Chapter 17: Full Moon

Sunday, 26 August, 2018 (week 35)

The first couple of days of work went well for Victoire, although at thirty-five weeks pregnant, she'd much rather stay home in bed all day. Thankfully, though, Mrs. White was a cheerful, kind woman who helped Victoire get though the day, and in just five weeks, Victoire's baby would be born.

Everything had been going smoothly the past few days, but the one thing Victoire craved was time with Teddy. Sadly, even when they did have time, it seemed like her desire was unobtainable.

One Sunday night, Victoire and Teddy sat down and attempted to watch a muggle movie. No matter what Victoire did, she just couldn't get comfortable. The baby just wouldn't settle down, even though normally at that time of day he was soundly asleep. His kicks and other movements were stronger than usual as well, and constant. Victoire knew movement was normal, but not this much.

"Teddy, I'm worried…" Victoire said after about a half hour of vigorous movement from the baby.

"Why?" Teddy asked, concerned. "Is something wrong."

"The baby won't stop moving. Some movement is normal, but not this much, and usually he's asleep at this time."

Teddy paused the movie and put his hand on Victoire's stomach. His eyes widened at how much movement he felt. His hand sat on Victoire's stomach for about a minute before he withdrew it, and when he did his eyes were full of worry. "It's almost as if he's thrashing about in there." Teddy said softly, and Victoire nodded.

"He seems upset. Do you think he's okay?"

Teddy sighed. "I think so. Maybe he'll settle down. Give it some time, and if he doesn't, let me know."

In the next half hour, the baby didn't settle down. If anything, he became more restless. Worried, Victoire told Teddy this.

"I think you're right." Teddy said. "We should get you to St. Mungo's."

Victoire agreed, and before long, the pair of them was sitting in a waiting room in the hospital. After a few minutes, Victoire's healer, Dr. Ryant, entered the room. He was a tall man, with snow white hair, wrinkles on his face, round glasses, and calming green eyes. He had been a tremendous help for Victoire and Teddy over the past few months, answering any questions they had.

"What seems to be the trouble?" Dr. Ryant asked as he led them to an examination room.

"The baby just won't settle down. He's normally sleeping this time of day, and we're worried." Victoire replied.

"Let's take a look." Dr. Ryant said, waving a magical device over Victoire's stomach, allowing them to hear the baby's heartbeat. The heartbeat seemed extremely fast, which made Dr. Ryant frown in concern. He left the room, and a few minutes later returned with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Please fill this out as honestly as possible. It will help us diagnose the problem, if there is one." He said, handing the paper to Teddy and leaving the room again.

Teddy filled out their names, the date, and the due date of the baby, then read the form aloud to Victoire.

"Question one: What are the concerning symtoms?"

"The baby is restless and has an abnormally fast heartbeat." Victoire replied, and Teddy wrote it down.

"Question two: Have these symptoms occured before? That'd be a no, right?" Victoire nodded, and Teddy continued. "Question three: Have any abnormal symptems occurred previously? That's another no. Question four: Are either of the parents werewolves or have werewolf blood? If so, describe werewolf heritage. Should we answer this one?"

"If it's important to finding out what's wrong with our baby, then yes. Besides, it says be honest. Just say the paternal grandfather was a werewolf, maternal grandfather was attacked by one and has monthly headaches and fevers, and so do you." Victoire said.

They finished filling out the form, and Dr. Ryant came back in. After reading the form, he sighed. "I can't be sure, but it's possible that your baby may be infected with partial lycanthropy."

"Partial lycanthropy?" Teddy asked.

"Partial lycanthropy is a condition where the victim experiences werewolf-like symptoms." Dr. Ryant explained solemnly. "The only difference is because they weren't bitten and therefore aren't a full werewolf, they can't transform at full moon. As a result, full moons are very painful for them, causing them to have extremely high fevers and a burning sensation throughout the entire body that is hard for people who don't suffer from the condition understand. It's extremely rare, as it only affects wizards and witches whose parents and/or grandparents have werewolf blood in them, such as your baby those."

"Is there anything we can do?" Victoire asked softly, rubbing her stomach in an effort to try to calm the baby down.

The healer shook his head sadly. "Wolfsbane may help slightly, but it won't eliminate the symptoms fully. It will help the baby calm down for now, but once he or she is born, they'll still be in a lot of pain, and unfortunately, there's nothing you'll be able to be for them other than giving them some wolfsbane and let the potion decrease the pain as much as it can."

Dr. Ryant had Victoire drink some wolfsbane, and soon enough the baby relaxed slightly. As they flooed home, Victoire remained quiet and kept the tears in, but almost as soon as they arrived home, she lost it. In a matter of seconds, Victoire collapsed on the floor and began to sob.

"Hey," Teddy said softly as he sat on the floor next to his fiancée and cradled her in his arms. It's going to be okay. I'm here for you and the baby."

"I – I know you are." Victoire sniffled. "But isn't it our job as parents to make sure our baby is safe at all times? I feel like I failed him already, and he isn't even here yet."

"Vic, we're going to do everything we possibly can to help the baby through the full moons. It will be difficult, and trust me, it will kill me to see our little baby in so much pain, but I will do whatever I can to make sure that his suffering is as a little an amount as possible." Teddy promised.

Victoire nodded, unable to respond. Suddenly, Teddy thought of a way to cheer her up. "You know, why still haven't come up with names yet."

"Oh yeah!" Victoire said with a weak smile.

"I personally like the names Joshua, Jacob, Ethan, Noah, and Jonathan best for boys. What do you think?"

"I like Remus…" Victorie said softly.

"Really?" Teddy asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I do. After your father."

Teddy smiled. "I think it's a great idea. Remus it is. What if it's a girl though? No offense to my mother, but I don't want to name my daughter Nymphadora."

Victoire laughed. "Neither do I, but it could work for a middle name. I like the names Emily, Isabelle, and Rachel though. What about you?"

"Those are good names. I also like Sophie, Eva, Rebecca, and Grace."

"So many names!" Victoire exclaimed. "How will we choose?"

"Well, we have five weeks." Teddy replied.

Victoire groaned. "Five weeks is way too long of a wait."

Teddy didn't say anything else. Instead, he held Victoire in his arms and kissed her lightly on the head, not believing that he could possible love her any more than he did now.

Author's note: I'm sorry it's late! I know you don't want any excuses, so I won't give you any unless you want me too. To make it up to you, I'll post again next Thursday instead of two weeks from now, I promise. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, even if it was a sad (and late) one.