Altercations

By Neurotica

Twenty-Eight

Dear Mister Lupin,

I will start by thanking you for your visit to the shop recently—I have not had many customers as of late due to the war. Again, I give my condolences for your cottage—I knew your father well, during the time he owned his bookshop; he was a good man. And I again give my congratulations on your upcoming wedding, of course.

In reference to Mister Black's wand—I researched the beech wood and the unicorn from which I gathered the hair to make the wand; I found some rather interesting information that I appear to have overlooked when selling Mister Black his wand. It seems the beech tree that supplied the wood for the wand had somehow survived a rather horrible forest fire some years before, which might possibly explain how the wand survived your fire.

Unicorns, as you very well know, are quite magical themselves. The unicorn chosen for this particular wand—a full-grown, adult male—had unique powers, healing powers it seems, that are most uncommon to a unicorn. The conclusion I have drawn from this information is that the heat of the fire, though it had no physical effects on the wand, activated the healing powers of the unicorn hair, which would explain how Mister Black's powers returned so suddenly—if he'd been handling it, but not using it, as you said he was, the healing properties would have had more time to surround him, and whatever curse took his powers from him to begin with was countered.

I sincerely hope this information helps. I am going on a short holiday this weekend, to Ireland to visit my sons, but if you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by owl at any time.

Again, I congratulate you on your marriage—your mother and father would be quite proud of how you've turned out, Remus.

With regards,

Ollivander

Sirius snapped his head from the letter to Remus' broadly grinning face. "When did you go see Ollivander about my wand?" he asked.

"Few days after Christmas," Remus responded. "I was still upset with you, but Emmeline and I were in Diagon Alley, anyway—she wanted to return that book Dung gave her—" Sirius sniggered; Remus grinned, "—and my curiosity got the best of me. Since neither of us could find anything about what happened to you, we went to Ollivander to see if he could help."

Sirius nodded. "I still can't believe she traded that book for one on Magical Creatures," he said, still sniggering. "She could've given it to me..."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "And what would you have done with a book that... well, a book like that?" he asked. When Sirius' grin widened, Remus hastily added, "Don't answer that—I really don't want to know."

Sirius laughed at the blush creeping up his best friend's face. "So how're things working out now that Emmeline's wonderful older brother has departed?"

"Very well," Remus said, grateful for the change of subject. "Thomas has offered to give her away—Michael was supposed to do it, but you saw how that turned out..."

Sirius nodded again. "And the honeymoon... You never told me where you're taking her."

"Why should I?" Remus asked. "You'll just show up on the second or third night, and you'll never leave us alone."

"Do you have that little faith in me?"

Remus chose to raise an eyebrow rather than answer.

"Even if I wanted to bother you on your honeymoon, I couldn't; I've already taken too much time off work for this blasted wedding of yours. And then, of course, there's my wedding when you two lovebirds get back."

"About that," Remus said, frowning a bit. "Are you sure you don't want something more than a court wedding? I mean, just the Minister of Magic, Dumbledore, Emmeline, Harry, and me?"

Sirius nodded. "It's safer for Naomi that way," he said quietly. "If it's just the six of us, here in the Ministry, there's less chance of someone coming around and trying to hurt her. When all this is over, we can have something bigger, and go on a honeymoon and all that, but until then..." He shrugged.

"It is safest, I suppose." Remus sighed. "But you deserve much more."

Sirius smiled at him. "Thanks, Remus."

Remus smiled back and winked. "When's Naomi's next appointment with the Healers?"

Sirius looked at his watch. "In about two hours," he said. "Did you know they could tell if it's a boy or girl this early in the pregnancy?"

Remus nodded. "My mum used to deliver babies in the Muggle hospital she worked at. Muggles usually can't tell until the seventh month."

"Seventh?" Sirius said incredulously. "Honestly, how do Muggles get along with out magic?"

The werewolf chuckled. "Are you two going to find out what you're having or do you want to be surprised?"

"Well, you know I hate surprises, though I don't think I'd mind this kind. Naomi wants to know, and since she's the one who has to lug the baby around for nine months, I think she'll get her way."

"Any preferences yet?"

Sirius shrugged. "Not really. I don't know. I wouldn't mind having a little girl. Boys can be a bit troublesome."

Remus rolled his eyes but smiled. "What about names? Have you decided on anything?"

"Nope. To be honest, I'm still in the shock phase of this I'm-having-a-baby thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled about it, but we hadn't even talked about having kids, and in seven months, we're going to have more to worry about than just whether or not Voldemort's trying to find Naomi."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Emmeline and I will be there to help with anything you need," Remus said quietly.

Sirius nodded. "I know and I appreciate that more than you know, but it's going to be my responsibility to make sure this kid grows up right. What if I screw up?"

Remus smiled. "Have you screwed up with Harry?"

"Do I have to answer that?"

"Sirius, you'll do fine. I happen to think you've done a wonderful job raising Harry."

"Yeah, but you've been there every step of the way to make sure I'm doing the right thing by him—"

"And now you'll have Naomi," Remus said firmly. "You think she'll let you do something to damage this child?"

"No. But what if something happens to her? Voldemort's not just going to wake up one day and say 'Oh, she's suffered enough. I think I'll leave her be for the rest of her life.' She's not going to be completely safe until Voldemort is gone. And if what Dumbledore says is true, that's not going to happen until all four of the other Horcruxes have been destroyed. And he doesn't even know what the bloody things are! And—"

"Sirius, stop," Remus said. Sirius closed his mouth. "Nothing is going to happen to Naomi so long as she stays in Number Twelve and doesn't leave without one of us. You and I both know that Naomi isn't stupid by any means—yes, she's done some stupid things, but we all have. She knows what kind of danger she's in, and if I know her at all, I know she will not do anything to put her child in jeopardy just because she's bored of the house. And nobody can get past the Fidelius Charm here, so long as Albus Dumbledore is alive—and before you even say it, I do not foresee Dumbledore dying in the next ten years."

Sirius closed his mouth again. "You're too smart for your own good sometimes. Did you know that?"

Remus only grinned. "I've been accused of worse things. But right now, I should be going—I know how eager you are to finish all that paperwork in your inbox." Sirius replied with a rude hand gesture. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"See you, Moony. Thanks for the talk."

"Anytime, Padfoot."

Tonks passed Remus on the way into Headquarters and after a few minutes of small talk about the wedding, she made her way to her cubicle to get started on a report for Sirius on a Death Eater she'd been tracking for a few weeks. Dumbledore hadn't thought it safe to try and infiltrate Voldemort's hideout so soon after the first attempt. He'd said the odds had been in the Order's favor that night, and he didn't want to risk getting anybody hurt because the Order had gotten just a tad cocky after Tonks' and Harry's missions.

"Hey, Tonks?" said a voice behind her. She turned and smiled, finding Chris Davies, one of the Aurors who'd qualified alongside her, leaning against the wall of her cubicle.

"Wotcher, Chris. What's up?"

Davies was frowning. "That man you were talking to... He's Black's friend, right?"

Tonks nodded. "Remus," she said. "He and Sirius have been best friends for years. Why?"

Davies looked over his shoulder and moved further into Tonks' cubicle. "Well, it's just that I heard Dawlish telling someone he's a... well, that he..."

The witch raised an eyebrow. "He's a what?"

"A werewolf," the wizard whispered.

Tonks blinked. "And?"

Davies shrugged. "Well, You-Know-Who's got all the werewolves on his side, doesn't he? And Lupin's head of a department in the Ministry, isn't he?"

"What are you getting at?" Tonks asked a bit heatedly.

"What if Lupin's on You-Know-Who's side?"

Tonks' wand was drawn and pointed at the wizard before he could even blink. "How dare you accuse Remus of something like that! He's done more good in this war than you could ever dream of doing, and if I ever hear you talking about him like that again—"

"TONKS!" Sirius roared from his office. He crossed Auror Headquarters in a few long strides and stood between the two young Aurors. Tonks lowered her wand. "What the hell is going on out here?" Sirius asked, looking from his cousin's furious face to Davies' relieved one.

"Nothing, sir," Tonks responded in a mutter.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and looked at Davies. "Well?" he said impatiently.

"We were just having a discussion, and it got a bit heated, boss," the younger wizard said. "It won't happen again." And he went back to his own cubicle. Tonks glared after him.

"The truth, please," Sirius said evenly.

Tonks plopped down into her chair, slamming her wand on her desk so hard that a few sparks shot from the tip. "Why do people have to act like that?"

"Well, if I knew what was going on, I could better answer that," Sirius said, sitting on the edge of her desk. "You want to come into my office?"

Tonks shook her head. "Davies was accusing someone I knew of doing something they'd never do in a million years."

"Someone I know?"

She shrugged.

Sirius sighed. "Tonks, I can't go over and hex him unless you tell me why I'm doing it. Who was he talking about?"

Tonks looked up. "Remus."

Sirius raised his other eyebrow. "Remus Lupin?" Tonks looked at him with her own raised eyebrow that silently asked you know another Remus? "What was he accusing Remus of doing?" Sirius asked.

"Joining Voldemort because he's a werewolf."

Sirius bit back a growl. "And where exactly did he get an idea like that?"

"Dawlish."

Sirius turned and looked around Headquarters, finding Dawlish immediately at the coffee pot. "I've been looking for a reason to put him in hospital for a few months. I think I've finally found one." He started to stand, but Tonks grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"If you do that, you'll get into trouble," she said. "Wait until you've left the Ministry, at least."

"You were going to hex Davies," Sirius said. "Why can't I hex Dawlish?"

Tonks grinned. "You can be worse than a kid sometimes, you know that?" Sirius glared at her. "Dawlish is always talking rubbish, Sirius. You should have heard half the stuff he's said since you've come back. I think he's still trying to get you back for embarrassing him in front of everybody that day you threatened to sack him and Scrimgeour."

"I should've done it too. They're both useless. All they've done is complain about how I run things around here."

"True, but if you walk over there and start hexing him, he's going to get you into trouble."

"Let him try," Sirius growled.

"Besides, don't you need to be meeting Naomi soon?"

Sirius' anger deflated. "Yes, but don't say that too loudly. I don't need the whole world knowing where she is and where we're going."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione—Hermione's hand held loosely in Ron's—left the Potions classroom and made their way to the Great Hall. The lesson they'd just had was the best one Harry could ever remember having. Slughorn had them all brew a weak version of Veritaserum, and the students who'd completed the task perfectly—Hermione among them—were allowed to test their potions on their classmates. Hermione had wanted to test hers on Ron, but couldn't; Ron was still taking Healing potions every morning due to a few complications from injuries he'd received during his time in Voldemort's hideout, and mixing those with Veritaserum could have had ill effects on him. So Harry had been the guinea pig.

At first, he'd felt a little lightheaded as the warm truth serum flowed through his veins, but after Hermione's first question ("Who put the finger-biting quill in my school bag yesterday?") something odd had happened. Though Hermione had concocted her potion perfectly, Harry was able to fight it off. When Hermione asked who he liked better, Ron or Hermione, he was able to say that Ron was a git, and of course he liked Hermione better. Ron was a bit hurt, but when he asked Harry if he would rather spend a week with Draco Malfoy or tear out his own eyes, and Harry answered Malfoy, the other Gryffindor realized what had happened.

"I don't reckon anyone could throw off Veritaserum like that," Ron said as they walked.

"It's happened," Hermione said. "Veritaserum isn't all that reliable, really. The drinker believes what they're saying is true, and it's possible to fight it off. But if the drinker is weak-minded, or just weak in general, the Veritaserum overpowers them, and then it really does work. And the Veritaserum we were using was quite weak..."

"That's how Sirius was found innocent, you know," Harry said, holding the door open for his friends when they reached the Great Hall. "They used full-strength Veritaserum, of course. But he'd been in Azkaban for five years with the dementors and lost most of his powers, so when Remus and Dumbledore went out there and questioned him, he was finally able to tell them the truth."

Hermione nodded and smiled at Ginny as they sat at the Gryffindor table. Harry didn't miss how closely she and Ron sat as he kissed Ginny hello. "I'm surprised someone didn't try to say he was using dark magic to fool the Veritaserum," Hermione commented as she scooped salad onto her plate.

"Rita Skeeter has," Harry said bitterly. "She's still convinced he's actually a Death Eater. Remus says she's just bitter because Sirius snapped a few of her quills in half when she's tried to interview him."

"Did you see that article she wrote a few days ago about Sirius having the Minister under Imperius?" Ginny asked. "She said that's how Remus got his job, because no sensible person would hire a werewolf to the Ministry, let alone as head of a department."

Harry rolled his eyes angrily. "Everyone says Remus is the best to head that department in years. Did you know he actually convinced some vampires they could get jobs? Yeah, there're one or two working overnights at the Leaky Cauldron now, according to Naomi, and it's all because of Remus."

"Yes," Hermione said, "but not everybody in the wizarding world is going to be convinced that Remus is harmless. We all know he is, because we've known him for years. But I'd bet there are a lot of people who don't want him in such an important position. They've all seen what some werewolves are capable of—" Hermione's voice broke and her eyes filled with tears. Harry looked down at his plate while Ron rubbed her back. "Anyway," she continued a few moments later, still sniffing a little. "I'm sure there are people who think Remus is as dangerous as those others, and no matter what anyone who really knows him says, they're going to talk about him."

"Well, I don't think it's fair," Harry said frankly. "Remus would never do to anyone what other werewolves have done. Not only does he have the Wolfsbane, but he locks himself in a room long before moonrise. And Sirius is always with him."

"Of course it isn't fair, Harry," Ron said. "But Remus has been dealing with idiotic people all his life. I just wish he was still teaching Defense. I liked his classes a million times better than Snape's."

"We all did," Ginny said. "Mad-Eye wasn't bad either, if you ignore the whole 'Constant Vigilance!' thing."

Ron snickered suddenly. "Remember when we were studying boggarts with Remus, and Neville's turned into Snape in a dress?"

Harry and Ginny laughed loudly and Hermione bit her lip to keep from doing the same.

"What's so funny, Potter?" asked a cold, drawling voice from behind him. "Have you finally gotten a good look at Granger's face?"

Harry whirled around to face Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. "No, I was laughing about the thought of how your father would act in Azkaban. Ron figures your dear daddy would cry when they shut the bars, but I thought he'd make it a few hours, then start screaming like a girl, begging them to let him out."

Malfoy pulled his wand out and pointed it directly at Harry's chest, but before he'd gotten the chance to speak a spell, a calm voice said, "Is there a problem here, gentlemen?"

Harry looked up at Dumbledore, his blue eyes piercing as they gazed at the two young wizards. "No, sir, no problem," he said, glaring at Malfoy.

"Excellent," the Headmaster said briskly. "Mister Malfoy, I believe your table is on the other side of the Hall, and if you don't move along soon, your lunch will grow stone cold."

With one last sneer from Malfoy to Harry, he, Crabbe, and Goyle moved to their table. Dumbledore wished the Gryffindors a pleasant afternoon and headed to the High Table, where McGonagall had been watching the goings on very closely. Harry turned back to his friends and started on his lunch as though nothing had happened. He knew that wouldn't be the last confrontation with Malfoy, but Harry found he didn't really care all that much. Judging by Malfoy's pale, slightly graying complexion, one hex from Harry and he'd been in the hospital wing for weeks.

In a small room at St. Mungo's Hospital, Sirius sat on a stiff wooden chair, his knee bouncing nervously, while Naomi lay on a hospital bed. They were waiting for the Healer to come in and begin the examination. This would be their second check-up since Naomi found out she was pregnant; though all they had really found out during the first was that, yes, Naomi was indeed pregnant, and she looked perfectly healthy. Today, the Healer would tell them how the baby was doing, and hopefully, if it would be a boy or a girl.

When Lily was pregnant with Harry, Sirius had teased James relentlessly about being nervous for these visits to the Healer. He wasn't sure if this was James' way of getting revenge, but Sirius now understood why his best friend always looked as though he was on the verge of being ill before leaving for the hospital.

What if something was wrong with the baby, something that could harm both it and Naomi? In the short month since Naomi announced she was pregnant, Sirius had become quite attached to the idea of being a father. He'd even gone so far as redecorating one of the rooms in Number Twelve. It'd taken nearly a month, but Sirius was able to transform the room from a dark, dingy place, to a bright, spotless nursery. But what if all that work turned out to be for nothing? And even if the baby was fine right at this moment, what if something happened in the next seven months, and Naomi somehow lost it? His fear must have shown on his face, because his fiancée took his hand in hers and squeezed.

"Are you all right?" she asked softly.

Sirius nodded slightly and turned to her, trying to smile. "Yeah, just letting my mind wander to everything bad that could ever happen to us," he said, placing his free hand on her still-flat belly. "How are you?"

She smiled and placed her other hand on his. "I'm good. Everything will be just fine, Sirius."

"I know," he replied quietly. "But you know me; when there's nothing else to do, I worry..."

She kissed the hand she held, but didn't have a chance to reply—a knock sounded on the door and Healer Ted Tonks entered, smiling. "Hey," he greeted them.

"Hey," Sirius said, a bit confused. "What happened to Healer Cavey?"

"Well," Ted said, sitting on a small stool, "I asked her if I could takeover. I thought you'd both feel a little more comfortable with everything that's happened if you knew your Healer."

Sirius smiled. "Thanks, Ted."

Ted winked. "How are you feeling, Naomi?"

Sirius only half-listened as Ted and Naomi talked about her morning sickness, diet, and daily routine. Ted knew about Naomi's former role as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix, so he told the couple about possible side effects that some of the curses that had been used could be. "I'm not trying to scare you," he said, looking at Sirius' and Naomi's faces. "I just want you to know the very slight possibilities of something like a Cruciatus Curse can leave on a person. It's not very common at all for a child to have problems because his mother has been hit by a curse in the past. But if you were to be hit now, the possibility is very high that you could lose the baby. So I would highly recommend staying out of any situation that could cause something like that to happen—meaning no battles."

"No worries about that," Sirius said. "We're staying at Number Twelve indefinitely."

"Good," Ted said, nodding. "Do either of you have any questions?"

"I do," Naomi said quietly. "Are there curses that, though someone was hit with it months, even years ago, could still affect the baby?"

Ted nodded grimly. "There are a few. If you were held under Cruciatus for longer than ten minutes, that might definitely cause some damage. There are a couple of curses that show no physical signs for months, but begin to do things to the victim—make them very irritable, sometimes violent; it can cause hallucinations, that sort of thing—but if the victim is with-child at the time, her body will reject the baby, causing a miscarriage.

"I've also been warning all of my expecting couples that while the country is still at war, you should be very cautious of anything you eat or drink outside of your home. I've seen a few cases in which women have suffered what they thought was premature delivery at five months, but we found out later that they'd eaten out and ingested poisons used by Dark wizards to abort babies—" Naomi gasped; apparently, she'd never heard of that happening. "It's not pretty," Ted went on. "And the woman's chances of having another child somewhere down the line are cut to near nothing. And there are curses that can do the same thing. I've recommended concealment charms for my patients in the later stages of their pregnancy for when they go out in public. You just never know anymore."

"We caught a wizard a few years ago who was doing that sort of thing to women," Sirius said quietly. "Two of his victims lost their babies, and then died. One woman lost her baby and became so depressed that she killed herself before she could even tell her husband what happened. I guess she was afraid he'd be angry with her."

Naomi shook her head sadly. "That's horrible," she whispered. "Can you tell us how our baby is doing?"

Ted smiled. "I'd be happy to. I just need you to lift your shirt above your belly—"

Sirius moved his chair back a little so Ted could stand next to Naomi. The Healer told him he could stand on her other side if he wanted to watch. "Okay, this first charm is a basic one to be sure Naomi is in good health," Ted explained. He moved his wand from Naomi's head to the tip of her toes, and a thin white smoke emitted from the tip. "Excellent." He smiled. "Now, I'm going to do a charm that will tell us about your baby—its health, the stage of development, that sort of thing..." He traced a circle on Naomi's exposed belly, muttering a charm quietly. A few seconds later, a picture appeared at Ted's eye level. "Would you like to see your baby?"

The couple smiled and nodded eagerly. Ted touched a finger to the hologram to turn it so they could see closely. Sirius felt his heart melt as he laid eyes on the image. It was smaller than an apple, but Ted could already point out the beginnings of eyes, arms, and legs. With a tap of the Healer's wand to the picture, sound was added, and they could hear a rapid heartbeat.

"That's our baby?" Sirius whispered, completely entranced by the picture.

Ted smiled at the look of wonder on his face. "It is," he said softly. "Would you like to know the sex or do you want to wait and be surprised?"

"We'd liked to know," Naomi said quietly, a wide smile on her face as she stared at the picture with Sirius.

Ted preformed an incantation on the picture and the image glowed pink for a few minutes before fading back to black and white. "Congratulations, Sirius and Naomi, you will be having a baby girl."