December 1977

When the night of the Slug Club Christmas party came, Rosalee was far from ready. She had intentionally avoided any of Gryffindor's parties since the first one of the school year, and the only reason she hadn't already changed her mind about going was that Remus was going with her. She sighed and looked in the mirror one last time. She'd finally dyed the blonde strands of her hair to match the brown roots, and she'd regained the weight she'd lost on the run, so she was finally starting to look like herself again. Despite that, she still only truly felt like herself when she was alone with Remus in the Room of Requirement. She smoothed the silk pale blue dress that James had insisted on buying for her the last time they had visited Hogsmeade before heading down the stairs to the common room, where Remus waited for her. He met her at the bottom of the girls' stairway and gave her a soft, sweet kiss. Pulling away, he said softly, "You look beautiful."

Rosalee turned pink and mumbled a thank you, and the two went down to the dungeons, where Slughorn had set up a rather spectacular party. Red, gold, and green decorations had exploded all over the room, which was crowded, hot, and stuffy. There were lamps containing fairies that shone brilliantly, and someone in some unseen corner of the room was singing Christmas jazz along with a big band that played. House elves from the kitchens scurried around with silver platters of food. Sirius came bounding over to them through the crowd. "Hello, you two, fancy meeting you here," he said with a laugh.

Rosalee giggled as Sirius swayed slightly, off balance. "Should I assume you've already been into the liquor?" she teased.

Sirius barked out a loud laugh. "Well, me and my date. You know Marlene McKinnon, don't you? She says she's in your dorm room." Sirius pointed to a pretty girl with white blonde hair, who waved and held up what looked like two glasses of scotch on the rocks. Rosalee and Remus waved back, and Sirius said with a wink, "She's an awful lot of fun to hang around. Well, I'll see you two later. I think I might just have to try to catch her under the mistletoe. You two have fun!"

Remus and Rosalee laughed as Sirius bounced back over to Marlene and took the glass of alcohol from her. Remus leaned in, whispering in Rosalee's ear, "What do we do now?"

Rosalee rested a hand on Remus's arm and whispered back, "I've got no bloody idea. I'm really starting to question why we're even here at all."

Remus pulled her further into the room until they found the band. He swung her around to face him, took her in his arms, and began to dance. Rosalee smiled at him as he said, "Well, at least we can get something out of it."

They danced through a couple of songs, the only pair in the room who had decided to dance. Remus paused them and said, "I'm gonna go get us drinks, ok? I'll be right back."

Rosalee nodded and watched Remus walk away to chase after the house elf carrying the drinks. A hand on her shoulder startled her, and she whipped around, one hand on her wand in the special wand-pocket of her dress. She found herself face to face with Rosier. "What do you want now, you slimy git?" Rosalee snapped.

Rosier smirked at her. "Now, now, Dumbledore. It's a party. I came over to ask you to dance."

"No, thank you," Rosalee snarled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe it'd be best if I went and found my date."

Rosalee tried to step away but after only one step felt as if she had walked straight into a wall. As she turned to glare at Rosier, he explained, "Mistletoe, just above us. I'm afraid the enchantment on it won't let either of us leave this spot until we've kissed. It's been sprouting randomly all over the room all night, luckily for me."

"Stay the hell away from me," Rosalee hissed.

Rosier chuckled. "Which would you rather be forced by this plant to do, stay for several hours in this spot and enjoy my charming company, or kiss me and be able to go back to that pathetic Gryffindor you call a date?"

"Get the hell away from her, Rosier," Remus's voice snarled just behind Rosalee, and she breathed a sigh of relief at the sound.

"Ah," Rosier said, his grin growing even wider at seeing Remus behind Rosalee. "I know this is just going to eat you up, but I can't go anywhere, and neither can your precious little Rose. See that mistletoe above our heads? She can't leave until she kisses me and breaks the enchantment on it."

"Remus?" Rosalee pleaded for his help in that one word as she turned to face him, but all she found was a pair of hard green eyes glaring daggers at Rosier.

"Just do it," Remus said, fury filling his voice. "Get it over with quickly so I can kill him."

Rosalee took a deep breath to steel herself, then turned back to Rosier. "Fine, Rosier, but hurry up," she snapped.

"Oh no," Rosier said with a laugh. "You misunderstand again. See, I have no intention of being the one to kiss you. I'm sorry, but if you want to break this enchantment, you're going to have to come to me and kiss me."

"You son of a —" Remus began, but Rosalee interrupted him.

"Fine." Rosalee took another breath to steady her nerves, then reached up, grabbed the dark hair on the back of his head, and pulled his face down to hers, giving him a good, solid kiss. She felt a shiver go down her spine when their lips touched, and when he stuck his tongue in her mouth, her stomach turned. Then she pushed him away and slapped him as hard as she could. His head snapped to the side from the impact, and she hissed, "Never come anywhere near me again, you sick, disgusting git."

Rosalee turned around to Remus and grabbed his arm, but he yanked it away. "Oh, no, he's not getting off that lightly," Remus growled in a low, threatening voice, pulling his wand from his pocket.

Rosier glowered back at him, also drawing his wand. Rosalee protested, "Remus, let's just go."

"He's been harassing you for months now," Remus snarled. "Enough is enough. I'm going to teach him a lesson."

"You're going to land you both in detention," Rosalee corrected. "Please, let's go back to the common room."

"Listen to your witch, mate," Rosier said, a haughty smirk on his face. "She's being very sensible about the matter."

"Remus, please," Rosalee begged, taking hold of his arm again.

Sirius appeared beside them, leaning on Remus's shoulder, his wand lazily pointed at Rosier. "I don't know what he did this time," Sirius said coldly, sounding much soberer than he did earlier. "But whatever it is, I can handle it, Moony. Get Rosalee out of here."

Remus sighed. "Fine. But first…" He flicked his wand at Rosier and muttered, "Mucus ad nauseum." Rosier instantly sneezed and started sniffing. "Now we can go," Remus said, taking a firm hold on Rosalee's head and leading her out of the party and up to the seventh floor, opening the Room of Requirement the way that Rosalee had taught him.

When the door appeared, it looked quite different than it did for the training room. He led her inside, and they found a small bedroom in muted blue and gray tones. There was a fireplace, a large bed, a nightstand, and very little space. For such a small room, it was quite cozy and comfortable. Rosalee trembled as Remus led her over to stand between the bed and the fireplace. "I hate him, the slimy Death Eater," Rosalee whispered bitterly.

"It's over now. I'll never let him anywhere near you again," Remus replied, pulling her in for a hug.

Rosalee snorted. "I think you say that every time we have to deal with him," she said.

Remus huffed. "Well, this time it'll be true."

He pulled back enough that he could look into her eyes, and she looked up at him sadly. "Remus," Rosalee said nervously.

"Hmm?"

"I think that might have been the most disgusting thing I've ever done. Please, make me forget it," she requested quietly.

Hesitating, Remus pushed her hair from her face as he asked, "Are you sure, Rose? I know we've already snogged some, but I don't want to rush us into something you're not ready for."

Rosalee reached up and captured his lips with hers, grabbing his hair at the base of his skull and tugging on it to pull him closer to her. She nipped at his lower lip, and he moaned softly in response. Remus gripped her hips fiercely and turned her so that she had her back to the bed, then pushed her down onto it and hovered over her, nipping and licking his way from her jaw, down her neck, to her shoulders. She squirmed and whimpered under him, pulling him closer. Rosalee whispered in her ear, "Yes, I'm sure. I want this. Take me." Remus came alive then, pulling her dress off and kissing her roughly as she undressed him.

The next morning, Rosalee woke up with her head resting on Remus's bare chest. As awareness returned to her, she remembered their escapades from the night before and realized that they were both still naked. Nervously, she glanced up at his face, to see that he was still asleep. He looked so peaceful, she couldn't help but smile and sigh contentedly, snuggling against him happily. She was surprised when she both heard and felt his voice reverberate through his chest as he mumbled, "Morning, love."

Rosalee looked back up at him in surprise and found his green eyes staring back at her filled with more love than she could ever remember seeing in anyone before. "Morning," she softly replied.

He gently took hold of her chin and pulled her lips up to his, giving her a soft, sweet kiss before saying, "I love you, Rose."

Rosalee's breath caught in her throat. After a moment, she recovered and smiled at him. "I love you too, Remus."

"The boys are going to give us hell when they find out," Remus said with a chuckle.

Rosalee grinned. "I'd say it was worth it."

"Agreed," Remus replied with a smirk, followed by another kiss.

Christmas Day 1977

Christmas morning came faster than Rosalee had expected. She spent the morning in front of the fireplace in the common room with the Marauders, curled up in Remus's lap under a navy blue blanket that James had given her. The boys had mostly given each other candies, quidditch supplies, and Zonko's joke products, as had Rosalee with the exception of a book called Healing at Home with Herbs she had given Remus. Peter and Sirius had both given Rosalee her favorite candies from Honeydukes, and Sirius had also given her a recently released book on divination. Remus had given her a necklace, just a simple sterling silver chain with a trinity knot pendant on it, but Rosalee loved it. After exchanging gifts, the boys had all started playing with their new toys, and Rosalee munched on some crystallized pineapple. As the day went on, Rosalee found her stomach churning more and more. When James looked up at her from a game of wizard's chess with Sirius, she was slightly green. "Rose, you ok?" James asked.

Remus looked up from his book and looked at her. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, feeling her forehead to see if she had a fever.

Rosalee shrugged. "I'm ok. Just nauseous." Remus frowned at her worriedly, but James shrugged and went back to his chess game. After a moment, Remus nodded and went back to reading.

January 1978

Sitting with Sirius at their usual table in Divinations class, Rosalee listened to Professor Murray's lecture with her heart racing and her stomach turned upside-down. She felt a tap on her hand, and she looked to see Sirius handing her a note. It read, "Are you still sick?"

Rosalee sighed heavily and nodded. He frowned. Rosalee had been struggling with nausea and vomiting almost every day since Christmas, but she refused to go to the hospital wing for it. As it was days from February, it was obviously becoming something to be concerned about. Rosalee had her suspicions about what was wrong with her, though, and she was in no hurry to find out if she was correct. Professor Murray dismissed them to staring at leaves in tea cups. Rosalee took Sirius by the hand as she examined his tea cup, squeezing his hand to steady her nerves. She was having visions during almost every Divinations class, and she'd found that the future she saw was beginning to diverge further and further from the life she'd experienced. As she stared into the cup, black smoke licked at the edges of her vision, and colors and sounds waned. The classroom disappeared, and a hospital room came into view in screaming color. There was the sound of loud crying, and Rosalee and Sirius stood in shock at the foot of a hospital bed, in which Rosalee herself was resting. She squeezed Sirius's hand tighter to keep herself grounded in the fact that what she was seeing was not real and that she hadn't lost her mind. Remus sat on the edge of the bed beside her, leaning over her and the newborn baby in her arms. Both of their faces shone with love as they stared at the tiny little blue bundle in Rosalee's arms. "He's beautiful," the vision's Rosalee whispered, dazed.

"He looks like you," Remus said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

The Rosalee that held the baby laughed softly at that. "He's got your eyes, though," she said, tucking the blue blanket closer to her baby boy's chin. "Elijah Remus Lupin."

Remus looked to the doorway, where another young Sirius leaned casually against the door frame. "Sirius, you're still ok with being the godfather, right?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded at him, grinning from ear to ear.

The scene melted away, and the real Rosalee and Sirius found themselves back in the Divinations classroom. Sirius immediately whispered, "Rose, are you pregnant?"

Rosalee quickly pulled her hand from his. "Maybe," Rosalee breathed. "I don't know for sure, but if that's what I'm seeing…" Not bothering to wait for the class to end, Sirius took Rosalee by the hand again and pulled her to her feet, running from the classroom with her as Professor Murray demanded they return to their seats. "Sirius, where are we going?" Rosalee demanded as he tugged her along down hallways and secret passages.

"The Hospital Wing," Sirius replied as they exited a passage to find themselves on the first floor just outside the Hospital Wing.

"Oh," Rosalee said quietly.

"So is that why you've been avoiding coming here? You thought you might be pregnant?" Sirius asked. Rosalee nodded. Sirius sighed. "Well, now you need to know, so let's get this over with, yeah?" She nodded again and followed him into the Hospital Wing.

That afternoon, Sirius had to practically drag Rosalee to the common room kicking and screaming. "I don't understand why you're being so dramatic about this," Sirius huffed as he tugged her along the seventh floor corridor toward the Pink Lady. "You've seen what's going to happen. He's going to be thrilled, and he'll love you more than ever. Why are you fighting me?"

Leaning away from him and pulling as hard as she could against his hold on her upper arm, Rosalee whined, "Because that was obviously months from now. Who knows how he'll react between now and then. I'll tell him, but I'm not ready yet."

"Sugar Quills," Sirius said cheerily to the Fat Lady, who swung the door open for them. As he dragged her through the portrait hole, Sirius said to Rosalee, "Too bad. He needs to know." Spotting Remus on the couch across the room, he called, "Oh, Moony, my darling!"

A few younger students chuckled at Sirius as the two seventh years crossed the common room to stand in front of Remus as the werewolf smiled up at them. "What can I do for you, Padfoot, my one true love?" Remus replied easily.

Sirius glanced at Rosalee, but seeing the nerves on her face, he said, "Rosalee has something awfully important to tell you."

Remus raised an eyebrow at them. "Ok…" he said slowly.

Rosalee folded her arms across her chest and looked anywhere in the room but at Remus, one foot tapping nervously. Sirius elbowed her gently and said, "Hey, come on, now, or I'm going to tell him."

Rosalee huffed. "Remus, I…" She took a shaky breath before starting again. "Remus, I'm pregnant," she whispered.

Remus's eyes grew wide with fright. "W-what?"

"Come on, mate," Sirius said excitedly. "You've got a little boy on the way, and I'm going to be his godfather."

Rolling her eyes, Rosalee said, "I somehow shared a vision with Sirius again, and we saw the three of us in the hospital with a baby boy."

"You're going to love him," Sirius encouraged.

"I can't have children," Remus said, shock filling his voice as the book he was reading fell from his hands.

Sirius frowned, confused. "Obviously, you can," Sirius corrected. "I made Rose go to the Hospital Wing earlier, and she is most definitely carrying your child."

Remus shook his head, and when his eyes met Rosalee's, fear gripped her heart when she saw the anger in them. "No," he snapped. "I mean I shouldn't. It's dangerous; it's stupid. What if I pass on my condition? I can't risk that happening."

Rosalee covered her mouth with one hand, using the other arm to hug herself tighter. "Remus," she said softly. "It's too late for that; it's already happened."

"Come on, Moony. Don't be like this," Sirius cajoled. "It's all going to turn out fine. From what we could see, your kid didn't show any signs of your monthly issue."

Remus stood up, leaving his book on the floor. "Fine, ok, whatever," he bit out. "Just give me some space to wrap my head around this."

Rosalee nodded, her hand still covering her mouth as she bounced in place nervously. As Remus started to walk away, Sirius grabbed Remus's bicep to stop him. "Hey, wait a minute," Sirius barked. "Don't just walk away; she needs you, now more than ever."

Remus turned and argued, "No, what she needs is a provider, someone to love her and take care of her, and I can't do that."

Sirius snorted. "Oh, don't give me that, mate. We all know you love her more than life itself."

"Of course, I do," Remus said. "But I can't provide for her. I can't take care of her. She'd spend the rest of my life, which is likely to be oddly short for a wizard, taking care of me and my condition. That's not fair to her, and what if it is passed on to the baby? Then even after I'm gone, she'll still be stuck dealing with my problem. She'll be a pariah; there's so much prejudice against me out there. She'll be an outcast, just like me."

"Oh, shut up, Moony," Sirius snapped. "What a load of rubbish. She'll love you both no matter what happens, and you'll love them. You'll do everything you can to take care of each other, and when money becomes an issue, James and I will take care of it, damn it. Things are going to be just fine."

"Damn it, Padfoot," Remus yelled, drawing attention from the other students in the common room. "I'm not going to bloody run out on her, so just shut the hell up. It's a surprise; I'm shocked; I'm scared. I need time to process it. Give me some space, damn it."

Rosalee said softly, tears in her voice, "Just let him go, Sirius." Sirius sighed, releasing Remus's arm and letting him disappear up the boys' stairs. She dropped onto the couch, heart racing more than ever and feeling sick. Sirius sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. "He hates him," she whispered as unwanted tears streamed down her cheeks.

Sirius pulled Rosalee to him, smoothing her hair and gently rocking her. "No, no, no," Sirius insisted. "I'm sure he doesn't hate him. He did only just find out, and like he said, he's scared. I'm sure he'll come around."

It was around one in the morning before Remus came back down to the common room in his pajamas, where Rosalee still sat on the couch, curled up under the blanket James had given her for Christmas reading her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Remus sat down beside her and placed a hand on her knee. She yawned, then looked up at him over the top of her book. "So, you had a vision about us?" he said softly.

Rosalee nodded, covering his hand with hers and squeezing it. "We're going to have a little boy, and…" she paused to yawn again. "He's the most beautiful little baby I've ever seen, you know."

Remus smiled a little at that. "Yeah?"

Rosalee smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"And Sirius is the godfather, huh?"

Rosalee snorted. "It would appear so," she giggled.

Remus snickered. "Funny. I would have thought that I'd have picked James for that."

Rosalee said, "Funnily enough, I'd have thought so too." The two laughed at that, and Remus entwined their fingers together as he took a firmer hold of her hand. Rosalee added, "We overheard his name too, you know."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mhmm."

"And what was it?" Remus prompted, scooting closer to her.

Rosalee smiled. "Elijah Remus Lupin," she answered.

Remus's green eyes lit up. "Elijah Remus Lupin," he repeated, grin widening. "That's perfect."

"He was perfect," Rosalee said happily. "I saw myself holding him, and he was asleep, wrapped up in this little blue blanket with a tiny little blue hat on his head. You were sitting next to me, and you said he looked just like me. I disagreed, though. Apparently, he's going to have your eyes."

Remus took the textbook from Rosalee's hands and set it on the coffee table. Leaning forward, he captured her lips with his in a kiss. She felt the love pouring from him, and she tangled her fingers in his shaggy hair and yanked him forward, heating up the kiss. They kissed until they couldn't breathe anymore, and finally, Remus pulled away, making Rosalee whimper softly at the loss of contact. He smirked a bit at that, then said, "Rose, I love you more than anything in the world. I'm sorry I reacted so badly earlier. I promise that I'm never going to leave you or Elijah. I love you both."

Rosalee pulled him in for another breathtaking kiss. When she let him pull away, she said, "I love you too, Remus. I can't wait to be a mom."

Remus chuckled. "I can't wait to be a dad."

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Lots of Love,

WildestDreams72394