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DOUBLE TROUBLE

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Albus sighed, his blue eyes drifting once again toward the tiny little ruby ensconced in a jar on his desk. "Would it be better if I allowed you to live? Who am I to make the decision that you are not as worthy of life as I? I am not, nor shall ever be, the Gods that preside over such matters." His voice was soft, almost a whisper, as he spoke to the essence that lay upon his desk. "But. . . you could possibly be the bane of the Wizarding World, and who am I to set you upon them, in such an unsuspected manner? This is indeed a confounding situation."

*~*~*

Elizabeth stared at her breakfast, her stomach flipping suddenly, and a wave of nausea tore through her. She held her gag reflex in check, but pushed the plate away, the aroma of the freshly cooked eggs making her queasy.

"Eat, Beth." Danielle gestured at her sister's full plate. "You'll be working with the sixth years today, and it is dragonet training. You'll need you're full strength."

"I'm fine. . ." Elizabeth replied, her stomach churning violently, "I'm just not hungry at the moment." The smell of bacon wafted towards her, and she jumped up hastily, making a quick exit from the Hall, her hand clapped across her mouth.

The remaining three exchanged a significant glance. "How long has it been, Raya?" Skylar asked suddenly, turning toward the brunette.

"By my calculations, nearing three months. . . which means. . ."

"It could just be the flu." Danielle replied, though a look of uncertainty lingered on her face.

"Or she could have done the stupid thing and had unprotected sex with the man she loves, gotten pregnant with a love child, and means to return to Kentucky to finish out her life being barefoot, pregnant, and knowing her place in the world, which is in a kitchen." Skylar ranted. "Damned hormonal teens!"

"Uh, Sky. . . we're not teens anymore."

"Oh, right. Well, damned hormonal Tweens!"

"C'mon gals, don't jump to conclusions, I'm sure there's a reasonably good explanation for this. . ." Danielle trailed off as many in the Great Hall were heading towards their classes.

*~*~*

"I'M WHAT?!" Elizabeth thundered, her face changing from crimson to a very livid shade of puce.

"You, Elizabeth Trenton, are pregnant." Madame Pomfrey repeated, tutting slightly as a few of her patients stirred restlessly.

"But-I mean-that's impossible. Hermione removed it. . ."

"There are more natural ways of getting pregnant, Miss Trenton."

"But-"

"Lay back." Madame Pomfrey commanded, her voice firm and soothing at the same time, "I have to give you a full physical to make sure you and the child are in good health."

*~*~*

Elizabeth exited the Hospital Wing an hour later slightly sore, halfway guilty, and terrified. She ambled down the stretch of Halls towards her chambers, her mind reeling in shock. *Good thing Charlie gave me the day off. . . *

Then another thought occurred to her. . . "Charlie." She whispered, one hand straying to her stomach, another white-knuckled at her side. How would he react? He was certainly much too young to think of children. . .he has his whole life ahead of him.

Tears came unbidden to her eyes, shimmering diamonds of a despair and happiness deeply wrought and sorely felt. She slumped against the stonewall, sliding down it to rest upon the floor, ensconced in her joyous misery.

"It's not as bad as you think." A voice above her startled her out of her silence.

"How can it not be as bad as I think?" She snapped, her eyes closed and head resting against the cool stone.

"Gods, you'd think that the younger generations thought of sex or something!"

"I agree, it seems they all know what they're doing until they have to pay the consequences of their actions."

"Hey! That's not fair. Just because SHE can't handle the truth doesn't mean everyone can't!"

Elizabeth shook her head for a moment, trying to clear it of it's fuzziness. She opened her eyes to confront her companions, only to gaze upon empty halls.

"Hello?" Her voice held a note of uneasiness, which sparked several giggles from somewhere nearby.

"Up here, dearie."

Elizabeth slowly looked up, then grinned. She should have known she'd been talking to a bunch of opinionated paintings. "Thanks for the running commentary." Elizabeth replied sardonically, "But. . . I think I could survive just the same without it."

*~*~*

Hermione smiled at the tiny dragon clinging to her arm, tail wrapped securely about her forearm to keep it from losing its perch.

"Okay. . .now. These Dragonets are yours to take care of for the remainder of the school year. You will train it, feed it, and care for it, just like you would an infant. Now, you can take the rest of the class to get to know your Dragonet."

Harry winced as his dragonet began kneading his shoulder, trying to make the bony boy a softer perching place.

Hermione grinned at her friends, then ambled over to a large tree, settling among the roots, waiting for the rest to join her at their particular spot. She was amazed by the infant that clung to her so securely, trilling occasionally, as if speaking, or commenting on everything it could see. They had just hatched this morning, Charlie had said it was imperative that they be there when the Hatching took place, because that builds a bond with the dragon, much like a child.

Hermione dug a piece of dried meat out of the pouch Charlie had given the class, and began trying to coax the Dragonet into eating a bit. Ron flopped down next to her, startling both her Dragonet and his, causing them both to dig their claws painfully into flesh.

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione tutted, "Did you have to scare her?"

"Her? How in the bloody hell do you know if it's a girl or boy?"

"If it's a girl, then she normally has a longer tail, a flared snout. See." She pointed at said things, then continued. "Yours, on the other hand, has a shorter tail, but it's snout is pointed sharply, so it's a boy."

"Good, I wouldn't want a sissy dragon anyway." Ron replied, scratching the eye ridges of his Dragonet. "Isn't that right, Rex?"

"Rex?" Draco settled himself on a comfortable stretch of ground, his Dragonet settled comfortably on his shoulder, ruby eyes peering around with the look of authority. Hermione noted how much the Dragonet seemed like the person who had it. Draco's was proud, Ron's seemed lazy, her own was studious, constantly studying her surroundings, and Harry's seemed a bit on the fickle side. She hadn't yet seen Pansy's, Vince's, or Greg's, but she was sure they would match up too.

"Yeah, Rex. C'mon, he can't play with the other Dragons if he has a prissy name, now can he?" The dragonet in question looked, for all the world, as if he had rolled his eyes at that comment.

"What about yours Draco, what's her name?"

The pure red dragon primped slightly, "Her name is Myst."

"That's a beautiful name." Hermione smiled. "Mine is Onyx." Her black dragonet blinked slightly, then cocked her head, as if thinking the name over, then nodded her head in affirmation.

"Uh, what should I name mine?" Harry's voice was soft as he studied his little bronze male dragon.

"Harry, you have to think of your Dragonet's name, it's part of caring for him." Hermione tutted, scratching Onyx's eye ridges.

"How about. . . Karma?" Harry glanced down at his dragon, as if asking it's opinion. The tiny dragon nodded slightly, then settled back, lazing on his arm.

"I like that name." Hermione commented, watching as Greg, Vince, and Pansy ambled their way across the grass, headed for the group. Pansy's sat upon her shoulder regally, her white skin glimmering like diamonds in the sun. Vince's bluegreen dragon was chirping merrily to Greg's brown dragon.

Hermione smiled. "So, what names have you three decided on?"

"Queenie." Pansy replied, and her dragon snorted as if that should have been obvious.

"Er. . .Aqua." Vince replied, smiling.

"And Topaz." Greg grinned.

*~*~*

Raya cast a worried glance at Skylar, when they sat at their table. They hadn't laid eyes on Elizabeth since that morning, and they were both worried.

"Where do you think she is?"

"I honestly have no clue. She might be resting. She didn't look too well at breakfast, and I think she was supposed to go see Poppy about why she was feeling ill."

"What?" Danielle asked, flopping unceremoniously into her chair.

"We were wondering where Elizabeth could have gotten off to."

"I don't know."

"Neither do we."

*~*~*

Elizabeth curled into a ball on top of her bed, one hand pressed against her flat stomach. * What will it be like to have a life growing in me?* Her expression became distant as she used her magic to explore the alien entity that now resided in her womb. A warm smile touched her face as she, for the first time, felt her child in her, moving slightly, shifting, growing. It was strange, feeling it move in her, even when she knew that if she wasn't using her magic, she would never feel it.

A knock on the door startled her out of her reverie.

"Beth, are you okay?" Charlie's voice came muffled through the portrait.

"Uh, sure. Come in. . ." She stuttered, remaining curled.

"You. . .don't look fine to me." Charlie began, noting how she looked extremely pale.

"Er. . .We have to talk."

*~*~*

A/N: And there ends another exciting chapter of Double Trouble. Please, don't forget to RR. Almost 300 review people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo. Who knew you all liked me so well. Thanks to my regular reviewers, Akasha Ravensong, Lord Elrond of Hogwarts, and multitudes of others whose names I can't think of right now. You know who you are. Well, I'm not sure, but I think another, say, thirteen chapters, will have this all written up, don't you think?

Love,

~Me~