Chapter Ten
As soon as Sirius realized something was wrong with his mate, he jumped up from his position on the floor. James barely had time to blink before Sirius was hurtling out of the tomb-like library and up the stone steps of the Ministry's lowest level towards the nearest elevator. Just as he had months ago during Remus' examination with the Ministry, James leapt to his feet and followed his friend at a sprint, hoping with all his might that nothing was wrong. However, James' reason told him that if Sirius thought something was wrong with Remus, then something was definitely wrong. Please let him be all right, James thought as he and Sirius skidded to a halt outside the first elevator they came to.
Sirius began impatiently punching the call button, as if that would make the door open any faster. "Open, damn it!" He shouted, and the elevator door opened almost immediately, as if in response to his demand. The two of them barreled into the small compartment, glad to find it empty. Minutes later, the elevator stopped at the top level and opened to reveal a large queue of people waiting to enter. Sirius stepped out and roughly pushed his way through the crowd, leaving James to trail along behind him. They both ignored the odd looks they were getting as they hurried across the large atrium towards the fireplaces. As soon as he reached a free one, Sirius grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it into the fire.
When the flames turned green, he yelled, "St. Mungo's!" before stepping into the fireplace. James followed a second later, wondering what they were going to find when they got there.
Seconds after Remus and Lily tumbled out one of the many fireplaces in the reception area of St. Mungo's (A/N: I don't remember if there really are fireplaces there, but in this story, there are.) Lily had staggered to her feet, calling loudly for help. She managed to get Remus to his feet when they were approached by one of the Healers, a short and somewhat plumb middle-aged man with graying hair. "What seems to be the problem, Miss?" He asked in a slightly high-pitched, nasal sort of voice.
Lily barely kept herself from flinching at the sound of his voice as she answered, "We need to see Healer Fenwick immediately."
The man shook his head, saying, "I'm sorry, Miss, but Fenwick is a very busy man, and I believe he's with a patient as we speak. Perhaps I can help you?"
Remus nearly collapsed as another wave of pain hit him. "I need to see Fenwick," he gasped out. "He's the one who's been treating me."
The Healer was clearly beginning to lose his patience. He turned to Remus, a stern glare on his face as he said, "Sir, as I already said-"
But he was interrupted when Lily reached out and grabbed him by the front of his robes and ground out, "Listen to me. My friend needs to see Fenwick. Get. Him. Now. Or you will experience the wrath of a very powerful, very angry, and very pregnant witch. Do you understand?" The Healer nodded fervently before hurrying off to find the other man.
Lily directed Remus to one of the seats nearby as they prepared to wait. Glancing at the werewolf, Lily was worried to see that his face had lost most of its color and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. "Don't worry, Moony," she said, placing a reassuring had on his tense arm. "Everything's going to be fine, you'll see. I mean, they just checked you out a few hours ago, what could have gone wrong since then?"
"I don't know," Remus said after taking a deep, steadying breath.
Minutes later, Healer Fenwick came hurrying out into the reception room, looking harried as the other Healer followed him. The shorter man directed him towards Lily and Remus, saying, "I told them you were busy, but they insisted on seeing you immediately. The young woman was quite-"
"Shut it, Mulberry," Fenwick said impatiently, as he hurried towards them. "Whenever one of my patients asks to see me, I don't care if I'm with someone else; I want to be told immediately." The taller man moved even faster when he saw the state Remus was in. This was bad.
"What's happened?" He asked as he reached Lily and Remus. Fenwick pulled out his wand before they could answer and began checking Remus for injuries.
"I don't know," Lily said franticly. "One second we were shopping in Diagon Alley, and the next he was doubled over in pain. I looked like his water broke, so I thought he was going into labor."
Mulberry gasped in shock. "Labor! But that's impossible! Men can't give birth!"
Fenwick nodded to Lily, completely ignoring his colleague. "You're right, he's definitely in labor. I don't know why it's happening so fast, but we've got to get him to a delivery room." Turning to Mulberry, he said, "Help me get this man out of here."
They conjured up a stretcher and placed Remus on it as gently as they could. Lily began to follow as he was being pushed away, but Mulberry turned to her and said, politely as he could, "I'm sorry Miss, but you'll have to stay here-"
"I want her with me," Remus gasped out. "Or at least outside of the room."
"Alright," Fenwick said with a nod. "Follow us, Mrs. Potter."
Not long after Remus was taken to the delivery room, Sirius stepped out of a fireplace in the reception room and began heading for the front desk immediately. James caught up to him as he reached the desk and rapped on the surface of it impatiently to get the attention of the blonde woman who was sitting behind it. When the woman didn't respond and simply continued perusing her apparently captivating Muggle Romance novel entitled Sin and Sensibility, Sirius stated angrily, "Woman, are you just going to ignore us, or are you going to do your job?"
The witch jumped violently at the sound of Sirius' voice, causing her to drop her book. She glared in an irritated manner at the two of them before paling at the somewhat murderous expression Sirius wore. "What can I do for you gentlemen?" She asked tremulously.
"We're here to see Remus Lupin," James said, as Sirius didn't seem to be capable of doing more than glaring at the woman. "He should have just been checked in."
The woman opened the large red notebook sitting on the desk and used her wand to sort through the names. A second later she came to the right page and found him. "Ah yes, Mr. Lupin, here he is. But there must be some mistake," She said, looking puzzled.
"Just tell us what it says," Sirius said.
"Says he's in delivery room three on the fourth floor, but that doesn't make any sense…" She trailed off as the two men sprinted away from her and towards the nearest stairwell.
When they reached the fourth floor, Sirius looked franticly around for room three, but didn't see it anywhere. The closest room was fourteen. He grabbed the arm of a passing nurse and demanded, "Where's room three?"
"To the left and three corridors down," he said, completely nonplussed.
Not even bothering to thank him, James and Sirius raced through the indicated doorway. They dodged Healers and patients alike in their hurry to find Remus.
Lily was sitting in a chair just outside of Remus' delivery room, anxiously hoping to hear the sound of a baby wailing sometime soon. Just as she'd begun to really panic, she spotted James and Sirius coming down the corridor when they neared room three and called out to them. "James, Sirius, thank goodness you're here!"
"Where's Remus?" Sirius asked brusquely. He anxiously noted how pale and frightened Lily looked. Sirius wondered briefly why he hadn't been feeling any of the pains he'd felt at first, before realizing that Remus must be blocking them because he didn't want Sirius to know what he was going through. When Lily nodded to the double doors across from her, Sirius turned and pulled on them. Just as he opened the doors, Fenwick stepped out. Lily and James both gasped when they saw that he was covered in blood. Sirius went pale. "What's wrong with him?" He croaked, as he began to shake.
Fenwick turned to Sirius with a small sigh. "Mr. Black, I'm afraid I don't quite understand why Remus' delivery has gone as fast as it has – most births take hours. Mr. Lupin has already given birth to one of your children – a girl. She's being checked out now, and as far as we can tell, she's completely healthy."
Sirius, James and Lily all breathed sighs of relief. James clapped Sirius on the back in celebration, thinking that was all of it. But Sirius had a feeling there was more. "What else?" He asked Fenwick. "What else has happened?"
Fenwick looked grim as he responded. "The other baby isn't positioned correctly. It's in the breech position. We've already tried everything we know to turn the child, but no luck. Normally, this would only mean a longer and more painful birth, but Mr. Lupin is already weak from the first birth. He's struggling to push, and that is not a good sign."
James pulled Lily close to him as she began to cry. Sirius fought down his rising panic and asked, "But you're going to keep trying, aren't you? You're not giving up, are you?"
"Of course not, Mr. Black," Fenwick said. "We are going to do everything we can to save your child and your mate."
Just then, the door opened again and Mulberry stuck his head out saying, "You'd better get back in here, Fenwick."
Fenwick moved towards the doors before turning back to the anxious trio and saying, "I'll let you know if anything happens." With that, he re-entered Remus' delivery room and the door closed with a resounding clack.
It had been several hours since they'd arrived at the hospital, and still there had been no news other than what they already knew. In the intervening time, Lily had sent an owl to Peter and Grace, as well as to Remus' parents. All four of them had joined the others in their vigil. Sirius had taken to pacing anxiously outside the door, hoping that this would all be over soon. James and Peter were comforting Lily and Grace and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were sitting huddled in a corner of the waiting area, their faces pale with fear. Sirius was about to go over to them when Healer Fenwick stepped out of the room once again.
He looked haggard and exhausted when he looked at them all and said, "Mr. Black, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, I've got some good news and some bad news. The second child – a boy – has just been born. He, too, seems to be fine. However," he said as everyone breathed another sigh of relief. "Mr. Lupin, as I said, was very weak at the beginning of the second delivery. We've done everything we can, but – he's fading. Fast."
Sirius rushed past the Healer and into the delivery room, ignoring the gasps of despair he heard from his friends. He nearly collapsed from grief when he saw his beloved. Remus' face was pale and covered with sweat, and his breathing was labored and shallow. None of the other Healers or nurses tried to stop Sirius as he hurried to Remus' side.
He felt to his knees when he reached Remus' bedside and took the werewolf's hand, pressing it to his lips as he whispered, "Oh God, Remus, please don't leave me. Please, please, love, don't go, I need you. Don't leave me, Remus, I can't live without you." Tears streamed down Sirius' face, but he did nothing to stop them.
Sirius looked at Remus' handsome face, and thought for a moment that his love was waking up as his eyelids fluttered slightly. Remus' chest shuddered as he took another breath. Sirius watched his mate for several seconds. His chest didn't move. He'd stopped breathing.
"Remus!" Sirius sobbed. "Come back, please come back!"
A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. I know everyone's going to hate me for this chapter, and I'm so sorry. But I had to do this. Don't worry, though. Things won't be so bad at the end. Anyway, please review!