Happy Very First Birthday, Baby Lupin

Happy Very First Birthday, Baby Lupin

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Chapter 3

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Rest of the school year went over uneventfully. Slytherins were wary, Remus was happy, and Sirius was round. By the time they went to the Hogwarts Express, his walking has turned into waddling. This did not please Sirius, and anybody saying a word about it would pay dearly.

Right now, however, Sirius was in no condition to beat anyone. He sat on the train bench, his hands resting on the round stomach, weeping pitifully against Remus's shoulder.

"There, there, love, don't cry," the werewolf murmured, his arms steadily wrapped around Sirius's shoulders. "You know it's not true, Sirius, you don't have to cry..."

"B - but what if it is?" sobbed the black-haired teen. "I don't want to lose my baby..." Then, he bursted into tears again. With a weary sigh, Remus pulled him into an even tighter embrace.

The reason for Sirius's current hormonal outburst was a thoughtless comment made by Lily. She'd just innocently mentioned the fact that male pregnancies resulted more often with a miscarriage or a still birth than usual female pregnancies. That had pushed Sirius over the edge to the fear of losing his child.

"Calm down, Sirius," James said, shooting a sharp glare towards Lily. "Madame Pomfrey said that your baby's all right, didn't she? I bet it's going to be a big, healthy baby that keeps you fussing over itself all day long." Sirius and Remus hadn't wanted to know their baby's gender. However, they'd decided that if it was a boy, he'd be called Keith Simon, and if it was a girl, she'd be Anna Kathleen.

Now, Sirius raised his teary eyes to his best friend. "Do you really think so?" he sniffled.

"Jamie's absolutely right," Peter assured him. "There's nothing wrong with your kid. Just a couple of months more, and you'll be making bottles to little Keith or little Anna."

Instead of tears, Sirius's face turned into a joyous smile. "Thank you, Wormtail!" he squealed, then flung himself forward to squeeze the smaller boy into his embrace.

"Erm... Sirius?" the blond boy asked meekly. "No offense, but I need to breathe..."

"You're calling me fat?" Sirius asked, his eyes again veiled with tears.

"He's not!" Remus said hastily. "Peter just meant that you're hugging him too tightly. Nobody could call you fat, dear, you're just beautifully round..." It took quite a lot of coaxing from Remus before Sirius calmed down. At last, however, he sat next to Remus, rested his head on his lover's shoulder, and fell asleep.

When they arrived to the King's Cross, Remus's parents were already waiting for Remus and Sirius. They'd been furious at first when they'd heard about Sirius's pregnancy, knowing that their son had been made sterile by the Ministry. However, as Remus had told them the truth about the baby being conceived before his fateful sixteenth birthday, their fury had turned into joy. As Sirius had nowhere to go, having run away from his home the previous summer, they now welcomed him with open arms.

"I'll take your trunks to the car," Mister Lupin said as he met the boys on the platform. "Your mother's outside as usual, Remus, take Sirius to her."

Remus nodded in understanding. His mother was a Muggle, and even though she could have come to the platform with her husband, she'd never felt comfortable there. "What about the other thing I wrote about?" asked the young werewolf then mysteriously.

A warm glint appeared in Julian Lupin's eyes. "That is in order, son," he reassured, ignoring the astonished expression on Sirius's face. "Now, go! Otherwise your mother will accuse me of keeping you for longer than I should have!"

As they hastied out from the platform, Sirius asked curiously, "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing special," Remus replied nonchalantly. "You'll hear it tonight, I -" Just then, they came out to the station, and rest of Remus's words were drowned into the warm embrace of Michelle Lupin.

As soon as Remus had been released from the embrace that without his lycanthropic genes would surely have broken many of his fragile bones, Mrs. Lupin turned towards Sirius. "Oh, my dear boy, you look wonderful!" she praised the teenager. "You're practically glowing!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Lupin," Sirius replied almost shyly.

"Call me Michelle," she replied, laughing full-heartedly. "You are a part of the family, dear. You've always been, but now you are that even more than before." Giving an approving glance to his round belly, she added, "It seems that you're bigger than I was when I was this far along with Remus. Are you sure it isn't twins?"

"Alas, no such luck," Sirius sighed, looking genuinely sorry about that. "Poppy said that it's just one child. Therefore, little Keith or Anna will be our only one."

"Lovely names you've chosen," Michelle smiled. "Now, however, we have to hurry to the car. Does your father have your trunks, Remus?"

"Yes, Mum," the werewolf replied. "He should be here at any moment once he gets through the crowd."

Like called to the place by Remus's words, Julian Lupin appeared as one of the seemingly endless line of people coming from the platform 9 3/4. Pushing the carriage with the boys' trunks next to the others, he eyed Sirius critically. Some Muggles were already giving curious glances at the pregnant boy, and that would not do.

"I'll simply cast a Concealment Charm on you," he decided at last. "Whenever you go out, you have to either have your belly concealed, or, preferably, be disguised as a girl."

"A girl?" echoed Sirius in shock. "Why would that be a preferable option?"

"Think about it, Sirius," Michelle said while his husband casted a charm, making Sirius look like his usual slim self. "The fetus is very vulnerable. If you walk around as a boy, sooner or later something will hit your hidden stomach, and that might seriously hurt your baby."

Paling instantly, Sirius took a hasty step backwards with his hands on his stomach, staring at Michelle like expecting her to fling a fist towards him at any moment.

"That's another reason," Remus said, pointing at the folded hands that lay on what seemed to be thin air. "I've noticed that you have a habit for that. People will wonder if you rest your hands in air."

"So you're against me, too?" Sirius grumbled, a threatening glint of tears in his eyes.

"No, my love, I'm not," replied Remus, reaching out a hand to wipe the tears away. "All I'm doing is protecting you and our baby... Sirina." With a mischievous grin in exchange of Sirius's scowl, he took his boyfriend by hand, leading him to his father's car.