In All the Thunder

Chapter Eight: And a Baby Makes Three

Three weeks later and Lorena was fully energized. She was finally on the day shift at the Three Broomsticks and had the nights all to herself or her friends. Her classes had ended for two weeks because of fall break so she had a lot of time to herself. When classes came back, they would start at two, which was just fine. Today, however, had been her day off and tonight was going to be fun.

Or, at least, that's what Sirius had said.

Sirius had insisted on that in light of his reaching his goal of being the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, they celebrate. Sadly, tonight, Peter was on a date with his girlfriend so he couldn't make it and Sara, who was in the hardest part of her Healer preparation, was studying all night for an exam tomorrow. But, tomorrow after her morning exams, Lily, Krystyna, and Lorena were going to take Sara out all night for her birthday.

However, at the moment, Lorena was trying to get ready for tonight. Lily and James had arranged all of the plans and they were going to eat at some restaurant. Lorena was going to Apparate to Sirius's house in one hour where she would meet everyone. She had just taken a shower and was now primping herself up--

No way, actually, Lorena looked more to be pumping herself up and acting like the teenager she was. For her last birthday, Lily had bought Lorena a record player, a Muggle item that played music. And it was the most fascinating thing in the world right now. She had a record (how did they work?) playing, the volume turned up so loud, and was having fun. Lorena was bouncing around her living room in a bathrobe, singing as loud as she possibly could.

"If I can't have you, baby!" Lorena sang, spinning around her living room and barely missing the couch. She danced around the room and passed the large window in the living room.

Lorena opened her eyes at looked out of the window the get the shock of her life. She yelped and tripped over her foot, collapsing onto the ground. Lorena got to her feet and grabbed the window sill, pulling herself up and peering out of the window. She squeaked and let go, dropping back to the floor. She pressed her back against the wall and suddenly began to laugh at herself.

It was times like these that Lorena began to wonder how she had gotten one of the most unthinkable neighbours in the world. No, it wasn't the Minister of Magic (he lived in the lavish neighbourhood down the street). Lorena's neighbour on the left was, of all people in the world, Severus Snape.

How embarrassing! I wonder if he's seen this every night... Lorena thought as she tried to stop herself. Ooh, I need to report him to authorities! Hehe, well, let's just hope not. I wonder if he's still at his window...

Lorena turned around again and brought herself up to the window. At the exact same time, Snape was lifting himself up to peer out the window. They both caught sight of each other and dropped down on the ground. She laughed and crawled away from the window. She stood up and brushed herself off. She grinned and ran to turn off the record player. She really needed to get ready.

13

Krystyna sat back and enjoyed the warmth of her hot chocolate on such a cold morning. She sat on a brand new red couch beside the cackling fireplace with a blanket wrapped around her and her favourite book at hand. She could tell that it was snowing outside and she sighed with contempt that Sirius might once again get blocked out of the house. The last winter's snow had been rough and a huge pile of snow had blocked Sirius from entering the house; it'd taken him a while for him to shovel the snow away and her to shove the door open.

However, as of now, the memory was tucked far away in the back of her mind while she read. It was, after all, the perfect day to read. She couldn't likely go for a walk and she didn't have work today. Being an Auror was one of the best possible things in like she could be. But as of late, it had been getting worse for wear because of the War. No one liked to talk about the War, but everyone knew that it was happening. Krystyna sighed; at this rate, she wasn't going to get past page 819. She marked the book and set it aside, taking a sip of her hot chocolate afterwards.

At that exact moment, the door burst open and Sirius staggered in, his clothing white and his face hidden by a scarf. He slammed the door shut and wiped his shoes off repeatedly on the rug. He threw the scarf to the side and Krystyna could hear him grumbling, "Keep me at work late when they know I have a wife at home waiting for me, will they? I'll show them not to mess with Sirius Black. I'm the Head; they can't touch me. Fire them, that's what I'll do."

"How was work, hun?" Krystyna called out softly, smiling at him. He looked up at her with a surprised look and she raised one eyebrow cunningly. He grinned and walked over to her. He gave her a kiss.

"It was...peachy," Sirius said in a terribly unconvincing voice. Her smile broadened.

"I'm sure it was," Krystyna replied sardonically. He raised his eyebrows and leaned down to obtain another kiss from her, but she stopped him with a finger. "Why don't you get changed out of your work clothes? You said they were awfully uncomfortable. And then, we can go over to James's place."

"Change, right," Sirius muttered to himself while he stood up straight. He stretched and then looked back at Krystyna sharply. "Why are we going over to James's? We usually don't have dinner until Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday."

Sirius could barely live without James one day and now he was complaining about seeing him out of schedule? This man was obviously mad, Krystyna thought. She grinned at him and rolled her eyes.

"They've something important to tell us," Krystyna said. She didn't know what it was herself and was excited to hear the news. And then, she remembered the other part of the Floo Call that was not so happy. "Oh, Sirius, don't mention anything about Andrea to Peter if he's there; he dumped her two nights ago."

"Dumped her?" Sirius repeated, looking incredulous. Krystyna nodded her head; she'd rather liked Anna. She'd been nicer than Michelle anyways and came from a good family. It was always sad to meet new faces, just to have them leave.

"Yes, and I thought things were going along so well," she sighed sadly. Sirius suddenly beamed and Krystyna raised her eyebrows.

"That's great! I mean, not for Andrea and all, but..." Sirius laughed and shook his head vigorously to get the snow out. "Wormtail's dumped his first girlfriend! I knew there was a heartbreaker inside of him somewhere!" Krystyna rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. "Looks like he paid attention to those lessons I gave him, after all."

"Go change, Sirius!" Krystyna laughed at him, throwing a pillow at him. Sirius grinned at her and ducked the pillow. He trudged up the stairs to change while she shook her head at him once again. Honestly, would he ever change?

13

Krystyna and Sirius arrived at their best mates' house no sooner than thirty minutes later. Sirius wouldn't have himself looking like a rugged mess so he fixed himself up properly; of course, he looked much better, but the drawback of this was him taking so long. Krystyna beat him to it and knocked on the door sharply.

"Coming!" Lily's voice called. Sirius sniffed and a dreamy look fell upon his face. Krystyna sniffed the air, too and found out what was happening with Sirius. Lily was cooking dinner, and she was a truly amazing cook. The door swung open and Lily appeared, wearing her red hair up, casual clothing and a white apron over the clothing.

"Krystyna, Sirius, you came!" Lily beamed at them and hugged Krystyna tightly. After the two friends parted, Lily beckoned them inside hastily because it was snowing outside. Once inside, James slid down the railing and landed with a loud thump and the normal grin plastered on his face. He gave Sirius a speedy hug ("It's not manly to hug," Sirius had once laughed gruffly.) and bowed at Krystyna.

"Shall I take your coat, Mrs. Black?" James grinned cheekily.

"You're so full of it, Potter," Krystyna told him, smiling. James stood up straight and shrugged his shoulders at her.

"So full of greatness," James chirped. Krystyna rolled her eyes as she pulled her coat off. James held out his arms and she slowly handed it to James. Sirius had already thrown his on the couch where he usually assumed was the coat hanger. Coincidentally, so did James because he threw her coat on top of Sirius's on the couch. She resisted to shake her head at him and instead walked into the kitchen where Lily had once again disappeared in.

"Do you need any help?" Krystyna asked.

"Oh, well, um..." Lily continued to cook; she was cooking dinner the Muggle way. She was stirring something and thinking at the same time. Krystyna peered curiously at a strange-looking Muggle machine Lily called a 'blender'. She could vaguely hear Sirius and James talking about the latest instalment to the England Wasp's Quidditch team. "D'you think you could possibly set the table? James hasn't perfected the art of putting the forks on the right side of the plate... Better yet, he doesn't remember to put the plates on the table sometimes..."

Krystyna smiled and looked back at Lily, who was still cooking and not turning her head away from the food on the stove. "Yeah, sure," Krystyna replied. She furrowed her brow. "Although, I'm not sure how much of a difference I'll be from James, I'll try."

Lily and Krystyna giggled and Krystyna headed into the dining room. With the wave of her wand, the plates, silverware, glasses, and napkins came floating into the room. She set them around the table and hoped for the best that they looked nice.

You'd think that after fifteen years of watching house-elves set the table, I'd get it right without even trying to, Krystyna thought, looking at the table sceptically. She just knew that she'd done something wrong or had forgotten something. Sirius drifted into the room.

"Are we having warm drinks?" he joked, putting his hands on her shoulders. It clicked. They needed some ice for the drinks.

Krystyna pulled her wand out and waved it quickly, saying, "Accio ice trays!" Ice trays shot into the room and she caught the four trays. Maybe she shouldn't have done that. They swayed dangerously in her hands as she tried to balance them. Sirius grinned and took two off of her. She smiled at him gratefully and they both put ice in the cups.

"Thanks," she sighed, relieved. Sirius, still grinning, pecked her on the cheek.

"Anytime, love," he said. She took his hand. Was it always this happy when you're a newlywed? She hoped that it would stay like this forever and not for just the beginning of the marriage.

"What do you mean we're not having any cherry pie?!" James yelped from the kitchen. Sirius and Krystyna tore apart and looked at the kitchen door. They looked at each other and burst into a fit of laughter.

13

"So I told Jennings, 'I don't want a floobaroo; I want a bloody pay raise!'"

Sirius snorted into his drink as James laughed his head off. James had just been telling a story about one of the many mishaps in the Auror Section of the Magical Law Enforcement Department. Wallace Jennings, an old, towering man on his last leg as an Auror and James's and Krystyna's boss, owned a floobaroo farm and had asked James if he wanted a floobaroo or a pay raise for his exceptional work. Krystyna had been posed with the same question yesterday, but had been too embarrassed to say anything about it. Needless to say, she'd taken the pay raise.

"Honestly, a floobaroo?" Lily sighed, shaking her head. She took a bite out of her roast beef.

"You have to admit that it was pretty funny," James pointed out, smirking at his wife. She smiled at him, but said nothing in response. He ate the last bit of his mashed potatoes. "I mean, who'd want a floobaroo over more money?"

"I hear Wesley Alge took two floobaroos home," Krystyna piped up, "to start his own farm."

"Floobaroo Farms are very profitable nowadays," Sirius noted in his most serious voice, nodding his head slowly. He wasn't being serious at all, but that's what made it so funny. The four laughed. Lily calmed down first and waved her wand around; peach cobbler appeared in front of them. Sirius licked his lips and began wolfing the cobbler down immediately.

James, however, sighed. He looked up to Lily with a pitiful look on his face. "Peach, Lily, honestly?" he pouted. "You know it's not as good as cherry."

"I know, James, but I can't help it..." Lily smiled at him and he suddenly grinned at her. He started to eat his peach cobbler as if it were the best thing in the world. Krystyna looked at Lily questionably, but her red-haired friend merely smiled at Krystyna and began to eat the cobbler pie that was in front of her.

It was not normal for Lily to keep secrets, but when she did, they were important. Krystyna could hardly wait to hear what this 'great news' was. Of course, the peach cobbler was very distracting and looking quite delicious. It was something too tempting to turn down so Krystyna ate her peach cobbler.

13

Twenty minutes later after Lily and Krystyna cleaned all of the dishes and James and Sirius bickered over whom was going to get the last slice of peach cobbler ("You didn't even want it at first; therefore, it should be mine since I wanted it before I even knew we were having it!" Sirius had declared.), they all sat in the living room by the fire when Krystyna remembered something. She looked up at Lily quickly.

"Lily, you said that you had some great news to tell Sirius and me?" Krystyna prompted. Lily's vibrant green eyes lit up almost immediately and she beamed at James, whose grin was the largest it had been in a long time (not since Lily had first accepted to go out with him, in fact). James squeezed Lily's hand and she turned to face Krystyna and Sirius.

Lily began, "Yes, we thought it best that we--"

"--drop the bomb on you two first, seeing as you being our best mates and all," James ended. Lily shook with exhilaration and her smile was as broad as it could humanly be.

Green eyes shining brightly, Lily told them something that would change the entire world forever, "We're pregnant."

"James, you're pregnant?" Sirius questioned, immediately gawking at James stupidly.

"Yes--I mean, no, not me; Lily, she's the one that's pregnant!" James babbled excitedly. It appeared that his mouth was working faster than his brain. He was literally bouncing in his seat. Krystyna squealed and jumped to her feet. She and Lily hugged tightly.

"I'm so thrilled for you!" Krystyna shrieked, overjoyed for Lily. "Congratulations!"

"Prongs...Junior?" Sirius said in disbelief. James nodded his head feverishly and jumped to his feet, running his fingers through his unkempt raven hair. He fixed his glasses anxiously.

"Just think of it, Sirius," James said, lost in a dream. "We can teach him the ways of the Marauders, how to play Quidditch, and how to hex Slytherins!"

"James!" Lily cried out, rolling her eyes at him. He smiled sheepishly and Sirius guffawed.

"He's gonna be a great Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he's gonna be excellent in Defence Against the Dark Arts," James stated, as if everything he said was true and set in stone. "Everyone's going to know him and when they hear his name, they'll look up to him. He's going to be the best son any guy can have."

"Best daughter any parents could have," Lily corrected quickly. She shook her head and smiled at Krystyna, who could barely contain herself from hugging Lily again. This was so wonderful. "James is still under the impression that the child will be a boy."

"That kid of mine is going to be a boy!" James declared proudly. "I just know it. You have to learn to trust me on these things, Lil; I have a special intuition about things like this."

"Like a woman's intuition, Prongs?" Sirius joked, grinning madly.

"Exactly, Sirius," Lily replied before James could. Sirius stood up and gripped James's hand. They shook hands, both grinning like mad.

"Congratulations," Sirius told him. "I'm sure glad that I didn't place any bets when we were in Hogwarts. I would've lost. First, you get married before me and now, you get your wife--"

"Sirius!" Krystyna exclaimed, interrupting him and giving him that certain look. Sirius gave her a sheepish grin and looked back at James, who was sniggering.

"Well, you got your wife pregnant before me," Sirius said, changing what he had been about to say. James sniggered and collapsed back onto the couch. Sirius followed suite and fell back onto the other couch.

"I'm gonna be a father, Padfoot," James sighed with his eyes closed, trying to imagine what fatherhood must be like. "Can you believe it? I'm going to have a son."

"Daughter," Lily corrected sharply.

"Whatever," James muttered. He continued, "I mean...wow, I can't explain how it feels. It's just kind of surreal; you know, kind of like after I got married to Lily. It's just like...'And you thought you had to chill out when you got married; now you've got to child proof the entire house and hide the Firewhiskey in harder places. It's not just going to be you and your wife anymore.' It's unreal. It's great."

"And a baby makes three," Sirius piped up.

"Yeah, three," James sighed. There was silence when James suddenly snapped his eyes open and sat up straight. He turned to Lily slowly. "What happens if it's twins?"

Lily just smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders. Being a mother was something new to her; she had no idea how to do it, but she was already planning things. Knowing Lily, she'd have everything planned and everything ready for the baby in three months...if she slept every night, that is. Krystyna hugged Lily again in the excitement.

"I can't believe it," Krystyna said happily. "This is just so amazing."

"I guess dreams really do come true," Lily said with joyful tears in her eyes. She gave James a watery smile and he took her hand from the couch. Krystyna ran a hand through her black hair. If anyone deserved to live a wonderful life, it was James and Lily Potter.

None of them knew that James would be right.

13

Krystyna waved her wand again. Red sparks. She took a deep breath and waved her wand for the tenth time in two minutes. Red sparks. Krystyna knew that this was wonderful, but she couldn't help but feel nervous about this new revelation. She decided that, just to be sure, she would do the spell once more. She did and red sparks appeared once more. She sat her wand down and stepped into the bedroom.

Taking a shuddering breath, Krystyna slowly sank onto the freshly made bed. She laid her back down onto the bed and felt the back of her head fall softly into the pillow. She stared at the ceiling, suddenly feeling very anxious and scared. She knew that she was being stupid. She should feel happy more than anything but here she was, moping around like someone had died when it was totally opposite of that.

How was possibly going to tell Sirius? She was horrified with the thought of just walking up to him and saying, "How was your day? Oh, by the way, you got me pregnant and it's your entire fault.

Krystyna knew she'd never tell him like that, but she couldn't help but wonder what she could possibly say. Tons of terrifying scenarios popped into her head.

"Honey, there's something I have to tell you. I think you might want to sit down. There. Now; listen to me very carefully: You knocked me up pretty well."

Krystyna cringed at the mere thought of saying that. She never would, but just thinking about it made her want to blanch. She shook the mental image of Sirius's shocked face away and tried to think of a happier outcome.

"Sirius, I found out something today, and it's one of the most important things that have happened in both of our lives. This will change our lives forever. I'm going to have your baby."

Krystyna groaned at that and shook her head. She sounded like some manic fan of some Muggle rock star group. She was not going to say that to Sirius. She wasn't even going to think about that. There had to be a much better way of letting Sirius know that she, Krystyna, was pregnant with his child around three months after James and Lily had given them the same type of news.

The sudden sound of the front door barging open and Sirius's voice calling, "I'm home!" sounded what could be her fall. She groaned and sat up straight on the bed. She could not stall on telling him this. This was very important. It was now or...now. She stood up and struggled to put a smile on her face.

Krystyna didn't know why she was acting so sad about this. She had been waiting for this to happen for so long. And now it had happened and she was scared half to death. Maybe it was just the nervousness of everything finally happening. She hadn't been prepared for it. After weeks, she'd been a little put out since nothing had happened and then suddenly, it jumped her when she wasn't ready. She went into the living room where Sirius was taking his jacket off and tossing it onto the couch.

"Hello, love," Sirius said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. This soothed her and gave her a bit of comfort. She relaxed. He pulled back slowly.

"Welcome home," Krystyna greeted, smiling. He looked at her slowly.

"Is there something wrong?" Sirius asked worriedly. Krystyna cursed herself in her mind; she couldn't hide much from him nowadays. She sort of missed the days when she could conceal what was on her mind. So much had changed since a year and a half ago.

"Oh, no, well, um..." Krystyna bit her lip and tried to think of what she was going to say. This was harder than she had thought. She briefly wondered if Lily had had this much trouble telling James, but she almost immediately dismissed the idea. Lily had probably made some speech and had set up everything. Why couldn't she be as organized as Lily?

"Krystyna, are you okay?" Sirius prompted, snapping Krystyna out of her reverie. She'd been thinking and had forgotten that Sirius was standing in front of her.

"Oh, um, yeah," Krystyna laughed nervously, blushing a bit. She glanced at the couch. "I have something very important to tell you so why don't we have a seat." Sirius grabbed her hands and sat on the couch. She conjured up a chair and sat in it in front of Sirius. She took a deep breath. "Sirius, I'm pregnant."

Grand speech, Krystyna, she thought sourly.

"What?" Sirius sounded incredulous. Krystyna's shoulders sagged; she had hoped that he would be happy about this, but he sounded...disappointed. She took a deep breath.

"Sirius, I'm--"

"I know, I know," Sirius interrupted, waving her off impatiently. He squeezed her hands and scooted to the edge of his seat, getting closer to her face. His face was just an inch from her face. She could feel his hot breath on her face. "But...really? You are?"

"Yes, I am."

There was a silence in which they just stared at each other when all of a sudden, Sirius grabbed her and ripped her out of her chair. She shrieked, startled. He began to laugh as he spun her around in the air, clearly overjoyed. She was in a state of shock, but soon began laughing with him. When he finally sat her back to the ground, he kissed her soundly on the lips.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Sirius whispered in a rush of words. They had their foreheads together while Sirius held her tightly. Krystyna sighed with relief. He was happy about this after all. He was ecstatic that this had happened. Suddenly, everything seemed much brighter and Krystyna felt elated herself. "How long will it be until we know if it's a boy or girl?"

"I don't know," Krystyna murmured with her eyes closed. Sirius kissed her forehead. "Um...it took James and Lily another month to find out that their baby is going to be a boy so that--uh--would mean that it will be around...er...one and a half months? I'm not sure, but it's around that time."

"Well, whatever the gender may be, the kid's going to be the best looking kid around," Sirius said. "I mean, with my good looks and your beauty, there's no way we can go wrong, right?"

"Right, Sirius," Krystyna giggled. Everything was so much better now. And neither knew that the world would not be ready for a child like theirs.