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"I can't believe you told them we'd just look after ourselves!" said James angrily. "You're not even of age. What are we supposed to do?!"
"I don't know!" replied Rose. "But I felt bad for them. They've had enough problems."
"Them! What about us?" asked James. "Look, I can't do this. It was your idea, you figure it out." He started shoving some of his things into an old rucksack. "I'm leaving now."
Rose stood aside as he walked out the door to his bedroom. She wanted to cry, but she needed to be strong. For the baby, she told herself. She dug around in James' night table until she found some parchment and a quill.
"To do." Rose said as she wrote. She began jotting down ideas.
First she had to go home and pack. She tiptoed downstairs and Flooed home. She managed to round up everything she needed before her parents saw her.
Next she Flooed to Diagon Alley. Stepping through the brick wall brought back so many memories. But Rose pushed them aside. She had to focus. She entered Gringotts. Her Mum and Dad had set up a separate account for her within their vault.
"Hello. I'm Rose Weasley, and I'd like to transfer my account to a new vault. Then I'd like to make a withdrawal." she said with false confidence. She wasn't sure if that was allowed, especially since she was only sixteen.
"Of course. You are aware that this transfer will stop the monthly deposits from Ronald and Hermione Weasleys' account into yours?" replied the goblin.
"I understand." said Rose.
"Do you have your key?" Rose handed it to him. "We will be going to your new vault, number 651."
They climbed into one of the rickety carts, and after a vomit-inducing ride, they arrived at Rose's new vault.
There was a good amount of money in it, but Rose knew that once school was over, it wouldn't last long if she didn't get a job. She collected some of the Galleons, and thanked the goblin.
Back in Diagon Alley, Rose decided that her next stop needed to be St. Mungo's. She returned to the Leaky Cauldron and Flooed there.
Nervously, she approached the Welcome Witch. "Hi. How do I find out if I'm pregnant, and get a check up on that?" whispered Rose. The press was always lurking in St. Mungo's. When Rose had broken her leg riding a tricycle when she was three it had made the Daily Prophet.
"Name."
"Rose Weasley."
The witch glanced up curiously, but said nothing. "Sit over there and you'll be called shortly."
Rose took a seat, but was called almost immediately. She followed the healer into a small room, and climbed onto the bed.
"Hi Rose. I'm Healer Padma. I know your parents actually."
Rose's eyes widened. Upon seeing this, Padma smiled gently at her. "Don't worry Rose, we have total patient healer confidentiality. But do your parents know?"
"Yes." replied Rose. She said nothing more.
Padma frowned but didn't pry. "Okay first let's just check that you're pregnant. Padma waved her wand. "Mmmhmm. Well Rose, for better or for worse, you are indeed pregnant. What else were you hoping to find out today?"
"I don't know." replied Rose. "Whatever you can tell me, I guess. No more surprises. I want to be prepared."
Padma smiled. "Okay then. You lie down and I'll see what I can find out."
Rose closed her eyes while Padma lifted Rose's shirt and began checking her over. Finally she finished.
"You can sit up now." said Padma. "Alright Rose, now you wanted to know everything I can tell you, right?"
"Yes." said Rose. She had always been a plan ahead kind of girl, and after the shock of a lifetime she wasn't taking any chances.
"You are almost four and a half weeks along." said Padma. Rose nodded. "Now Rose, this might be a bit of a shock, but you are pregnant with twins."
Rose went pale. Padma clasped the teen's hand. "It's okay. There are a few differences with having twins, but we're going to make this experience as problem free as possible for you. Now your due date is August 25th. However, with twins we tend to induce pregnancy at 37 weeks and there is a good chance that because you are so young and rather small physically, the babies will be born early anyway. It happens all the time and we'll make sure that they are perfectly healthy before you take them home. Now, I have some good news and some bad news."
"Bad news." decided Rose.
"The babies appear to have a few health problems. Normally, such problems wouldn't appear so early, unless it was somehow related to conception." said Padma carefully. She knew the cause, but in order to do her job as a healer, she needed Rose to trust her.
Rose hesitated. "You can't tell anyone."
"I won't." said Padma seriously.
"Thank you." said Rose. She took a deep breath. "The father is my cousin."
"Okay." said Padma. "It's a little too early to tell exactly what the problems are, but I want you to come in for weekly checkups."
"I'm going back to school in a few weeks." said Rose.
"Right. Then we will attempt to arrange for you to come in, oh, every five weeks, perhaps. Your weekly checkups can be with Madam Longbottom, so you don't have to leave school so often."
"Alright." said Rose. "What's the good news?"
"You are having one boy and one girl." said Padma.
Rose smiled slightly. The whole thing was pretty messed up, but she sort of felt warm at the thought of two little lives growing inside of her; a boy and a girl.
"You can tell that already?"
"Well, they aren't even partially developed yet, so there's plenty of time for me to be proven wrong, but I can tell that that's what they're angling towards right now." explained Padma. "We can detect these things with magic."
Padma asked Rose several questions. Was she taking medication, was she smoking, was she drinking alcohol or coffee? Rose answered in the negative. Padma then warned her that there were some ingredients she would need to avoid during Potions class, and advised her to start drinking plenty of water.
"I have several things for you." continued Padma. "Here is your prescription for prenatal potion, and here are some information packets. This one discusses what you should and shouldn't be eating. This one goes over pregnancy week by week, and this one has a checklist of all the things to do before the big day. You can look through those while I contact Professor Vector for you."
"Thank you." replied Rose. Padma left and Rose began flipping through the material. Week Five: Baby is as big as an apple seed. Its major organs are starting to form. Expect sore breasts, nausea, and fatigue. she read.
Padma returned shortly and informed Rose that she had set everything up with the Headmistress and Hannah. "So, I'll see you in five weeks Rose." said Padma.
Rose collected her things and walked back down the corridor. She paused for a moment before entering the foyer, and then stepped forward to begin the rest of her life.