(A/N): OMG I am so sorry this took me so long to get up! This hasn't been the best month, with exams and shopping and life getting in the way. Plus I started a new fic called Broken Rainbows, which hopefully will be up in a few days. On the bright side, I outlined the rest of this story, so hopefully it won't take me so long to post again. This isn't one of my longer posts, but it's definitly important.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you have no idea how much longer it would have taken me to post this if you hadn't. I hope you enjoy this chapter! The next one should be longer.

"Can we take a break?" Luna asked, slightly out of breath from all the walking.

"Again Luna? We just stopped not too long ago. We need only go a little farther, than we can set up tent and you can rest, okay?"

"Okay," Luna said, trying to ignore the pressure on her bladder and her desire to sit down right in the middle of the Swedish forest and take a nap.

They had left England just a week ago, two days after the Weasley wedding. They traveled most of the way via boat, choosing to stay a couple days in Norway to see the Norwegian fjords, and than spending a day in Stockholm, Sweden. They started walking through the dense forestry of northern Sweden just yesterday, planning to camp a few weeks to search for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. They were elusive creatures, having remained nearly unnoticed for centuries, by muggles and magical folk alike. Nonetheless, Luna wanted to catch one. Her father said that he would allow her to write an editorial on their excursion, to run in the August edition of the Quibbler.

She'd been feeling off color a bit lately, but didn't want to say anything to her father about it. They'd been planning this trip for a long time, and she didn't want to spoil it just because she had a cold or something of the like. It was probably temporary anyway; there was no point in worrying about it.

And so Luna trudged on, carrying her pack and a Curious Creatures Catcher; a device used to help witches and wizards find the most rare and furtive of magical creatures. Her father had put a spell on everything, to make it easier for them to lug around, but even so her feet ached and her lower back was weary from all the traveling. They had walked a good six miles already, and had approximately one more to go, before they reached the Lule River, at the base of the Kjolen Mountains.

The sun was still high above Luna and her father when finally they stopped that night, even though it was past supper time. Luna and her father set up the tent, and when they were done Luna went directly to bed, ignoring her fathers query as to whether or not she wanted to eat. She didn't, and she wasn't in the mood to explain why.

The sun rose bright and early; too early Luna thought. It wasn't yet five am according to her alarm clock, and the birds were already chirping. Luna could hear her father calling her from the kitchen, telling her breakfast was ready. Putting a hand to her head and pushing the blankets down with the other, she slowly sat up and looked around.

Her room in the tent was smaller than she remembered. She hadn't taken a good look around last night; she was too tired, but looking around now at the familiar canvas walls and cedar furniture it all seemed rather quaint to her. She had spent many holidays in this room on various trips with her parents growing up, but it was different now. When she walked into the main room her mother wouldn't be sitting at the table with a newspaper open, chatting with her father as he poured pancake batter onto the griddle. In the bathroom there wouldn't be a spread of various colors of eye shadow, no columns of lipstick, and no lines of potion bottles, to keep her mom okay.

Luna walked slowly into the kitchen and sat across from her father, wrapping herself tightly in her sweater. It was chilly. She took hold of the pitcher of orange juice on the table, and poured herself a glass. The smell of it made her nauseous, and when she took a sip of it, she immediately spit it back out.

"I think the juice is bad" Luna stated

"Why?" her father asked, taking a sip out of his own glass.

"It's sour, can't you taste it?" Her father took another sip.

"It tastes fine to me. Did you brush your teeth already? It might just be the taste from the tooth paste. Here, eat a biscuit, and some ham." Her father said, passing her a plate of food. Luna took a look at it, than quickly stood from the table and ran to the bathroom, knocking her chair over in her hurry.

Her father looked up from his food, and put down his fork to follow his daughter.

"Luna, are you all right?" He asked her, knocking on the door lightly. She was obviously not all right, as could be concluded from the sounds of her retching in the other room, but he couldn't think of anything better to say.

"I… I'm fine. I'll be fine." Luna said after a few minutes. Her father could hear water running, and assumed she was rinsing her mouth.

"Do you want to rest? We can wait to go out, if you want. We don't have to start hunting today. I don't want you to wear yourself out or anything." He said, worried. Luna rarely got sick, even when she was little she seemed immune to most diseases that plagued other children.

By the middle of the morning Luna was feeling better, and managed to keep some dry cereal down, so she and her father laced up their boots, and grabbed their gear to set out. This routine continued for a few days, and by the end of the week Luna's father was beginning to really worry about her. He couldn't think of why Luna was sick every morning, but fine later to go out and hunt. He wanted her to take a few days and rest, but she wouldn't hear of it. She was determined to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and much as he doubted they even existed, she was stubborn as her mother, and he wasn't about to ruin this trip for her. She was just like her mother, and though some of her beliefs about reality may be a bit off, he loved her for it. She needn't know he didn't really believe.

- - -

Luna stared up at the canvas ceiling above her bed, wringing the sheet she held in her hands. She had to tell him, she knew she had to, but how would he take it? And what if she was wrong? She had figured out what was wrong with her once her period failed to show, and put the clues together. It was the only thing that made sense. But how to tell her father?

It took her a few days to gather the courage to approach him, and only did so when he insisted they leave the forest, to have a Healer look her over. She refused to leave, and when he asked why she was being so adamant, she told him to sit down.

"Luna, what is this all about? Your sick, you need to see a Healer. I don't know what's wrong with you, but we need to fix it."

"Nothings wrong with me," Luna said softly, sitting down next to her father.

"Than what is it?" He asked, watching her carefully. She looked scared; she was staring down at her hands and playing with her charm bracelet, something she only did when she was very distracted, or worried deeply about something.

"You promise not to get mad?"

"Luna love, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

"I know, it's just… I think… I'm pregnant."

(A/N): yeah, a bit of a cliffy. I thought it was the best place to leave off, even if it is a bit short.

Anyways, please review, it makes me happy, not to mention post faster.

cookies!

Emma