Chapter Fifty-Three – Rose
An Appointment Or Three
I woke up the next morning and ran to the bathroom to be sick. Cara had never come back the night before – I knew she was with Remus – so it was Lily who held my hair back and helped me up afterwards. I smiled weakly at her, and said, "Thank you."
She grimaced. "I'm really glad it's you who is pregnant, not me."
I smirked at her and went to get washed up.
I hurried downstairs, passed Cara, Lily and Mary Jane, and ran straight into Sirius' arms. He stepped back as he caught me, but grinned and kissed me. "How are you, beautiful?"
I just shook my head and wrapped my arms around him, not looking up from his chest. "Rose? Rosie, are you alright?" he asked, confused. I found myself crying softly into his chest, and he tightened his arms around me automatically. "Rosie, what's wrong?"
I sobbed, but then simply said, "Nothing. I'm just being all… hormonal!"
He laughed and lifted my face from his chest, wiping my tears away and kissing me. "Well, I am glad that's all that's wrong in our world, because it means we get a beautiful baby out of it soon."
I smiled. "I can't believe I'm four months pregnant…"
He grinned. "I can. You're getting big," he muttered, stroking my belly. "But you get more beautiful – and sexier – every day." Then he leant down and kissed me.
We hadn't actually had sex yet. I mean, we were engaged, we were in love, and we were going to have a baby together… But we still hadn't slept together yet.
I wanted to, but when we talked about it he simply said, "We'll do it when the time is right – whenever that is." That was one of the many reasons I loved that boy.
"Come on," he said with a smile. "Let's go; we have an appointment with Madam Pomfrey."
I grinned and took his hand as he led me out of the common room and towards the hospital wing. Today was my fourth month appointment – it was also the day we found out our baby's gender.
He led me in and Madam Pomfrey looked up, smiled, and asked, "No Cara?"
"Not today," I told her. "She's… with Remus."
"Ah," she said sadly, losing her smile. "Such a shame about his aunt. She was a good woman." We all paused for a second out of respect, but then she smiled and gestured to the bed. "Shall we?"
I took off my robe, leaving me in just my skirt and shirt, and pulled that up out of the way. Sirius sat by my side, holding my hand, and Madam Pomfrey pulled out her wand. She cast a few spells, then waved her hand, showing us the picture of our baby- wait, what?
"What?" I heard Sirius ask. I was too stunned to move as I stared at the picture of two beautiful babies curled up together.
"Twins," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, happily. "You're having twins!"
"Oh, Merlin," I whispered. "That's…" Searching for words, I stared at Sirius. For a long moment, neither of us moved, then, slowly, we began to smile.
"Brilliant," he said, squeezing my hand.
Madam Pomfrey smiled at the two of us. "Now," she said. "Do you want to know the genders?"
I grinned and said, "Yes, please!" at the same time Sirius said, "Of course!"
We smiled at each other as she waved her hand again, then turned to us with a smile on her face. "A boy and a girl," she told us, and Sirius wrapped his arm around me, hugging me tightly.
"One of each," I whispered, and he smiled. "Perfect."
We walked down to Defence Against the Dark Arts (we had missed first period Transfiguration) hand in hand, extremely excited as we thought about names. He was saying, softly, "We should name the girl after Cara, because she is the reason you're here with me."
I smiled. "I thought so, too, but I'd get confused all the time… How about Cara as a middle name?"
He smiled. "I like that. What about the boy?"
"I want Sirius as his middle name," I said as we stepped into the classroom. The whole class looked up and Grey glared at us.
"Late, Miss White, Mr Black? You know that means points deducted," he pointed out.
"Sorry, Professor, but we were in the Hospital Wing. We had an appointment with Madam Pomfrey," Sirius explained, leading me to my seat with a polite smile at the teacher we all hated. He had calmed down a bit since the start of the year (since we turned his classroom into a swamp) but I still had to sit next to Lucius Malfoy, and Sirius was still with Bellatrix.
I smiled at Lucius as I sat down, and he nodded back, uncomfortable. "Very well," Grey said with a long-suffering sigh. "We are studying curses and curse removal."
I smiled and we started work again, but the door opened and Professor McGonagall poked her head in. She looked sombre, and said, "Professor Grey, could I borrow the White sisters, please?"
He glared at her. "The White sisters are currently in a lesson. Can this not wait?"
"No," she said shortly. "I am afraid it can't. I think we should have Mr Black and Mr Lupin, too, if you will."
We hurriedly stood up and left the room together, following her down the stairs towards the entrance hall. "What is it, Professor?" Cara asked, worriedly.
McGonagall sighed, and said, "I am afraid there are some… people here to see you."
I exchanged a glanced with Cara, then took Sirius' hand. He wrapped his arm around my waist and whispered, "Don't be afraid. If it's him, he won't hurt you."
"He'll hurt you, instead," I pointed out, "And that's not acceptable to me."
We stopped at the foot of the marble staircase, and Voldemort stepped forwards, flanked by his Death Eaters.
I stepped forwards, flanked by my friends and two professors – Dumbledore was here, too – and said, "What do you want?"
He smiled. "What, no greeting?"
I glared at him. "You don't own me anymore, Tom, so I don't have to put up with your crap. What do you want?"
"You know, people call me-"
"I know what they call you," I pointed out. "But there is no way I will ever call you 'my lord'."
He snorted. "I was your lord, once."
"Only because you bought me as a child," I said angrily. "Now, what do you want?"
"To know the sex of my child, of course," he said sweetly. Anger thrummed through me and I could almost feel the magic in the room react. I know the others felt it, because wands were drawn automatically and Tom smiled.
"The child I carry is not yours, Tom Riddle," I told him softly. "You may be its sire, but you are not its Father. It shall carry the surname 'Black'."
He hissed. "You cannot choose that; I am its Father."
"You are nothing," I told him, "And you will die. You will not win, Tom; this has been foretold." He stepped towards me angrily but I put out a hand in warning. "No, you come no closer. You cannot touch me now, and do you want to know why?"
He hissed again and reached out, trying to grab my hand. The moment he made contact he gave a screech of pain and jumped backwards. I smiled. "You don't understand, Tom Riddle. My sister died for me-"
"She is alive and well!"
"She intended to die and that is enough." I stared at him, for a moment pitying the twisted and tormented soul. "Oh, Tom, where did it all go wrong? You could have been a good person."
He stared at me angrily and brought out his wand. "I shall kill you, then, if I cannot have you."
I smiled and said, "Try it, I dare you." The others moved anxiously around us, but I simply met Voldemort's red eyes with my mismatched ones, and waited him out. Eventually, he dropped his wand and turned away.
At the doors, he looked back. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"
I sighed. "The child I carry has nothing to do with you. Leave."
He did so, the doors clanging shut behind him. Cara reached out and grabbed my hand, saying as she did, "Well? Are you going to tell me?"
I smiled at her. "Twins. A boy and a girl."
She shrieked and jumped up and down, hugging me tightly, then hugging Sirius. I rolled my eyes at her and took Sirius' hand, saying, "Come on, let's get to Charms."
We walked together up the stairs to the Charms classroom, and then settled down to try and learn something.
When we got down to lunch, I found myself smiling as we sat down. Everyone was looking at Sirius and me expectantly, so I nodded to my fiancé. "Why don't you tell them?"
He smiled. "But it's so nice them not knowing. We get some peace and quiet while they wait…"
I sighed and snuggled into his side. "Tell them."
He smirked, and looked his best friends in the eye, then said. "We're going to have twins – a boy and a girl."
I winced. You would have thought a bomb went off in the Great Hall at the noise our friends were making. Lily and Mary Jane were screaming happily, James, Peter (who had managed to wrangle his way back to Gryffindor – somehow) and Remus (who had heard earlier, but apparently wanted to make more noise) were all shouting their congratulations, and the whole of the school was watching us.
Slowly, the news spread, and people were coming over to congratulate us. I smiled, then leant over to Sirius and whispered, "Will you come with me to the Room of Requirement after Care of Magical Creatures? There is something I want to do."
He smiled and said, "Whatever you want, sweetheart. I'm yours to command."
I grinned. "That was what I was hoping you'd say."
After Care of Magical Creatures we walked back to the Common Room, where I went upstairs to get changed. I pulled on the clothes I wanted to wear and my cloak over the top then went back downstairs and drew him up to the Room of Requirement. Once there, I closed my eyes and focused on my favourite place again, but, this time, a different room.
"A bedroom?" Sirius asked as we walked in. I shut the door and smiled to myself as I removed my cloak. I heard his breath catch and my smile widened.
"You…" He stared at me, unable to speak. I walked to him and kissed him. I was wearing a very tight-fitting dress – not a long one, a short one – and I knew the effect it had on him.
"Sirius," I said softly. "I love you, and I want to be with you. Forever. But there is one thing we have left to do, and soon I'll be too big to do it properly, so I want to do it now, rather than later, after the babies are born."
"What's that?" he asked huskily, kissing down my neck. I shivered at his touch and let my head fall back, giving him more access.
"This," I whispered as I led him to the bed. "This is exactly what I want to do."
Then I pulled him down on the bed and whispered, "Make love to me, Sirius Black."
