"Surely you mean Sirius?"
"No, Minerva", Dumbledore replied patiently, a faint trace of a smile at the corner of his lips. "I was not mistaken. Remus Lupin. And that charming girlfriend of his, Miss Hopkins."
"But...but.....Remus??" spluttered a shocked Minerva McGonagall. "Of all of those boys, I would have bet all the Galleons in my Gringotts account on Black being the one to...to...."
"Impregnate a girl", finished Dumbledore, chuckling softly at the look of shock and embarrassment this left on Minerva's face. "Yes, I must say I agree with you there. Alas, it is a cliché, but I guess this time it holds true."
"What does?"
"That it is the quiet ones we must watch", sighed Dumbledore. His lined face seemed suddenly aged, and the strain of the past seventy two hours showed clearly in the heavy bags around his eyes. The scandal that this news had been turned into, helped along nicely by the Daily Prophet, had been almost farcical. A pregnant student at Hogwarts was outrageous enough to some, but that the conception had also occurred with the grounds seemed, to some, to be a crime worthy of Azkaban. People were looking for someone to pin the blame on, and of course, it was Dumbledore's blood for which they were baying.
In addition to trying to calm the outraged hordes of witches and wizards who were screaming for his resignation, Dumbledore was also attempting a feat yet to be mastered by any wizard in history - to stop Rita Skeeter from unearthing any secrets on Remus or Melody. Most importantly, the secret behind Remus' sickly manner and monthly disappearances.
"Those two..." Minerva began, pulling Dumbledore away from thoughts of that afternoons meeting with the Minister, which he did not think he could deem successful.
"...are going to have a hard few years ahead of them without lectures from you", finished Dumbledore, who knew, from experience, that if you was not quick enough to stop Minerva before her rant began, then you would simply have to wait until it ended, which had been known to be hours later.
"So what do we do?" asked Minerva, who was, for once, at a loss as to how to deal with her wayward Gryffindors.
"We advise if asked, and we support when necessary, but we must do what is best for all three of them..."
"Which is?" asked Minerva, unsure of where this was heading.
"Throw them in the water and hope that, if they cannot swim, they can at least tread water" answered Dumbledore simply.
Although she did not argue with the headmasters words, she couldn't help but wonder how tired these poor children's legs would get before Dumbledore would throw them a rope, or if he would just let them drown.