"WHAT?! Pregnant?! Madame Pomfrey, there has to be a mistake!"
"No mistake, Miss Evans. His symptoms line up perfectly: pregnancy cravings, morning sickness, increase in appetite and weight. They all point to pregnancy."
"But it's impossible! He's a guy!"
"Exactly what I thought, but look at these scans. You see that right there? That's a month old developing foetus."
"But… how?!"
"I have no idea…"
Remus was completely speechless throughout Pomfrey and Lily's exchange. They were right, this shouldn't be possible… but it lined up too well. The symptoms were exactly right, as Pomfrey had said. The foetus was about a month old, and it was a month and a week ago that he and Sirius had… copulated.
He was snapped from his thoughts when Pomfrey held one of the ultrasound images to him. He took it with slightly shaky hands. Pomfrey pointed to a very small little blob. The baby. His baby, that he was carrying.
He still couldn't form words. Pomfrey turned to Lily.
"Could you go and get Professor McGonagall and go with her to Dumbledore's office. We'll meet you there."
Lily nodded. She glanced at Remus one last time before leaving the room. Pomfrey sighed, sitting on the bed, watching Remus, who was looking between the scan image and his own stomach.
"I know this is a lot… But I'm sure it will all turn out okay. We'll go to see Dumbledore and we'll talk things through, see what support we can get you."
Remus nodded, hands instinctively moving to his belly. There was a life in there. A person.
Oh dear god, what was he going to tell Sirius?
"Come on, we should get to Dumbledore's office."
Remus got to his feet and followed Pomfrey from the room, more so shuffling than walking. Students were heading off to lessons, in their own little worlds. None of them had any idea the boy being led by the nurse was a scientific wonder for the age. A wonder who was having a severe existential crisis and screaming in fear in his head.
Pomfrey and Remus arrived at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. The nurse spoke the password. (It was changed every year due to the Marauders hearing it whenever they were dragged there, meaning they could sneak in whenever they wanted. This year, it was "Starburst".)
Once up the two of them got up the moving spiral staircase, Pomfrey gave Remus a reassuring glance before knocking on the door.
"Come in."
They stepped inside. McGonagall was stood next to Dumbledore, who was sat behind his desk. Lily was in one of the two chairs in front of the desk, and she looked over her shoulder as the nurse and lycanthrope stepped in.
"Ah, Poppy, Remus. Lily said you'd be coming. Please, sit down."
Remus did as the headmaster said, plopping on the seat next to Lily's.
"Albus, I'm not sure how much Miss Evans told you…" Pomfrey started, moving to stand in front of the desk.
"She hasn't said anything thus far," McGonagall replied. "She only said it was very important and involved Mr Lupin."
"Yes, well, Remus came into the hospital wing, saying that for the past week he's been throwing up every morning. I asked about other symptoms, and what he said… surprised me very much. I did an ultrasound to be safe, but it's undeniable. Somehow, Remus is pregnant."
McGonagall looked completely flabbergasted. Dumbledore, however, was still completely calm. Remus, though still silent, sunk down in his seat, cheeks flushing slightly pink.
"That can't be…" McGonagall finally choked out some words.
"But it is," Pomfrey replied, sliding one of the pictures of the scan over the desk to the two professors. They both stared at it for a moment before McGonagall lifted her eyes to look at Remus.
"Well…" Dumbledore broke the silence, leaning back in his chair. "To start, there's a simple question that needs answering. Remus?" The boy in question looked up. "Do you want to keep the baby?"
He should say no. It would be so much simpler to get an abortion. No having to tell Sirius, no having to go through the next months at school with a very obvious growing stomach… It would solve everything.
But there was something in Remus' mind. Despite the many voices of the anxieties, another voice seemed to speak over all of them.
Remus nodded.
Dumbledore nodded in response. "In that case, we will handle this as we would any female pregnancy. We'll offer any support you need. The only difference is, I recommend more check-ups in the hospital wing."
"I was just going to suggest that," Pomfrey nodded. "I was also going to recommend taking Remus to St Mungos, to see if we can figure out the cause of… this."
Finally, Remus managed to speak, starting to get over his shock. "Do I… Should I tell the father?"
"I believe that would be for the best," Dumbledore replied. Noticing Remus' unease, he gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Remus. I'm sure he'll be very happy to hear the news."
Remus still wasn't sure. Sirius wasn't exactly one for responsibility and caution, both things that came with raising a child. It would be very unlikely Sirius would like the idea of it, especially so young. They were both only seventeen, for Merlin's sake!
"You know who the father is?" Pomfrey asked, turning to him.
Remus shrugged, flushing redder. "Not hard to work out, I've only gone out with one guy… Scratch that, one person."
"Wait, it's Siri- ?!"
"Miss Evans, I believe that personal information shouldn't be shared yet," McGonagall cut over Lily.
"Sorry…"
"I think that's all for now, though I do believe we should talk more about this in the future," Dumbledore said. "Remus, Lily, you two should be getting to lessons. You're late enough as it is."
The two students nodded, getting to their feet. As they headed to the door, Remus turned back for a moment. "Thanks for all this…"
"It's nothing, Remus," Dumbledore replied.
The new father gave a small thankful smile before leaving, following Lily down the stairs.
"I still can't quite believe this…" she muttered. "You need to tell Sirius as soon as possible."
"I know…" Remus replied. "I'm just scared about how he'll take it."
"Remus, I'm sure he'll be fine. Shocked, definitely, but it'll be fine. He likes you so so so much."
Remus sighed, nodding. "Fine… I'll tell him when we go into lessons."
They headed down many staircases and corridors until they arrived at the potions classroom down in the dungeons. Lily, being Slughorn's favourite student, went first, knowing if she was the one to explain their absence, he was bound to let them off. She knocked on the door before stepping inside. Remus followed, his eyes almost immediately meeting Sirius'.
"Miss Evans, Mr Lupin! I was wondering where you two were," Slughorn welcomed them.
"Sorry, Professor," Lily replied. "Dumbledore needed to talk to Remus and I about extra prefect duties."
James was about to ask why he wasn't there when he was head boy, but Slughorn continued. "No problem at all! You can just join up with your partners, they can catch you up."
Both students nodded, Lily heading over to Marlene McKinnon and Remus going over to Sirius.
"Could've let me know you had a meeting, Moony. I was worried." Sirius pecked Remus' lips in welcome.
This was it. Remus needed to tell him.
"Pads, I have something I need to tell you… It's really important…"
"What is it?"
Remus took a deep breath, looking into Sirius' eyes...
"... I love you."
Sirius smiled. "I love you too." He kissed Remus again before turning back to the cauldron. "Okay, so we're making…"
Remus zoned out the conversation, sighing. He couldn't do it.