pair said in tandem.
Rolling her eyes, she followed the teenagers out.
They would be Poppy's happiest unplanned pregnancy story. She would recall it at later dates with a fervent need when other young girls stories did not play out the same and she needed to be reminded that not every unplanned pregnancy lead to unhappiness and tragedy.
I suspect this will be my longest piece in The Matron of Hogwarts. Teen pregnancy is a complex issue and I'm hoping that the length of this piece reflects that.
Also, I wish to make note that the pull-out method does not prevent pregnancy in rl either. So, please, if you're going to have sex with somebody and you're not looking to have a baby, use a condom if nothing else.
Thank you for reading and please review!
