Chapter 8:

"Knock, knock, knock!" Kiki sing-songed as she entered into Harmony's empty classroom. "Just coming to see how your first week back went!"

Harmony smiled at her friend and motioned for Kiki to join her in the chambers beyond the classroom. "So, what brings you here this early? I mean, everyone else is down eating in the Great Hall. Me, I personally still can't stand the smell of everything but tea. Want some?" Harmony held a cup out.

She had expected her friend to take the cup with a cheerful face, not refusing it by throwing one hand over her mouth and the other over her stomach and running to the bathroom. Harmony put the cup down and went to hold Kiki's purple streaked hair back as she was sick.

When she was finished, Kiki allowed Harmony to lead her back to the couch in the Lupins' chamber. "Do you think you can drink the tea now?" Harmony asked. Kiki shook her and lay down on the couch, groaning. Harmony put the cup down and walked to sit next to her friend.

"I don't understand. I thought it was just a weird stomach virus. You know, ones that only pop up at the most inconvenient times? But two-three weeks later, I'm still throwing up nearly every morning."

"Did you say this happens every morning?"

"No, it sometimes skips days but not too many."

"Did you miss your last period?"

"Harmony, in all my days having that blasted thing, when have I ever been able to count? Why? You don't think I'm pregnant? No, no, I probably just skipped this month because of the virus," Kiki rationalized out.

Harmony was already standing. "You are getting checked out by Madame Pomfrey, no ifs, ands or buts. Merlin, I'm surprised Severus hasn't dragged you here yet."

"He tried, but I told him it was nothing. And then I kept hiding it from him until he left for Hogwarts."

"And Molly never caught you? The first time I experienced morning sickness, she was all over me like bees on honey," Harmony said. They reached the hospital wing and the DADA professor called out for the nurse.

Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of the hospital bedroom. "Merlin, Harmony, I thought you would have enough sense not to come bother me about every little pregnancy symptom. Or at least bother your mother," the medi-witch said, throwing up her hands.

Harmony laughed and Kiki would've too if her stomach wasn't all in knots. "No, Madame Pomfrey, I'm here for Kiki. I think she might be pregnant as well," Harmony said.

Madame Pomfrey looked towards the brunette witch. "Oh, really now? Well, come on and lie down. We'll get you all checked out. Now, where did I put that needle?" The nurse went scurrying off into the next room and emerged later with a needle and a vial of potion. "Now, this will only hurt a bit."

Within minutes, the nurse came running out of the room. "Harmony, you were right!" She whirled towards Kiki. "Dearie, I'm glad to tell you you will be a mother."

And Kiki did the only thing she could think of doing at the time: she screamed. Loud, hard and long.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," Harmony said, handing her friend a glass of water. "Normally people either jump up and down or faint. Not let loose a blood curling scream like that."

Kiki glared at her friend as Remus entered the room. "Did you hear that shriek? Dumbledore had me search for a banshee, just to be on the safe side."

"That was no banshee…it was Kiki," Harmony explained.

"What? Why did you let loose that scream?"

Kiki gave a hollow laugh. "Because I'm pregnant and the first thing that popped into my mind was my mother yelling at me for being an unwed mother. Oh, I can hear it now!" She buried her head in her hands. "She's going to murder me!"

Remus sat there, mouth opening and closing, but no words were emitted. His face was slowly becoming redder and redder by the minute. "Remus, darling, are you okay?" Harmony asked, now concerned for her husband.

"I'll be fine once I kill Severus!" Kiki looked up. "He will pay for this…"

"No!" the woman cried out. "Do that and I will really be a single mother!"

Remus whirled around. "You're protecting him who knocked you up and then refuses to take any responsibility?"

"I just found out, Remus! Only you, Harmony, Madame Pomfrey and I know! I said unwedded mother, not single!" Kiki's fists were all balled up. "Now comes the hard part—telling Sev." She crumpled back onto the couch as Harmony sat down next to her, Remus taking the other side.

"Hey, I'm sorry…don't worry, I'm sure Severus will be extremely happy," Remus said, hugging his friend.

At that point, a familiar owl soared in and perched itself on Kiki's knee. "Hello, Mercury," Kiki said, ruffling the owl's feathers. Mercury hooted and held out his leg for Kiki to untie the message attached. "It's from Sev. He wants me to meet him for lunch—apparently he heard I had taken the day off."

"Well?" Harmony and Remus asked.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to make sure there's no food in his mouth when I tell him. I wouldn't want to have to do the Heimlich on my boyfriend after telling him we're going to have a child." With that, Kiki stood up as they heard Remus' first class come trickling in. "But first—can I lie down?"

At around noon, Kiki stood staring down Severus' door. She was mentally pepping herself for the conversation to come and imagining all possible scenarios. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Severus opened it with a sour expression. Uh oh…she thought.

But then his face brightened up at the sight of her standing out there. "Come in! I am so glad you were able to make it. Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"No. I was actually up visiting the Lupins, so Mercury didn't have far to fly," Kiki said, trying to make a joke. Severus chuckled a bit and then stopped her.

"I have a surprise. But first—close your eyes."

Kiki sighed and did so. She felt Severus lead her further into the room and move to stand behind her. "Okay," he whispered. "Open your eyes."

She did so and was staring down at an open ring box on Severus' coffee table. She gasped at how beautiful the diamond ring was, flanked by a ruby and an emerald—red for Gryffindor, green for Slytherin. She tenderly picked up the box to get a closer look at it. "Kristin, will you marry me?" Severus asked, encircling the woman with his arms.

Kiki closed the small box and took in a deep breath. Now or never. "I'll answer that as soon as I tell you something," she said. "Go, sit down. You'll be glad you did."

Severus' eyebrows furrowed together, but he did as he was told. Kiki stood in front of him and fiddled with the ring box. "Remember how I wasn't feeling well back in August? Well, I never told you that it didn't get better. Harmony dragged me to Madame Pomfrey this morning and the test results showed that it was morning sickness." She paused. "I'm pregnant, Severus."

The man's normally pale face seemed to have gotten considerably paler during her speech. He sat there, mouth hanging open…not a word come out. Kiki closed her eyes, nodded and put the ring box back in his hand. She just stood there, not being able to will her legs to move.

She then felt an arm pull her closer until she could feel herself against Severus' torso. She felt his face push up against her stomach and she opened her eyes to see a dreamy expression on his face. He then turned from her to find the ring box and opened it again. "You still haven't answered my question…will you marry me?" he asked.

With that, Kiki burst into tears and nodded, her throat too tight to talk. Severus smiled and slipped the beautiful ring onto her finger. When she finally calmed down, after being slowly rocked by her fiancé, she turned and looked at him. "I have one request about this engagement," she said.

"Name it."

"We wait. We wait until after our little g—one is born." Kiki stopped herself from saying "girl." The dream—vision! Her third eye had shown her with a little baby girl, the next day she was sick all morning…and for a few days after that…why hadn't she realized it before?

"Kiki? Earth to Kiki," Severus said, lightly waving his hand in front of her eyes. She blinked and smiled. "I said it was fine to wait until after our son or daughter is born."

"Daughter."

"Hmm?"

"We're going to have a daughter."

"How did you know that? All spells involving sex determination cannot be performed until the second trimester." Severus frowned down.

Kiki giggled. "I had a dream…a vision, I guess. The night before my first bout of morning sickness. In it, I was holding a beautiful baby girl with dark hair and black eyes…our daughter." Severus smiled and picked her up, setting her on a chair.

"Well, now we really should eat lunch. You and my little girl must be extremely hungry," Severus said as food appeared on the table, courtesy of the Hogwarts' house elves. "Bon appetit."