A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews everyone! Animalwriter and myself both really appreciate them. Kat, there is definitely going to be some Sev/Sirius bonding time in future chapters, both in this story and the sequel I'm writing for Don't Leave Me. Just so everyone knows I'm going to be out of town for the next few days. Have a happy 4th of July!

Chapter 9

Lucy started packing the food into the picnic basket, "Dinah, I know I keep asking you things, but what was that ultrasounds thing you were talking about earlier? Something about seeing the baby?"

"Oh, it's wonderful!" Dinah said with emphasis, clapping her hands together. Severus looked less than excited about the prospect as he helped Sirius pack the beach things into another bag, but he didn't say anything. "They use sound waves that reflect off of the baby inside you and from the pattern it generates you can see its shape. You can watch it grow inside of you and see its head and feet and fingers and toes and its little body."

"Aww. That sounds…indescribable," she hesitated. It was one of those things she should probably ask Sirius about first but she already knew what he'd say. He enjoyed Muggle things too, just not to the same extent. "Do you think I could get one of those?"

Dinah smiled, "I'm sure we could arrange it somehow."

"We'll have to wait awhile I suppose. Probably not much to see now. This also means no more of my four-footed self for a few months, but it'll be worth it."

"Oh, that is strange," Dinah mused, "I wonder how that works. Can you even transform?"

Lucy nodded, "I can. In fact we did about three weeks ago or so. It's just from what I read when I was learning to transform it's strongly recommended that pregnant witches not transform. Especially during later stages of pregnancy. It's hard on mum and baby. Then there's having to make sure you manage to transfigure the baby as well as yourself. The research I read said for an unknown reason that's harder to do if you happen to transform into a smaller animal," Lucy blushed. With all that knowledge it probably seemed like she'd been planning for the future. She hadn't. She just liked being knowledgeable about things. "I read a lot."

Dinah grinned, "Don't I know it. Well, I suppose it's all for the best, then. And I'll let you know when is a good time for ultrasounds. We're probably about the same when it comes to how far along we are. Are we ready to go?" she changed the subject, gesturing to the picnic basket Lucy had just closed as the men walked back over to them, Sirius holding the filled beach bag.

"I think so. There's a couple blankets to sit on in the basket already. We can go to the spot where we're getting married if you want. It also happens to be a good spot for swimming, picnicking, and general merrymaking. At least I think so." Lucy led the group out of the house and down the road towards the lake.

"Give me that," said Sirius, taking the picnic basket from her, "You shouldn't be carrying that."

"Well now you're carrying both things! I'm capable of carrying something."

He shrugged, "It's fine. I've got it."

"I can carry the other," Severus offered.

"Thanks," he handed his former enemy the beach bag, "Appreciate it."

Lucy rolled her eyes and looked at Dinah, "Is this what we're going to have to go through for the next nine months?"

"I don't know about me, but maybe you are," Dinah grinned. "How about it, Severus? Could I carry that bag?"

Severus shot his wife an amusingly irritated glance, "Since there are two bags and exactly two of us are not pregnant, I can see no reason for you to carry it."

Lucy laughed and pointed, "Haha Dinah. Maybe you too."

"Well, at least my husband tried to put it in a logical framework," Dinah retorted, but she was grinning. "Besides, he might let me carry one if there were three bags."

"Perhaps," Severus's smile was light, "Until there are three bags present, we'll never know."

About fifteen minutes later Lucy walked into the clearing near the lake, hand in hand with Sirius. "Here it is! What do you think?"

There were trees scattered around the clearing, green now, but they'd be changing colors by the time the wedding came around. The lake was calm and off to the left Hogwarts was clearly visible. The clearing was big enough for a moderately-sized gathering and Lucy thought it would be absolutely gorgeous.

"This is beautiful," Dinah said, running forward into the center of the clearing and looking around, "Just like Hogwarts grounds, but with the added bonus of the lake right next to you." A very green spot on Hogwarts grounds was where Dinah and Severus had gotten married.

"I love it here," Lucy said, trying to take the picnic basket from Sirius, "I found it in my second year, while I was looking for a quiet place to read outside. Oh, would you give me that! I just want to spread the blankets out, not use the thing for body building."

Dinah laughed, "Really, I don't think lifting is much of an issue until at least the third trimester, but I'd have to research it."

Lucy stuck her tongue out at Sirius, who just sat the basket on the ground, "Thank you. Now," she said, spreading out the blankets, "would you like to eat? I'd like to, but I don't want to be rude."

"Go," Severus cocked his head toward Dinah and pointed to the food. She shot him a glare but happily marched over to the basket and helped Lucy take out the food.

"He thinks he knows me so well," Dinah rolled her eyes and bit into a sandwich.

A smile touched Lucy's lips, "He does. Besides, it's only logical. Neither one of us have eaten today. Unless you count the massive amounts of water you made us drink," she grabbed an orange and started peeling it.

"Aw, but that was fun, wasn't it?" Dinah joked; "Besides, babies need water."

Lucy laughed, "Yeah, great fun," she took a bite of the sandwich followed by an orange slice, "Either I was just really hungry or that's the best food I've eaten in a really long time."

Dinah had already finished her sandwich and grabbed another. In contrast, Severus had taken one bite and Sirius was still unwrapping his. "Well, these are very good," Dinah said.

Looking at both men, Lucy said, "We are putting these boys to shame. Don't boys usually eat more? Ron does, Bill and Charlie always ate more than me, and I'm sure you aren't pregnant enough to notice any change in the amount you eat. We already know that's not the case with me but still."

Dinah laughed, "I'm secretly hoping they had breakfast while we were gone. And maybe a late snack."

Sirius grinned, "We did. Or Severus did anyway. I had toast."

Lucy looked at her fiancée before turning back to Dinah, "He still eats less than I think he should. Blames it on Azkaban."

"I see," Dinah said, grabbing an orange of her own to peel, "Well, I suppose one's body can be conditioned to eat less, if you have to do it for a long time."

"Yes, I can see that. It can be rather irritating at times though," Lucy said, setting down the half an apple that was left. "Well, I think I'm going to take off my robes and lay out for a bit. You know, let the food digest some before jumping in the water."

Dinah looked up at the bright sun overhead and nodded, "Good idea. It's so warm out." They both removed their robes to reveal their bathing suits. Dinah was wearing a one-piece with mixed pale pink and black overlapping flowers. She leaned against Severus, "Enjoying your sandwich?

He had actually had to rip his head rather quickly from his food to turn and look at her when she'd leaned against him. He looked her up and down with a frown, "You are trying to distract me."

Lucy laughed, laying her head in Sirius lap, adjusting the bottoms of her coral bikini. "Of course we are. How do you think we got in the condition we currently find ourselves in?"

Severus managed to look embarrassed at that comment, cleared his throat and went back to his sandwich. Dinah giggled and looped her arm into his before leaning back and letting the sun hit her face.
"I think I like this condition."

Lucy smiled and closed her eyes, "Me too."


Leaving Severus, still in his usual black robes, on the picnic blanket where he remained perfectly satisfied and comfortable, Dinah hurried down to the lake with Lucy and Sirius for a short swim. She smiled as she stuck a foot into the water, thinking that he had told her to be careful before she'd left. She was certain he was going to be amazing through this whole experience. "Not too cold," she commented, walking further in.

Sirius picked his soon-to-be-wife and carried her to the water, Lucy laughing but saying, "I can walk, you know." He walked farther into the water before pretending to lose his grip, and dropped Lucy into the lake. She came up sputtering and shoving wet hair out of her face, "The water's not cold at all."

"No, it isn't," Dinah watched them with a smile, now up to her waist in the pleasant water. But she wasn't too disappointed that she couldn't swim with Severus like the other couple. She liked her husband just the way he was. Even if that did mean he stayed on the shore. And besides, she did get him to swim on their honeymoon, at night, when they were by themselves. That alone was a small victory. She dove under the water and came up, waving at him off in the distance. She could just make out him tilting his head toward her in acknowledgement and offering a short wave as he peeled an orange. She smiled and turned around, swimming into deeper water as the other couple playfully splashed each other.

"Dinah!" Lucy squealed just before Sirius dunked her. She came back up sputtering and laughing, "Help me!"

"Umm, I think I shouldn't get involved," Dinah laughed.

The next time Sirius dunked his bride to be she didn't come back up. Oddly he didn't look too panicked.

"Lucy?" Dinah swam over to the area, looking around, and then shot Sirius a glance, "What happened to her?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. I suspect she got tired of me dunking her and swam away."

Dinah jumped when Lucy reappeared a few feet from them, "Sorry Dinah! I didn't mean to scare you like that," she said, swimming back closer, "My father's house isn't too far from the ocean. I spent a lot of time there during the summers. I'm an excellent swimmer. No need to worry."

"Oh," Dinah said sheepishly, "Sorry."

Her concern was waved away, "That's all right. How were you to know? It's not like we've really discussed my past much."

Dinah backed up a couple steps as a grin spread across Lucy's face and her friend's eyes darted from Sirius to Dinah, seemingly trying to tell him something.

It seemed she'd been lured over to them so they could force her into their water fight. Or at least that's what she thought as Lucy jumped at her, knocking her down and under the water.

"That's not funny!" Dinah shouted when she came up for air, but she was laughing when she said it. She splashed Lucy but her friend, true to her word about her swimming prowess, glided effortlessly out of the way and instead the wash of water slammed into Sirius.

Instead of getting upset he just laughed, throwing water back at her.

Soon they were all laughing and splashing and dunking each other in the warm water of the lake. The water fight continued on and they eventually found themselves farther out from shore than they had been. When the fight died down Lucy looked around at the lake and sighed, "It's hard to believe everything that happened here sometimes, isn't it? It's all so calm."

"Mmhm," Dinah pushed a strand of wet hair out of her face so she could see the lake better. "It's really beautiful out here. Hopefully nothing bad ever happens here again."

"Well, there is the Tournament later in the year here, but I doubt anything tragic will happen then."

"Surely not," Dinah agreed. "Everyone is so dedicated to making sure it runs smoothly this year, and I really think all the threats are truly exhausted now."

Lucy stopped and turned to look at Dinah, "Me too. Well, except for the dangers that come with being involved in the Tournament itself. The tasks aren't exactly easy as I understand it."

"So I've heard..." Dinah trailed off, and then smiled, recalling one of her favorite scenes from the pensieve regarding the Triwizard Tournament. Severus had put Minister Fudge in his place, if only for a moment, by shoving the dark mark in his face, forcing him to look at it and accept that Voldemort had indeed returned. Then again, Fudge had quickly ignored it, but still, the look on the old Minister's face at that time had been impressive. And put there by her husband, probably one of strongest, most courageous men alive. Then again, mentioning it to him only made him remember Dumbledore implying he could have been in Gryffindor, which always disturbed him to no end. It was actually rather amusing. He preferred to think of Gryffindor as no more than a second house, and their shared second house was represented by the gold in their wedding rings.

"Well, all we know for sure is we aren't the ones who will be deciding. Besides," Lucy smiled, "we'll probably be missing at least one of the tasks anyway."

Dinah smiled back, "Yes... you know I just realized we'll have to look forward to telling Minerva all about us both being pregnant. I wonder how she'll choose to deal with it. Somehow I don't think Hogwarts has ever had two pregnant professors at the same time before."

"Not in recent history anyway. I wonder what sort of substitutes they'll get for us. I mean I don't plan on using a syllabus really. I didn't last year and that's probably hard for a sub."

"That's a dilemma," Dinah agreed, "Well, hopefully we're not missing for too long. I'm calculating...for me, it will probably be the end of February when the baby comes. So that's only a few months missed, presuming I go back the next year." She smiled, "With both Severus and I as professors, I bet we can have our schedules designed so we're never both teaching at the same time. Or, not a lot."

Lucy began counting on her fingers, "March, I think. That sounds about right. I'm sure between the three of us though we'll be able to watch the babies. We might even be able to take them to class occasionally. After all, while they're still young they'll probably sleep quite a bit."

"Four, you mean," Sirius said.

Lucy looked confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Between the four of us we'll be able to watch the babies. After all, I assume once we're married I'll be allowed to live with you at Hogwarts."

"Oh, right," Lucy said, scrunching up her face, "I hadn't thought of that. Between the four of us."

"I hadn't thought of that either," Dinah smiled, "Won't that be fun? We'll have to have regular dinner parties or something."

"Oh, we should! But not more than once a week," Lucy said, referring to Severus's comment earlier in the year about not wanting to share a meal with them more than once a week, once a month if a film was involved. Dinah grinned and nodded before the other woman suddenly covered her mouth, stifling a laugh, "You know if we have one of each…well let's just say it would be amusing if they ended up dating at some point."

Dinah couldn't stifle her own laugh in response, "That would be amusing. Perhaps a little cliché or far-fetched, too. Then again, you never know." She turned and looked back towards the shore. Severus had finished eating and picked up that silly potions book again. She grinned, "I think I'm going to head back up to shore now. You two enjoy."

"All right. We'll see you when we come in. Probably not too much longer. We've got to finish that Monopoly game."

"Yes. I still have to make my comeback and win," Dinah smiled and left her two friends to start another water fight, swimming and then walking up towards shore and out of the water. Severus put his book down just as she plopped down next to him on the blanket. "That was fun."

"I noticed," he said, smiling slightly.

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "Nice day. This has turned out to be a lovely summer so far, huh?"

"Indeed."

"Um, Severus..." she whispered, twiddling her fingers, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Hm," he replied.

"Don't be unresponsive!"

"What would you like me to say? You've told me. It's over and done with."

She lifted her head and turned to look at him, "So you're not mad at me?"

One corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile. "I don't think getting angry with you would be productive."

"Oh?" she teased, "But it's productive to get angry at me over taking you to see a Muggle movie?"

"That's entirely different," he smiled, "You have to realize your limits, Dinah. You can't make me see a Muggle movie on the same day that you force me to wear white."

Dinah laughed, "But it makes you look so pretty."

"And that's supposed to please me?"

"You know it does."

He chuckled and turned to face her, tilting her face towards his and kissing her lips. Then he let his hand float down to rest on her stomach; "So...this is really happening, isn't it?"

She flushed and placed her hand over his, "It is." When her husband closed his eyes for a moment in response she became a little concerned. "Severus?"

"This is a good thing," he said after a bit, opening his eyes and smiling at her. But she wasn't sure what she thought about his tone earlier. "I suppose it will be an adventure."

Dinah smiled and nodded, "Hopefully one we're not too old to have."

Severus laughed, "I think our teenage years are still fresh enough in our minds, after last year's adventure."

"Then we're sure to drive our children crazy," she grinned.

Her husband looked away from her and out at the lake, where they could just make out the figures of Lucy and Sirius swimming side by side parallel to the shore, "Perhaps you will simply by stealing all of their food."

"Hey!" she exclaimed, flushing, "I resent that!"

"I know," he smiled, pleased with himself; and then paused and frowned. "We have to make certain...they'll have a good life. No mistakes. No doubt you'll be an excellent mother, but me...my track record and my history is..."

Dinah sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, inching closer to him on the blanket, "You're not going to be like your father."

He looked back at her and ran a hand through her hair, "Not with you around."

She shook her head, "You don't give yourself enough credit. It's not just me. You wouldn't be like that anyway."

"Thank you," he tilted his head as he regarded her, the smile on his face widening a bit, "But I wouldn't be having children without you around anyway, so that's all irrelevant."

"I don't think so. It's the principal of the thing."

"Perhaps," he looked happy, though, as he turned to look back out at the lake. Sirius and Lucy appeared to be done swimming.

"Severus," she inched closer to him, resting her fingers lightly on the back of his neck, feeling his muscles tighten a bit at her touch. Although he hated to admit it in words, he couldn't resist her when she flirted like this. She smiled and whispered in his ear, "I love you."

He turned and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close so that she was pressed up against him. His eyes met hers; "You're everything to me."

"Oh, Severus," she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting herself melt into him as he kissed her again. A few blissful moments passed before they were interrupted.

"Well, well, do you think you might want to get a room?" Sirius's voice teased.

Dinah flushed and Severus pulled away as rapidly as he knew how, which was pretty fast. She laughed and looked up at a dripping wet Lucy and Sirius, smiling down at them, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. After all we aren't public," Lucy quipped.

"You startled me," Severus grumbled at her.

Lucy shrugged, grabbing a towel, "We've been yelled at a time or two for similar things. In fact Rosmerta prefers us to sit on opposite sides of the table when we go to the Three Broomsticks."

Dinah laughed, "I know, I've seen it."

Severus, who had turned back to the picnic basket and promptly closed it, now stood up; "Are we finished here?"

"Aw, are you sure you don't want to strip down and go swimming with me?" Dinah joked.

He frowned and looked away, "That... is a stupid question."

Lucy and Sirius looked rather awkward, staring at Dinah. "Um, no offense or anything but there are very few people I want to see naked outdoors…or indoors for that matter," Lucy said.

Dinah burst into giggles, "You two are so literal. I meant strip down to his shorts and I also knew that there was no way he was going to say yes. But now that I've seen that horrified look on your faces I think I've seen everything."

"Not quite everything," Lucy smiled. "There's still the experience of two very fat professors dancing at the Yule Ball to witness."

"Yes," she laughed, "There is that."