A/N: Well, here it is. The long awaited decision. Enjoy!
Chapter Eight
"Order!" The head of the Committee shouted, as he banged his gavel unnecessarily heavily. The man glared at James for good measure, making it clear that such comments were not appreciated. James simply sat in his seat, staring impatiently back.
"As I was saying," he sneered, with another glare at James. "The Committee has made its decision. We have decided to allow the birth of the children. However-"
Thinking that the rather unpleasant judge had finished giving the decision, Sirius stood up with a loud yell of triumph. He yanked Remus to his feet before pulling him in to a deep kiss, not even caring that the judges might not approve of his behavior. They'd won! Sirius dimly registered that the rest of their friends were also cheering in celebration, while the Chairman attempted to return order to the courtroom. However, no one paid him any heed until he pulled out his wand and shot off a rather large and lethal looking fire-cracker that exploded right above Healer Fenwick's head, and would have caught the man's hair on fire if he hadn't managed to duck just in time. Everyone quieted down and returned their attention to the front.
"Thank you," the judge huffed. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Fenwick, but it was necessary to get everyone's attention. Now please return to your seats. I have not yet finished giving the Committee's decision."
"Your Honor, I don't understand," Remus protested without thinking as he sat back down. "You said we would be allowed to keep-"
"Mr. Black," Clara interrupted, her face contorted into a condescending sneer (she seems to like that look). "Would you please keep you mate under control? If you do, you might be able to learn the Committee's decision."
Sirius jumped back to his feet with an enraged snarl. "Why you little-"
Remus just managed to keep Sirius from lunging across the room by grabbing onto his arm. "Ignore her," he whispered as he pushed Sirius back into his seat. Sirius ceased his attempts to reach the woman so he could strangle her, but still growled dangerously at her from his seat.
"Sorry," he ground out, staring defiantly at Clara.
The Chairman paused a moment before resuming his little speech. "May I continue, Mr. Black?" He asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, sir," Sirius answered sardonically, returning his gaze to the elderly man.
"Good." The elderly wizard continued. "Now, while the Committee has decided to allow the birth of the children, we do not believe it would be in anyone's best interests to let you keep them."
At this, everyone jumped to their feet again, this time in outrage. Surprisingly, it was Grace who's shout everyone heard. "What do you mean, they can't keep them? It's their children you're talking about! I don't see you trying to take the James and Lily's unborn child, so why take Sirius and Remus' kid? This is- that's just- wrong!"
"Miss Pole, if you do not sit down right now you will be held in contempt!" The Chairman shouted, nearly apoplectic with indignant anger. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Now, it is our decision that for their safety, the children will be taken immediately upon their birth. You will not name them. You will not know where they are going to be taken. You will have no contact with them whatsoever. That is all." He banged his gavel once more, signaling the end of the hearing.
Sirius stood up in anger and stated, "No, that is not all! If you're going to force us to put our children up for adoption, the least you could do is let us pick who's going to take them-"
The Chairman sighed in exasperation and said, "Mr. Black, the children are not going to be adopted."
Sirius was confused. He eyed the Committee members warily saying, "But if you're not going to let us raise them, and they're not going to be put up for adoption, then what-"
"They're going to study them," Remus said, his eyes wide as he stared in horror at the white haired wizard in front of him. "You're going to put our babies in a lab and study them like some sort of experiment." His eyes filled with tears at the thought.
"Of course we are," said one of the judges who hadn't spoken yet. "What else would we do with the creatures? The children of a human and a male werewolf? They're bound to have some sort of interesting traits our medi-wizards will want to study. Isn't that right, Mr. Fenwick?"
At this question, everyone turned their attention to the Healer, waiting for his response. He frowned at the Committee before grudgingly admitting, "That is entirely possible. However, taking these men's children simply to treat them like muggle lab-rats is morally and ethically wrong. It's unjust, and I for one intend to lodge a complaint."
"Forget complaints," James said with an angry glare at the people who were planning to take his best friends' kids. "We're going straight to the Minister and demanding he overturn the decision, or at least set up another hearing." Lily, Peter, and Grace nodded in agreement.
The brunette who'd spent a large part of the hearing glaring at Clara stepped apart from her fellow Committee members and said, "And I intend to do whatever I can to help you get the decision overturned. There is no reason for you not to raise your own children."
Remus and Sirius stared at her in surprise. Wiping his eyes, Remus stepped forward and said, "That you. We'll appreciate any help we can get."
A/N: Please don't hate me! I know this is short, but the next chapter will be much longer. And we will finally see the little ones! Yay! Please review. And don't worry, things will begin to look up for our parents-to-be.