Author's Note: Hi all, thanks so much for reading. I had nearly 12,000 hits last month and I haven't had a month like that in a very long time. Junie's feelings and why she's hesitant are in this chapter. Enjoy, MNF
Chapter 35:
Secret
"You don't seem happy," Marlene commented as she looked across the table at Junie.
"No, I mean, I am, but we're not yet married, and he has this huge trip planned for us, and what if I'm sick for the whole thing and then if people do the maths when the baby is born, they're going to know he or she was created before we were married, and Sirius has his public image to uphold, and now he's injured and —"
"Junie, I think that is the longest run-on sentence I have ever heard you utter," Marley said, taking her friend's hand from across the table. "You and Sirius are going to be wonderful parents. This is something you've dreamed of. I know you have. I saw the look whenever Lily or I had another baby, and you always had such longing in your eyes. You used to wonder if it would ever be your turn. It is now. Sirius will be a phenomenal father, and your baby will be one of the most brilliant children ever born in wizarding history.
"As for your honeymoon, with everything that's going on, you're going to be glad to be away. It will give Sirius time to heal and you time to brew your little peanut. Under the circumstances, I think Sirius will forgive me for telling you that his plans were to take you to three of the houses he owns. The first is in the south of France, the second in Milan and the third is in Prague. Roughly ten days in each. The idea was for you to have an opportunity to relax, get to know one another better, and do whatever you wanted without being at home. You can still do this and be pregnant." Junie looked relieved and thanked her friend. Then Marlene watched as her friend emotionally crumpled.
"What if Sirius isn't able to hold our child," she said softly, tears falling down her cheeks to splash into the cup of tea she was holding in her hands. Marlene stood, rounded the table, and knelt by Junie.
"Sirius is the most stubborn man on the planet, and you know it. There isn't anything on the earth or in any of the stars in the sky which will keep him from holding his child. If you want to cry, we can find somewhere private for you to do it. But I know you well enough to think you'd rather rally yourself, eat a little something since you're doing it for two now, and then we can return to Sirius. You need to tell him this news. Nothing will help him heal more than finding out he's going to be a dad."
"You're right," Junie said, wiping the tears from her eyes and then breaking a bit of her muffin off and eating it. "I hate being emotional in public." Marlene gave her knee a squeeze and stood.
"Which is quite funny since your face is like an open book to your soul."
"Thank you for being such a good friend."
"Junie, we've been friends since we were eleven," Marley said with a shrug. "I'd do anything for either you or Sirius."
"So, how do you think he'll react to the news?" Junie asked.
"Oh, first, I think he'll be shocked. Since the two of you haven't been 'together' for awfully long, I'm assuming he's been doing 'the spell'?" Junie nodded. "Rookie mistake. Sirius often thinks he remembers simple spells, but he gets them wrong. He hasn't dated in a while, and most witches take the potion these days or do the three-month spell their healer offers. In the future, do not rely on him remembering. The regular potion is a monthly thing, and Lily brews it for me. She drops it off with the Wolfsbane for Remus, and we take them together on the night of the full moon." The mental image made Junie laugh. "Just have her give it to you on the first day of the month, and you'll be good."
"Thanks for the advice."
"Now, back to Sirius. First, you'll have shock, then delight on his part, and then — because he can't keep a secret to save his life — he will want to tell everyone. I'd wait to tell anyone except those you're closest to —"
"James, Remus, Peter, Lily, and Dorothy?"
"Exactly, oh and probably your dad, until you've passed three months and seen a healer. Things happen, and it's hard to un-tell news like this."
"Okay." Their conversation switched over to the children, and inevitably the relationship between Rosie and Fred became the topic of their conversation. Marlene asked a lot of yes/no questions and shared her ideas and opinions freely. While Marley had been talking, Junie had continued to pick at her food, and Marley was happy to see that most of what she'd bought was now gone.
Sirius was still asleep when they returned to his room. Junie told Marley that she could leave, but there was no way Junie would be left alone in the hospital. If the plan still was to send Sirius home after supper, she would go home at the same time. Even then, however, Marley thought the pair might need help. At least the school year had ended, which meant Junie could be home with Sirius full time.
The Blacks and Potters both had house-elves, but the Lupins and Pettigrews did not. Much like Marley and Remus not eating meat because it was hard for Marley to consider consuming something which could think, she could not 'own' another sentient being. For the longest time, neither her father nor husband were considered 'real' wizards, and some still thought of them as 'half-breeds,' the idea of owning a thinking, feeling, being bothered Marley. She knew Sirius and James had 'free' elves, with contracts for their employment, but it still smacked of ownership to her. All that said, it did not mean that she wouldn't utilize what tools were at her disposal.
"If you want me to leave," Marley said, "why don't you call your house-elf to come to sit with you."
"It isn't that I want you to leave," Junie corrected. "I just feel bad that I've kept you here all day. You left your class to come and sit —"
"Junie, how many times did you leave the Ministry to come help one of us out, or pick the kids up from school, or fill in for us up at Hogwarts when John got himself into problems? Remus doesn't expect me home, and unlike James, he can make supper for himself and the boys. The only reason that I'm here is that Remus' first instinct is to call me when something bad happens; I find it endearing. Stop worrying about it. Now, do you have a final count for the wedding?"
"Everyone has said they're coming," Junie said. "Personally, there are only about twenty-five folks that I care about having there, but the Chief Warlock getting married is a HUGE social event."
"Yes, it is, dearest," Sirius croaked out as he awoke. "Don't forget we still need to plan the Muggle reception at the manor in Nottingham."
"Oh, how thrilling," Junie said while making a face at the strange architecture.
"We can keep it in the gardens, which will look beautiful in August. No one need enter the house beside the catering staff and us."
"What if a guest needs a loo?"
"We can hire those portable ones you see at construction sites," Sirius answered with a smirk.
"The Viscount of Nottingham and his wife are not going to have porta-loos at their wedding reception. Lady Sarah would never have done such a thing," Junie said with an equally smirky grin.
"I chose not to marry Lady Sarah, although she did hint at it. Now, have I missed anything important while I had a lay-about?" Marley and Junie shared a look, which caused Sirius to become suspicious.
"Speaking of loos, I think I'll go use one," Marley said, quickly leaving the engaged couple alone.
"What's going on?" Sirius asked.
"Well, I don't think you know how to do the Anti-Procreation Spell as well as you think you do," Junie said, trying to keep from smiling. "I found out that I'm pregnant earlier today. Madame Pomfrey confirmed it for me."
"What? A baby?" Sirius stammered. "This is real, right? I'm not hallucinating?"
"It's genuine, sweetheart," Junie said, leaning over the bed. "We're going to be parents early next year." Sirius stared at her in shock, then in wonderment, then his good hand came to the back of her head and pulled her down into a kiss. "You're going to be a mum."
"You're going to be a dad. What an amazing dad you're going to be, too."
"We have to tell someone," Sirius said abruptly, surprising Junie a bit, as it knocked her back into the chair.
"Sirius, Marley already knows since I was unduly upset at tea," Junie confessed. "I don't think we should tell anyone outside our closest friends – James and Lily, Peter and Dorothy, maybe Harry and Ginny and my dad –"
"You didn't mention Remus," Sirius interrupted.
"Do you really think that Marley hasn't stuck her head into a fireplace to tell him? She's as bad with secrets as you are."
"Hey, now, I kept your engagement a secret."
"That's because you had a plan. You can keep those private, but honestly, you're rotten with secrets. How you kept from telling me that you had my name over your heart, I'll never know."
"I was afraid if you found out, you'd run," he confessed honestly. "I needed you to have irrefutable proof."
"Well, your name on my chest certainly was that," she said happily.
"So, why can't we tell people?" Sirius asked.
"Things can happen to pregnancies early on, and it's hard enough to deal with the aftermath of losing a child to then need to announce to folks that you'd lost the baby, well…I think we're fine keeping our circle of those in the know quite tight."
"You think it's okay to tell Harry and Ginny and not tell Rosie?"
"Fine, Rosie and, by extension, Fred, can know, but really that should be it."
"What can Rosie know?" the girl in question said as she walked into the room, Fred in tow.
"The train is back from Hogwarts already?" Junie asked. "What time is it?"
"Half-six," she said. "We boarded at nine."
"Oh, right," Junie said, standing to greet her goddaughter and her Heart-Tied boyfriend.
"So, before Sirius tells me all about his gruesome mess of an arm, Dad only gave the bare basics; what is it that you can tell me?" Rosie put her hands on her hips, jutting one of her hips further forward than the other and looking at the older pair sternly in a shocking imitation of Junie when she was reprimanding a student. Junie looked to Sirius as if to say, 'go ahead.'
"Juniper and I are going to have a baby," Sirius said excitedly, and Rosie squealed.
"That is amazing! I'm so happy for you both!" She awkwardly hugged Sirius before she threw her arms around Junie and hugged her tightly. "Can I be the godmother?"
"Honey, I think your mum and Auntie Marley are ahead of you in that line," Junie said softly.
"Our third kid, you're the godmum," Sirius said jovially.
"Third kid? Let me get through the first one, please. Where the heck did Marley go to the loo? Wales?"
"Oh, we saw her on our way in and tagged her out," Rosie explained. "We only can stay until Harry and Ginny show up. Then Mum and Dad are coming back and apparently are either spending the night at the hospital or going back to Grimmauld with you."
"I do not need your dad –"
"Actually, Lord Black," Fred said formally, "I had a horrible curse burn in my seventh year. My brother and I were experimenting, and, well, my arm was covered in bandages and such for ten days with salves and such healing the wound. I needed George to help me do things like go to the loo and brush my teeth. Ms Meadows, you're robust, but Sirius is a lot bigger than you are. I think you'll need Mr Potter to help you."
"Would you please stop with the Ms Meadows and Lord Black, Fred," Sirius said. "Whatever peculiarities my best mate might have about his name don't carry over to us. Just call us Junie and Sirius, please. You're liable to be part of our family, might as well act like Rosie here."
"I don't think I'll ever be able to call you just Junie and Sirius," Rosie said with a kiss on his cheek. "You're always going to be Auntie and Uncle to me." The quartet was able to talk for only a few minutes before a medi-witch came in to change Sirius' dressings, and Junie walked with the pair into the hall, as she'd seen enough for one day.
"Remember, what we told you is a secret," Junie said softly. "Your mum and dad don't know, neither does Harry."
"I'm the first to know, yippee! We will see you over the weekend to help out doing whatever you need us to, right Fred?"
"Of course, dearest," he said in a tone that was reminiscent of his father, and Rosie stuck her tongue out at him. They loped off, hand in hand, and Junie couldn't help but smile widely at them and went to sit back down before the next shift came to keep them company.
By the time Sirius had been discharged from hospital, everyone had cycled through his hospital room and knew the good news of the soon-to-be-wed couple. Both of his assistants, Davis Hawkins and Madeline Knotworthy, had also come through with work for Sirius, and Junie had shooed them off. Unless the Ministry or his personal life were about to implode, there was no reason for him to be working on it at the hospital.
True to Rosie's prediction, James and Lily came over for the night. Sirius balked at having his best mate help him, but after his first trip to the loo and his near fall due to insisting he didn't need help, it made sense to have James and Lily there. Sirius dropped off quickly after his last dose of pain potions; Junie, however, found herself wide awake and shaking.
"I'm surprised you're still up," James said when she slipped into the sitting room on the second floor. "Aren't you exhausted?"
"Oh, I am, but I just can't slow my mind down tonight. I don't want to wake Sirius up either. Minsey is keeping an eye on him."
"She's a good elf," James said absentmindedly. "You know he's going to be fine, right?"
"Do I?" Junie said softly and then felt the tears she'd been holding in slip from her softly at first and then growing to a torrent. "It's only because he had medical treatment so quickly that he didn't lose his arm. James, what if this isn't an isolated incident? What if there are folks who are going to hound him or hunt him because of his position because he's marrying me? He is from a Most Noble and Ancient House, and while that doesn't mean beans to him, it does mean a great deal to others. This child is the heir to that heritage. I'm nobody. I'm a woman from a Muggle mother and a wizard father, but he could barely do magic. I'm sure some thinks Sirius should be with someone of his own class." James sat down next to Junie on the leather sofa, wrapped her in his arms, and let her cry.
"You're right; Sirius doesn't give a toss about who your parents are, other than the fact that he respects your father and knows you love your mum and dad. Look at me, I married a fully Muggle-born witch, and I'm from just as old and crotchety a bunch of folks as Sirius is," James countered.
"No, your family might be ancient and noble and whatever, but they never were the bigots that the Blacks were; and they married into the "purest" families there were – the Malfoys, Notts, Macnairs, Lestranges – they all married each other over and over so that they could remain pure and –"
"And nothing," James interrupted. "Those marriages produced nut-jobs like his cousin Bellatrix. You are a good witch. Sirius fell in love with you because you are a good witch. That baby you're growing will be an amazing witch or wizard because the pair of you will raise it, respecting everyone and everything. Stop thinking that what happened to him today has something to do with you." Junie considered what James was saying, but something still worried her.
"I'm assuming you read the report that was put together after the attack," Junie said, knowing James would have had access to it even before Amelia brought it over to inform Sirius. "What did it mean when the banner he was carrying said For the Greater Good? Aren't those similar to the words the pureblood movement of the thirties and forties used?"
"It was," James admitted, "but the manifesto this guy had on him wasn't about pureblood supremacy, not like it was back then. This guy thought that the wizarding world needed more pure witches and wizards to help bring about a moral revolution of sorts, I think. Honestly, reading it and the transcripts of the interview was difficult, as he was hallucinating or having an intellectual separation from reality, Junie."
"You don't think this is an organized group?"
"Honestly, no. I know that Kingsley will lead an investigation into his claims of having hundreds of subscribers to his paper, but we never heard of it in the DMLE. You were there until last fall; there isn't a movement to make purebloods rule."
"But the opposition when Sirius ran for Chief Warlock?"
"Was a group of old grumps who didn't want to see change. If anything, this group wants to see more of it. He might have attacked Sirius because he didn't think he was bringing about change fast enough. Junie, it was unfortunate and tragic, but it isn't a movement." Junie leaned back into James, and he wrapped his arm around her and gave it a squeeze. Something on the wall caught his attention, and he stood to look at it more closely. "He'd mentioned he might have a new one begun, but I didn't realize he'd started it already."
Junie stood and joined him. "I was surprised when I saw it myself. He and his cousin did the magic on it, and he was quite specific about who was included and who wasn't. Oh, look, my name isn't even on it yet, but the baby is represented." Junie pointed to the tiny rosebud between the growing connection between Sirius's name and the golden box which would hold Junie's.
"There's another one here," James said, pointing to the one near Regulus's name. "Who is that?"
"Regulus' child," Junie answered. "Sirius is determined to find them and the mother. He thinks he knows her name." The pair stared at the new Black family tree for a few more minutes before James turned to his friend.
"Go to bed, Junie. Tomorrow will come soon, and Remus will need to take you to Hogwarts to have the meeting you were supposed to have yesterday and help you finish cleaning up your office. You're getting married in nine days."
"Lucky Remus, he gets to try the food for the reception."
"He'll love it," James said with a grin. "He thinks the elves cook better than his wife. Don't ever share that. He said it to Sirius and me one night while drunk." Junie giggled, appreciating the levity.
"His and your secrets are safe with me."