Author's Note: The lullaby in this scene's by Creed, but I'm too lazy to look up the exact name. It's off the Human Clay album, though; and therefore, not mine. Hey, I am updating, though!
Am pretty darn excited in a very nerdy way to be pregnant with JKR. And you know what? She can delay HBP as long as she likes, in my opinion. Growing a baby's darn hard work! (Yeah, I know that was a dangerous statement, but don't mess with a pregnant woman.)
Chapter 27
They walked in comfortable silence through the town, quickening their steps as they drew closer to the Quiddich pitch, which was utter pandemonium. Isabelle grinned, which turned into hysterical laughter upon walking into the stadium. "They did it," she whispered in awe.
The stands were a sea of scarlet and gold. The Slytherin and Ravenclaw students were feverishly trying to reverse the charms while keeping an eye on the match. Meanwhile, the Gryffindor students were pointing and laughing hysterically at all of them.
Isabelle watched in amusement as Hilary Jones, a Ravenclaw chaser, made a beautiful shot on goal. Of course, it bounced off the goalpost and rocketed back towards her, causing an incredibly confused and exasperated Madame Hooch to scratch her head, puzzled.
Above the fray, seekers Draco Malfoy and Cho Chang watched the scene, trying to get a glimpse of the Snitch. Isabelle checked the time, figuring that the Snitch would slow down any minute now to its normal breathtaking speed.
The members from both teams alternated between furious anger because of their "improved" uniforms, and amusement at what the uniforms for the other team said. Every uniform was Gryffindor scarlet. They were charmed to display sayings like "Only boring prats are Ravenclaws" in large gold writing on both the front and back of the uniforms. Periodically, the writings changed, getting a loud response from the crowd. The combination of the deafening crowd and gaping at their uniforms distracted the players greatly, causing a sloppy, hilarious display.
The piece de resistance, in Isabelle's opinion, was the inscription "Go Gryffindor!" sprawled in humongous scarlet letters on the pitch, which was a last-minute addition to the list of charms that she gave the children. She couldn't remember how many times she, Brittany and Sarah Lindsay snuck into the opposing school's football stadium and charmed writing all over the field during high school.
The prank just wasn't complete without a Musketeers' touch, she decided, smiling nostalgically. Suddenly, her face fell and her stomach lurched. She crossed her fingers and hoped desperately that Severus didn't remember that, or she and the children would be in a lot of trouble. Gulping, she scanned the pitch, trying to find her former guardian.
An irate Professor Snape, along with an equally angry Professor Flitwick, stood on the pitch below the players, trying to reverse the charms. Isabelle giggled, knowing all of their efforts were of no use. She caught Severus' eye, and he gave her a murderous look that paralyzed her for a moment or two. Grown woman or not, he still had a commanding, intimidating presence.
Isabelle winced, realizing that he would not be anywhere near the right frame of mind to discuss the baby calmly and rationally anytime in the near future. Unconsciously, she looked for Sirius, who was involved in a heated argument with Hermione about twenty meters away. Her eyes widened, assuming that he found out somehow about Hermione's involvement in the prank and was giving her one of his classic, hypocritical lectures.
Despite being infuriated with him, her icy attitude melted a bit around the edges at the mere sight of him. The past few days had given her much-needed perspective about her relationship with Sirius over the years. All her long walks and sleepless nights led to one conclusion: no matter what happened, she would still love him.
But, she realized while staring at his stunningly handsome face, sometimes love isn't enough.
Before she could think any further about her complex feelings towards him, Hermione spotted her and rushed over to her and Remus. She hid behind Isabelle as Sirius stormed over to them, and crossed his arms angrily.
"Tell Isabelle what you did," she spat.
"I'm sure it's not my business," she said, trying to excuse herself from the situation. This looked like it could get sticky, fast.
"Exactly," Hermione agreed angrily. She pointed a finger at Sirius. "And, my personal life isn't his business, either."
Remus saw the impending battle, and began to slowly back away. Isabelle stopped him in his tracks with a look. No way was she going to play referee between them by herself.
"Alright," she said to the teenage girl, "why don't we all go to the picnic table over there and talk about this?"
Hermione grumbled, but followed her to the table and sat down beside her. Skeptical, and a little afraid of what Isabelle was going to say, Sirius reluctantly followed them. He wasn't thrilled about the idea of her second-guessing his parental authority, but he didn't really see another option.
Rolling his eyes, Remus tagged along, knowing Isabelle would hurt him if he didn't. And, he really didn't want to mess with an angry pregnant woman. Besides, he was also curious about how she would handle this conflict. Especially since she and Sirius would be raising another child together soon. He smiled ironically across the table at her.
"What's so funny?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing at all." Isabelle's eyes shot fire, which highly amused Remus. "Anyway, what's going on here?"
"Oh, I just found out that he spent last night talking to my mother about me," she replied, gritting her teeth angrily.
Isabelle sat thoughtfully for a minute. She knew that, of course, from her earlier conversation with Remus. Along with other nice thoughts she conveniently gathered from her friend. She smiled internally as she caught Sirius' eye.
"And, why do you think that was?" she asked the teenager.
"Because I'm a 'problem child'," Hermione said sarcastically. "I don't know why you'd think that."
Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but saw Isabelle shake her head slightly out of the corner of his eye. Against his better judgment, he didn't say a word. His stomach knotted up, knowing he wasn't anywhere near her good list.
Maybe shutting up is a good idea, he admitted, wincing at the memory of his most recent argument with Isabelle.
"Hermione," she began, "I know you think what Sirius did was a horrible violation of your privacy, mostly because he did the same exact thing to me when I was your age."
"Really?" she asked, surprised.
"Yes, really."
"But, how were you a 'problem child'?"
Isabelle sighed. "You have no idea how wild I was back then. Sure, I had perfect grades and appeared to be a model student, but internally, I was a complete mess. Even your father doesn't know how close I was to being expelled my entire fifth year."
"What?" Sirius interrupted.
"Yes, because of that little prefect's bathroom incident. Point being," she looked into the teenager's eyes for emphasis, "I was self-destructing, fast. Can I trust you with a secret?"
Hermione nodded, wide-eyed.
"When I was a little girl, before Lily came to Dover, I was horribly abused and neglected, especially after my mum died. But, I never talked about any of it, so it just poisoned me from the inside out. No matter how many times Lily, Sirius or James asked me about it, I didn't say a word. Well, abused children tend to make really bad choices," her voice broke off.
Instinctively, Sirius reached across the table, squeezed her hand, and smiled at her supportively. Surprised at the spontaneous gesture, Isabelle found herself smiling back. In one moment, he reminded her why she loved him so much, despite himself.
"Of course, the abuse isn't an excuse for anything that I did," she continued, lost in his eyes. "I alone am responsible for all of my mistakes, which are too numerous to list."
"But, we should've been paying closer attention to you, instead of assuming that you were alright," he protested.
"I wouldn't talk, remember? Anyway," she turned to Hermione, "neither one of us wants you to make our mistakes. Between Sirius and I, there's nothing we haven't tried or done, and I mean nothing. We want you to have an easier life, a better life, free of all the guilt we carry because of our pasts."
She paused thoughtfully before continuing. "Both of us see you going down our road, and we want to stop you before you do something you'll always regret, even if you get angry with us for interfering with your personal life. No parent can sit idly by and let their child repeat every stupid mistake they ever made."
"And, Sirius learned from both personal experience and from watching me that childhood experiences have a huge impact on future actions. Well, he was a little indisposed during those years," she winked at him, "so, where was he going to go to find out about your childhood?"
"My parents."
"Exactly. We care, so just get used to it, kid. We're just one big, nosy family," Isabelle said. Hermione made a face.
"I've noticed." She couldn't help smiling back at them, though.
"Anyway, what are we doing here, when we could be celebrating the success of the best prank in Hogwarts history?" Isabelle asked, standing up.
"It is amazing, isn't it?" Hermione said a little too proudly. Remus and Sirius both stared at her, shell-shocked.
"Do I want to know who pulled off this prank?" Sirius asked Isabelle in Gaelic.
"Not for a few years, anyway," she replied with an innocent smile. "Chip off the old block, huh?"
"Definitely," he laughed.
"Um, I do speak Gaelic," Hermione interrupted them, irritated. Sirius rolled his eyes in Isabelle's direction.
"Nice to know," Isabelle said, narrowing her eyes. She put her arm around the teenager. "There is much you still need to learn, grasshopper. For starters, never admit everything you know. Faking ignorance can be a powerful weapon."
"Grasshopper?"
"It's a reference to Muggle culture, so you just wouldn't understand, Sirius," she said loftily, walking towards the stands with Hermione.
-----
Ron silently crept into the common room late Sunday night, hoping that Hermione would be at her usual table. She was, of course, for which he was immensely grateful. He snuck up behind her, silently praying that his little plan would work."Close your eyes," he whispered in her ear. She jumped and gasped loudly.
"You scared me," she said angrily.
"Just close your eyes," he insisted. She sighed heavily.
"Fine."
"You can open them now," he said after placing a small, rectangular box in front of her.
"What's this?" she asked curiously.
"Open it and see," Ron laughed.
She gave him a funny look but lifted the lid, removing a beautiful midnight blue fountain pen. Ron gently took it out of her fingers to demonstrate how it works.
"I saw this in Diagon Alley yesterday," he explained, pulling off the cap. "It's charmed so that you can change the ink to ten different colors. I thought that you'd like it so that you can color-code all of your notes without having to cart around all of those inkwells."
Hermione looked at him, completely surprised. "Thank you."
"It'll also come in handy for the O.W.L. tests, because you won't have to stop in the middle of a thought to dip your quill in an inkwell," he continued.
"But, we're not allowed to use anything except quills," she said, frowning. Ron smiled internally and crossed his fingers, hoping that she would appreciate this tidbit of information.
"Not true," he corrected her. "I was in the library all night researching the topic, and I came across an interesting rule. Apparently a student challenged the quill rule about twenty-five years ago, and won an exception. You can use either a quill or a fountain pen for the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. tests."
"Really?" Hermione was impressed at the amount of thought and effort he put into the present.
"Yep. Interestingly, the person who challenged the rule also shares the school record for the O.W.L. tests, and holds the school record for the N.E.W.T. tests."
"Must be Uncle James, then," she laughed.
"Close. Your mother."
"Do what? My mum wasn't exactly the scholarly type."
"Maybe she didn't want to give off that impression, but her records show that she was a big, fat nerd."
"How many O.W.L.'s did she get?" Hermione wondered.
"Fifteen. Same as Isabelle."
"No way. How ironic is that?" she mused. Ron didn't quite catch her meaning, but didn't inquire further.
"Anyway, I hope you like it," he said self-effacingly.
"I love it," she exclaimed. It's far better than clichéd gifts like flowers and candy, she thought happily. "But, what's the occasion?"
He leaned against the table. "Just to say that I'm sorry for fighting with you since New Year's. Look, Hermione, I'm crazy about you. But, I'd rather be your friend than nothing at all. I've really missed spending time with you. So, what do you say? Would you be willing to give things another shot? We can take things slowly, of course."
"Sure," she said, kicking out a chair from underneath the table. "As Phillip would say, cop a squat."
"Great. Can I look at your outline for Charms? I've been studying with those Ravenclaw girls – just studying – but, their notes aren't half as good as yours."
She beamed, and sorted through a tall stack of parchment rolls, finding her Charms outline. "Here you go. Anything in particular that I can help you with?"
"Yeah, those waterproof fires of yours. How do you do that?" he asked. Phillip Spence is a genius, Ron thought, relieved.
-----
Hermione leaned her head down on the table an hour later to take a quick nap before going through her Arithmancy notes again. As soon as her eyes closed, she felt a familiar dizziness pass over her. She landed in a small room with grey stonewalls, heated by a cheerfully burning fireplace.Oh, no, not this dream again, she thought. Not now.
Ever since she could remember, she had had dreams at least once a week about her family. At least, she thought they were her family until last July. Now, she had no clue if these people were related to her somehow, random people, or simply figments of her imagination.
A tall, young blonde woman with a Farrah Faucett hairstyle sat Indian-style in the middle of the room on a thick red Persian rug. She drew her knees to her chest, staring at the fire blankly with an unreadable expression. A toddler, probably about a year and a half old, ran to the woman and pulled on her shirt. She picked up the little girl, rocking her slowly.
"Mummy, where's Papa?" the toddler asked, possessing an incredible vocabulary for her age.
"He's gone, Princess," she replied, trying not to cry.
"Work?"
"No, a bad wizard made him go away. He's not coming back." A single tear ran down the woman's face. The toddler patted her face cheerfully, not fully understanding her words.
"Why?"
"I wish I knew." She clutched the girl to her chest, as a man in a black cloak, with the hood covering his face, walked into the room.
"It's time," he said, crossing her arms.
"This isn't fair. I'm the only family she has left, really. Why can't she come with me?" the woman pleaded.
"You know why," the man said harshly, holding out his arms for the toddler. She held the little girl even more tightly, causing her to squeal, alarmed.
"I love you, Princess, even though I bet you won't remember me. Be good for your new mummy and daddy, ok?" Tears freely streamed down her face. "I promise that I'll never forget you. I'll wish on a star every night for the day when I can come get you, and we'll be a family again, you and I."
"Love you, Mummy."
She reluctantly handed the girl over, kissing her goodbye and trying unsuccessfully not to collapse into sobs. The man turned crisply on his heel with the toddler, and began to walk out of the room.
"Mummy? Mummy?" the girl began to understand what was happening, and attempted to leap out of the man's arms. "No! I want Mummy!"
The room began to swirl uncontrollably, and Hermione shut her eyes to keep from getting too dizzy. Years of experience taught her that little trick. She opened her eyes slowly, wondering what dream she had suddenly landed into.
The room was completely dark, with the curtains drawn tightly to prevent light from entering the room. She felt her way along the wall to the corner she always sat in during this particular dream. The door opened, and a man walked into the room, yawning so she couldn't quite make out his face.
"Papa, can't sleep," came a small voice from the other side of the room. "Sing?"
"Sing what?" the man asked groggily.
"Stairway song."
"Will you lay down and be good?"
"Promise."
"Alright, I'll sing the stairway song." The man sat down and tuned a guitar for a minute. "Only my daughter would consider 'Stairway to Heaven' a lullaby." After he finished singing, Hermione heard him stand up quietly and put the guitar on the floor.
"Sing my song?"
"Yes, but you're going to sleep after that," he said firmly. He picked the guitar back up, and began to sing.
Hush my love now don't you cry
Everything will be all right
Close your eyes and drift in dream
Rest in peaceful sleep
If there's one thing I hope
I showed you
Hope I showed you
Just give love to all
Hermione smiled, and sang the rest of the song along with the man in her head. After all, she probably knew it as well as he did. He ended the song, and crept out of the room.
The room whirled, and Hermione found herself back in the common room with her face buried in her Astronomy textbook. She groggily lifted her head, and trudged up to her dorm room.
-----
Isabelle paced nervously outside Severus' small cottage. Two angry voices spilled outside, and the front door suddenly opened."I don't care if Remizov kidnapped me, and wants me dead! I'll die of boredom if I have to spend one more freaking moment trapped in this castle. I'm going back to New York," the female voice yelled.
"Sure, why don't you just paint a bulls-eye target on your forehead that says, 'I really want to get killed by Death Eaters, because I clearly have no common sense'!" Severus roared.
"Because all that pretty writing won't fit on my forehead," Stacey replied sweetly, kissing him on the cheek, which only made him angrier. She turned to walk outside, nearly running over Isabelle.
"Isabelle, what are you doing out here?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I wanted to talk to both of you, so where are you going?" she replied.
"Back home." She checked her watch. "Well, I really must be heading out. I need to sign the apartment rental papers before five o'clock. I'll owl you later, ok?"
"Sure." She smiled sadly, mostly because she was counting on Stacey to keep Severus from losing his temper. "Take care of yourself."
"I always do." With that, she headed down the lane to Hogsmeade swinging her small suitcase. Severus' eyes followed her retreating frame, fuming.
"Well, I guess I had better be going home," Isabelle tried to excuse herself.
"Not so fast," Severus said in an ominous tone. "I wanted to talk to you, anyway."
Fabulous, she thought, following him into the living room. She sat down on the sofa and drew her knees to her chest. "What about?"
"Would you happen to know about who tampered with a certain Quiddich game yesterday?" he spat.
"Why on earth would you think that?" she asked innocently.
"The writing on the pitch. It's your modus operandi." He put his fingertips together, drumming them thoughtfully.
"So? That doesn't mean that I would actually help students plan a prank that would get them expelled. Give your conspiracy theory mind a rest, why don't ya?" she teased.
"Never. So, why did you want to speak to me?"
Isabelle gulped, nervous beyond belief. "Before I say anything else, I just wanted to tell you that I love you very much. And, I would never, ever do anything to hurt you intentionally."
"What did you do?" He looked horrified.
"I'm pregnant," she said in a very small voice.
"What?" he thundered. "Does this baby have a father?"
"I love you," she repeated in a barely audible tone of voice. Severus looked at her disbelievingly.
"Oh, no. Anyone but him. Please tell me it's anyone but him," he pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Sev, but I can't." She hung her head, waiting for the storm.
"Please, just tell me you're kidding."
"I'm not. I'm pregnant." She paused. "With Sirius' baby."
Severus leaned back in his chair with a mixed look of disgust, dismay and anger. "Oh, Isabelle."
"I know what you must be thinking," she began. He cut her off with a look.
"You have no idea. Does he know?"
She shook her head no. "I wanted to tell you first."
"How thoughtful," he said, a little more sarcastically than he intended. "You don't plan to keep this baby, do you?"
"Of course I do!" Isabelle was scandalized.
"I thought so." He sighed, trying to come to grips with the situation. She stood up and sat on the floor, and put her head on his knee.
"I know you can't stand Sirius, but I still love him, despite everything. And, I want his baby very badly, even if he doesn't want either of us." She sat up and looked into his troubled eyes. "But, he does love me Severus, he really does."
"He had a great way of showing it," he fumed.
"No kidding. Trust me, if it wasn't for the children – all three of them – I'd just say the hell with him, and walk away."
"You can still do that," he said in a rush. She chuckled softly.
"When you have a child together, it creates a permanent bond. Sirius and I will always have that connection, no matter what. He wants to marry me, Severus."
"Are you nuts, Isabelle?"
"No. I think children should have as intact of a family as possible."
He couldn't believe his ears. "Didn't you learn anything from your first two husbands? What, do you think things will work out the third time around?"
"It's possible. Besides, I wasn't technically married the first time," she reminded him.
"Oh, come on. Just because you pulled some mumbo-jumbo about not being married in the Church--"
"It's not mumbo-jumbo. If a priest doesn't marry a Catholic, there is no marriage. Which came in handy, I must admit. But, I never meant to hurt anyone. I had to follow my dreams," Isabelle said earnestly.
"And crush Phillip's in the process? That's low, and it amazes me that he can even look at you throw yourself at Black the way you do. What happens when the great and powerful Sirius Black breaks your heart? Will you pull the same crap to wriggle out of that marriage, too?"
"No. If I'm going to marry Sirius, it would be for real this time. A marriage that would be legal in every sense, even by the Church. I want to set a good example for the baby, that its parents live their beliefs."
"Their beliefs?" Severus parroted. "Saints be praised, Sirius Black is a Catholic. Should've seen that one coming."
"You act like that's a rarity. It's the largest Church in the world, for crying out loud. I'm not exactly a minority here."
"In a mostly Wiccan society, yes you are, and you know it. Wow, you've found one of the five good Catholic wizards in the world. Congratulations, I'll owl the Pope."
"That was uncalled for." She frowned. Severus was taking this harder than she thought.
"You're the one who jumped into bed with Black, not me."
"Again, uncalled for."
"And having a fling with a man ten years older than you, who raised you for pity's sake, was a brilliant thing to do?"
Isabelle's eyes clouded. "I didn't say that it was. But, that's over and done with, so there's no use beating a dead horse. Or kicking me while I'm down. I came to you because no matter what I did, you always supported me. You're the only man who's never let me down. Please don't start now."
He looked into her sincere green eyes and melted. Why did she have to say that? he groaned internally.
And, it wasn't really her that he was angry with anyway, he admitted. It was that damn irresponsible Black, who used Isabelle and threw her away like she was a piece of trash, leaving her to shoulder all the consequences of their actions alone. Didn't he know how sweet and trusting she was? His blood boiled at the thought of her naively believing that, after all these years, her dreams were finally coming true.
Only for Black to rip those dreams to shreds, he thought, irate. As if he's such a saint himself.
His actions reminded Severus of the Biblical story that Isabelle reads the children, where the prophet Nathan tells King David a parable of two men. One man was rich in every way, and could have anything he wanted. The other man was poor, and had nothing of value except one little sheep. The rich man, unsatisfied with everything he had, took the sheep away from the poor man.
Sirius Black is exactly like that rich man, he thought. He has every material possession he wants, and he could and did have any woman he desired. But, I've never had any money. And Black swooped down and took the only two people I've ever loved away from me. It simply wasn't fair.
A wry smile spread across his lips as he remembered the end of the story. Because he stole the sheep, the rich man was punished severely. Which is so true, Severus thought. I may have lost Regina, but he did, too. And, he'll get his just desserts for what he did to Isabelle. I just have to sit and wait.
Severus sighed, shoving his hatred for Sirius to the back of his mind. "So, when's this miracle baby due?"
"The middle of January," she beamed.
"Have you seen a doctor yet?" he asked protectively. Isabelle nodded.
"First-class treatment all the way," she said with a wicked grin. "At least Sirius is good for something, huh?"
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Hey, do you have anything to eat? I'm starving," she said, changing the subject as her stomach rumbled loudly.
"Yeah, I think Stacey left half of a chocolate pie in the fridge."
Isabelle jumped up, and returned a minute later, holding the pie in one had, and a spoon in the other. She sat down delicately and dove into the dessert as if she hadn't eaten in days. Which, she hadn't.
"What's going on with you and Stacey?" she asked through a mouthful of pie. Severus rolled his eyes.
"Same old, same old."
"When are y'all going to stop being stubborn and get together already?"
"And ruin a good thing? Never," he said lightly.
-----
"Sirius, I don't really know how to tell you this, so I'll just say it. I'm pregnant."Isabelle frowned at her foggy reflection in the bathroom mirror. She wiped off a large circle so that she could see her facial expressions more clearly. For the past hour, she had stood in front of the mirror, trying to rehearse what to say to Sirius. And so far, nothing sounded quite right.
"No, that makes it sound like the baby's totally my responsibility. Sirius, we're having a baby." She turned her head to one side, trying to look mature, failing miserably. "Why am I so baby-faced? Ok, focus Isabelle. Sirius--"
"Yes?"
She gasped, jumped and turned around in one swift, but surprisingly graceful, movement. Sirius stood in the doorway of the bathroom, with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorjamb. He gazed at her intently, waiting for her to speak.
Isabelle completely lost her train of thought as she stared at him. Blushing despite her best efforts not to, she remembered just how good Sirius looked first thing in the morning with that tousled hair and still-sleepy look in his eyes. That, and he sleeps without a shirt, which is always a nice view. She shook her head violently, trying to get herself together.
This isn't exactly the time or the place I had imagined for this, she thought miserably. But, what other choice do I have?"
"Hi." Oh, absolute genius, Isabelle, she lamented.
"Hi, yourself."
He couldn't take his eyes off her. Her damp hair hung around her shoulders, curling slightly and framing her face perfectly. The steam from the bathroom gave her skin a healthy, but irresistibly sexy glow. Not to mention the fact that she was only wearing a bath towel.
Get a hold of yourself, he told himself sternly. Don't let her see how much you still care.
"I wanted to talk to you," she stammered. "That is, I wanted to tell you something."
He yawned. "'Bout what?"
"The baby," she said quickly without thinking.
"Oh. I already knew about that."
"Wh-what?"
"Yeah, Remus told me," he said nonchalantly. Isabelle's jaw dropped and she blinked, shocked.
"He did?"
"Well, it's not exactly a secret, especially at Hogwarts, the gossip capital of the universe."
"Oh." She felt like she was going to be sick. "So, how do you feel about it, then?"
"I'm happy for them, of course." He shrugged, wondering why she would ask him such an odd question.
Them? Isabelle's mind scrambled, trying to think of a way to figure out what Sirius was talking about. Luckily, he kept talking.
"Poor Fleur." He shook his head, laughing at the memory. "Fred and George really let Charlie have it last night at dinner. You missed a good show."
"I bet."
So, Fleur's pregnant, too? she thought with a smile. Well, it makes sense. After all, the Easter holidays were her honeymoon. Guess they decided to start a family quickly. She couldn't wait to congratulate her friend.
"I couldn't imagine being in their place, though. I definitely don't envy them one bit," Sirius said.
"What do you mean?" A knot instantly formed in her stomach.
"The bottles, diapers, three o'clock a.m. feedings," he replied, wrinkling his nose. "It was hard enough at twenty-five. I couldn't imagine having a baby at my age. Especially since Voldemort's back, and he's shown in the past that he doesn't have a problem with killing innocent children."
"Right. Well, I'm going to get ready for class, so I'll see you later, ok?"
Isabelle escaped to the safety of her room without waiting for a reply. Obviously, Sirius didn't want a baby, and she didn't have the heart to tell him what he would consider bad news. Not yet, anyway.
Alrighty, time for some reader responses! Woo-hoo for having reviews so I can do them. As always, mad props to beta goddess & ardent reviewer StarWest45. And also to Torifire126, who also faithfully reviews, despite having read this the first time around on the HP boards.
Ashlee -- nope, this isn't it by far. Part V has 32 chapters, & so far, Part VI has 19. I'm in the middle of writing Chapter 20, & they've just gotten back to Hogwarts. The Trio, that is. Other characters don't make it there for quite a while, & some die in Part V, so they don't make it at all. Which is a bummer, but I have a penchant for drama.
StelaMaris -- Thank you, ma'am! I really had fun in class entertaining myself with how I can make the most outlandish plot ideas humanly conceivable fit the canon. Well, the pre-OoP canon, since that was what I was dealing with.
hunterian -- The beginning of Part VI's devoted to Sirius & Isabelle sorting themselves out, & I'm pretty happy with the results. Hopefully I'll get that uploaded pretty soon.
A very angry person -- Too funny! Technically, Intellectual Property infringements don't really apply to trademarks, which Mack is. But no, I don't own Mack nor do I take credit for their lovely, large trucks. Well, it would be an IP infringement if I started a truck company & the average person would confuse my trucks for actual Mack trucks, allowing me to capitalize on their goodwill. But that's a little complicated & reminding me way too much of legal crap, which I use fic writing to escape from.
Trevor the Enchanter -- Didn't I say that Sirius is the brightest star in the sky? Pretty sure, but I did write it over two years ago. I'll check out your story as soon as I can, 'k? Going nuts trying to finish my law degree...
Angel -- I agree, it would've been a dumb ending if I left it there. But, considering that this story really has no end (just ask my betas), read on & let me know what you think?
n6uos -- Didn't I warn you that this story's a little offbeat? Sorry you didn't like it, though.
DarkSov -- Came up with the concept for that before the idea of Muggle technology in Hogwarts was firmly answered by the goddess of the HP universe JKR herself. That was my answer, & yup, it was wrong. But I figure I'll continue in my wrongness since, well, I'm too lazy to fix it.
Thanks to Titanic-HarryPotter-lvr-2, Serenitystone, Kassandra07, Malevolent for the very complimentary reviews. I live for feedback; I really do. Hope that was everyone. If not, I'm very sorry & I have no problem blaming pregnancy mind-loss as the culprit.