Chapter 21: Too Much Stress at Once

It took a while for the older students of Hogwarts to get used to the idea of Jason and I being married. Many of the students, especially the older ones often slipped and called me "Professor Pasen", even though I was now "Professor Clearton" Throughout the corridors, if a student were talking about Professor Clearton, their peers would often ask, "Which one?" One of the funniest responses I've heard was "The original", obviously meaning Jason.

The 2014 – 2015 school year was an interesting one. That year, Hogwarts obtained two more Weasleys. One of them, Molly Weasley, had red hair like her father, Percy Weasley, but had been sorted into Ravenclaw, like her mother, Audrey. Like Percy, she was a serious person, and was in some ways bossy. Her cousin, Dominique Weasley, who was Victoire's younger sister, was also sorted into Ravenclaw. Her strawberry-blonde hair was a combination of both of her parents'. Dominique was more laid back than her cousin, and like her father, Bill, was generally easy to get along with.

When Nick got his fifth-year supply list without a prefect's badge, I couldn't help but notice the look of disappointment on his face. "So, who got the prefect's badges for Gyrffindor?" he asked Jason during dinner that night.

"Well, for the girls, Professor McGonagall and I chose Madison Greene, and for the boys we selected Sam Mayor." Jason replied.

"Why?" Nick asked curiously.

Jason hesitated. "We just thought they would make good prefects. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Nick muttered, and continued to eat his dinner in silence. He was moody for the rest of the night.

The feast on the first day back to school went on just as it normally did, but there was one small difference. Minerva, as we soon discovered, did not have her usual speech for us. She had changed it slightly, and not even the Hogwarts's staff had been aware of the change beforehand.

"Welcome back students!" Minerva began. "As you all know the Forbidden Forest is called "Forbidden" for a reason. Students are not allowed there, nor are they not allowed near the Whomping Willow. That includes all Gryffindors, who I am sure, as I was once one, believe they are brave enough to handle the dangers. Although you are indeed brave enough, that doesn't make the forest or the willow any less dangerous for you than it does the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, or Slytherins." Everyone laughed at that.

"Now, then," Minerva continued. "For those of you who are unaware, I will be turning eighty years old this year. The reason I am bringing this up is because although I am still in good health, I have been feeling tired lately. As much as I love Hogwarts, I cannot, and will not, be its headmistress forever. Therefore, after this school year, I will be retiring, and Hogwarts's Potions Mistress, Professor. Lucianna Pa-… excuse me… Professor Lucianna Clearton will be taking my place."

The students of Hogwarts applauded, whether it was for politeness or joy, I'll never know. When the Great Hall had finally quieted down, Minerva said, "And, now, let the feast began."

"This is kind of short notice, don't you think?" I hissed in Minerva's ear as she sat down beside me.

Minerva sighed. "I know Lucianna, and I'm sorry. But I really do think you can handle it. That's one of the reasons I hired you, you know." she whispered. "Besides, I'm planning on buying a little cottage about two miles away from here, and I'll be able to check on you and Hogwarts frequently."

"I suppose that would be alright." I said with a smile.

Over the next couple of months, Minerva began teaching me everything she had learned about being headmistress. All of the tasks Minerva had to do on a daily basis were more difficult than I had imagined.

During Christmas break, Nick, Jason, and I were setting up the Christmas tree when suddenly, Nick asked, "Have you noticed anything… different… about Teddy and Victoire, Mum?"

"No…" I said slowly. "Was I supposed to?"

"Well, not exactly…" Nick said as he placed another ornament on the tree. "It's just that everyone but them realize that they belong together. They've been best friends since before Tori could even talk."

"Isn't Victoire a little young for a boyfriend?" I asked.

Teddy snorted. "No!" She's already had two boyfriends so far this year, and it's only December. All the boys in year like her and most of the boys in the year below her do too. Even some of the boys in my year fancy her."

"Do you fancy her?" I asked Nick with a smile.

"Mum!" Nick exclaimed. "She's my friend, that's all."

"That doesn't matter." Jason said, joining the conversation. "Your mum is my friend, and I've always fancied her."

"I do not fancy Victoire." Nick said through gritted teeth. "Teddy would kill me. Besides, I like someone else."

"Oh, really?" Jason teased.

Nick blushed. "Can we just drop this subject please?"

Jason and I laughed, but dropped the subject anyways.

One Friday morning in late May, I woke up with an extreme case of nausea. I rushed to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind me. When I came out, Jason was nowhere to be found. I searched the entire "apartment" for him before I found a note on the kitchen table.

Dearest Luci,

I decided to go to my classroom early today to take care of some things. I'll see you at lunch.

Love always,

Jason

I set the note aside and decided I should eat something, so I transfigured myself two pieces of toast. I had just barely placed the toast on a plate when the nausea returned, and I was forced to dash into the bathroom again.

Must be the stomach flu that's going around. I thought, and went to go tell Minerva I would be taking a sick leave that day. When I got back, I took out a bottle of Ketchup and a bottle of chocolate syrup out of the refrigerator. Without thinking, I squirted both onto my toast. When I noticed what I had done, I stared at the chocolate syrup bottle in surprise. What was I doing? Sighing at my insanity, I put the ketchup and the chocolate syrup back in the fridge. When I sat down to eat my toast, it actually tasted somewhat good.

"What's wrong with me today?" I muttered to myself. Suddenly I stopped eating. "No… I couldn't be. I'm fifty-five years old, for Merlin's sake."

But the thing was, I could easily be – dare I say it - pregnant. I flashbacked to about two months ago. I had a stressful day, and Jason knew exactly how to comfort me. Well, let's just say we had a little romance. I pondered whether or not I should tell him that I had gone off – what were those muggle pills called again? – Oh, yes, the birth control pills about a year before because I hated the bloody things. They always made me moody, and I didn't need any more moodiness. I decided against telling him. After all, most woman aren't very fertile when their in their fifties. Or so I thought, until now; now I wasn't too sure.

After breakfast, I was feeling a bit better, so I went to the nearest muggle village and found what the muggles called a "drugstore". Once there, I brought three little devices that called "pregnancy tests" and went home.

By ten o'clock that evening all three pregnancy tests read 'positive'. Did I do it wrong? Were these muggle tests unreliable? I decided to hide the tests from Jason until I knew for sure.

I made an appointment at St. Mungo's for the following Saturday. After a few tests, the healer confirmed that I was indeed pregnant.

"May I ask how old you are?" the healer asked.

"I'm fifty-five." I answered, and the healer scribbled down some notes on her clipboard.

"And did you conceive naturally?" the healer asked.

"Yes."

The healer smiled. "Congratulations. Conceiving naturally at your age isn't very common, but it does happen."

"Well, actually, we weren't even trying to have a baby." I replied. "It just… happened."

The healer sighed. "Then I assume you don't know the health risks involved?" she said, asking a question more than anything.

"Health risks?" I asked nervously.

The healer sighed again. "Pregnancy at your age has risks for both you and the baby." She explained. "For you, the risk of gestational diabetes, hypertension, miscarriage, preeclampsia, and placenta previa increase. As for the baby, he or she is almost three times as likely to have a low birthrate and/or a premature birth, and the baby is also more likely to have a disability. In addition, witches forty-five and older are more likely to… produce a squib than younger witches."

I didn't know what half the things the healer mentioned were, but none of them sounded good. "Alright," I sighed as I got up to leave. "Thank you, healer."

By the time I arrived back at Hogwarts, tears were streaming down my face. It's not that I didn't want this baby. Now that he or she was here, I would love them until the end of time. I loved my child so much, I feared for its life. So many things could go wrong. Even if the pregnancy went smoothly, the baby could still be a squib, and would be shunned by the wizarding community. The child could grow up surrounded by the young wizards and witches attending Hogwarts while they themselves could produce no magic at all.

When I entered Jason's and my "apartment", Jason was sitting in his armchair, reading the Daily Prophet. I tried to hide my tears from him, but it was too late; Jason had seen them.

"Luci? What's wrong?" Jason gasped, jumping to his feet in a second.

"Impregnant." I said quickly through my tears.

"Luci, love, I can't understand you."

"I'm pregnant." I whispered.

Jason stared at me in disbelief. Finally, he gave me a gentle hug, and a kiss on the cheek. "Luci, that's great! Why are you crying? Wait… how's that possible? I thought you were on that birth control stuff." Jason was so excited that his words came out in a rush.

Taking a deep breath, I explained everything to my husband, including the health. When I finished, Jason's eyes were softened. "We'll be alright, Luci." He whispered. "We just need to have a little faith."

If faith was all we needed, then I was sure everything would go smoothly. Or so I hoped.