Written For:
- Day 34 of 366 Days of Writing Challenge: Tea
- Candy from the Trolley: Pumpkin Pasty (challenge): Write about someone in the hospital.
Pairings/Characters: Cassiopeia
Word Count: 340
Baby Secrets
There are things that I have done, you never should ever know.
When Cassiopeia opened her eyes after a fairly dramatic fainting spell in the middle of Diagon Alley, she was in hospital. She could tell by the smell—a highly clean, disinfectant smell.
A Mediwitch approached her as Cassiopeia's vision adjusted to the bright glow of the hospital room. She was pushing a trolley, and from the metallic rattling sound, Cassiopeia guessed that it contained a pot of tea. She was proved right, as the Mediwitch handed her a cup a few moments after.
"When can I leave?" Cassiopeia asked immediately, taking a delicate sip of the watery tea.
"Oh, you're welcome to go whenever, but it's recommended that you wait until the pregnancy Healer comes along to see you. She has a package with some information about your pregnancy—"
Cassiopeia sat up so suddenly that her tea spilled over the bedsheets and into her lap, but the Mediwitch acted quickly. Before the tea could scald Cassiopeia's legs, the Mediwitch had whipped out her wand and evaporated the tea silently.
Cassiopeia clutched at her chest, staring at the Mediwitch. "Pregnant?" she gasped.
"Yes," the Mediwitch replied sternly, frowning. "You didn't know?" Cassiopeia shook her head, and images of the recent months started flooding to the forefront of her brain. She had engaged in a brief, one-night fling with a Ravenclaw student just before they graduated from Hogwarts. It had been a night after far too much Firewhiskey, and in all honesty, Cassiopeia could hardly remember the event.
She imagined a baby growing in her stomach—a baby with a father that her parents would never approve of.
Her mother was still suffering from the grief of ostracising Marius for being a Squib. If she had to disown a second child, Cassiopeia was sure that it would break her.
She sighed. "I cannot give birth to this baby."
Sadness rose to the Mediwitch's eyes for a moment, but it passed very quickly. She stood up, smoothing down her robes. "Understood."
