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[Chapter Thirty-Seven: Wristbands]

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            "Professor Dumbledore — y-you must be mistaken." Aspen said with a small disbelieving chuckle. Why was she saying this? Everything made sense! "I can't be pregnant, I'm merely eighteen!"

"It doesn't matter whatever age you become pregnant," The older man stated with a small pitying smile. "Only whether you've bled or not. Don't take this angrily, Ms. Lee, this is spectacular news! Who is the father, may I ask?"

Aspen ran her hand through her hair, her anxiety kicking in as everyone stared shockingly toward her—the two professors expecting an answer. Aspen looked at Sirius who was standing in shock, his eyes wide and mouth gaping. Everyone else also stood in a shock, glancing between the couple wearily. James looked like he was going to have a mental breakdown.

Spotting this tension, Professor McGonagall spoke up. "It's alright if you don't feel like sharing. But we should get you to Madam Pomfrey, to ensure the baby is healthy."

Aspen didn't have any say as Professor McGonagall placed a hand on her shoulder, directing her and only her out. They walked in silence to the hospital wing, Aspen was in too much of a shock to speak as she held onto her stomach. She wanted to cry, throw up, and sleep all at the same time. Upon entering the hospital wing, she could immediately hear chatter amongst students as they got treated. They all silenced when they noticed Professor McGonagall . . some of them even glared. Although, when the professors eyes made their way to the students, they immediately stopped—looking away in fear.

"Ah, Minerva!" Said Madam Pomfrey once she noticed the professor. "What are you doing here at this time of day? I'd thought you'd be home celebrating Christmas!"

"I was, but Dumbledore called me in for a . . . issue," The professor sugarcoated, "I'm actually here concerning Ms. Lee. Could I speak to you for a moment in private?"

"Yes, one moment!" Madam Pomfrey said, turning toward Aspen. "Would you just follow me?" Aspen nodded and followed the healer to a bed, Madam Pomfrey directed her to sit . . and so she did. "I will be back in one moment, you get yourself comfortable."

Aspen couldn't get herself comfortable during the five minutes she was alone. Every time she tried sitting back, the thought of a baby in her stomach made her sit right back up. She couldn't believe it . . she was pregnant with Sirius Blacks baby! After one round of sex, her first time in bed, she became pregnant! The one time she truly found pleasure was when her life would be changed forever.

"Professor McGonagall told me everything," Madam Pomfrey said as she went through a drawer of equipment. "And I don't know if this will make you feel better, but, you're not the only Hogwarts student to . . . be in this predicament. Over the years we've had many teen pregnancies, there's actually another girl in your grade who's pregnant. Now for her privacy's sake, I'm not going to say her name—but let me tell you that she was in tears when she arrived. After a long time of talking, we've come to a choice that she will place the baby up for adoption. You could do the same too if you'd like, St. Mugos actually has amazing wizarding adoption program for magical children. Or you could abort the baby if you don't want to go through the trials of pregnancy. And, of course, you could keep it—your choice."

"I-I don't want to abort it." Aspen immediately said, her heart fluttering drastically. She still felt as if life wasn't real at that moment, saying those words felt very unfamiliar—a baby? She was choosing the fate of a barely developed fetus inside her?

"Alright then, if you ever change your mind—you still have three months until the baby will be legally too old to be aborted," Madam Pomfrey said, hooking up the equipment. "Would you like pictures of the ultrasound or no?"

Aspen was laying on her back already and she could barely speak. Everything was going so fast already, she only just learned she was pregnant about twenty minutes before. Did she want pictures of the baby? Was she going to put it up for adoption? Would she get attached to the pictures, and the baby and keep it? Her breath began to grow hitched, her chest growing tight.

"Ms. Lee?" Madam Pomfrey questioned.

"I, er—yes, please." Aspen finally answered. A part of her wanted to say no, but the other part of her that wanted to see the photos for herself, could this possibly be a mistake?

"Okay then, now this will take some time to generate." Madam Pomfrey stated. "This is muggle equipment, and since we're so far from muggle civilization—this isn't going to be very fast. As we wait, is it alright if I ask some routine questions?"

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead," Aspen breathed as she played with her wristbands. Madam Pomfrey smiled and pulled out a clipboard and paper from her drawer. She sat down in a chair across from the bed Aspen laid in, and began to read off questions. "How far long do you think you're in on this pregnancy?" She asked.

"A few days really, about two or three," Aspen answered. Was that even possible?

Madam Pomfrey nodded and wrote down what she said. "Have you felt any cramping in your stomach?"

"Other than nausea, no," Aspen said while shaking her head. Her hands was shaking, everything in front of her grew wobbly as the air she breathed didn't feel real. She glanced at the ultrasound machine and it blinked red, signaling that it wasn't ready yet. Merlin . . . please say that this is all just a very fucked up Christmas nightmare.

"Alright," The healer mumbled, "Are you sure that you are pregnant? Have you taken a pregnancy test?"

"Er—no, I haven't," Aspen said, upon realizing she had no actual diagnosis—hope arose in her chest. Madam Pomfrey looked at the girl, ready to say something, but noticing how stressed Aspen looked—she frowned and didn't say anything about the girl not actually knowing if she was pregnant and continued with the questions.

"Now, unfortunately, you're going to have to tell me who the father is. Seeing as it must be a Hogwarts student, it is permitted that we know so we could notify his parents." Madam Pomfrey stated with a stern expression.

Aspen sucked in a deep breath and said, "H-he doesn't really have a good relationship with his parents. They kicked him out last year."

Madam Pomfrey immediately knew who the girl was speaking about; Sirius Black. The boy who stayed there day and night when Aspen was in the hospital wing with a broken ankle and severe influenza diagnosis. Madam Pomfrey knew about the boy being kicked out when the Potters spoke to Dumbledore about them taking custody of the boy.

       "Sirius Black?" Madam Pomfrey asked, wanting confirmation for her theory. Aspen nodded warily while looking at her hands guiltily, in her aunts words against teens of her age; she was a whore. Madam Pomfrey nodded with a small smile and scribbled it down on the paper. "Does Mr. Black know of the pregnancy?"

       "He does, he learned when I learned . . . after Professor Dumbledore congratulated me," Aspen said. Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes at what the headmaster had done, he had a knack of surprising people like that.

       "Okay, now last question, seeing as when you graduate you'll be six months pregnant and showing immensely, would you like to double your classes during the day so you could graduate early? Or allow yourself to show?"

       The thought of having double the work to do every day made Aspen nauseous. She already had so much to do from all the extra curricular's she signed up for. "I'll stay. It wouldn't kill me if people noticed I'm getting a little fat." Merlin, she never thought she'd be saying that.

       Madam Pomfrey smiled at the same time the machine beeped. "Alrighty then, we are ready to start. Please pull your shirt up a bit, and beware . . . this is going to be cold."

       After Aspen did as directed, Madam Pomfrey placed a cold gel onto her stomach. As she did, Aspen tried to look for any of the slightest sign in her stomach that she was pregnant. She only found it to be flat, she was kinda hoping he had a bump already—to quickly end her series of anxiety-inducing questioning.  Once the gel was done being placed, Madam Pomfrey grabbed a small probe thing and placed it on her stomach. The computer screen on the ultrasound machine immediately began to glow black and white, the sound of her heartbeat soon followed to echo around the area.

      "Don't worry, I have a soundproofing spell around us. No one can hear this other than you and I." Madam Pomfrey reassured when Aspen started to panic. "Just relax and try to stay silent as I look for the little one. Due to you being so early in the pregnancy, it may be a bit hard to find. Muggles don't normally show until about two weeks, but we witches and wizards have different anatomies than them. It's rumored that a pregnancy found in the first few days is a girl—oh, I'm sorry hun, you're feeling a bit anxious, eh?"

      Aspen sighed and nodded, closing her eyes as she listened to her own heartbeat. She expected it to be rapidly beating, but for some reason . . . it was even. Not rapid in the slightest bit. Once Madam Pomfrey stopped moving her hand, Aspen opened her eyes, the sound of a second heartbeat began to enter her ears.

      She was afraid to look over to the machine, to see actual living proof that she was holding a human inside her own body. Madam Pomfrey smiled as she scanned over the small specimen, the small heartbeat pounding healthily. "There we go! Congratulations, Ms. Lee, you are indeed pregnant."

      Her heart dropped as she heard those words, she was pregnant. She was actually pregnant. She looked over to the machine, out of the black and white she could make out a small body. A head and a body, already created within the three days she had been pregnant. She couldn't stop looking at it as emotions swept throughout her body. Tears began to well in her eyes, she couldn't tell if they were out of fear or delight. The sound of a printer started, Aspen looked over to see pictures of her child being printing out. "Merlin's beard."

       "Magnificent, isn't it?" Madam Pomfrey asked, "We won't be able to learn the gender for a few more weeks, unfortunately, but as of right now—your baby is as healthy as a three day old fetus could be."

      "T-that's good," Aspen croaked. Growing tired she laid back down, still looking at the screen. She looked at it for minutes upon minutes, Madam Pomfrey left her alone for a while. Aspen couldn't believe it, she was really pregnant. After a long time of looking at the screen, the computer died. The screen turning black scared her at first, she actually believed something happened in her stomach. But when Madam Pomfrey came in and told her what happened, she let out a long-held breath.

She was then given the ultrasound pictures — they became her second computer and she began dazing staring at them. When the curtains opened she broke out of her daze to see Wendy entering. Wendy looked worried, she even had some tear streaks going down her face.

Aspens face contorted to a small smile, trying to ease the tension as her friend walked closer. "Y-You're actually pregnant?"

"I am," Aspen croaked, her heart leaping once more.

"That's- wow. Congratulations?" Wendy said, unsure of how to answer. "Thanks," Aspen mumbled, looking down to the photos. She handed them over to Wendy who glanced them over, placing a hand on her mouth as tears started to well in her eyes. "Oh my god," Wendy gushed with her voice going a few octaves higher. "This is your baby. Aspen Lee's baby, the baby of Aspen Lee. Oh wow, I can't believe it!"

"Me neither," Aspen sighed, pulling her hand anxiously through her hair. "Though my symptoms have been kind of obv—"

The sound of the curtains abruptly opening interrupted her words. She and Wendy looked over to see Remus, Peter, and Sirius — who looked a mess — walking in. Aspen grew stiff and sat up at the sight of her boyfriend (who she had dated for less than a day.) He was pale, his hair a mess — thought he now wore shoes. No one could say anything before Remus asked, "Why didn't you guys use protection?"

"What?" Aspen asked in surprise.

"Why didn't you two use protection?" He repeated as Sirius fell into a chair, still in shock.

"Last time I checked, broom closets don't have condoms laying around," She stated, she felt like life wasn't real at that moment. She didn't know if he should be happy, she was going to become a mum! Or panicking, she's going to be a mum! She wished she had her mum to talk about it too. She also couldn't believe that she was talking to Remus Lupin about her sex life with his best mate.

"Yeah, unless some brooms wanted to go against their existence and get down and dirty," Peter said as he nibbled on some Christmas chocolate. Looking like he didn't have a care in the world. "They were fucked," James let out a squeak at the smaller boy swearing, "sexual tension and being locked in a four by four room? The baby making was meant to happen — maybe the actual baby being created wasn't intentional but Remus if you were locked in a broom closet with Wendy, wouldn't you have sex?"

"Of course," Wendy answered for her taller boyfriend. "But not that kind of sex, we're cautious."

Aspen coughed uncomfortably and Wendy cringed. "Sorry," She mumbled.

"I-I'm sorry if I'm sounding mean." Remus sighed as he sat into the chair beside Sirius. "It's just such a surprise. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"

"I guess I'm okay, just a little shocked. No, scratch that, a lot shocked." Aspen said as Wendy gave her back the pictures. "The baby, on the other hand, is having a blast inside me, according to Madam Pomfrey it's as healthy as a baby it's three-day-old fetus could be."

"That's good," Remus nodded as he stared down the back of the pictures Aspen had in her hand. "Are those the ultrasound pictures?"

"Yeah," Aspen said as she looked down at them. "Would you like to see them?"

Remus nodded and she handed the pictures over. He looked at them with a small smile, looking up at Aspen which made her smile a little. He then looked at Sirius who was staring at the wall opposite from them, still in shock. Remus looked back to Aspen with a questioning look. She assumed he was asking if he could show the pictures of Sirius' child, to Sirius. She nodded for him to do so. Yes, please do that for me Remus, Aspen thought, just do everything for me, yeah? This will go so much easier if it wasn't me being the main star,

"Padfoot?" Remus asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Sirius didn't respond, he didn't even look over. Remus shook his shoulder a second time and that's when the raven-haired boy actually looked over. Remus motioned at the pictures and Sirius slowly grabbed them, his hand shaking as he did so. After looking for a moment he looked up at Aspen for the first time since he had arrived. "A-Are you sure it's mine?"

Aspen went rigid, her eyes widening. Wendy let out an uncomfortable cough, Remus watched his friend with shock. With a growl in her voice, Aspen darkly stated, "Yes, I'm sure the baby is yours. You think that since our rendezvous I just went nilly-willy having sex with other men?"

"Well sorry for asking," Sirius grumbled in fustration. "It's just when you find out you got a girl pregnant it's kind of a bloody shock."

"Yeah, actually being the one pregnant is a surprise too," Aspen grumbled as she crossed her arms, looking directly ahead herself at the curtains. "I'm sorry, I'm just- I don't know," Sirius said as he wiped his face, the pictures on his lap. Remus and Wendy both looked at him with pity, Peter looked at them both curiously. Wanting to know if they were going to fight.

"Shocked? Surprised? In a panic? Confused?" Aspen asked. Sirius gave a slight nod and Aspen sighed, "Me too, I can't believe this is happening."

"We're going to go outside, so you two can talk," Wendy said, standing up. "Call us back in when you're ready, there's no rush." Aspen nodded and then the couple was left in silence. The only sounds heard was each others breathing. Sirius kept wiping his face as he thought of something to say.

"I don't know if I want to — keep this baby." Aspen confessed, Sirius looked up at her with wide eyes and she quickly added, "I mean after it's born. Madam Pomfrey suggested a St. Mugos adoption program, w-we can choose a nice family together. But I'm not sure if I wanna- agh, this is so confusing."

Sirius nodded. He scooted his chair up further towards the bed and wrapped his hand around hers. She did the same back to him, happy that he wasn't angry with her. Not even five months of knowing him and she was already a nuisance, his bloody baby-mama too.

"I want you to know that whatever you choose is okay with me," Sirius said, looking into her eyes. "Whether or not you want to keep it, I will be by your side. Will you be by mine?"

Aspen closed her eyes, her eyelashes tickling against her cheeks as tears welled in her eyes. She bit her lip, why did she have to ruin the life of such a sweet boy? She finally accepted, he did like her. Not for her body, not out of pity either — but because he actually enjoyed being with her. And not only did she ruin his Christmas, but she ruined the rest of his life. She sighed, looking the boy in his eyes as she nodded, "I will."

"You promise?"

"I do,"

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AUTHORS NOTE:

That gif I used looks like it's from one of those movies where it has the baby narrating from when it was born and it shows the mom and dad all bright and happy. I don't know I wrote this sleep deprived so excuse the hundred of grammar errors. Vote + comment if you have enjoyed!

new authors note — my poor self-conscious baby.

6/29/18
Edited
3,186 words