Title: BirthAuthor: LupinLovesTonks
Rated: T
Disclaimer: HP and all related characters are
trademarks of JK Rowling. No animals were harmed in the writing of
this fic. No profit is made from this fic and is intended strictly
for entertainment purposes. Any similarities to actual people or
events are strictly a coincidence.
Summary: Part 2 of 3 in a series, the continuation of
Alive. After one night together, Remus and Tonks find themselves left
with a little more than they bargained for.
AN: This series was originally begun before HBP came out. Then I pulled this fic for revision… I was hesitant to continue it because I wanted to stay as close to canon as possible… but I have finally decided, what the heck, I'll just ignore the fact HBP was released and proceed. I will post the revised chapters as I finish with the tweaking I wanted to do on them.
Birth
She took a deep breath and gazed at her reflection. Tuck in damn you, she thought venomously. But, unfortunately her stomach refused to morph into its usual flatness. She growled and fought with the button on her pants again. Perhaps if she narrowed her hips a little bit…
Victory, Tonks thought as she finally managed to button her favourite jeans. She studied her reflection thoughtfully, as she stood there in just her jeans and bra. True, she had been seeing the slight pudge wanting to form for the past few days, each day got harder and harder for her to get it to go away, but never before had it outright refused to go away.
Oh well, it just meant she would have to go out and buy some new jeans. Perhaps she would even officially retire her old pairs of jeans that she religiously wore. All she had to do was manage to keep her hips in place until she could get her pay out of her Gringotts account and perhaps even take Ginny or Hermione along with her shopping. Perhaps even both and get them each an outfit of their own.
She grinned and pulled on her Weird Sisters t-shirt only to find that the small pudge wanted to peek out from under it. A slight peep escaped between her lips and she snatched the shirt off. "What the hell?" she yelled pointing her wand at the pudge. "Why don't you give up already? I'm going to get rid of you even if I have to start running five times a day. In case you forgot, you are part of a metamorphagi so you're supposed to do, as I want you too. And, I swear, if you don't start listening I'm going to --"
A light knock made her jump. "May I come in Nymphadora?"
Tonks pulled on a button up shirt. "Sure."
The door slowly opened and Lupin peeked around the door to make sure she was decent before entering all the way. His eyes slowly looked her over before meeting her eyes. She felt her cheeks warm slightly and she reached under the shirt to unbutton her jeans so her hips could go back to normal, for some reason it had become rather painful for her hips to be doing what they were.
"Molly sent me to fetch you for breakfast," he said quietly.
"I'm on my way, I'm just finishing up getting dressed," she said with a slight smile.
Lupin simply nodded and exited the room.
Tonks bit her bottom lip and put a hand over her stomach as she fought off a grin. Her stomach liked to flutter almost every time she saw Lupin or thought of him. A blush crept to her cheeks as her mind vividly recalled the night a little over three months earlier. Even though there had never been a repeat of the night, she loved to think about it at least.
The first few days after their "night of celebration," as they liked to call it, had been somewhat awkward. Even know she would sometimes find herself watching Lupin as he performed daily tasks and duties and find herself thinking about his hands as they had explored her body. She sometimes would even watch him read and watch his mouth softly read the words, and it would make her remember his kisses from that night.
She couldn't help but wonder if Lupin ever thought about that night the way she had.
"TONKS!"
She snapped herself from her replay of the memories at the sound of several voices calling up the stairs. Taking a quick glance at herself, Tonks smoothed down her shirt and went to the kitchen. Upon entering, Molly gave her a light smile.
"You have a lovely glow to your face this morning Tonks," Molly commented, setting sausages on the table in front of her.
"Ta," Tonks grinned, filling her plate with sausage, bacon, and toast. "Oh, can I borrow Ginny and Hermione after breakfast? I was wanting to do a little shopping and wanted some company. Is there any milk?"
Ginny's eyes almost instantly took on a pleading glaze as she looked up at her mother. Molly simply smiled and nodded gently to her daughter, setting a large glass of milk in front of Tonks. Ginny grinned widely.
"Why are you going shopping anyway, Tonks?" Molly asked, taking a seat beside Arthur. "You love all your worn in clothes."
"Eh," Tonks huffed. "Apparently all the chocolate and ice cream I've been eating lately likes to out-rule my metamorphing. So, I'm going to my favourite places and getting something that I don't have that leave unbuttoned." She looked at all the faces around the table, she did her best to ignore the somewhat shocked look on Molly's face. "Where's Lupin?"
"Had to eat and run," Arthur shared. "Still trying to get everything sorted out from Sirius' will. But with the new Minister of Magic and all, it's just because of all the paperwork and clauses and, of course, because Sirius was supposed to have been a criminal. Apparently another long-lost relative has surfaced and he has to go and check things to make sure those sort can't touch anything with Sirius' name attached to it."
"Oh," Tonks said quietly.
Molly's lips thinned slightly. "We still have the post from the Ministry. It came in just as he was coming down the stairs after telling you to come down. It was urgent, otherwise he would have stayed longer dear."
"I know," Tonks replied with a faint smile.
After breakfast and the post-cleaning was done -- in which Tonks successfully broke four of the eight plates after tripping over her own feet -- Tonks, Ginny, and Hermione made their way out of Grimmauld. Once they were well out of earshot of the house, Hermione was the first to speak.
"We honestly haven't a clue as to what you and Professor Lupin are playing but, in all honesty, everyone knows about that event a few months ago."
"We're not playing anything," Tonks shrugged, watching the cars go by idly. "It was meant to be a one night celebration of life so it doesn't matter really."
Ginny snorted slightly. "But everyone can tell both of you wish it could be more than that."
Tonks narrowed her eyes as she looked over at the girls on either side of her. "Well, it's not. Things were just a little too… strange after everything was said and done. We both agreed it was best to leave it at what it was."
They walked into the Leaky Cauldron and went through the archway into Diagon Alley. After a quick stop at Gringotts, and the money exchange desk, they retreated back to the Muggle side of the streets.
The two younger girls looked up at Tonks shyly, Tonks gave them each a slight look. "What?"
"What's he like?" Ginny asked dreamily.
"Who?"
"Who!" Hermione yelped. "Professor Lupin of course. It's just, Ginny has a bit of a fancy for him and we always figured him to be a bit of a romantic at heart."
"Personally or sexually?" The two eager grins let Tonks know how they wanted her to answer. "Personally, he's a very kind man. Though, that night he was very vulnerable and sad, he's not like that very often really. However, sexually…" they walked into one of her favourite shops and she instantly started going through the jeans. "… Let's just say he lives up to the rumours of werewolves having a very high libido." Her stomach started fluttering again and suddenly it took a dive and twist. She ran from the shop and barely had time to find a trash bin before her breakfast decided to show itself again.
By time she finished emptying her stomach of two days worth of food, Ginny and Hermione had found her and were patting her back affectionately to sooth her. Tonks gave a final cough and spit a few times. "I don't remember eating corn or carrots," she said with a weakly. "Why is there always carrots?"
Ginny and Hermione assisted Tonks to a near by bench, where they sat in silence, until she was willing to move again. "Bothersome summer sicknesses," she snorted. "I'm feeling fine now girls. In fact, I never felt better really. Let's get back to shopping."
After visiting several shops, all three young women had accumulated several small outfit's a piece. Tonks said she had bought them since had gratefully come along and helped her when she had gotten ill. After a stop for ice cream, they returned to Headquarters where a beaming Molly greeted them.
"Come to the kitchen Tonks," she chimed. "Ginny, Hermione, please run along upstairs and take her things to her room."
Both girls looked hesitant, but they did as Molly requested. Molly tugged at Tonks' hand until she followed to the kitchen. There was a small cauldron on the stove, in which a greenish-yellow potion was being magically stirred. Tonks peeked into the cauldron and inhaled slightly.
"Hey, that smells hot chocolate. Is it an edible potion?" Tonks asked.
"Actually it's a specialty of mine and I wanted you to have a drink of it," Molly smiled. "Go on, just take a nice big drink. It tastes rather sweet… or bitter. It all depends really. Just let me know if it tastes like water."
Tonks grinned and used a ladle to dip out a cup full of the potion and sipped it directly from the ladle. The warm liquid filled her mouth. It tasted heavenly, like a hot, buttery roll with honey drizzled all over it. She grinned widely and drank another ladle full.
"This is wonderful Molly," Tonks finally offered. "Tastes like a honeyed roll one moment, then like a big triple chocolate cookie the next. What kind of potion is this?"
"It's a pregnancy potion," Molly said quietly. "And you're going to be a mother Tonks."
Tonks nearly choked on her third helping. She dropped the ladle and looked at Molly with wild eyes. "I'm what?"
"If it tastes like water, it means you're not pregnant. If it's bitter, you're having a boy. If it's sweet, a girl." Molly explained.
"No, no," Tonks shook her head. "I can't be. I just can't be. The only person I've been with is… and he wouldn't. He wouldn't forget to…" She looked up at Molly with watery eyes. "He wouldn't forget something like that would he?"
"Do you remember him performing any contraceptive spells?" Molly asked in her motherly tone, petting Tonks' hair. Tonks thought a moment and shook her head. "Did you perform one?" Again, Tonks shook her head, this time her face started contorting with the expression of a woman about to burst into tears.
Suddenly, Tonks' eyes lit up. "Wait, when I was ten. My mum did one of those spells on me that would keep me from getting pregnant before I was married." Molly chuckled slightly. "What?"
"Tonks, dear, that spell was a fad amongst parents. It doesn't really work, the fool that invented it ended up having to pay back lots of money because of them selling a fake spell." Molly gave Tonks a soft kiss on the forehead. "You'll just have to get used to the facts Tonks. You're going to have a daughter in a few months."
Tonks buried her face in her hands. "What am I going to tell Lupin?"