A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I really appreciate constructive criticism, so any helpful suggestions will be nice.

Chapter Seven

The hearing took place one week after Remus' visit with the Pettigrews'. He and Sirius were sitting in a waiting room, just outside of the conference room where the hearing was taking place. James, Lily, Peter and Grace had already spoken on their behalf, and now it was Professor Dumbledore's turn. Remus was fidgeting nervously, while Sirius paced the confines of the room in his anxiety. They'd been waiting for nearly three hours as each of their friends walked into the conference room when their time came. Neither of them knew how things were going so far,and wondered what could be taking so long.

Just as Sirius was about to return to his seat beside Remus, the door on the opposite side of the room opened, and a young man with blonde hair and dull grey eyes stepped out carrying a clipboard. "Mr. Sirius Black and Mr. Remus Lupin? You may come in now."

Remus stood up, giving Sirius a nervous glance as they approached the door. "I'm sure everything'll be fine, love," Sirius whispered to him. He wrapped an arm around the shorter man's waist and gave him a reassuring kiss before they entered the other room.

The two men were led into a large room that looked like a smaller version of Courtroom Ten, where Sirius and James had both given numerous testimonies against Death Eaters they'd caught, except that there were tables. Therewere three raisedlevels of stadium-likeseats surrounding the center of the room. At the highest level, there was a long rounded table with enough room for as many as ten people. On the first level, directly opposite from the judges' table were twosmaller tables for the witnesses to use. In the very center of the room there was a small wooden table for two people to use.

Siriusand Remusnodded briefly at their friends before taking their seats at the smallest table. The committee assigned by the Ministry consisted of three wizards and three witches,two of whom looked as if they'd been around when the Ministry was formed, nearlythree hundred years ago. Sirius was glad to see that Mr. Thunderburg was not among them. However, he noted with some surprise that his assistant, Carla, was part of the committee. He considered protesting; after all, he knew from experience that she could be almost as prejudiced as her boss. Sirius only hoped that the others might be more reasonable.

All of them were wearing black robes with a small badge representing the Ministry of Magic on their right shoulders.On the far end of the table sat red-headedman who was evidently the court scribe. One wizard who, with flowingwhite hair that waseven longer than Dumbledore's,looked to be the oldest of the lot banged a heavy metal gavel on the table and said in a wheezy high pitched voice, "Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin, you are aware that we are here today to determine the custody of your unborn children?"

Both men nodded tightly before Sirius answered, "Yes, your honor. We are very much aware of that."

The committee chairman scowled slightly at Sirius before saying in his wheezy voice, "Indeed. We have decided to allowMr. Blackto make a short statement before we offer our decision. Do you know what you wish to say?"

"Wait a second," Sirius said, his eyes taking on an angry glint. "What do you mean, you've decided to allow me to give a testimony? What about Remus? He's the one who's going to be carrying these kids and giving birth to them - shouldn't he be able to speak too?"

"Sirius, don't," Remus murmured, taking hold of his mate's hand. "Now isn't the time."

Before Sirius could respond,Carlacondescendingly said, "Mr. Black, as a Ministry employee, you should know that werewolves are not allowed to testify for any reason unless they are on trial. And after reviewing Mr. Lupin's record, I must say that he is lucky not to be in trouble today."

Sirius' scowl deepened when he heard this, and he began to rise out of his seat in indignation. Remus grabbed his arm and forced him back into his seat, whispering, "Sirius, stop it. I'm angry about what she said, too, but don't you realize what they're trying to do? They're trying to provoke us, so they can say that we won't be fit parents. Just calm down and ignore them."

"Remus-" Sirius began, but Remus interrupted him.

"Let it go, love. Please?"

"All right," Sirius said. He took a calming breath before turning back to face the committee. "Since you won't let Remus speak, then yes, I would like to say something."

He sat silently for a moment, trying to get his thoughts all in order. Taking another look at the judges, Sirius noted that the witches and wizards who hadn't spokenappeared to be sympathetic. In fact, one of the other witches, a brunette with long curly hair and alert grey eyes was glaring down the row at Carla, who was doingher best to ignore her. Sirius stood up and walked around the table so that he was standing directly in front of the committee.

"All I want to say is this. Remus and I never planned on having children. As far as either of us knew, there was no hope of us having kids of our own, and adoption was out of the question. To be honest, I had convinced myself that I didn't really want children. But when I found out that he was pregnant, that we were going to be parents, I realized that I'd been wrong to think I didn'twant orneed a bigger family. I was shocked, to say the least," Sirius said with a small grin. "But once it sank in, I felt...complete. As if that was something I'd wanted all my life, without even realizing it. Now, I can't stop thinking about how great it would be to do all the things my own parents never did.Remus and I wantto teach our kids how to play quidditch, buy them their first wands,tell them about all the pranks we pulled at school. We want to do all that and more. And I know that we can," Sirius said, his face taking on a determined look.

"So what if Remus is a werewolf?" He said, glaring pointedly at Carla. "Werewolves aren't born, so if you're worried about us breeding some sort of army, well that's just ridiculous. And if you're worried about Remus biting one of them, don't. We'll do what's best for them, make sure that they're safe during the full moon nights. If you're worried about us being bad parents, don't be. We want these kids more than anything." With that said, Sirius took his seat once more, not looking at anyone besides the committee members.

Remussmiled proudly at Sirius and leaned in to say, "That was beautiful, Sirius."

Sirius flashed a nervous smile at his mate before whispering back, "It's true. I just hope it worked."

When they turned back to face the committee, they saw that the members were currently whispering amongst themselves. Everyone else sat silently, wondering what the committee's decision would be. Sirius glanced behind him, and James and Peter eachgave him an encouraging smile. Lily and Grace nodding andspeaking quietly to each other, while Healer Fenwick and Professor Dumbledore were simply watching the proceedings with a sort of serenity that Sirius envied.

After what felt like hours, the chairman banged the gavel loudly once more. Remus went pale, and Sirius grabbed his hand, holding on tightly. Sirius could feel himself beginning to sweat as the elderly wizard said, throughing an admonishing glare at Lily and Grace, "Order in the court, please. The committee has reached its decision."

"It's about damn time," Sirius heard James mutter from his seat in the back.

A/N: I'm evil, I know.Sorry this is so short, but at least I've FINALLY updated! I've been suffering froman unfortunate lack of inspiration. Anyway, please review! Reading reviews really makes my day.