& The Truth Comes Out
Rose's POV
"Hello Malfoy," I said tersely, when he approached me in the morning. "Where's Helen?"
"Waiting for me at the Slytherin table. I just wanted to make sure you were okay after that little tantrum you had yesterday." I drew my wand and pointed it right at him.
"You are such a minger."
"You going to hex me? Really? I didn't do anything!"
"You said I threw a tantrum like I'm five. I was just upset okay?"
"Okay," Scorpius said, hands up.
"Have you seen Eve or James anywhere? They disappeared and Al told me Renee and James broke up last night."
"No I haven't."
/
Eve's POV
"Wait!" I said suddenly. The Healer standing over me stopped and looked at me.
"Yes?"
"I… why the hell do you have a picture of a smiling baby in a fucking abortion clinic?" I asked. The Healer looked surprised. James looked up in interest. He had been holding my hand and not looking anywhere but at his feet.
"Well, the actual abortion ward is under renovation and this is the ultrasound scan room. I can move it if you want."
"No," I said with gritted teeth, irritated. "Go on."
"One—two—thr-"
"Wait!" I said again. The Healer drew her wand back suddenly and looked frustrated.
"What is it Miss Martin?"
"Will this hurt?"
"Not really. Your uterus will be a bit sore and you might feel mild cramping for a week."
"Okay," I breathed out. James squeezed my hand and gave me a small smile in comfort.
"Okay, ready?" the Healer asked and looked at me for a long hard while even after I nodded. She didn't believe me. I didn't blame her. She drew her long wand and pointed at my stomach. I noticed her fingernails. They were long and pretty and tinged pink. And then I remembered a Muggle movie I watched. About teenage pregnancy. Juno or something. They showed it at school as part of a sexual awareness project. Apparently it didn't work on me. I remember Juno learning about how babies had fingernails even in the uterus. My baby had fingernails. My baby. Little fingernails. Like white calcium deposits. Sort of like hair. Weren't hair and fingernails the same? I wondered if my baby would have red hair or black hair or maybe something in between. The Healer's mouth was opening.
"STOP!" I screamed. The Healer jumped back, looking scared, and a few more Healers burst into the room, one with a crash cart. If I wasn't squeezing James's hand so much, he would have probably fallen over in shock. The Healer looked around frantically before realizing it was another one of my breakdowns. "I don't want to do this," I choked out. "Fingernails; my baby has fingernails. And maybe red hair. I hope it has black hair though." James stared at me. And then it looked like it occurred to him. He reached out and took both my hands in his.
"Really?"
"Really," I affirmed. I was truly mental. Gone absolutely crazy. I couldn't even believe I was going to do this. But at that moment, the way James was smiling even though we were two barely legal kids with a life left to live made me realize that this was the right decision. Or maybe I chickened out.
And then James paled and dropped my hands. "I have to tell my mum," he whispered, looking horrified. "Oh God I need Al and Rose. Come on, let's get back to school."
/
He took my hand and we both ran up to the Gryffindor tower. He threw pretty much all the belongings of his trunk throughout the room before finding the map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he said hastily. "Rose… Rose… Al…"
"There!" I said, pointing at two little dots. One was Al and one Rose, and amazingly they were walking together out to the grounds. James threw the map down after muttering a quick mischief managed, grabbed my hand and we ran down the stairs and out towards the grounds. I was totally out of breath by the time we reached Al and Rose, who looked really happy.
"Finally!" Rose and Al said at the same time. I quickly pulled my hand out of James's. I didn't want them to get the wrong idea.
"Rose, Al, I need help," James said, not out of breath at all, the fit bastard. "The tree: let's go sit there."
Rose's POV
There was something up with James. He looked scared out of his mind.
"Is this about next Saturday's Quidditch game, because mate, we're playing Hufflepuff…" Al said, grinning. We had settled ourselves down on the grass next to the giant tree that overlooked the lake. Eve looked especially pale.
"No, no we got that in the bag. And since Slytherin beat Ravenclaw, when we beat Hufflepuff—they have to beat Hufflepuff and then we beat Ravenclaw and we got ourselves a regular Slytherin vs. Gryffindor game!" James said excitedly. Eve elbowed him.
"Don't get off topic," she warned. What the hell was going on?
"Right, well Eve's pregnant."
I stared at him. He was going to laugh now and say just kidding. But… why did he look so serious? I turned to Al, who was actually grinning. "You're funny, James! You almost had me going."
"I'm serious." I stared at him, and for the first time in his life, he was actually serious. James, a father?
"Are you keeping it?" I asked, because Al seemed to have temporary lost all his mental capabilities.
"Yes we were going to abort but Eve decided she'd rather keep—"
"James, I was thinking more along the lines of adoption…" Eve said, looking uncomfortable. James looked at her in surprise.
"But I thought…" James said quietly.
"Mum's going to kill you," Al said eyes wide. "No… like I'm afraid for your life James."
"Should I wait till spring break?" James asked.
"Definitely," Rose said. "You want witnesses when you decide to tell Aunt Ginny. She might kill you."
"Yeah I thought so too…" James said sighing deeply. Eve looked like she was ready to faint.
"Don't worry Eve, once you have the Potters on your side, everything will be taken care of," I said, trying to comfort her. "Even if they've killed James already."
"Right," she said, gulping.
"You should probably warn Mum though. Rather not pop it on her at once. She might combust," Al said.
"Did you see Pomfrey?"
Eve's POV
"Yes, we did already. She gave Eve same prenatal vitamins," he said. And at that moment I realized the only people who would know that I went for the abortion that morning would be Professor Longbottom and James. And I'd rather keep it that way. My hand unconsciously went to my stomach. I was growing something in there. I thought of the entire school knowing by the time I started showing. Then I realized that I didn't care. To hell with all of them.
And what Al and Rose were saying about Ginny, I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I didn't think waiting till Easter break was such a good idea anyway, seeing as how it was in late April, meaning I'd be already four months along. But I didn't say anything. James would tell his parents as he would. I hope they wouldn't pressure me into keeping the baby though. Having it is quite the challenge—keeping it would be unthinkable.
/
"Why adoption, Eve?" James asked, once we were alone again. Rose and Al both left, saying they were tired and needed a nap. I think they realized we needed some time alone.
"James," I said, feeling this coming. "I want to be a Healer. That requires me to finish my seventh year and then do some extensive work. And you want to play Quidditch! That requires you to travel and you'll be busy too. We can't afford this right now. I didn't get the abortion, but… after thinking about it, I still don't think it would be fair to either us or the baby to try and raise you know… and the baby is due just before school starts and so we can both finish on time and do something with our lives."
"I understand," James said.
I frowned. He was looking at the ground, and I could tell he didn't really understand. But it was the best decision. We both had lives to live. A baby was incredibly stupid—this I still maintained. But I couldn't bring myself to abort. Not that it was wrong or right—who really knows right? I just personally couldn't.
"Will you stay with me while I write the letter?" James asked. I nodded and he pulled a piece of parchment out of his bag and brought it towards him.
Mum,
How are you and dad? We're looking forward to coming over spring break.
Speaking of spring break, I have something kind of important to tell you, but I figure I'll have to wait till spring break, seeing as it's kind of face-to-face thing. Anyway, don't freak out. Just sending you a heads-up.
Al and Lily send their love,
James
"How's that?" he asked, lifting his quill.
"Perfect," I said smiling. He grinned, rolled the letter up, and put an arm around me. "James," I said, figuring I'd have to straighten something out. "Just because we're having a baby together… doesn't mean…"
"I know," James said, gave my shoulders a squeeze and then pulled away.
/
By Wednesday, I thought that I would finally have a normal week. Nothing so far had happened. I let Madam Pomfrey and Professor Longbottom know of my decision and the old nurse gave me some pamphlets and Professor Longbottom just patted me awkwardly on the shoulders and asked if James had told Ginny yet. I had made good marks in all my classes on every essay and demonstration I had. It was looking to be a semi-decent week. I even took all my vitamins on time. My birthday was on the coming Friday, and I was semi-hoping for it to be drama free.
But I spoke too soon, I guess. That Thursday, I was called into the office, to find a very pale James and Harry and Ginny Potter.
James's POV (a little while back)
"James, the headmistress would like to see you." I looked up and saw a very mousy first year speaking to me. I nodded, stood up and stretched, wondering what on Earth had happened now. I took my time getting there though, figuring that McGonagall had probably just found out about me prompting Peeves to throw statue busts at Argus Filch's head. I hated the man.
I climbed the spiral staircase and rapped on her door, which opened. My parents were standing in front of me, with Headmistress McGonagall nowhere to be seen. Damn that Neville. "Hello Mum," I tried to say as cheerily as possible.
"James, sit," dad said. I sat down, feeling intimidated. My dad could be just as bad as my mum if he was crossed.
"What was that letter about?" Mum asked. "Have you gotten into some kind of trouble? McGonagall wouldn't say."
"Um… well, you kind of should calm down," I said. Damn, I was supposed to have witnesses. Not be locked up in the Headmistress's tower.
"Do not tell us to calm down," my mother hissed. "You send us such a weird letter, obviously you're in some kind of trouble."
"I need Eve here before I say anything," I said, thinking fast. Dad raised his eyebrows. Mum looked confused.
"Okay…"
/
She opened the door and saw the three of us, and her hand went straight to her stomach. "Eve, honey, take a seat," mum said kindly. She was only that nice to people who weren't her kids. "We were just trying to figure out what's wrong with James after he wrote us a certain letter, and he told us that you need to be here. Are you in trouble as well?"
"In a way," she said quietly, and took the seat that dad had just conjured.
"Right, well… here goes… there's kind of no easy way to get this out," I began. "It's actually kind of funny how it all happened—"
"I'm pregnant," Eve blurted out. I glared at her. She was going to decide to be blunt now?
The tension in the room was ridiculous. "You're... okay… I mean honey we can deal with that," Mum said, coming toward Eve and looking worried. "Sweetheart, how far along are you?"
But dad was staring at me, and then it clicked. "Are you the father James?" he asked. Mum looked sharply at me and then it seemed to dawn on her too. She drew away from Eve like she was poisoned.
"Pregnant?" she mouthed. Her ears were getting red. Dad's wand sparked a little. I wanted to run away as fast as I could. I glanced over at Eve who was just as scared looking.
"James Sirius Potter," she started. "Of all the stupid things you've done in your lifetime THIS COULD TAKE THE CAKE! YOU IRRESPONSIBLE—" and she continued to yell a strew of insults, but I was preoccupied watching dad, who looked like someone slapped him. He turned, threw floo-powder into the fireplace and left immediately. Mum stopped talking and turned to look at the spot where dad was and looked confused.
"He didn't just—" she began.
"Yeah he left," I said.
"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!" she yelled, completely irrationally.
"I—"
"LOOK HOW UPSET YOU'VE MADE YOUR FATHER! YOU KNOW WHAT WE WERE ALL DOING AT YOUR AGE? FIGHTING—"
"Voldemort," I continued, which was probably a bad idea.
"YES, WE WERE YOUNG MAN! WHAT DID I DO WRONG WITH YOU?"
"Mum, there's not really a Voldemort to fight…" I said, also a bad idea.
"Not really a Voldemort to fight?" she whispered dangerously. "THEN WHY DON'T YOU BE PRODUCTIVE IN OTHER WAYS YOU COMPLETE IMBECILE OF A SON! NOT HAVING SEX AND PARTYING AND EVERY OTHER STUPID THING YOU'VE MANAGED TO DO! YOU DIDN'T EVEN GET ANY O.W.L.s! YOUR UNCLES FRED AND GEORGE BOTH MADE MORE THAN YOU DID! AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN PLANNING ON DOING WITH YOUR LIFE NOW WITH A BABY IN TOW? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PROVIDE? THOUGHT SINCE WE'RE YOUR PARENTS WE'LL HELP YOU OUT? NO ONE HELPED US OUT! BUT WE WERE OLD ENOUGH, MARRIED, AND MATURE ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH IT! BUT APPRENTLY WE WENT WRONG SOMEWHERE!" I flinched when she drew her wand, but it was only to wave it around while she yelled some more. And then Eve uncharacteristically burst into tears.
"I'm sorry!" she choked out. "It's my fault too and I'm so, so sorry Ginny!" she practically wailed. Mum immediately looked sorry and went back over to Eve.
"Eve, honey, you both made a mistake. Don't cry, here, everything will be okay. Have you decided on anything?" she asked.
"Adoption," I whispered quietly. She nodded and pulled me into a hug. "I have to go and take care of your father but we will talk about this on spring break," she hissed the last part at me. Mum was so unfair. It took two to tango, you know. "James Potter, you better put a toe out of line until then, am I being clear?"
"Crystal," I said, sighing. She turned and went to the fireplace, floo-ing away.
A/N: Okay, the reviews for the last chapter were overwhelming! You guys are just my inspiration! I'm sorry for those of you who thought she would rather have the abortion, but I couldn't bring myself to do it :) And thanks to all of you with the open minds :) Y'all, Ginny isn't a complete witch, she's just a mom! And Harry... well Harry is being Harry and getting all broody and running away Harry style! Also, a special shout out to qwerty1245, who sent me the most heartfelt review about having to leave the Hunger Games to read this story! I'm touched, seriously.
Sorry for such a long author's note! Until next time~