These last few have been really short, and for that I am sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Busted, with Love
Leigh Ann Nelson
April 7, 1996, 1:08 PM
Transfiguration
"So, did you tell him, muchacha?" Alex asked conspiritually, holding a folder in front of her to keep the teacher from seeing her talk. Like she needed to make herself more obvious.
I ignored her for the moment, waving my wand and focusing on Transfiguring my eagle into a writing desk. Her constant Spanglish was really making me lose my focus, and my desk turned out yellow with feathers floating from the shelves and drawers.
LGLO Charles McCoy gave me a disappointed look, shaking his head and writing something down on his clipboard. I felt irritated and upset with myself, quickly changing Gerald back to his bird form and sending him off.
"Well, did you?" she asked again, swatting me with the same folder she'd been hiding behind.
I shot her a dirty look, pursing my lips to keep from yelling. "No, Alex, I didn't get the chance to say anything before he ran off to play 'hero.'"
"He left again?" she asked incredulously. "That culo always leaves at the worst times!"
"Maybe you should concentrate on your desk instead of my failin' love life," I snapped, feeling slightly queasy. I'd been having morning sickness, although I wasn't sure why it was called that when it happened all during the damn day!
"Well, when will you get the chance to tell him that you are preñada?" She said it loud enough that I smacked her with the folder she was holding.
"Do you want the whole school to know?" I hissed, sitting lower in my seat.
Suddenly the room went quiet, and it wasn't because of what Alex had said. I turned to look where all the eyes had gone when I saw a woman standing behind me, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. "You...I didn't know..." She took a deep breath and swallowed. Hard. "What did Alex just say?"
"Mom!"
2:02 PM
The General's Office
Tears formed in my eyes as I stood at attention, being ignored by my mother. She had her jaw set and a furious glint in her green eyes. I had never seen her so angry in my life.
My rank fell to the ground, torn from my uniform. The sound of velcro filled the General's office, the three of us staying silent. My Officer's buttons fell from my jacket as she cut them off. I didn't realize it, but she'd started to cry as she then unpinned my name tag and dropped it into my pocket. Then, the jacket came off. I was standing there, in front of the General, in stockings and a white dress shirt and pants. I'd never felt so naked.
He sighed and motioned for me to sit, but I was still paralyzed on the spot. My mother fell into one of the plush chairs, still not saying another word to me. "Leigh Ann...sit, please."
His words made me fall into the chair. I tried looking at my mom, but she refused to turn her eyes to me. It hurt worse than any physical wound. "M-mom, I—"
"Don't."
I bit my lip and turned my face down so that the General couldn't see my tears. It had been enough to have my unhonorable discharge happen from my mother—it was quite another to let my Commanding Officer see me cry.
The General sighed again, his ice blue eyes saddened as he looked at me. "Leigh Ann, this is very troubling indeed... You, my best Officer. In this condition."
"I'm not sorry," I said quickly, drying my eyes so that I could look him directly in the eye. "I love the father and I love this child."
"It is hard to believe," he said, his eyes narrowing. "You people are quick to throw out the words 'love' and 'forever,' when in fact they have only 'loved' their other for days. I want to believe that I know you better, Leigh Ann. Is the father Professor Krum?"
My mother's eyes burned into me, but I didn't turn to meet her gaze. "Yes. The baby was conceived in January. Doc can tell you the details. I just take the medicine she gives me and hope that I don't throw up every second of the day."
Mom suddenly stood up and stood in front of me, her gaze burning into mine. Tears fell down her face as she asked, "Why couldn't you trust me with this?"
"Momma—"
"I was just comin' down to talk to Gloria and check on his progress."
"Mom, I'm eighteen—"
"I thought that I'd stop by to see how my lovin' daughter was doin' in her favorite class."
"I am a grown woman, capable—"
"Then I hear it—not from my daughter, but from my daughter's best friend! I didn't even hear it from you, Leigh Anna Marie, not from you!"
It cut deep to see that pain on her face. "I'm sorry, Momma, I'm so sorry..." The tears started coming now as I held my head. All I wanted was that my mother would take me in her arms and hold me like she would have when I was younger. I wanted to cry on her shoulder and be told that everything would be alright, but I knew that it wasn't going to be alright. My baby was going to be born during a war, in a time when any wizard with impure blood was to be hunted.
And, not only was I not married to the father, but the father was also no where to be seen.
My mother noticed this as well. "Where the hell is that boy, John? You get him up here now so that I can tear him a new one!"
I paled at my mother's language, thanking God that Viktor was out fighting Dark Wizards rather than face my mother. That thought made me laugh, but then I knew that it was true—that's where Viktor was. The General confirmed it, saying, "Professor Krum is on an important mission for Bulgaria."
My mother's green eyes bore into mine. "Leigh Ann?"
I shook my head and turned from her stare. "I don't know, Momma. I'm not allowed to know. If I know, then they'll know, and then they'll hurt me." They'll hurt the baby.
"Does he at least know?" she begged, her voice finally cracking under the pressure. When I replied negatively, she sunk back down into the chair. "So, he gets my daughter in bed, runs off to war, and doesn't have the decency to use a rain coat?"
"Mom!" I blushed at her tone, especially since the General was right there.
"What, it's true!"
Rene Nelson
10:59 PM
Officer's Quarters
She hurt so badly on the inside. Watching her daughter sleep, brushing back her bangs and pulling up the blankets under her arm made her ache for the little girl she used to have. Rene wanted to hold Leigh Ann, waned to kiss her forehead and tell her that everything would be alright.
But it wouldn't be.
Unless Rene and the rest of the government could hold down the panic rising in the Wizarding States, there would be another Civil War on their hands. The last thing the world needed was an innocent child born into chaos.
Leigh Ann whispered something in her sleep, moving her hand to rest on the baby bump that was obviously appearing. The second her hand rested there, her face calmed and she smiled, saying Viktor's name aloud before falling back asleep.
Rene had never seen anything so beautiful. She put her hand on her daughter's stomach as well, feeling what would be her second grandchild, both so close together. "I'm too young for this," she whispered, smiling as tears fell down her cheeks.
Leigh Ann stirred, so Rene pulled back, getting up off the bed. "Mommy?" she asked blearily, her face resembling that of a lost child. "Mommy, what are you doing here?"
"I just came to tuck you in," she said, trying to stifle her tears. "Lay back down."
She smiled and did as she was told, holding her pillow to her face. "I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, Leigh Ann."
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Do you love my baby?"
What an odd question. She could have answered with a million things—It's not a baby yet, or, How can I love it like I love you? But Leigh Ann was only looking for comfort. And inside, Rene knew it to be true that she did love that baby. "Of course I do."
She nodded, a serious look on her face. "I do, too." Before she fell asleep again, she held her stomach and smiled, giving out a sigh.
Maybe this baby would be alright after all.
Maybe its time to unveil little Krum, eh?