Ahh! It's been a while; I've been on vacation with some friends. Chapter 76 is already halfway done.

Thanks for the reviews, javalon14, PheonixMinx, LizziePixie-Aiko, and cola-snow44! :D

If you like tacos, I think you should review. ;D

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS JESUS!

CHAPTER 75

He…what?!" said Sarah, jumping on a bed.

"He proposed." Marlene said, holding up Audrey's left hand.

"And you said yes? Are you insane?" Lily asked. Audrey, Marlene, and Sarah gave her a look.

"Relax." Lily grinned, "I'm kidding. I'm ecstatic, and I know James already probably knows."

"All of the boys probably know." Sarah rolled her eyes. "You know how those four are."

Sirius and I wanted to keep our engagement private until we were out of school. Between everything that had been going on in the outside world and Sirius' estranged family, we thought it was for the best.

As the next few weeks went by, I began to have the strangest feelings. They would happen while I was out at a gig, in the studio dancing, early in the morning, or in the middle of class.

"Marly?" Audrey asked, as they stretched in the studio. They were alone, practicing a routine that day.

"Yeah?" She replied, doing a split on the floor.

"I have an odd question to ask. A question about humans."

"Fire away."

"Have you ever gotten this weird feeling in your stomach? Like something is moving?"

"Nausea? Yeah, humans get it a lot. It's pretty normal…why?"

"Because I think I have it." Audrey replied, stretching her calves.

"And that's not normal for you?" Marlene asked, looking concerned

"No…neither is random fatigue." Audrey said thoughtful.

Marlene's eyes widened and she gasped. "Aud…"

"What?" Audrey asked, confused.

"I think you might be expecting." Marlene bit her lip.

"Expecting…as in expecting a child?" Audrey cocked her head, disbelieving. Marlene nodded.

The thought hadn't occurred to me, for I had never asked my mother about when she was carrying me. I did not know what to expect. Marlene had told me that we needed to test it before we jumped to any conclusions, she was right. So the very next evening, we snuck out of the castle, through the one-eyed witch passageway, and dissapparated to St. Mungo's.

I did not tell Sirius at the time, I wouldn't tell him unless it was true.

Audrey sat in the examination room, Marlene waited with her. The tests were just like the muggle ones, or at least, that's what Marlene had told her. Though the results would be so much quicker.

"Your friend was right, Miss." said the Mediwitch coming back into the room. "You're expecting."

You may or may not be surprised by this, but I was elated to be expecting. We only had about three months left of school at the time, so it would be easy to conceal. There were very few people that I wanted to tell, and how to tell them would be very difficult.

"So I'm assuming you're going to tell Sirius first?" Marlene asked, as they walked through the tunnel that connected Honeyduke's to the school.

"Of course, but he's the one I'm most nervous to tell…other than Sev." She replied.

Marlene nodded, understanding.

When the two finally made it back to the common room, they found the Marauders sitting around the fire, and Lily sitting at one of the tables reading.

"Oi! Where have you lot been?" James asked, as they all turned and looked at the two.

"Out." Marlene answered quickly, as Remus came over and hugged her. Audrey walked over to Sirius and pecked him on the cheek.

"We need to talk." She said quietly.

"Is everything okay?" He whispered in her ear, taking her hand.

Audrey swallowed. "Yes…can we go outside?"

"Of course." He murmured, taking her hand and leading her through the portrait hole.

Audrey lead the way as soon as they were out of the common room, she went down the hallway, and through the corridor to a set of windows. She lifted herself onto the sill and sat down.

"What's going on?" He whispered, standing in front of her with his hands on either side of her.

Audrey exhaled.

"Is everything okay?" Sirius asked, lifting her head. Audrey stared into his grey blue eyes for a moment.

It was rather nerve wracking to tell him…I don't know why. There was this tiny fear inside me that he'd leave.

Audrey shook for a second, but regained her composure. Sirius noticed, he always noticed.

"Audrey, whatever it is…you can tell me." Sirius took her hands.

Audrey breathed.

"I went to the hospital with Marlene today..." She began.

"Is Marly alright?"

Let the record show that the moment I was about to tell Sirius I was with child, he thought Marlene was sick or injured. He really did care about her.

It's merely an obligatory thing to care about your lover's best mate. Marlene and I will forever be at war.

"Yes." Audrey said, surprised. "Marly is fine."

"So it was you who wasn't fine." Sirius deduced, studying her.

"Yes. I haven't been for the last few weeks really…so Marly accompanied me to St. Mungo's." Audrey breathed again, she was so nervous.

"What did the Healers say? Are you alright?" Sirius squeezed her hand, biting his lip.

"Sirius, I'm expecting." Audrey blurted out. The anticipation was killing her.

His face went from a quick shock to a huge grin.

"REALLY?!" He jumped up and down.

It was moments like these where I knew exactly why Sirius' animagus was a dog.

"Yes." Audrey laughed, a little relieved. He picked her up and hugged her tightly.

"Oh." He quickly, putting her down. "I don't want to crush the baby." He poked her stomach.

Audrey laughed. "It's far too early for that to happen."

"Sooo…you'd be due in…November?" Sirius asked.

Audrey nodded, he grinned again grabbing her and kissing her. They pulled apart moments later.

"Good to know you're happy." Audrey breathed.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know…I wasn't quite sure how you'd react." Audrey admitted.

"I asked you a few weeks ago if you'd spend the rest of your life with me. Retracting that because you were carrying a child would be the most counterproductive thing I've ever done." He laughed, taking her hand and leading her back to the common room.

"So only Marlene knows?" Sirius asked, as they reached the portrait. Audrey nodded.

"Well, we'll just have to change that." He grinned. Audrey slapped her palm to her head as the two went through the tunnel. James, Lily, Remus, Marlene and Peter were still in the common room, Sarah joined them.

"What was that all about, mate?" James called. Sirius grinned his signature Black grin and waved his wand, casting a silencing charm near the staircases, so no one else would hear.

"What's this all about, Sirius?" Remus asked.

"I'M GOING TO BE A DAD!" He roared, grinning from ear to ear.

Not quite the way I wanted to tell our friends…

"Really?!" Lily chirped.

James jumped out of his chair and hugged Sirius. "PADS! THAT'S EXCELLENT!"

Remus wore a huge smile, Sarah squealed and nearly tackled Sirius and Audrey to the ground. Peter smiled.

But it worked. I knew it would.

In mid-March, Sirius and I left the school on a Friday evening with permission of the headmaster to visit my parents. Once we were outside of school grounds, Edgar disapparated with us to their community. Albus had forbid me from knowing the location, to this day, I still do not understand why…

Sirius had wanted to ask my father for permission to marry me. I didn't understand why, really…it was not a custom where we were from, but he insisted. Of course, I had also wanted to break the news about the baby.

Audrey led Sirius to a familiar wooden door, though it was not the same that she had always known. Her father had built a replica of their old home in this new community. It was familiar yet foreign.

"Where are they?" Sirius asked, after waiting a few minutes. He was about to knock again when Audrey grabbed his arm.

"My mother is coming." She replied.

"How-?"

"I can hear her breathing." She replied, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. Sirius rolled his eyes and mumbled something about 'special people.'

The door opened in a swift motion and they found a familiar green face.

"You're pregnant." Airleas said, looking at her.

Not even a proper greeting.

Sirius looked baffled, Audrey sometimes forgot that most humans didn't speak Banshee, and Sirius definitely didn't understand Russian. Though he had tried a few times in the last seven years.

"She knows that I'm with child." Audrey translated, looking at Sirius.

"What did you expect?" Airleas replied, tapping her temple.

"I forgot that you had the seeing eye." Sirius said, piecing it together.

"How long have you known?" Audrey asked, studying her mother.

"Five weeks." Airleas snorted, rolling her eyes and letting the two in. "I also knew he was going to propose."

Audrey opened her mouth to speak.

"Your father already knows."

"Well." Audrey puffed, sitting on a sofa.

"And…?" Sirius asked, slightly nervous.

"Oh, Isaac is ecstatic. A grandchild! New life…" Airleas replied, a distant look in her eyes.

"What about the engagement?" Audrey studied her mother.

"Thrilled."

"Really?" Audrey was surprised.

"Your father and I married younger than you two are. We have no right to be angered. Naturally, he is a little protective…but he knows Sirius." Airleas replied.

Audrey sighed. "Well, so much for breaking the news."

"You can never break news to me, you should know that by now." Airleas pointed out, taking a seat next to her daughter. She put her hand on her stomach.

"It's too early." Audrey said, looking at her mother.

"No, it's not. I can feel h-"

"DON'T." Sirius and Audrey said together.

Early on, we had decided that we didn't want to know what the baby would be. Sirius thought it was going to be a girl, while I thought it was going to be a boy.

Airleas grinned. "Oh, fine. I won't say a word, but I can tell you that the name you choose is very fitting."

"Well, that's good to know. " Sirius grinned.

My father returned a few hours later, after working all day. The first thing he had said to us was "When is the wedding?"

…What she left out was all of the relentless taunting I received for the rest of the night. Isaac said things such as "Oh, I'm going to kill you, you didn't even ask me if you could propose!" There were points during that night when I really thought I was going to be skinned alive. For the most part, it was a night of celebration. I remember Audrey telling me after we left the following Sunday that she had not seen her father that happy since before the St. Aleksander's Massacre.

Though the good news had been washed away a week later by something so terrible. March 31st was one of a handful of days that I can always recall so clearly. It is a day that will never be washed from my memory.

And it all started with an owl from Albus telling me to go to his office.