"A mother's joy begins when new life is stirring inside… when a tiny heartbeat is heard for the very first time, and a playful kick reminds her that she is never alone."

– Author Unknown

The healer joined them shortly after they were lead to their room and Hermione smiled at the middle-aged man that introduced himself as Healer Marks.

"It's lovely to meet you. I've been Sirius' primary healer since his reentrance into life, and it's wonderful to meet his family. He said you haven't yet had an appointment, but you have confirmed that you are pregnant?" The healer asked kindly and Hermione nodded.

"Yes, I preformed the charm but hadn't made an appointment. I thought I had caught the flu." Hermione responded and the Healer nodded.

"Alright well today we will do some general scans, I'll also need you to sign some forms, giving me access to your medical records. That way I can be more informed of what we should expect." He said kindly.

"I was tortured. During the war. The healers at St. Mungo's said I would likely never conceive." Hermione blurted out. Draco and Sirius both flinched.

"Alright, in that case, we can do a more extensive scan and we will do some bloodwork. To get started I need you to fill out this form to give me access to your medical files. Once I get those I can look them over and see what's going on." He replied, barely blinking. Hermione filled the form out and the Healer smiled at her kindly.

"I'm going to send in my assistant to do the blood draw and the initial fetal scan. While you wait can we get you anything to drink?" He asked, standing up.

"Coffee?" Sirius asked and the healer nodded. Hermione and Draco both declined, and the room was silent as they waited for the healer's assistant to join them.

A few minutes later a young lady entered the room with a bright smile.

"Hello, I'm Melissa, I work for Healer Marks. We will be doing a quick blood draw and an initial scan. Do we know how far along we are yet, or is this your first appointment?"

"Uh, this is the first. I'm not sure how far along I am exactly." Hermione responded. She twined her shirt in her hands aggressively, and Draco reached over to untangle her fingers from her hem. She gave him a grateful smile, that he returned.

"No problem, we can find that out today, you won't be able to know the gender until fifteen weeks, but if you are that far along, would you like to know?" She asked bustling around the room.

"UH." Hermione said eloquently. She and Draco exchanged glances and both shook their heads. "I don't think we are quite ready yet to find out the gender." Hermione muttered. Melissa just smiled at her and kept gathering different things from around the room.

"Okay, so first we are going to do a blood draw, no worries. Small pinch. Once I'm finished with this, we will get you set up for your initial scan. This initial scan will tell you the fetal age, the heartbeat, and it will flag any abnormalities." Melissa explained as she drew Hermione's blood. Hermione nodded, and Melissa finished with the blood draw.

Once she had labeled the tubes she sent them out of the room with a short incantation and then turned to Hermione. She flicked her wand in a complicated pattern, and suddenly a fast thrumming was heard throughout the room. Melissa listened intently for a minute before smiling.

"Fetal heartbeat is normal and strong. According to this info you are at seven weeks, and no abnormalities are showing up. Healer Marks is reviewing your medical record, but he should be done shortly, would you like me to silence the heartbeat?" Melissa asked. Both Hermione and Draco shook their heads, and Melissa left the three alone.

"Wow." Sirius said after a couple of minutes. Hermione and Draco glanced at him to see a large smile and what appeared to be a tear trailing down his face.

"I know." Hermione said, before laying her hands protectively over her still flat stomach. Draco reached out slowly to place his hand on top of hers and the three sat there listening to the baby's heartbeat in awe for several minutes.

Healer Marks breezed into the room not much later and smiled at them.

"So, baby sounds magnificent, and you are right on track for seven weeks. I know you ae worried about the torture affecting this pregnancy, so let's spend some time talking. When a witch becomes pregnant, her magic recognizes much earlier than her body. The witches magic forms a kind of shield between the baby and the rest of the world. That's what is detected during a pregnancy scan. Unfortunately, if that shield were to falter with high risk pregnancies, there is a high chance that the baby will be lost. To minimize this, you will not over-exert your magic. That means if you can do it through muggle means, or if someone else can do it, that is what should happen." Healer Marks said gravelly.

"So I shouldn't perform any magic?" Hermione asked, her nose scrunching up.

"You can perform very basic things, such as summoning and levitating, but try don't to do anything too difficult, and if you aren't sure if you should, just go ahead and ask for help." He explained.

"Alright." Hermione said.

"On top of that, you are already showing signs of an elevated blood pressure. This can lead to problems for both you and the baby, so no high stress situations, and you should take it easy if you work. There is a very high probability that you end up on bed rest before the pregnancy is over." Marks continued to explain.

"So, no magic and no stress?" Hermione clarified and Marks smiled at her gently.

"Exactly. With high risk pregnancies like yours there is a very real risk of premature delivery, and we want to do everything in our power to keep the baby in as long as possible so it can develop completely. Not only that but Preeclampsia is another complication you are at risk for."

"What is Preeclampsia?" Draco asked.

"Preeclampsia is high blood pressure in addition to swelling and protein increases. It can be regulated fairly well, but can develop into Eclampsia, which can cause seizures." Healer Marks said. Draco paled, and his hand squeezed Hermione's tighter.

"Is there anything else we should be aware of?" Sirius asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

"No, but I would recommend that you don't spend too much time home alone, in case something were to happen. It's hard to tell what effects the Crutiatus will have on a pregnancy and I assume you don't want to spend the next eight months under hospital supervision." Healer Marks said.

"You have some potions that I've ordered for you to pick up from the apothecary. One is to be taken daily for blood pressure. You will be taking a prenatal vitamin twice a day, and there is potion for morning sickness that you can take as need be. They are all labeled, so you will know which is which, and should be ready in about an hour. You can refill them without contacting us. If you do have any questions though, feel free to come back or send us an owl. Do you have any questions?" All three shook their heads no and bid the healer goodbye before they flooed back to Grimmauld place.

"I think it would be best if you move in here." Sirius said without preamble. Hermione bit her lip, before nodding.

"I'll see if Harry and Ginny can come to mine to help me pack." Hermione said.

"I can help too, and I'm sure Theo isn't up to anything." Draco said. Hermione nodded thoughtfully.

"I can also see what Luna is doing, and possibly Hannah." Hermione muttered. "I will send them a letter and see if they can help. Harry and Ginny said they would stop by this evening to see how everything went with Andi, so I can just ask them then."

"What do you mean, what happened to Aunt Dromeda?" Draco asked.

"We reinstated her today." Sirius said, and Draco looked stunned.

"I should also write my boss and let him know I'll only be on theoretical work for the foreseeable future." Hermione said, walking over to the desk against the wall and pulling out some parchment.

"I'll run to the apothecary to get your potions and I can post all of those if you want." Sirius offered. Hermione muttered her thanks as she scribbled out notes to her boss and friends.

"I'll go see what Theo is up to, and maybe Blaise and Lydia. Are you going to tell everyone or do you want to wait?" Draco asked.

"Let's wait until after the first trimester… if that's okay." Hermione said uncertainly.

"Of course, what should we tell everyone else about the move?" Draco asked.

"Well, Theo, Blaise, Harry, and Ginny know, so we can just tell anyone else that it's about the adoption and they should understand." Hermione said. Draco nodded and kissed her brow goodbye, before flooing out. Sirius left shortly after him, and Hermione was left to write her notes in peace, and just think about everything she learned today.

AN:

Hello Lovelies, Life has been crazy. I moved this weekend and ended up injuring both ankles and my wrist. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter, please favorite, follow, and review.

Much Love, T!