~News of Joy and Sorrow~

"You know I never really liked St. Patrick's Day anyway." Vexus grumbled as she sat in the hospital ward talking to Madam Pomfrey.

"Why's that?"

"I lived in Belfast for six years."

Pomfrey smiled "Well, I guess you would be all Irished-out. Tell me when did this start?" She was gently feeling Vexus' (now obviously enlarged) abdomen.

"I think it started with about the third mug of green butterbeer. I think." She groaned. It had been an excellent thing at the time. She, Peregrine, McGonagall, Dumbledore and several other staff members (Snape not included, he did have to keep up appearances) had gone to The Three Broomsticks for a little celebration. And since it was St. Patrick's Day, they had all had some of the special butterbeer. Hagrid had some other drink, when asked what it was the only answer he could manage was a rather slurred "It's green!"

That night Vexus spent the evening in the bathroom. Two days later she relented and went to the hospital wing to see Poppy.

"I really don't think it was the butter beer," Pomfrey said. "However I need to do a more thorough exam. Just to rule out a few things."

An hour later it was decided that Vexus would need to go see a Muggle doctor. She needed a sonogram, and it's extremely difficult to get one of those machines to work in a castle where there is no electricity.

The Quidditch sessions would be starting in two weeks and the school was getting geared up for the excitement. The students on the exhibition teams had practice sessions three times a week and the regular season had been postponed until after April. Then they would finish up the final games of the season.

Vexus had noticed that Draco was somewhat subdued lately; it wasn't a very noticeable change, except to the ones who had been privy to the conversation with the Headmaster. In other words to everyone in the school Malfoy was the same old jerk. But to Vexus he seemed to think a little more about things before he did them. His class work was an example.

"Class, if I could have your attention please?" she spoke softly and waited for the students to focus their attention.

"I have to leave the school on business tomorrow, I will only be gone Thursday, but I don't want you to think that is going to give you license to slack off your studies."

There were a couple groans and mutters from the rows.

Vexus beamed and went on "There, there. I'm not asking you to write a report, or at least not a very long one. You will be spending the period in the library. You will each write me a 1500 word essay on what you feel is the best book there or your favorite anyway."

She looked at Hermione who was furiously scribbling notes, "Miss Granger, one book. 1500 words, not a letter more than that. This is to be a fun assignment. I am aware that with the try-outs and the exhibition game fast approaching your faculty for study is rapidly leaving your brain. That's o.k. So is mine. I thought that this would be interesting. Most of the time we say we like or favor something without really knowing why." She remained sitting at her desk as she did most of the time these days, to hide her expanding mid-section. Vexus folded her hands and surveyed the room. She was in full-blown speech mode now. Nobody seemed to mind at least they weren't working.

"Books are very special, they can have so many different meanings to each and every person who picks them up. Just holding a book in your hand is a special form of magic." There were some snickers from a few of the Slytherin students.

"Think about it; a book, is a very special thing, when you hold a book in your hands, especially an older book, you have a connection with every other person who ever held that book. You have something in common with countless other people. Why did they pick it up? What did the words mean to them? Did they know that one day years & years later you would be holding that very same book? This is what I want you to tell me in your essay. One book. Have you read it a dozen times? Did you think that it was stupid at first? Do you daydream about it? Imagine that you were a character in it?" She let a sly grin pull at her mouth "Do you ever make up your own story based on it? This is what I want you to tell me about. Choose your words carefully; I want to know only the most important things. Now I am going to stop before you all start thinking I should've been a librarian."

The students looked at each other and waited. This was the last class of the day, was she finished?

Vexus stood up behind her desk, picked up the course book and casually flipped through it. She looked at them all and saw the anticipation "Oh all right, dismissed. You all go directly to your common rooms until the period is over. Unless you never want to be let out early again."

As one they jumped up and exited, there were a few "thank you"s and "see you"s as they left. Vexus called out to one student, "Mr. Malfoy, a word with you please?"

Draco waved his companions to go on and went to her desk. Vexus put the book down and smiled at him.

"Mr. Malfoy, I wanted to congratulate you on the last test. I know I haven't announced the scores yet, but you were in the top five. Good work."

Draco mumbled something that sounded almost like "thank you"

Vexus dropped her voice to near whisper "What did your father say?"

Draco looked up at last and responded, "I haven't told him."

"Really?"

"Really, I thought that since everything had been handled there was no need to disturb him. He's rather busy right now."

Vexus raised her eyebrows and thought 'Tell me about it, I know exactly how busy he is.'

"Very well, Mr. Malfoy. I look forward to reading your essay. You may go now."

Vexus sat anxiously in the small exam room waiting for the doctor to come in. 'I hate these stupid paper gowns, at least Madam Pomfrey has proper clothes for you to wear.'

She hadn't been to see a Muggle doctor since, well, the last time she was going to have a baby. 'Babies.' she corrected herself mentally 'It's so bloody cold in here' she shivered.

Just then the doctor entered the room "Good Morning, Mrs. Kline. Lets have a look at you."

Vexus rolled her eyes and repressed the urge to jinx the man. As she leaned back on the table she remembered why she hated going to the doctor.

After a few minutes spent poking and prodding the doctor turned to write something down in the little folder he had brought in. "All right, everything looks good, but I want to get the sonogram done so just try to relax." He squirted that damned ice-cold gel on her stomach; Vexus grimaced and looked at the little screen on the machine.

"There we are," he flipped a switch on the machine and the room was filled with the sound of heartbeats.

"You can hear them now. Lovely, just perfect." the doctor was saying.

Vexus looked from him to the monitor "Them? You mean 'it', don't you?"

"No, I mean 'them.' Yes, this confirms it, you're having twins."

"Merlin's beard!" she whispered

"Beg your pardon?" the doctor had a puzzled expression on his face and Vexus realized what she'd said.

"Oh nothing, um, can you tell the sex of the baby, er, babies?"

He moved the sensor part around on her stomach and squinted at the screen.

"It's a little early yet, you're only about four and a half months, but I definitely see a boy. It's hard to tell with the other one. It's hiding behind its brother. Maybe on your next visit. Oh wait! He moved, let's see, it's, oh yes, a girl! Fancy that!"

Vexus felt herself go lightheaded and she heard the doctor's concerned voice "Ms. Kline! Ms. Kline!"

Everything went black.

"Then I fainted."

Madam Pomfrey was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. "How did they wake you up? I must know!"

Vexus grinned and took a sip of her tea. They were sitting in Pomfrey's office the following afternoon and she had been describing her doctor visit.

"Well there's this stuff, I think it's ammonia, I don't know what it is but they wave it under your nose and it smells so bad it wakes you right up. As soon as I woke up and convinced them I was fine I was out of there. Horrible, really, I hate going to the doctor."

She screwed up her face into a grimace and Poppy laughed again.

"Well, well. Twins. Again and a boy and girl set to boot." she set down her teacup and fixed Vexus with a solemn expression. "Dear, you've got to tell him. Anybody with any sense can look at you and see it. Those robes you've taken to wearing hide a lot but that won't last much longer."

 Vexus sighed as Pomfrey went on "And Severus, how on Earth has he NOT noticed?"

"We're not spending as much time together as we used to."

Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened "You don't think that he's lost interest!"

"No, its my doing" Vexus insisted "I asked him if we could slow down a bit and decide if things were going the way we wanted."

Poppy still didn't care for Snape overmuch but she saw that Vexus had been happier with him and that the Potions Master had been more, not exactly friendly, but at least less nasty in the past months. "Here's wishing you well, and I hope that you'll tell him soon. He deserves that much."

Vexus stood up and fluffed up her robes, she smiled as she did it. 'I used to smooth them down, now I poof them up.' she mused.

"I think I'll go talk to him now. Thank you for the tea."

Vexus didn't go see Severus; instead she went to see Peregrine. When she got to the chambers of her friend she heard a loud crash from inside. Vexus flung the door open to see Peregrine holding a large vase over her head.

"Peregrine! What are you doing?!" She hurried forward and snatched the vase away. She turned back to Peregrine and took her by the shoulders "Peregrine, what is it? What's happened?"

Peregrine just stood there looking at the floor, when she finally looked up Vexus could see that her eyes were bloodshot from crying. Peregrine motioned towards the table and Vexus went to look. There was a letter on the table, Vexus picked it up and read:

This is to inform you that the prisoner(s) noted below have received the Dementor's Kiss. We regret that this action had to be taken but in these times all followers of the Dark Arts must be shown that their actions will not be tolerated.

The prisoner(s) noted below were known followers of the Dark Lord and the actions that demanded their internment in Azkaban are were reconsidered and are now subject to the highest punishment.

You may visit them at you first opportunity.

Morion Wulf    - administered 12 March Nikkor Wulf     - administered 13 March Rotorus Wulf   - administered 14 March

Vexus looked up at Peregrine "I am so sorry, oh Peregrine, I am so sorry." She dropped the letter and went to her friend. Vexus led her to a chair and kneeled before her "Peregrine, tell me what to do. Anything, just tell me and I'll do it."

Peregrine sat back in the chair and wailed, "It's not right! All that I've done was for them. Now what? Now what? I did it all for them and now it's useless" She leaned forward and sobbed.

Vexus took her hand and felt the tears roll down her own cheeks.

She let her gaze move to the rest of the room, Peregrine must've just gotten the letter as most of the furniture was still intact. And the painting hadn't been touched.

"Vexus, what do I do now? What do I do? All these months, this time I was doing all of it for them. And they're gone!"

Vexus pulled Peregrine up out of the chair and hugged her. "It'll be O.K., it's going to be fine. I swear. I won't let it turn out any other way."

Vexus stayed with Peregrine the rest of the evening, until dinnertime. "Come on, you need to eat something, we're going to need you strong. And not eating won't change things one bit."

Peregrine shook her head and turned to look at the wall.

"Peregrine, honestly, you need to go eat. I know that right now you don't want to do anything but sit here and be pissed off. Trust me, when you get near the food you'll want to eat."

Professor Wulf looked at Vexus as she stood up and her mouth fell open, "You're pregnant!"

Vexus looked down and put her hand on her stomach. She had taken off her robes and without them on it was obvious. Looking back up at Peregrine she grinned "Guilty, as charged."

Peregrine stood up and crossed the room; timidly she reached out to touch Vexus' stomach. "Can I?"

Vexus smiled, "Sure, as long as you don't poke."

"How far along are you?" Peregrine asked incredulously "When are you due?"

"August the twelfth. And it's twins, a boy and a girl. I found out yesterday."

Peregrine took a step back and snorted, "You never cease to amaze me." Suddenly looking very serious she asked, "Vexus, does Severus know?"

Vexus started pulling on her robes "No he doesn't, not yet and I haven't decided when I'm going to tell him."

"How does he NOT know?" Peregrine asked incredulously "It's obvious without the robes on."

Vexus shrugged "I don't really know. He did ask me if I'd put on some weight. And we haven't been spending as much time together lately." Seeing the expression on Wulf's face Vexus quickly finished "There's nothing wrong. I told him I wanted to back off and make sure that what we were doing was the right thing." She started towards the door, "Let's go, I'm eating for three and I swear I can smell the pudding all the way up here."

After dinner Vexus took Peregrine back up to her chambers. Once she was sure that Peregrine was settled in and she wasn't going to do anything crazy Vexus got ready to leave.  From her chair by the fire Peregrine studied her friend, "Vexus, where did I go wrong?"

"The say place we all did, Peregrine. You're not the only one."

"Do you still feel the same now? I mean, with the babies and I know that you love Severus. Have you been thinking like I have?"

Vexus looked at the painting of the Wulf brothers and thought for a moment. "Peregrine, if you're asking me what I think you're asking me, I have to know that you are sincere. I can't be honest with you if you're not honest with me."

"I am being honest." Peregrine drew a deep breath, "I  think that I've made a mistake, a pretty bad one. I have no reason to support the Dark Lord anymore. With them gone, I would rather work against him, than for him."

Vexus blinked several times "Then there's no reason for me to say the same thing, you already know it." She stood up and hugged Peregrine once more "Let me know when you want to go see them and I'll go with you, O.K.? And Peregrine, I'd like to name the boy after one of them, if you don't mind."

Fresh tears filled Wulf's eyes "Morion, I think. He was always my favorite and," she wiped her eyes "It's a good name, for a good person, unlike the rest of us."

"Peregrine, we'll all good people, we've just made some bad decisions. That's all."

The halls were dark and as she went deeper and deeper into the school it got colder. When she reached the door Vexus knocked and stood waiting for an answer. After a moment she knocked again, 'I wonder where he's at?' There was still no answer and she decided to go to Snape's office 'Perhaps he's working late.'

But there was no answer there either. With a resigned sigh she went to her own chambers, thinking that maybe he might be waiting for her there. Unfortunately, the room was empty as the previous ones had been. Vexus was becoming concerned and set out for the headmaster's office.

"Albus" she called out as she knocked "Are you in there?"

She heard him answer and pushed the door open. The old wizard was sitting behind his desk as usual, "Albus, have you any idea where Severus is?" Vexus asked as she crossed the room to sit down.

"I hate to say it, but he was summoned and has gone to the Malfoy estate. I don't know when he'll be back."

Vexus almost jumped out of the chair, "He went alone?!"

Dumbledore looked over his glasses at her "Yes, He was asked to come alone. We assume that they are wanting the information about any post-match celebrations. Also, you were busy tending to Professor Wulf. We thought it best not to disturb you. She is no doubt rather distraught." At Vexus look of surprise he pointed to the letter on the corner of his desk "They sent one to me as well. If I may ask, how are you feeling Vexus?"

She leaned back in the chair "Confused. Swollen. Achy. Hungry and tired. Other than that I feel fine. I went to a doctor Thursday and got some interesting news."

Albus raised his eyebrows and smiled "Do go on."

"I'm having twins, a boy and a girl. That's why I'm showing so much already"

Dumbledore smiled widened and he pulled a small box out of his pocket "This calls for a celebratory lemon drop!" He offered one to Vexus who took it and made a face.

"I forgot how sour these are at first!"

The chatted on for several moments longer before Vexus stood and stretched "I think that I'll be going to bed, I'm tired and I'm sure when Severus gets back we'll have a lot to do. If you'll excuse me"

Albus stood up and escorted her to the door "Sleep well, Professor. I will either send for you or send him to you the moment Severus arrives."

The next day was Saturday and as she walked along the street in Hogsmead Vexus noted that the small village was already starting to fill up with people for the try-outs. She wasn't looking where she was going and ran right into someone before she could stop. The man turned around and Vexus started to apologize. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't...hey aren't you Remus Lupin?"

The man grinned and reached out to shake her hand "One and the same. Professor Vexus, I presume?"

She laughed "One and the same. I am very happy to see you. Would you like to go somewhere less crowed to get acquainted?" Lupin took her arm and they started back towards the school.

"So, how are the classes going?"  His eyes twinkled as he spoke and Vexus couldn't help but suddenly feel an affection for the man.

"They are going well enough. That class was a mess. I think you were the only worthwhile professor they've had."

"Don't discount yourself!"

"Thank you, but I mean it" she paused to turn and look at him "It took me two months to get them to believe I wasn't evil, stupid or someone else out to get them, Especially poor Harry."

He made a noise of disgust "I still can hardly believe that happened last year. But here we are and it's all starting again. Have you spoken to Professor Dumbledore lately?"

The sky was a lovely shade of blue and there was a slight wind as they walked "I spoke with him last night. It seems that Severus had to go meet with them last night. He's still not back."

They were walking into the wind and Remus noticed the curve of her stomach as the robes flew back out behind her "Tell me something, if this isn't too personal that is, but, um...are you pregnant?"

Vexus rolled her eyes and gathered the robes up to camouflage her body  "Yes, I am."

Lupin took her arm again and spoke softly "I can tell that you don't want to discuss it. That's fine with me. I understand how important having your privacy about certain things can be." They walked on a little further without speaking. Vexus snuck a glace at him as they walked 'I forgot how nice it is to have a considerate, charming man to talk to.'

They were rapidly approaching the school and she thought as they walked 'I wonder if Remus knows about Severus, that he's the father?' She had no idea how far the rumors would've spread by now. She was sure that Albus had mentioned it to Sirius and he would've told Lupin. She sighed and he looked at her "Are you all right? We can slow down if you need to."

Vexus grinned "No, we don't need to slow down, I was just wondering about...oh hell, Do you know who the father is?"

"I have a suspicion but I'd rather you tell me than me make an ass of myself if I'm wrong." His eyes met hers and she inhaled deeply "It's Severus."

Lupin nodded, "I thought so. I heard from Sirius about you two, didn't believe it at first. But I suppose even Severus is human. Congratulations, then. I have to know; what did he say when you told him about the baby?"

"Babies and I haven't told him yet."

They were at the castle doors now and Remus pulled them open for Vexus "That can't be a good idea."

She waited for him to close the doors before answering "No. It's probably not the best idea I've ever had. I hate to cut it short, but I am sure you'll be wanting to see Albus and I'm hungry."

"See you at dinner then?"

Vexus nodded. Remus took her hand and kissed it "A pleasure meeting you Professor Vexus." He turned and walked up the hall towards the Headmaster's office.

Vexus watched him a moment and turned around to see Snape standing at the end of the hall with his arms crossed. 'He must've seen that' she thought as she walked towards him.

"Severus, I need to talk to you."

He glared at her "I don't think you have anything to say that would interest me. I will not be made a fool of. Especially by that, that freak of nature. Your actions have made it clear what you want to say. Save your breath."

He spun on his heel and stalked away. Vexus stood in the hall alone wondering if she should chase after him to explain or to hex him. In the end she decided to go back to her office and start reading the book essays she had assigned.

"Vexus?"

The sound of someone saying her name woke Vexus and she realized that she must've fallen asleep at her desk.

"Come in." She called to whomever was outside the door. Vexus smiled when Peregrine poked her head in the room. Her smile faded quickly as she saw the expression on the Professor's face.

"We've been summoned."