Sorry it's been forever since I last updated but I just got through my AS levels and finished today! Thanks for bearing with me!
I'm now winding down from the mega stress I've been under so here's my update. It might be a bit fragmented, I wrote it between revision but hopefully you'll like. This is the calm before the storm, this chapter stuff starts to line up for where I'm taking the story, hope you like.
Oh and some of you that have me on author alert might have got an alert about a new fic from me but then it wasn't there when you tried to open it. Well that was because I wrote an opening chapter, put it up and then realised I had nowhere to go from there. But I'm working on that fic at the moment, and I may post it when I've worked out the kinks in the story. It's a Buffy/Angel crossover, sort of BtVS season 8, sort of AtS season 6. Keep an eye out for it, I'll post it in the BtVS section when I get round to it.
Anyway, thanks to:
RebekahLynn Alice Snape
Flamingos by night
Kyra2
Dreamer Child
Charmedfanatic3000
SPASH Panther – what I meant by them adopting him was after he defeated Voldemort, or if not, he could live with them all but three weeks of the year or something.
Renna
Cancan227
Lolly6
Scary Vampiress
Thorn of Blood- I'm not gonna do a Buffy/Sirius wedding for a while in this fic, maybe not at all. I've got plans that don't fit that in, you'll have to wait and see!
Blondi gurl
Araz
Anne-Marie
Sparky 61
Angela M – the Hellmouth isn't closed but there's not a lot of activity there right now. As for the prophecy, you'll have to wait and see!
Silver Warrior
Tari-Calaelen
Lexinator
Sabia – don't worry, action coming very soon
Wllw979
Joleen
Gemini-Elf-2004 – hurry up and update please! As for the wedding, don't get your hopes up. But I have written another Buffy/Sirius fic where they get married and I went all out on that one so read it.
Chapter 28 – Expecting
After having breakfast at Hogwarts one last time, the Scoobies gathered their possessions and flooed back to Grimmauld Place. Buffy hadn't yet approached Dumbledore about her and Sirius' plans; they both decided it would be better to discuss it all together at a later date.
Buffy was happy to be back in Grimmauld Place, Hogwarts had been tainted by the knowledge of Scrimgeour who had wished her well before she left, and also by Snape who had been sending her evil glares since the previous morning.
"I missed
this dump," Sirius said reflectively as they came through the fireplace and
dumped their bags in the kitchen. They all sat around the kitchen table.
"It's got character," Giles said fairly.
Sirius shrugged. He got up and lit the fire, placing a kettle of hot water over
the open flames.
"Coffee everyone?" he asked absently.
Everyone nodded their assent.
"Not me," Buffy said, standing up. "Um
I've got something to do….an errand to run." Seven pairs of curious eyes turned
towards her.
"What's that then?" Xander asked.
"Just something I've got to do," Buffy said casually though she was reddening, backing out of the kitchen. "I'll be back in an hour….or something….I don't know….I'll be back." With that, she was gone.
"That was weird," Oz said shortly and everyone
nodded. "Anyone know what crazy old Buffy was talking about?"
"Not a clue," Sirius said thoughtfully.
"Strange."
However when he went downstairs he found her sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the embers still glowing in the fire. The room was dark, nothing lighting it but the nearly full moon shining in through the kitchen. Sirius lit a candle and placed it on the worn table.
"Hey what happened to you?" he said lightly, sitting down opposite her. "Where'd you go?" Buffy looked up at him suddenly, as if in a trance.
"Huh?" she said distractedly.
"Where were you?" he repeated slowly. "I
was starting to worry."
"I was….out….doing an errand," she said
absently, looking down at her hands, placed on the table and twisted together.
"You said that before," Sirius said,
starting to feel worried again. "Are you okay?"
Buffy's
face was pale and her mouth was set in a grim line.
"Buffy what is it?" Sirius said in
alarm, placing a hand over her clasped ones. "What's wrong? You're scaring me."
"I'm sorry," she said blankly. "But
something's happened." Sirius stared at her in wonder.
"You're going to have to be a little
more explicit," he said patiently. "What has happened?" There was a long pause
and Buffy refused to meet Sirius' gaze.
"I'm pregnant," Buffy said in a low
voice, meeting his gaze finally. Sirius stood up so suddenly that for a wild
moment he didn't realise he had. He knees threatened to give way so he sat down
again hard, ignoring the pain of the hard wooden chair.
"You're what?" he repeated in a steadier
voice than he felt, even though he heard it the first time.
"I'm pregnant," Buffy said, louder this
time, looking down at her hands again.
"Are you sure?" Sirius asked suddenly. Buffy
looked up and scowled.
"Of course I'm sure," she snapped.
"Where do you think I've been all day?"
Sirius stared at her for a moment and then tipped back in his chair, leaning
precariously on the back two legs. He covered his face with his hands for
almost a minute, and when he removed them, he was beaming.
"You're pregnant!" he hollered
ecstatically, and Buffy looked up at him, face vacuous of any expression or
emotion. He jumped up, body tensed with excitement. He was grinning like an
idiot he knew, his face feeling like it would split with happiness.
Then he
remembered, Buffy sitting before him, pale and blank. He sat down hard yet
again and clasped her hands once more.
"You aren't happy?" he asked gently and
Buffy looked up at him.
"Am I really the right person to be a
mother? Am I even ready?" she asked quietly. "I thought I might be some day,
but now? I'm only twenty two, with a mental age of about thirteen. I'm a
slayer, which means I could die at any given moment. I've got no qualifications
except a high school diploma, no career except slaying. I'm living with an
escaped convict who I'm not even married to in an invisible house in a foreign
country. I can't look after a child; I can barely look after myself."
Sirius
stared at her blankly. Her eyes were filled with fear, longing and were begging
for him to take control. He had never seen her so helpless before, she had
never been in a situation that she couldn't handle like this one.
"Forget about all of that," he said
openly. "Forget all the problems, just think about one thing. Do you want this
baby?" Buffy looked at him for a long while and then slowly nodded.
"Then nothing else matters," he said
seriously, clutching onto her hands. "Buffy I love you, and I'm always going to
take care of you. I've got money; my family legacy means we'll never be hard up
for anything. We can do this; you're a lot stronger than you give yourself
credit for. And Faith can do the slaying, we can be careful, take more
precautions. We can make this work."
"You really believe it don't you?" Buffy asked him, staring down at their hands.
"More than anything," Sirius said sincerely. "We're going to be parents. You're going to be a mother, we'll have a baby." Buffy smiled finally and it was the sweetest thing he could ever remember seeing.
"A baby," she said softly. "Our baby."
"And when my name is cleared we'll get
married I promise," Sirius said, smiling back at her gently. "We'll have the
big wedding, whatever you want and then we'll be a complete family. Harry and a
new baby."
"A family," Buffy repeated reflectively.
Her smile faded. "But all our plans. Pettigrew."
"They can wait," Sirius said firmly. "This is more important. Besides if Voldemort falls, then I'll be exonerated. That could be tomorrow for all we know."
"I feel
kind of sorry for this kid," she said, a grin spreading across her face. "With
us as parents."
"He won't be normal," Sirius said
beaming. "You can be sure of that."
"He?" Buffy asked with a grin. "What
makes you so sure it won't be a she?"
"I don't care!" Sirius exclaimed. "A
baby, that's all that matters." He got up and moved round to Buffy's side of
the table. She stood up and he wrapped his arms around her.
"Do you want to tell everyone?" he asked her,
keeping his arms tight around her.
"I want to tell the guys," Buffy said
after a moment. "And I figure you'll want to tell Remus and Harry. But let's
keep it on the low for a while, til a couple of weeks have gone or something."
"It's gonna be hard," Sirius said with a grin. "I want to tell everyone! I never thought my life would turn around like this. Twelve years in Azkaban and when I get out I fall in love with the most beautiful woman in the world and we're having a baby."
"I wish my mom could see us," Buffy said after a pause. "She'd be a grandmother, a really young one. She'd be so happy though."
"She's probably watching," Sirius said, kissing Buffy's forehead. "They all are."
Buffy
gathered the Scoobies and Remus, who had returned from whatever he had been
doing for the Order, the next morning in the Drawing Room.
"What's up B?" Faith asked, looking
slightly apprehensive. "You look like you're going to do one of your big battle
speeches where you tell us we're all gonna die but its' cool anyways."
"Not exactly," Buffy said with an
awkward smile. "But I do have something to tell you."
"You're getting married?" Anya asked
with a bright smile. Then she frowned. "Just don't go stealing my bridal
thunder." Buffy smiled weakly again.
"No not that," she assured her. "It's
just that…umm….I'm pregnant." There was a pause that hung over the room for
nearly a minute in which everyone stared at Buffy and Sirius, trying to
comprehend what they had just heard. Remus recovered first.
"Congratulations Padfoot," he said
jovially, patting Sirius on the back. He moved over to hug Buffy. "I'm happy
for the both of you, I'm sure you'll make excellent parents." His reaction
appeared to stimulate the others into action.
"So you knocked her up huh?" Faith said
to Sirius with a wicked grin. Sirius and Buffy couldn't help but laugh.
"Something like that," Buffy said, still
giggling. "Wanna be Aunt Faith?" Faith pretended to consider for a few moments.
"No Aunt for me; the kid can call me Faith,"
she said nonchalantly. "I'll have to teach the kid to hit properly; you still
punch like a girl."
"And you Wills?" Buffy asked hopefully
and Willow nodded and came forward to hug Buffy.
"I'm so happy for you!" she said
brightly. "Surprised yet still with the happys! And I'm good with being Aunt
Willow." She hugged Sirius too. The others all crowded round to offer their
congratulations.
"I can be cool Uncle Xander," Xander said proudly as he hugged Buffy then shook Sirius' hand. "And he or she can come to me for advice about boys or girls. Whatever."
"Do you want the kid to be a dating disaster?"
Faith teased good-naturedly. "They'd better come to Aunt Faith." Buffy raised
an eyebrow.
"I though it was just Faith?" she said
and Faith shrugged.
"It's growing on me," she admitted.
Buffy grinned.
Giles came
forward to hug Buffy, and then he held her at arms length to survey her face.
Suddenly it was really important to her that he gave his approval and his
blessing.
"Congratulations," he said warmly. "I
take it this wasn't planned?" Buffy shook her head with a rueful smile.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" she asked a
hint of worry in her voice.
"As long as I've known the decisions
you've made have been questionable," Giles said fondly. "But they've always been
right in the end." Buffy smiled.
"Then will you be his or her
grandfather?" she asked hopefully. "Sirius' parents are dead, and my mom and I
don't know or care where my dad is. But everyone needs at least one
grandparent." Giles beamed at her.
"It would be my honour," he said
seriously, with a grin lighting up his features. "Congratulations Sirius." He
and Sirius shook hands.
Finally they all stood in a circle, beaming at one another.
"Who'd've thunk it," Xander said happily, arm around Anya. "We're all growing up. Little Buffy's gonna have a baby." Buffy grinned nervously; it was beginning to hit her just how much responsibility she was going to have. Sirius squeezed her hand reassuringly and she relaxed, she had eight months to prepare. Eight months…and she wouldn't be all big and heavy for at least another two…
"We should go after Pettigrew still," Buffy
commented.
"No!" practically everyone exclaimed.
"You're pregnant," Sirius said, as if
she had forgotten.
"Duh, I know," Buffy said lightly. "But
the baby won't be big for at least two more months, so we could do it then.
Maybe we could do it."
"But you could get hurt," Sirius
protested. "I won't risk that."
You don't have to," Buffy replied. "I will.
It's fine. I'll be careful. But I really want to do this. The guys can help, if
they'll stick around." She looked at them expectantly.
"Um, we wanted to mention that," Willow
said awkwardly, looking at Oz. "Me and Oz have to go back. College starts again
next week and we can't really take time off."
"Well can the rest of you?" Buffy asked
hopefully. Giles and Faith nodded.
"I have to take care of the Magic Box,"
Anya said importantly, referring to the magic shop that she and Giles co-owned.
"I have to make lots of money to pay for a wedding."
"Sorry Buffster," Xander added. "I've
got work."
"As long as you guys can keep an eye on
the Hellmouth I'm good here," faith said helpfully and Giles nodded.
"Nifty," Buffy said. "Because we've got two months to clear the name of the father of my child and then get me through childbirth."
