"Ugh," Tonks groaned, rubbing her painfully swollen ankles, "Dumbledore was supposed to be here half-an-hour ago."
"Moaning isn't going to get him here any faster." Fleur muttered, thankfully unheard.
Remus shot the French woman a dark look before taking his young wife's ankles into his lap and rubbing them, pointedly ignoring the scolding look from Mcgonagall who clearly believed such an intimate display had no place outside the bedroom.
"Dumbledore already sent a protonous to say he'd be a little late." Sirius reminded everyone, using his hand to shove Mundungus's dirty boots of his table.
"But what about Snape?" Tonks fussed. "We'll have to wait for her, too."
"Snape is very likely with him." Mcgonagall reasoned.
Sirius felt his heart race at such a thought, the prospect of seeing Snape again after the chaos Dumbledore had brought into his home an agonizing torture. Not only would her presence renew everybody's gossip about his fathering a child on her, so too would her presence give him considerable strife whereas Tonks was concerned. For it seemed no matter how many times he persisted he done no such thing, the immature woman was determined to find him guilty of purposely usurping her position as the Order's favored expectant parent.
"Don't be so nervous, Padfoot." Remus tried to soothe, catching his friends troubled expression. "Dumbledore can't possibly be that angry anymore."
Unbidden, Sirius's fingers went up to touch the nose the Headmaster had broken in his fury. Never before, he mused, had a blow affected him so profoundly. He only shuddered to think what else might have been done to him had Snape not intervened in time.
"Especially not if it turned out she wasn't pregnant, after all." Tonks contributed.
Having been caught sharing numerous theories with Harry as to why their much-loathed professor could not possibly be pregnant, including observances of said spy's stomach and composure, Tonks had been most severely chastised by Molly only yesterday. Glowering at the petulant Hufflepuff, Sirius ardently wished the veteran mother would once more intervene and bring her to task. For while a little jealousy was an expected thing in a formerly-neglected teenager, the self-same petulance was entirely off-putting in a woman grown enough to be married and have children of her own.
"Nymphadora Tonks," Molly began, true to her character, "I will write to your mother!"
Suitably cowed by the threat, at least for the moment, Tonks turned her attentions back to her swollen ankles and directed Remus to apply his pressure to the heels rather than her toes.
"I can't imagine what is taking them so long." Tonks groused, displeased at the prospect of her Weird Sisters tickets going to waste.
"They very likely had important Order business to discuss." Moody determined, using a chamois to polish his magical eye.
Sirius was about to voice his agreements to such when the distinct sound of apparition filled his house. Not wanting to appear too eager, or nervous for that matter, he feigned boredom and fiddled idly with the goblet of fire whiskey sitting before him. As intimidated as he was by the Headmaster, his pride would not allow him to show his fear.
"...need to eat more meat, the doctor has said so himself." Came Albus's voice.
"I am trying." Severus asserted, sounding exhausted.
To Sirius's demay, the bickering duo broke off their conversation as they came into the kitchen, leaving him in the dark as to how the rest of the aforementioned appointment had gone.
"There you are." Molly grinned. "I was beginning to worry."
"I'm afraid we had important matters to discuss beforehand." Albus apologized, earning a derisive snort from Tonks.
Enormous brownies in both their hands, the late-arrivals had clearly made a visit to Honeydukes before attending to their more important duties at Order Headquarters. But while Dumbledore at least had the grace to blush apologetically, Snape glared darkly at the offensive Hufflepuff all while funneling a large bite of chocolate into her mouth.
"Cravings called." Dumbledore explained with a shrug, savoring a bite of his own brownie.
"Of course." Molly agreed, pouring out tea for the new arrivals.
As the mingling Order Members filed into their seats, Sirius dared sneak a peek at the expectant Snape. Only three months behind Tonks whereas their due dates were concerned, the shorter Slytherin's belly was nowhere near the size her counterpart's had been at that time. And while he knew that a 'baby bump' couldn't really be expected so early on, the fact remained that the potions mistress should have at least gained a little weight by now to fill out her delicate frame. Had he not known any better, Sirius might have thought the little pocket of weight garnered in her belly could be contributed to something as simple as a food binge. As for her puffy face, well, that could just as well be attributed to something as benign as a sleepless night or vomiting spell.
"Just how far along are you?" Tonks asked, looking dubiously upon Snape as she exchanged a few pre-meeting snippets with McGonagall.
"I hardly think that is any of your business." Snape growled, self-consciously pulling her robes closed.
Eight weeks, Sirius calculated, nearly nine if his math was correct. But, if so, why had she just returned from an appointment? Lily had never gone to one when she was just nine weeks along. It simply didn't seem right to him, the timeframe much too awkward to be standard.
"It was a fair question." Tonk's needled, grunting a bit as she sat up. "You look far too skinny to be pregnant, after all."
At such a childish insinuation, Snape leaped back from her chair and looked ready to launch at the antagonizing Hufflepuff. But before she could do just that, Molly was upon her, wrapping her doughy hands about the spy's slender arm as she lead her away into the living room to calm down. Though he had not been invited to such an impromptu pow-wow, Sirius followed after, keen to apologize on behalf of his mate's friend as well as to have some of his own questions answered. Glowering after him, Dumbledore bid Kingsley to read off the minutes of the last meeting before he rose to stalk him after him.
He found Snape seated upon the softest sofa in the warm room, with Molly sitting on its arm as she wrapped a motherly arm about her young charges neck. To his great shock, he found her pallid tears to be damp even as she labored to prevent the fall of new ones via copious amounts of blinking.
"She is jealous. That is all." Molly soothed, giving the younger woman's shoulders a tight squeeze.
"I cannot imagine why." Snape sniffled. "Everybody is happy for her."
"Most young women don't like to share attention." Molly explained, speaking to Snape as if she were a young girl.
Snape dabbed at her eyes with the fraying sleeve of her robes, her lips trembling as she worked to subdue her emotions.
"I could not possibly care any less for the attention my folly as has brought me. I do not wish for such fussing, nor have I ever." Snape declared, her voice quite thick. "She can have it all, if that is what she wishes. She need only leave me out of it."
"I will speak with her." Molly promised, handing the much aggrieved woman a tissue.
Hurrying over to his upset spy, Dumbledore seated himself beside her and scooped up one of her delicate hands in his own. Welcoming the touch, Snape leaned into the older man's shoulder and buried her face in his yellow robes.
"You have forgotten that I am most certainly excited for you." Dumbledore refreshed, stroking her dark locks.
"And me as well." Molly echoed, patting her shoulder.
It was an intimate moment, and Sirius knew he should not linger. But he had questions to ask, ones that might not be answered in front of an audience. So, boots rooted to the floor, he stood their awkwardly until Snape was recovered enough to feel awkward at the fuss being paid her. Squirming away from their embraces with a blush, she stood quickly and startled to find him standing awkwardly near the doorway.
"I had a few questions." He explained, holding up his hands in surrender.
"Can they not wait for a better time?" Snape hissed, embarrassed to have been caught experiencing emotions. "We have a meeting to get to."
"Kingsley will take an hour to read the minutes." Sirius refuted.
"Our return with hasten his tongue." Snape returned, not at all keen to have any interaction with him.
"Just tell me about your appointment." Sirius pleaded, desperate to know how healthy his baby was.
"That is a rather personal question." Snape colored, turning painfully red.
"You let Dumbledore attend your appointment." Sirius scowled. "How personal could it have been?"
"I am her father." The Headmaster informed, looking quite affronted.
"And I am the baby's father!" Sirius reminded. "I had more of a right to be there than you did."
As much as he both respected and idolized the aging man, Sirius knew in his heart he would never be able to forgive the slight said old man had given him by usurping his proper place as Snape's primary support through this time. He was the child-to-be's father for Merlin's sake.
To his surprise, it was Snape who blushed while Dumbledore glowered.
"It was a routine appointment." She defended weakly.
"One I would have liked to attend." Sirius answered pointedly.
"How would I have known that?" Snape hissed, anger replacing her shame. "You never once told me you wanted to be involved."
"When?! When, would I have had the chance to tell you that?!" Sirius rebutted. "You've been all but avoiding me these past few weeks."
As Dumbledore leaped to his feet, looking frighteningly prepared to intervene with the aid of his wand, Molly spoke up and placed herself between them.
"If you wanted to be involved it was your duty to do so." The fiery woman scolded Sirius, waggling a fat finger. "It was not Severus's job to beg you to participate."
Turning thus to Dumbledore, Molly continued her tirade. "And you, put that wand away. Severus is quite capable of defending herself if she feels threatened."
She turned to Snape with a much gentler expression on her face. "When is your next appointment, Dearie?"
"In a couple of weeks." Severus declared.
"You will let Sirius go with you, won't you?" Molly asked, her question quite leading.
"If that is what Black wants," Snape drawled, "He may come."