For the first time, Severus dreaded the full moon. He looked out the window, anxiously rubbing his belly, round and plump at 6 months. The 'moon pains,' as he thought of them, had started at a level of discomfort and grown worse each month, leaving him rubbing his aching bump all night instead of sleeping. He hated to think what it was going to be like this month. From nausea to stomach pains, it wasn't easy carrying a werewolf's issue. But Severus was touching his belly a lot these days when no one was looking, and not always from trying to soothe discomfort. He was far enough along to feel movement, and he couldn't help responding to the little body fluttering around inside him. He wondered sometimes if they felt as bad as he did or not during these times.

He went to bed early, hoping to get some sleep while he could. Late at night, he woke up with stomach pains. He wasn't contracting, and he wasn't feeling pressure, so he was fairly sure it wasn't premature labor. But now that he was further along, he could feel what was going on: the baby was thrashing around inside him, kicking and punching everything in reach.

Wincing, Severus sat up, rubbing his bump.

"Shh, shh, stop it! Ouch! Everything's alright! Oof! Ouch!"

The baby didn't let up for hours. Severus wearily sat there with his eyes shut, trying in vain to calm the baby down, grimacing from the constant jabs and kicks. If this kept up each month, his insides were going to be black and blue.

By the time the moon went down, the baby started to settle at last.

"There, finally. Had enough? Gotten back at me for who your sire is? It wasn't my idea. Not that it was yours either." He ran his hands over his bump to soothe the baby, until he felt them fall asleep. He sighed and lay down again. Maybe he could get a couple hours of rest before he had to get up.

Throughout the day Severus was tired, yet not too tired to notice he wasn't feeling the baby move. By now he was used to the occasional thumps and twitches inside him during the day, but as the day drew to a close he hadn't felt anything, not once. After dinner he gently pushed and prodded his bump with his fingers, and got no response. Worry tightened his chest. Something must be wrong. Whatever had happened last night must have done something to the baby. And now it was several hours later. What if he had waited too long? What if it was too late?

He hurried to the hospital wing, just about shoving everyone out of his way.

"What on earth?" Pomfrey exclaimed as Severus barged in clutching his stomach.

"Poppy! Something's wrong!"

Seeing the rare panic in his eyes, she ushered him into a private room where he immediately lifted the glamor.

"Tell me, Severus." She gestured to the bed, and he lay down.

"It's the baby. They were thrashing around all last night, they wouldn't let up until morning, and they haven't moved since! I can't get them to move and I've felt nothing all day!"

Pomfrey had been casting diagnostics, a frown on her face. Severus felt his heart race faster.

"Poppy, are they alright?"

"Open your shirt."

He did, almost tearing it off, and she palpated his belly. The baby didn't respond to her prodding.

"Poppy, tell me they're alright." He hated the suspense.

She finished her ministrations and sat back with a frown. "Their heartbeat is a little slow, but it's going, otherwise their vitals are fine. They are alive. But you're right, they're unresponsive. Have you been eating every meal?"

"Yes." He'd been trying not to starve the little one, especially after their rough first few months when he'd barely been able to keep any food down.

"And they didn't move during or after?"

"No."

"Tell me about this thrashing last night."

"I woke up because the baby was beating everything inside me with a vengeance. I tried to calm them down, but they were at it all night until morning."

"And nothing since."

"Nothing."

"Hmm." She summoned an empty vial and had him hold out his arm. "I'm going to run a few blood tests just to see if we can rule out anything more sinister, but at first blush I would guess they're simply exhausted from all that activity. Keep an eye on them, and let me know if you still don't feel anything by tomorrow. The real question, however, is what caused the thrashing in the first place. That is not normal."

Severus' heart sank. He already knew this child was not going to be normal, having a fair guess why they reacted so strongly to the full moon.

He lay awake that night, stroking his bump with one hand, waiting for any sign of life besides the weight in his belly.

"Come on, little one. You're strong. You can bounce back from this. Your wretched sire keeps coming back each month like a bad Knut, you can do this. You're better than him."

He felt nothing all night, and he began fighting despair. The full moon took a lot out of Lupin, and he was a grown man - how was a tiny baby not even born yet supposed to handle it? Hatred for Lupin grew blazing hot. Lupin had done this, he'd passed his infernal infliction on to his baby. That stupid, horny wolf. If his baby died, Severus would hunt him down like the animal he was and mount that furry head in his quarters as a trophy.

He didn't know when he fell asleep, out of exhaustion. When his eyes dragged open in the morning, he found himself curled around his stomach, still clutching it.

There was a shift. Severus' eyes fully opened. There it was again, someone moving inside him. Tears formed as he stroked his bump, grateful for every little nudge.

Pomfrey was glad to hear that the baby was moving again, and confirmed that their heart rate was now in a better range. The blood tests had all come back normal, showing nothing that could have caused the thrashing. Pomfrey was confused, but Severus wasn't surprised. There wasn't a test for lycanthropy in unborn children. Werewolves weren't encouraged to breed in the first place, and as far as he knew no one had ever been bred by one in their wolf form. Naturally, he had to be the trailblazer who got knocked up and had to work it out himself.

In the meantime he appreciated every little movement from the baby as he went about his days, secretly feeling the thumps and rolls in his belly that continued to expand. When no one was looking, when he was alone, his hands were all over it, as if to reassure himself the baby was alright. The incident had frightened him more than he would have imagined, and he was more relieved than he realized. He had to start admitting to himself that there was the possibility he might be getting attached to this baby.