Chapter 26: Mischief Managed
"How are you feeling, Remus?" Kierra asked as they ambled through Hogsmead several days later. The full moon had come and gone a few nights ago, leaving Remus feeling quite pallid and weak.
"Much better," Remus replied as he walked along the dirt road with Kierra's help, "though I could do with some chocolate...let's go to Honeydukes first..."
"Sure thing—oy—D! Sirius!" Kierra called after the couple who had just passed by them.
Sirius and Dominique stopped and turned around to wave at Kierra and Remus.
"Hey guys!" Sirius said cheerily.
"How're you feeling, Remus?" Dominique asked.
"Never better..." he replied wearily, "Where are you two off to?"
"Petit Ciel" Sirius replied, "Dominique picked it out..."
Remus looked at Dominique and raised an eyebrow questioningly at her. "Ah...that's a ritzy little place...today must be a special day for you guys then..."
"Er, it's Valentine's day, Moony..." Sirius replied.
"Oh...right..." Remus frowned, but looked back at Dominique to try again. "So...Valentine's Day...I'm sure you're planning on babying Sirius then, huh, D?" he said, with a slight emphasis on the word 'babying'.
Dominique's eyes widened slightly but she returned a smile at Remus and replied coolly, "I'm certainly gonna try to...if he lets me..."
"Why would I not let you?" Sirius asked with a grin, "I wouldn't dare pass up the chance to get babied by you"—
"Right, let's just go then..." Dominique said, pulling Sirius away, "We'll see you guys later!"
"Remember we're all meeting at the Three Broomsticks at 4!!" Kierra called after them.
"We'll be there!" Dominique shouted back.
"Oy...D...I just remembered, you had something to tell me!" Sirius said as they were showed to a private booth in the restaurant.
"I did??" Dominique asked, trying her best to look surprised.
"Yea! Remember? A few days ago, right before James and everyone came running in to tell us about what Malfoy did to Kierra, you were about to tell me something..." Sirius reminded her.
"Oh, that! Right..."
"Well?"
"Um...ok..." Dominique sighed. "Alright, here goes...um, Sirius...I think...that, um...well...I think..."
"Oh God...no..."
"What?"
"I knew it..."
"What?? You did?? How??"
"You've been so quiet and distant...you hardly even let me touch you anymore...it's been so blatantly obvious...I should've known...oh God..."
"I'm sorry, Sirius...I don't know what else to say"—
"How long?"
"You mean, how long have I"—
"yea..."
"about a month...since we left Remus's house...I started to feel like something was up"—
Sirius nodded. "Well..." he sighed, "I suppose we could still be friends..."
"What?" Dominique asked curtly, "just be friends? Are you being serious??"
Sirius sighed. "You're right...there's no way we can carry on as friends...it'll be too weird..."
"Right"—
"So...I guess we'll just end everything here"—
"What??" Dominique bellowed. "You wanna just end it here?? Like that?? At a time like this?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!!!"
"ME??" Sirius retorted, "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WANTS TO BREAK UP WITH ME!!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? WHY WOULD I WANT TO BREAK UP WITH YOU WHEN I'M HAVING YOUR BABY?!?"
Dominique's statement was followed by pin drop silence.
"My...my...baby?" Sirius finally stammered, "You're...pregnant?"
Dominique nodded as she watched Sirius apprehensively.
"Oh, good God...you're pregnant...how? How did you...how? How???"
"Sirius..."
"Oh...right...oh, God...I'm pregnant...no...you are...my baby...our baby...this isn't happening..." Sirius muttered.
"It is, I'm afraid..." Dominique said. "Are you ok?"
"...and you've known since beginning of January?"
Dominique nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier...I just wanted to be sure..."
"And you're sure now?"
"Well...not 100%...I mean, it can only be known for certain if I go see a healer and get checked out...or I could just wait a few months and see if my belly expands, of course..."
"So...go see a healer! What have you been waiting for??"
Dominique frowned. "Well, to begin with...I have no idea where St. Mungo's is...secondly, I didn't want to risk any more trouble in trying to leave Hogwarts to go find it..."
"Wait! Just go see Madam Pomfrey!" Sirius offered.
"Are you crazy?? She'll tell Dumbledore! And what if there are other people in the hospital wing? I haven't even told my friends yet, I mean, with the exception of Remus, of course, and I'm not ready for the rest of the school to know before them"—
"Wait, wait, wait...back up a second...Remus knows??"
"Er..."
"Is that why you two were up in our dormitory a few days ago?"
"How'd you know about that?" Dominique asked.
"Kierra walked in on you guys..."
"Oh...right...yea, I was telling him then..."
"So...why exactly does he get to know before me??"
"Sirius, I was scared...I was afraid of how you'd react...but I had to tell someone...Remus is my good friend"—
"Yes, that's long been established...Remus is your best friend in the whole wide world..." Sirius said dryly.
"Can we get back on subject here??" Dominque asked irritably.
Sirius sighed. "Right...well, what the hell are we going to do now, if you're too scared to see"—
"I'm not scared!!" Dominique retorted. "I just don't want my reputation tarnished! Anyway, listen, we've got more pressing things to deal with."
"Such as?"
"Such as...are you going to be involved with this or not?"
"Of course I am!! How could you think otherwise?"
"Just making sure..." Dominique replied.
"Dominique, wait...you said you've been suspicious since January?"
"yea.."
"So then..." Sirius paused to count on his fingers, "you'll have it September then...so...I have...four months after we're out of here to get a job...I mean, I don't see my parents helping me out here...great...four months to get a job...I suppose I can kiss auror training goodbye...that's three years of unpaid work..."
"I inherited all of my parents' fortune...well, once I leave Hogwarts, I have access to it..." Dominique said quietly, "and it would see us through for quite some time...so...you could still train as an auror..."
Sirius sighed. "We'll see...maybe I can train...and work part time somewhere..."
"Sirius, you don't need to"—
"Of course I do! This is my child, and I have to help take care of him!"
"Him??"
"or her..." Sirius added quickly, "you know, my uncle Alphard, he's about the only one in my family who doesn't hate me...maybe I can work for him"—
"Sirius, I said you don't need to"—
"Yes, I do!"
"Oh would you quit acting so macho??" Dominique snapped, "In the long run, it'll be much better for you to become an auror...and if you get the opportunity to become one, you better not throw it away..."
Sirius sighed. "We'll see..."
There was another long, pregnant (a/n: lol) silence. Finally, Sirius spoke up again.
"So...we're having a baby, huh?"
Dominique nodded glumly. "We're having a baby..."
Suddenly Sirius looked apprehensively at Dominique. "We're going to be parents...I'm going to be a father..."
"And I a mother..."
"I'm not ready for this..."
"Well, we don't have a choice...adoption and abortion are not options..."
"Of course not..." Sirius agreed at once. "I just...I can't believe this," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair...
"I know," Dominique said, frustrated. "This is not how I wanted things to be..."
"Nor I..."
"I mean...I've always wanted kids"—
"Me too..."
"...but...not like this..."
"I know..."
"Not this young..."
"I know..."
"Not out of wedlock..."
"I know—wait, what??" Sirius said abruptly, nearly falling out of his chair.
Dominique glanced at Sirius. "I mean...you know...ideally...I would've wanted to be married before I had children..."
"You wanna get married??"
"What??"
"You wanna to get married!!!" Sirius exclaimed, getting up quickly.
"No, I didn't"—
"I think you needa calm down a little, Dominique...you're moving way too fast...I mean...here you go, throwing a baby at me, and now a wedding ring"—
"I never said I wanted to marry you, you idiot!!" Dominique spat. "And what the hell do you mean, I'm throwing this baby at you?! You're acting like this is my fault!!"
"Well, whose is it?! Are you not the one who told me?? Are you not the one with the uterus??" Sirius bellowed.
"Yea, well maybe if you weren't so exceedingly horny all the time, or you had shown some self control, this wouldn't have happened!! And for your information, Sirius, it takes two people to make a baby, and I guess it's just my rotten luck that I have to have mine with you!!" Dominique shouted as she stood up, tossing her napkin on the table as the maître d' arrived with their food. Dominique threw a glare at Sirius before she stormed off.
"Fine!!" Sirius shouted after her, "Why don't you just go ahead and have it without me then?!"
"Fine!! Maybe I will!!" Dominique shouted back as she swung open the door and left.
"Ugh...go away!!" Kierra whined at the cupids floating over her head, as she dusted confetti off her strawberry scone.
"They are a bit annoying, aren't they?" Remus commented as he glanced above, just in time to receive a fresh gust of confetti in his face.
"Hey...why don't we get this coffee to go, and we'll...go to the park instead?" Kierra asked.
"But it's cold outside..."
"We can keep each other warm..."
"Ahh...well then, let's get a move on..."
As Kierra and Remus stepped out Madam Pudifoot's tea shop, the couple brushed shoulders with another couple that was heading inside the shop.
"What the hell are you doing here?" the man from the latter couple snarled.
Kierra rolled her eyes. "Why do you keep asking that when you always get your butt kicked in the end?"
"I wasn't asking you, Nakofsky," Lucius Malfoy drawled, "I'm talking to your chump boyfriend..."
"What did I tell you about speaking to my girlfriend??" Remus asked, stepping in front of Kierra.
"What's he talking about?"
"Nevermind Narcissa, dear..."
"Ahh, you haven't told her what you did? Well"—
"You should've been sent to Azkaban! Tell me, what did the ministry say when they found out you were...dabbling in the dark arts?" Lucius asked.
Remus stared at Lucius. "Well...I"—
"He didn't go to the ministry" Kierra said, peering around Remus, who looked at her pleadingly, as if to beg her to shut up.
"What?? I knew it! Dumbledore's always favoring little twerps like you"—
"No," Kierra continued, "see, if Remus had gone to the ministry and had a hearing, he'd have to explain everything you did..."
"Lucius, what'd you do??"
"Not now, Narcissa..."
"which includes, of course, your dealings with me...and that, as you know, would probably land you in the train back to your little Malfoy manor...out of Hogwarts forever...at the very least..." Kierra said with a small grin. "So in the end, we decided against taking this whole thing to the ministry..."
Lucius, Narcissa and Remus gaped at her. "I know...hard to believe...Remus saved your butt...don't you hate it when you're indebted to your enemies??" she asked.
"Come along dear..." Lucius muttered as he pulled Narcissa away from Remus and Kierra, though he kept staring at the latter, until they disappeared into the tea shop.
"I can't believe I scared him away..." Kierra commented as they headed into the park. "I made them leave!"
"Forever, with any luck..." Remus replied. "Well...I have to admit, that was pretty good...I especially loved the look on his face when you mentioned his dealings with you...yes, that'd probably conjure up a good patronus if you needed one..."
"Wonder if we should tell Sirius that Malfoy's seeing Narcissa...I know he doesn't care for his family...but maybe he'd want to know..." Kierra said as they walked through the park.
"Yes...but it might put him in a bad mood...he's not keen on talking about, or hearing about his family...I'm sure he'll find out soon enough on his own...it's probably better that way..."
"Well, I—Dominique??"
Remus and Kierra ran over to the park bench and sat next to Dominique, who was crying.
"What's wrong? Did you tell him?" Remus asked.
Dominique nodded as she continued to cry.
"I take it that it didn't go to well?" Remus asked as he put a comforting arm around her.
"Er...what happened?" Kierra asked.
Remus looked from Kierra to Dominique, the latter who sighed.
"I'm pregnant..."
"What?!"
"yea..."
"Who's the...oh...oooh! He didn't take it well?"
"What'd he say?" Remus asked.
Dominique sniffed as she recounted her confession to Sirius.
"What an idiot..." Kierra muttered.
"Look, it was probably just the shock that caused him to act like that...I mean...this is huge...just give him some time to let it all sink in..." Remus said.
Dominique shook her head. "No, he made it clear that I'm on my own..."
"He didn't mean it, D!" Kierra said at once, "like Remus said...he was just shocked..."
"He was mad at me!!" Dominique replied.
"Ok, mad and shocked...he wasn't thinking rationally...seriously, give him time...he'll come around..."
"yea, right..."
"You ought to believe us, Dominique..." Remus said, "Sirius has always been one of my best friends...I know him...he would never abandon you...he's one of the most loyal friends you could ever have...just give him some time..."
"And speaking of the devil..." Kierra said, pointing to a tall boy with black hair, ambling through the woods , hands in his pocket. He was walking a good distance away from the group, and he had not seemed to notice them.
"Oh great...I don't want to see him..." Dominique muttered.
"Fine...but I'm going to talk to him..." Remus said as he got up.
"What? No, Remus don't!" Dominique exclaimed as she attempted to pull Remus back down, to no avail.
"I just want to calm him down...smack some sense into him, that's all..." Remus said as he stalked off.
"Good luck with that..." Dominique muttered as she rested her head against Kierra's shoulder.
"Sirius, there you are!" Remus called after his friend.
"Hey...what are you doing here?"
"Dominique told you, didn't she?"
"Yea...how'd you know? Oh wait...she told you that too, did she? Should've known the first person she'd go crying to would be you..."
"Cut it out, Sirius," Remus said impatiently, "if you ask me, I think you're acting really immature about this"—
"Yea, well, no one's asking you"—
"You have no idea how"—
"No Remus, you have no idea!" Sirius barked, "You have no idea how the hell it feels to be in my shoes! Have you ever impregnated anyone?? Of course you haven't! Are you gonna be a dad?? No"—
"You're right! The only person who'd understand remotely how you feel is Dominique, and the only person who'd remotely understand how she feels right now is you!! Do you know how hard this is for her?? Why'd you have to go and make her cry like that?? She's scared as hell and she thinks she's on her own!!" Remus shouted arbitrarily.
"I didn't mean that..." Sirius said quietly.
"Of course you didn't...you should go tell her that..."
"Right...I should talk to her...where is she?"
"Over at that bench..." Remus answered, pointing to the bench where Kierra and Dominique sat.
"Alright...wish me luck..." and without further adieu, Sirius went to Dominique.
"Hey...." Sirius began as he approached the girls.
"Hey" Kierra and Dominique said together.
"Er..."
"Well, look at the time," Kierra said at once as she stood up, "I better go...I have to...um...see Remus..about...that...thing..." she said quickly as she left, leaving Sirius and Dominique to themselves.
"D, I'm sorry about...how I reacted..." Sirius said as he sat down next to Dominique. "I didn't mean what I said...honest...I want to be there for you the whole way through...that is, if you'll have me..."
Dominique smiled slightly. "Yea, I want you here too..."
"So, we're in this together then..."
"yea..." Dominique replied as she hugged Sirius.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here??" James hissed as he pulled his invisibility cloak off.
"What the hell"—Kierra breathed, "you and your stupid cloak..you scared us!!"
"What are you all doing here??" Alice asked, "Dominique left us a note telling us to meet her in the astronomy tower at midnight"—
"Sirius left us the same note!" Peter said at once.
"And neither of them are here..." Lily commented.
"What's this all about?" James asked.
Remus and Kierra exchanged looks of understanding. "No idea..." Remus answered.
"Prongs, did you bring the map? We can see where they are..." Peter said.
"Ah...no, Remus had it last"—
"And yes, I brought it," Remus said as he pulled the map out of his pocket. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good..." he said as he tapped the sheet of parchment.
Suddenly a map of Hogwarts materialized onto the parchment, only to show that Sirius and Dominique were heading towards the classroom.
"They're coming!" James said, "in 3, 2, 1..."
"Hey guys!" Sirius said cheerily as he entered the classroom, arm in arm with Dominique.
"So...do you plan on explaining why you had us all come up here in the middle of the night?" Alice asked.
"Well, we couldn't meet in the girls' dormitory because boys aren't allowed up there...and well, Kyle and Frank are in our dorm...("er, no offense Alice.." Dominique interjected) and the Gryffindor common room...well, some student might come along...we thought it'd be much easier to have you all come here..." Sirius said.
"To tell us what??" Lily asked.
"Well, Sirius and I have an announcement to make..." Dominique said, with a small smile.
"Oh, ooh...let me guess...you guys are gonna have a baby??" James said with a laugh, causing the others, save Kierra and Remus, to laugh as well.
"Um...actually...yea..." Dominique said slowly. The smiled instantly melted from everyone's faces.
"You...what??" James asked at once.
"A baby...we're having a baby...D's pregnant..." Sirius said.
"Are you sure??" Lily asked anxiously.
"Pretty sure..." Dominique replied.
"Oh, my God..." Alice said. "What are you guys gonna do??"
Sirius shrugged. "Er...have it...and then...raise it?" he said with a smile.
"Sirius, this is serious!!" James cut in, "Seriously now"—
"What? What else are we gonna do??" Sirius said at once, "look, Dominique and I talked things through....there's no point in worrying over it...we'll handle things as they come up"—
"But you guys should be planning ahead!" Lily said, "I mean, what about"—
Lily stopped in mid-sentence as she heard foot steps outside the classroom.
"Oh, crap..." Sirius muttered.
"Quick, everyone under the cloak!" James hissed as he ran behind the large desk at the front of the classroom and motioned for everyone to join him. Within seconds, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Dominique, Kierra, Alice and Lily were all huddling tightly behind the desk; James quickly grabbed his invisibility cloak and threw it on the group, and took cover behind the desk as well, just as the door flew open.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are..." Mr. Filch hissed, "I heard you...Potter...Black—ah...what's this??"
"The map!" Remus mouthed frantically to James. The latter quickly pulled out his wand, and peered out from behind the desk. "Mischief...managed..." he whispered quietly, just as Filch reached down to pick it up. He opened up the parchment and examined it, only to find nothing there.
"Who would leave a battered up piece of parchment lying around here?" he muttered aloud, as he folded up the parchment and stuffed it into his pocket.
"No...not the map..." Sirius murmured as Filch shut the door behind him.
"It's gone...forever..." Peter said gloomily as James removed the cloak from the group.
James sighed. "Our maraudering days are over..."
"You guys, we have that map memorized!" Remus said, "and we're leaving Hogwarts in a few months anyway...it won't be of any use to us..."
"You speak the truth, Moony..." Peter said, "still...it would've been a nice keepsake..."
"Well, we can only hope that Filch saves that map...and some later generation of lawbreakers comes across it..." replied Sirius.
"It would've been nice to pass it on to our kids..." James said sadly, "well..." he added with a smile towards Dominique and Sirius, "we can tell your kid all about it...maybe he or she can carry on our noble work by finding the map..."
Sirius grinned. "Our kid...I like the sound of that."