Chapter 52
Sev - 22 weeks
Siri- 06 weeks
Remus watched helplessly as Sirius vomited for the second time that morning. They hadn't even made it down to the Great Hall yet. When Sirius first started getting ill, Pomfrey had suggested he not even get up right away, and to just eat a few crackers in bed before he even risked standing up.
At first, it seemed to help a little, but within a day, Sirius was back to violently vomiting. He couldn't keep anything down, and water was even proving difficult. Remus looked down at the cold tea he was holding for Sirius, a suggestion from Lucius when Severus had told him about how bad Sirius's morning sickness was.
Apparently Lucius's wife couldn't keep anything down either, including water, but for some reason could drink, and keep down, sweet ice tea. The idea of making super sweet tea and then dumping ice in it was weird to Remus, but Lucius had been adamant, and it would seem as if he was right, Sirius was able to drink it at least, though he wasn't always able to keep it down.
"I made you, your tea," said Remus quietly as he knelt down and rubbed Sirius's back.
"Thank you," sniffed Sirius as he pulled the hand towel from above and used it to wipe his face.
"I tried to make it as quick as I could," whispered Remus as he slowly helped Sirius sit up. "Maybe we should just make a whole bunch of it so you can have it first thing in the morning."
Sirius grimaced, but he did nod. "Please don't even mention swallowing right now." He took the tea from Remus, glared at it for a few seconds before slowly sipping it. It looked painful to swallow.
Sirius worked to drink it, but he looked like he was just going to be sick again as he leaned back and took slow deep breaths. "Turn the lights off, please," whispered Sirius as he closed his eyes and rested the glass against his forehead.
"Are you sure you just want to sit here in the dark?" asked Remus as he turned the lights off. He made sure the door to the dorm was open so there was still light in the darkened bathroom.
"Do you want to skip class today?" asked Remus quietly
"No, no I', fine… just… just give me a minute. Tea's helping, but it was just too bright at first. Just give me a minute to finish the tea and I'll be ready to head down." Remus nodded slowly, but seeing and hearing Sirius babble as he leaned against the toilet didn't give him much faith.
Despite this, Remus finished getting ready for school before checking on Sirius again. By this time, Sirius had finished his tea and was standing up washing his face. He looked horrible, but insisted that he would be fine.
They made their slow journey down the stairs and to the Great Hall. Sirius looked unnaturally pale as he made his way to his seat, and looked queasily at all of the food.
"Bad morning?" asked Lily when she saw how sick and tired Sirius looked.
Sirius simply nodded before glancing at Severus, who now was eating a full plate of food without any issue at all. "Hey, Sev how often were you sick?" asked Sirius, mostly out of morbid curiosity.
"Literally twice," answered Severus. "I got nauseous a lot, but I only threw up twice."
"Fuck I wish I had that problem," groaned Sirius as he glared at the food in front of him. Eventually he poured a small glass of milk, and some bland cereal.
"Sirius already got sick twice just getting ready," explained Remus when James and Severus gave him a confused look.
"You should go to Pomfrey again," prompted James. "Get something to settle your stomach. You need to get something to the baby."
"Baby doesn't want food, baby wants to suck life from me, baby wants me dead," grumbled Sirius as he started eating the cereal dry.
"It will get better." Severus tried to sound encouraging, but it didn't help Sirius much as he solemnly set his head on the table while he munched on his cereal. Remus rubbed his back as he could do little else but show Sirius that he was there for him.
"How long does morning sickness usually last?" asked Remus.
"Supposed to only be the first trimester, but I never had it, and Lucius's wife had it into her second, so it varies a lot from person to person," explained Severus as he started on his second plate of pancakes. He had since given up on worrying about his weight since there was no way he could hide his stomach anymore.
"Hey Siri," said Severus trying to pull Sirius out of thoughts of his own suffering. Sirius made a groaning sound to show he had heard, but didn't lift his head up. Not bothered by this, Severus continued, "Did you hear about Avery and Evan?"
Sirius slightly shook his head, and peeked up a little. Remus, James, Peter, and Lily also seemed suddenly more interested in what Severus was saying as well. "Turns out your little bro made more of that bonding potion than he told Mulciber. Avery and Evan are bonded. Pretty sure Evan's pregnant, I heard Pomfrey complaining, loudly, yesterday when I went in for a check up."
"The Prophet is going to fucking go nuts," snorted Peter. "Three bondings, and three pregnancies in one year."
"Four," corrected Lily. "I heard in the girl's room this morning that Ashley, the seventh year Ravenclaw, bonded to the Slytherin seeker."
"He's a 5th year!" snapped James. "I mean we're young but we just have this year! He's a fucking kid!"
"Regulus is charging 10 galleons a bottle," noted Severus. "You need two bottles, so anyone willing to pay that much must be serious."
"God I hope he didn't pull a creep move and bond with the prettiest Ravenclaw girl just because he could," groaned Sirius.
"Other way around," whispered Lily glancing around a bit to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "From what I heard, Ashley wanted a baby and she paid Regulus. She's a 7th year so she is done this year, so she probably just bonded with the first willing boy."
"It helps that she comes from a wealthy family and he comes from a poor one," noted Severus. "He probably sees this as a dream come true, he gets a pretty wife, and an awesome set up before he even graduates. That said, Sirius, you might wanna talk to your bro. I mean, Hogwarts is doing a damn good job at keeping this quiet, but if this keeps happening people are gonna start talking."
"I'll talk to him," groaned Sirius as he lifted his head up and rubbed his face. "What a little brat. I can't believe he is doing this for some extra pocket money."
"Yeah, figured it would be better if you talked to him," nodded Severus. "Better chance of him listening if it is you."
Sirius nodded slowly again before looking around the Great Hall. He saw Regulus leaving and decided that he might as well talk to him now before class. "I'll be right back," sighed Sirius as he gave Remus's arm a soft squeeze.
"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" asked Remus, clearly worried about his mate being alone while he was so dizzy.
"I'll be fine," insisted Sirius, but he paused and held his stomach. "Okay if I am not back in ten minutes, please come and find me."
Remus rolled his eyes, but smiled and gave Sirius a quick kiss. "Alright, I can sense when you need help anyway, so I'll be paying attention." As Sirius got a second kiss, James hugged Severus. The bond had been how he had been able to find Severus when Mulciber had taken him, but he hadn't been able to feel anything was wrong until Severus had woken up, and those moments of feeling nothing, followed by absolute terror had sent him into a frenzy.
Severus leaned into James and sighed, "It's okay. Everything turned out okay."
"I know," whispered James, but he still hugged Severus tightly, and silently wished that the entire thing had never happened to begin with.
While they cuddled, Sirius somehow pulled away from Remus and followed after his brother. He found Regulus in the boy's lavatory talking to a few of his classmates. "Need to talk to my little bro, so you brats clear out."
All of them jumped at Sirius's voice, and quickly cleared when they saw him glaring at them. Regulus glared at his brother as he leaned against a sink and watched his friends leave. As soon as they were gone, Sirius spoke, "What is this I hear about you selling that fucking bonding potion."
Regulus shrugged indifferently, "Nothing in the rules saying I can't."
"Except for morally," noted Sirius dryly. "Reggie we're all teenagers, we shouldn't be making such a big decision so soon."
"So it's only okay when you or someone you knows does it?" asked Regulus, clearly annoyed at being scolded by his brother. "You bonded with Lupin and everything seems peachy with you."
Sirius opened his mouth to snap back at him, but he paled suddenly and ran to the sink next to Regulus and violently threw up the tea and cereal he had been working to keep down.
Regulus stood next to his brother shocked as Sirius continued to vomit. When he finally stopped, Sirius rested his forehead on the mirror and swore softly to himself. "Fuck, kid, give me a break. Please just give me a break. I can't do this."
"Sirius? Are you all right?" asked Regulus as his brother turned the sink on and tried to clean up his mess.
"No," whimpered Sirius after he had washed his mouth out. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, Sirius slowly lowered himself to the floor and awkwardly leaned against the sink.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Regulus concern creeping into his voice. "Shouldn't you go to the nurse?"
Sirius shook his head. "She can't do anything. I'm not sick Reggie, I'm pregnant. Morning sickness is bullshit, more like all fucking day sickness. God I hurt. How the fuck do woman go through this all day and just go about their lives as if there isn't a parasitic leech hooked up to their organs?"
Regulus just stared at his brother for a few seconds before asking, "Can I get you anything?"
Sirius shook his head, "No, just give me a minute, it will pass in a minute." Sirius paused before letting out a long pained sigh. "This is why I don't want you giving that potion out. Girls saying they want a baby, but not really thinking about it. I guess I can't stop you, but please think about it a bit more."
Regulus was quiet but he did eventually nod. "I gave it to Evan and Avery for free. They really, really wanted it, so I just gave it to them without thinking. Then Ashley showed up with 20 galleons and I just didn't know how to say no."
"Do you have anymore?" asked Sirius.
"Yeah, that potion made way more than I thought it was going to. I have about eight bottles of it."
"Throw it out. Just get rid of it. Then when people ask you can say you're out," suggested Sirius.
Regulus didn't respond, so Sirius wasn't sure if his brother was going to take his advice or not, but Remus coming into the bathroom ended the thought. "I'm taking you back to Pomfrey," said Remus firmly.
"No," groaned Sirius childishly as Remus helped him to his feet, nodded to Regulus, and then led Sirius out of the bathroom.
"How did the conversation go?" asked Remus as they walked.
"Could have gone better, but I think he'll stop," Sirius paused and focused on breathing for a few moments. "Or at least I hope he does. I'm actually not sure, but I hope he has enough sense to stop."
"Me too," agreed Remus as they once again made their way to see Pomfrey.
When they walked in, she gave them an exasperated smile. "Thinking about turning this place into a maternity ward," laughed Pomfrey in a half joking manner as she gesture to the left side of the room. Remus glanced over and saw Evan sitting on a bed with Avery next to him in a chair.
"Hopefully it doesn't come to that," Remus smiled tightly before nodding towards Sirius. "He's getting really sick. He can't keep anything down. We've tried everything you said, and some things that Severus suggested, but nothing seems to be working."
Pomfrey frowned but led Sirius over to a scale and weighted him. "You've lost four pounds. Okay we need to get you eating. You should be maintaining, or even gaining weight right now." She paused for a few seconds thinking. "Okay we'll try one last thing and if that doesn't work I'll have to contact your doctor, but let's try this first, okay."
Remus and Sirius could do little else but nod as Pomfrey went to a cabinet and started digging around in it. "I actually got this for Severus, but he never truly got morning sickness, the lucky little brat, but at least I have it for you. I should get more though." She said the last sentence quietly to herself as she glanced back at Evan.
Pomfrey took out a large jar of light pink powder, filled a large glass full of water, took out a small spoonful of the powder, and put it into the water. The water instantly turned a bright florescent pink as she stirred it in. When all the powder was gone, she waved her wand at the glass and the top turned to ice, that she broke apart with the spoon and stirred in.
"Has to be warm to stir in the powder but it's best if you drink it cold," explained Pomfrey as she handed the glass to Sirius.
Sirius looked at the glass suspiciously, but sipped the drink. Making a pleased hum, Sirius quickly drank it down. "That's actually pretty good."
Pomfrey smiled and nodded, "Drink this every morning, then have breakfast about thirty minutes later. This will settle your stomach and help you keep the food down, but I don't want you drinking more than two servings a day, so if you have trouble at lunch save the second dosage for dinner, alright?"
"Thank you," sighed Sirius relieved to final feel his nausea dissipating. Pomfrey smiled at them and gave the jar to Remus.
"I'll run this up to the dorm and just meet you in class," said Remus since they only had about ten minutes.
"I'll just grab a couple granola bars to eat while in class," nodded Sirius. "That stuff helped, but I don't think I can eat right after it." Remus nodded and quickly headed towards the dorm, while Sirius made his way back to the Great Hall.
Despite his stomach still being flat, Sirius found himself resting his hand on it. He pulled his hand away each time he found himself doing this, but wondered if it was just something that people did naturally, since he had seen Severus doing it long before his bump had appeared, and just then in infirmary, Evan had been resting his hand on his stomach.
I wonder why that is, pondered Sirius as he grabbed a few snacks he could eat in class. He knew the Professors would be annoyed but his other option was making an even bigger scene in class, so Sirius hoped that no one would make too big of a deal about him snacking in class.
Luckily, a quick chat with McGonagall was all he needed to do to explain to her why he might eat in class. She actually didn't seem annoyed at all and simply put him in the back of the class so he could eat quietly, or if he needed to, slip out and run to the bathroom.
Sirius was glad she was being so understanding and did his best to not interrupt class in anyway. He was good at Transfiguration so didn't have any trouble with sitting in the back of the class. Sirius was mostly just happy that he was able to get through class and pay attention without having any real issues.
As the day went on, Sirius still had moments of nausea, but it wasn't so bad that he needed to excuse himself, and he was even able to eat a bit more at lunch, though he only seemed interested in toast, and meat.
Severus actually found this odd since his own aversion to meat had been so strong, but they all quickly shrugged it off as different person different cravings. Sirius was silently thrilled that his pallet hadn't changed in the manner Severus's had. Despite claiming to love meat, Severus was still eating an almost pure vegetarian diet.
Sirius couldn't imagine not enjoying bacon, or ham anymore, so was happy that his stomach allowed him a few slices of ham with his toast for lunch.
Dinner also turned into a ham sandwich, but Sirius was just happy he didn't need to drink the pink stuff again. It wasn't that he didn't like it, but he was determined to only drink it in the morning, unless he absolutely had to.
"I'm glad that stuff helped so much," noted Remus as they headed up to the dorm after dinner. They were originally going to study with Severus and James in their room, but Severus had canceled again in favor of sex.
Remus was a little jealous since Sirius had been so sick he hadn't wanted to have sex, but with Sirius feeling better, Remus was hopeful.
"Think my libido will come back once the stupid nausea is gone?" asked Sirius, picking up on Remus's thoughts.
God I fucking hope so. Remus nodded, "I am sure it will. Sev's hormones are everywhere so I think he's a little off right now. You notice he actually forgot what he was doing in Potions, like literally stopped mid motion and looked like he'd forgotten everything he'd ever known."
"He looked so scared," snickered Sirius. "Oh fuck I hope I don't have that."
"If you can avoid it then you will, but I'm not sure if that is how it works," smiled Remus as they entered their dorm room and were pleased to find that it was empty.
"I've had the worst start to it, so by the laws of fairness I demand and easier time later," said Sirius confidently.
"Really not sure if it works like that," smiled Remus as he turned Sirius to face him so he could kiss him. Remus rubbed his hands up and down Sirius's back before resting them on his ass and squeezing. Sirius made a small squeak, but pulled away from the kiss.
"What's wrong?" whispered Remus as he was leaving light little kisses down Sirius's neck.
Sirius let out a small defeated sight as he lightly pushed Remus away. "I… I just really need to pee, and… I'm sorry Remus I'm just not in the mood."
Remus looked a little put out, but nodded. "It's alright. James said Severus had times of being uninterested because of hormones, so maybe you're in one of those." He paused a moment and did his best to smile. "I just need to use the bathroom after you, and then we could study." Sirius gave him another small apologetic smile and nodded before heading to the bathroom.
Using a pillow to stifle his groan, Remus flopped down on his bed. You're being a selfish prick. He's been sick all day, and the only thing on your mind is sex, chill the fuck out, you only started having sex this year. Despite his little talk with himself, Remus still found himself praying that Sirius would, 'get back in the mood' sooner rather than later. I rather be having James little "problem" right now.
AN/
Sorry Siri you're not going to get a break anytime soon.
Going back to Severus after this, I just wanted to show what was happening with Siri and his little brother for a chapter.
tumblr - Lennydark
