1Disclaimer: I do not own these characters as JK Rowling has all rights to her characters as they are hers. I'm just using these things for my own morbid pleasures.
A/N: First of all I'd like to say this to all my reviewers: You all f'in rock!!!! All yer reviews have what kept this story going. And I apologize for the lateness of this chapter!!! I know its taken forever but for various reasons I haven't had the time to write, and I also apologize that I can't do individual thank you's anymore as there are just too many for me to do now. But thank you all!!!! Now lets get on with things.
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If You're Not The One
Chapter Twenty-One: Visiting Poppy
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The next day the Marauders woke to the familiar sound of Remus retching in the bathroom. The mousy haired teen in the bed next to Remus' bed groaned and pulled the blankets further over his head, while James rolled over and mumbled for Sirius to tend to 'his wife'. Naturally, Sirius gave a loud snore as he had already fallen back to sleep. It wasn't until Remus crawled back into Sirius' bed and cuddled up next to his boyfriend that Sirius' mind put things together again. Remus was going to have a baby. Their baby. He was going to be a father.
"You okay Remy?" Sirius murmured as he pulled him close.
"Mmhmm... though I could use one of yer famous tummy rubs," Remus whispered quietly.
Sirius chuckled and kissed Remus' head before sliding his hand down to Remus' stomach and started rubbing in soothing circles. They stayed that way till their alarms sounded, signaling that it was time to get ready for classes. Still groggy, the Marauders stumbled into the Great Hall wishing they could go back to bed.
Remus had just buttered a piece of toast and was about to take a bite when Peter dumped a couple poached eggs onto his plate.
"Look Moony... They've got yer favourite today," Peter commented pointing at the eggs on his plate.
Remus' face paled as he looked down at the eggs, the smell of them making his stomach lurch. He pursed his lips tight and jumped up from his seat before high tailing it to the nearest bathroom. Sirius glared at Peter, who looked mildly confused but shrugged apologetically.
After the minutes dragged by, and the start of classes drew nearer with still no sign of Remus' return the group of Gryffindors decided to just meet their friend in their morning class of double Charms.
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As the day wore on and their homework piled up, Remus decided he had best see Madam Pomfrey soon. He still had so many questions to ask her, and he was anxious to hear the answers. So when their last class of the day was over Remus dragged his boyfriend away from the Great Hall and towards the Hospital Wing.
"Remy... the foods the other way," Sirius pointed out as he was dragged up the stairs.
"I'm quite aware of that Siri. We're not going to the Great Hall," Remus replied as he mentally went down a list of things he wanted to know from Madam Pomfrey.
"But Moony I'm starrrrving," Sirius whined as he padded along next to his boyfriend, hand in hand.
"You can eat later," Remus stated as he turned down another corridor. "Right now we're going to go see Madam Pomfrey."
"Why? Is something wrong?" Sirius asked all his thoughts on food vanishing.
"No. But wouldn't you like to know if the baby is healthy? If its going to be affected by my werewolf blood? You know... stuff like that."
"Oh... yeah..." Sirius murmured as they stepped into the Hospital Wing.
"Ah... Mr. Lupin I wondered when you would be back," the medi-witch said smiling as she watched the pair enter. "And I see you brought the father."
"What makes you think I'm the father?" Sirius asked arching an eyebrow. Madam Pomfrey merely cleared her throat and nodded towards their entwined hands. "Oh."
"So Mr. Lupin have we made a decision then?" Poppy asked as she ushered the two of them to the back of the hospital wing where her office was.
"We have," Remus answered, smiling at Sirius who squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"And?" the medi-witch asked sitting down behind her desk.
"We'd like to keep our baby," Remus replied as he and Sirius took chairs across from her.
"I see. Well then I'm sure you have many questions for me," Poppy said nodding for Remus to start his inquiry.
"Well first... I guess is will the baby be a werewolf like me?" Remus inquired, asking the question he feared most first.
"Not quite," Poppy said folding her hands in her lap. "Your werewolf blood does run through your childs veins, but as your partner is not a werewolf the human blood outweighs that of the werewolf. Your child however, will be affected by the werewolf blood. How it will affect the child will mostly be unknown until the child is born as it affects each child differently."
"Will our child be able to turn someone into a werewolf?" Sirius asked trying to get things straight in his head.
"No their bite will not harm another," Poppy said before directing her gaze at Remus. "Now Mr.Lupin this is important for you to know. Since your child is not a full fledged werewolf you will not be allowed to be around your child at your transformations. If you are around your child during a transformation you will be able to smell the werewolf blood but it will be masked by the more dominant human blood making you think there are humans around your child, and inadvertently you will harm your child."
Remus sat staring wide eyed at the medi-witch, but nodded deftly when she finished. The horror of harming his child was playing across his mind. That would be something he couldn't bare. No matter how much he knew he wouldn't want to be away from his child, it would only be for a short time and it would in the best interest of the child.
"How long is his pregnancy?" Remus heard Sirius voice, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"His pregnancy is close to that of a woman, but as you are a male your body wouldn't be able to handle the 40 week duration so at the end of 36 weeks we will perform a caesarean section," Poppy informed them. "Now, Mr. Lupin you have probably noticed that you have been having mood swings lately and that your emotions are more sensitive than normal. That will go away shortly but there are other things you will experience."
"Like what?" Remus asked shifting in his seat.
"Like any other pregnant woman you will experience food cravings, fatigue, and back pain as the baby grows. You will also find that your hormones will start to escalate around your third month."
"Escalate? What do you mean escalate?" Remus asked timidly. It didn't mean what he thought it meant... did it?
"In other terms Mr. Lupin you will feel rather more... frisky shall I say?" Poppy said with a smirk.
Remus turned bright red as his suspicions were confirmed, and to his horror was made to turn even redder when Sirius burst out with a very jubilant 'Woot! Woot!' However, his embarrassment was mollified by a knock at the door. The medi-witch quickly spoke to the person on the other side of the door, and then returned to her seat.
"Well Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black in light of this situation I am going to have to inform the headmaster about this. So don't be surprised if he requests your presence in his office sometime soon."
The teens sitting across from her sat dumbfounded at the news as new fears popped into their minds. What would Professor Dumbledore think? Would they get in trouble? Would Dumbledore have to inform the Ministry? Would the Ministry take away their child?
"Do you have to Madam Pomfrey?" Remus asked timidly.
"I'm afraid I do Mr. Lupin," Poppy said before getting up from her chair and holding the door open for the teens. "Now I'll expect you back in two weeks for a check up Mr. Lupin."
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TBC...
