Paternity

Part Ten
Notification

Snape sighed, and said, \"Weasley.\" Ron didn\'t respond. Snape glanced at Harry, but the dark haired boy was still staring at the testing stick, his expression slack with shock. No help there, at least not for a little while. He tried again. \"Weasley.\"

\"Go away.\" Ron didn\'t uncover his face, and his voice was muffled.

\"Take your hands down before you suffocate yourself.\"

_\"Will you just go away and leave me alone?\"_

Harry looked up at the raised voice. His face pale, he stalked back toward the bed. \"You heard him.\"

Snape regarded Harry, then said flatly, \"Yes, I did, and the last thing in the world he needs is to be alone right now.\" His voice lowered, \"And don\'t take that tone with me, Potter. -I\'m- not the one responsible for this.\" He gave Harry a pointed stare.

Snape didn\'t really believe that Harry was the father--he already had a theory on that front, but the hot rush of color that flooded the Gryffindor boy\'s cheeks answered another question. Ron and Harry were together. He had no way of knowing how long the bond had existed, but judging from the sudden tremble in Potter\'s hand as he pushed his glasses back up on his nose, it was serious.

Snape turned his attention back to the boy in the bed. His expression didn\'t soften, but his voiid. id. \"Ron.\" The sheer surprise prompted Ron to uncover his face. Snape had never before called him by his given name. \"I know this is a shock...\" Ron gave a sudden bark of laughter. Snape saw the wild look in the boy\'s eyes, and acted to still the rising hysteria. His voice was like a whip crack. \"Get hold of yourself, Weasley!\"

Ron gulped, and trembled, but the encroaching frenzy faded. His voice hoarse, he said, \"It can be wrong, can\'t it?\"

\"It can, but s has hardly likely. These are supposed to be 99% accurate. If you really wish to be certain beyond a shadow of a doubt, we cake ake a urine sample to a Muggle doctor.\"

Ron flopped back on the bed, jerking the sheet over his face again. \"I wouldn\'t have to worry about being pregnant, then, because I\'ll just die of embarrassment.\"

\"Stop it,\" said Snape. \"It isn\'t as if you\'re the first wizard to ever get pregnant.\"

That brought the sheet down again quickly, and Ron sat bolt upright, eyes huge. \"Say what?\"

Harry was staring at Snape also. \"I\'ve never heard of a wizard being pregnant.\"

\"I\'m not surprised--you haven\'t entered your final year yet, and that isn\'t covered till the last term. Unless your parents chose to tell you, or someone a bit older than you was feeling like doing something,\" he sneered, \"NAUGHTY, you weren\'t likely to hear about it, as it hasn\'t happened for well over a dozen generations. No, Ron--pregnancy among wizards is rare, but hardly unheard of.\"

Harry sat on the side of the bed heavily. \"This is... is... But I don\'t UNDERSTAND. If wizards can get pregnant, why don\'t more of them? I mean, girls get pregnant all the time--I\'ve heard the Dursley\'s going on about it for ages. They\'re terrified some slutty girl will lure their precious Dudley into an indiscretion, and ruin his life by saddling him with a bastard child.\" He gave Snape a jaundiced look. \"Not as if they have anything to worry about. Even if some poor bint was desperate enough, I don\'t think Dudley\'s willie could extend far enough past his gut for him to actually shag anyone.\"

\"As fascinating as your Muggle relations are, Potter, we have other matters to deal with. Pomfrey and Dumbledore must be informed at once, the Weasleys must be notified, a specialist in obstetrics should be...\"

Snape wasn\'t prepared for Ron\'s reaction. The boy bolted from the bed and grabbed Snape\'s robes, wrapping his fists in the fabric. \"*No!* You can\'t! I won\'t have it, d\'you hear?\" His voice was rising shrilly.

Snape stared down at him. \"Have--you--lost--your--mind?\"

Ron suddenly realized what he was doing. Manhandling Snape wasn\'t on a par with taking on an ogre single-handed, but it was still patently stupid. He let go, and his voice was pleading. \"Please.\"

\"Weasley,\" Snape\'s voice was quiet, and it had a mildly soothing effect. He gripped Ron\'s arm and maneuvered him back till he again sat on the bed. \"Be sensible. While what is happening to you is not dangerous at this stage, it has to be dealt with. You can\'t just ignore this and hope it will go away, because it WON\'T. Your parents must be told--you know that.\"

Ron swallowed hard, and tears glistened in the corners of his eyes. \"Oh, God. What\'s Mum going to say? I thought she wasn\'t ever going to forgive me for taking Dad\'s flying car, and THIS...\"

\"Don\'t go borrowing trouble,\" said Snape. \"Do you want to be present when I inform Dumbledore and Pomfrey?\"

\"I don\'t even want to be on the same planet when you tell them,\" sighed Ron. When Snape gave him a look, he said, \"No. I\'d just as soon see shock and horror as little as possible.\"

\"Very well. Potter, I\'m sure I can trust you to stay here and see that Weasley doesn\'t do anything ill-considered.\"

Now Ron flushed. \"Are you saying I might try to throw myself down the stairs to get rid of the baby?\"

Snape was surprised by the vehemence in the boy\'s voice. \"No, nothing like that. I wouldn\'t put it past you to try to climb to your room in the Gryffindor Tower, though, and you\'ve already fainted once today. I\'ll try to be quick.\" He left the room, thinking, *But I\'ll admit that I\'m worried that the thought even occurred to you, Weasley.*

*****

Madame Pomfrey had accepted a cup of tea, and Snape had declined. Snape said, \"Pomfrey, put down the tea for a moment, would you? I\'d rather not risk having you scald yourself.\"

Madame Pomfrey set down the cup and saucer, her forehead wrinkled in concern. \"You\'ve found out what the trouble is with Ron? Is... is it serious?\"

\"I\'m as certain as anyone could be, and it *is* serious, but not in the way that you fear.\" Albus had chosen a Pepper Imp from the jar is dis desk, and was unwrapping it. \"And hold off on that, Albus. I don\'t want you choking--the extraction spell is always a little rough on the subject, and I don\'t want to have to do that uncouth Heimlich thing that Miss Granger showed us.\"

Dumbledore replaced the candy. \"You begin to concern me, Severus. What is wrong with Ron?\"

Snape bit his lip, thinking of how he should phrase this. \"Well, seen from one perspective--nothing. But in another light, a great deal He He shook his head slightly, then said, \"There\'s no delicate way to put it. The boy\'s pregnant.\" There was dead silence in the office, broken only by the tick of Fawkes\' claws on his perch. \"This is not a prank, I assure you. I used one of the Muggle tests, and these are very accurate. Ron Weasley is with child.\"

\"That...\" Dumbledore cleared his throat. \"That is most unexpected.\"

Pomfrey picked up her tea, and her hand shook so that the cup chattered against the saucer, but she gulped the strong brew, and her hand steadied a bit. \"No wonder it puzzled me. They taught about this in my specialty courses, but it was put forth mostly as theory, since none of the teachers had ever seen it, and neither had any of THEIR teachers.\"

\"The problem,\" said Snape, \"is that you didn\'t even know of its possibility till your senior year at Hogwarts, am I correct?\" Pink tinted her cheeks, and he threw up his hands, \"And even NOW you blush at the mere mention!\"

Dumbledore sighed. \"This is most distressing. I don\'t know how we will manage to keep the scandal from damaging any number of people.\" He shook his head. \"And if anyone had been, er, caught out in this manner, I would have thought it would have been Ron\'s brother William. He was always a wild boy.\"

\"But an eded oed one,\" said Snape dryly. \"He got into the restricted section when he was fourteen and read everything he could get his hands on.\"

Dumbledore\'s eyebrows raised. \"How would you know this?\"

\"I came here to teach in his last year.\napenape\'s expression was inscrutable. \"We talked. The point is that I can hardly see laying any blame on the boy. He didn\'t know that there was anything to be cautious about, so how could he rightly be expected to exercise caution?\" He gave Pomfrey and the headmaster sharp looks. \"We ARE agreed that any so-called moral objections hare are secondary, if not negligible?\"

They were. It hadn\'t even occurred to Pomfrey to be morally shocked. She cared for the students through ALL their injuries and illnesses, and made no judgments. There had been more than one senior female student who\'d come to her in terror that they were pregnant. So far they had all been lucky, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Dumbledore... Dumbledore had seen too much of life to judge youthful indiscretions harshly. As long as no one set out to cause harm, much could be forgiven.

\"In any case,\" said Dumbledore, \"I don\'t think this will be as hard on the Weasley\'s as it would on some. They are perhaps the most closely knit family I have ever known. Ron will have plenty of support. It would take some time for even the swiftest, heartiest owl to reach Haiti. I believe that we should use fire talking to contact them.\"

There was always a fire burning on Dumbledore\'s hearth, and two jars sat on his mantelpiece--one of floo powder, and one of fire talking powder. Albus took a pinch from the second jar and closed his eyes in concentration. \"I wish to speak to Arthur or Molly Weasley, in Haiti, at the Slippergill Inn.\" He tossed the powder into the fire, remarking, \"At least with the time difference we shan\'t be waking them up.\"

After a moment, Arthur Weasley\'s head appeared in the fire. \"Hello?\" He peered out. \"Dumbledore! This IS a surprise.
\"
\"Hello, Arthur. I do hope I\'m not disturbing you and your lady wife.\"

\"No, not at all. We\'ve only just gotten back from tea. I\'m scheduled to speak with a witch doctor later this evening, but I was just thinking I\'d have a nap first. The heat here is quite astounding, and...\"

\"Arthur, what is it?\" The voice was feminine.

Arthur\'s head turned, as if looking at someone behind him. Of course all the occupants of the office could see was the back of the fireplace, but Arthur must have been looking at his wife in Haiti. \"It\'s Albus Dumbledore, Molly. He...\"

\"WHAT?!\" Her voice was instantly concerned. \"Shove over and me sme speak to him.\"

\"In a moment. I want to tell him about...\"

\"Arthur, if it wasn\'t something important, he\'d have just sent an owl. Shove over!\"

The fire flickered, and Molly Weasley\'s head appeared, her expression anxious. \"What is it, Albus? It\'s Ron, isn\'t it?\" Her voice rose. \"What\'s happened to him?\"

\"Molly, calm down,\" said Dumbledore firmly. \"Ron is healthy and whole.\"

She slumped in relief, then pursed her lips. \"What\'s he done, then?\"

\"This is a complicated situation. I think it would be best if you and your good husband came here.\"

She regarded him silently. They heard Arthur say, \"What is it, Moll?\"

\"Ron\'s gotten himself into some sort of mess. Albus, could you handle it? We DO have a bit of floo powder with us, but not much.\"

\"It would be best if you were here,\" said Dumbledore quietly. \"Both of you.\"

There was a muffled discussion, then Molly said, \"Right. Arthur can postpone that meeting for a bit. Stand back, would you?\" Dumbledore stepped back from the hearth. The flame flared green, and Molly Weasley stepped out of the fireplace, followed quickly by her husband. They were both dressed in light, summery clothes, Mister Weasley favoring short trousers, with long, dark socks. Ron\'s mother took in the sight of Madame Pomfrey and a grim faced Snape, and the anxiety returned. She looked to Dumbledore, saying accusingly, \"You said he was all right.\"

Snape rose, shooting Madame Pomfrey a look, and she stood also. \"Please, sit down.\"

Arthur Weasley wasn\'t as fast on the uptake as his wife, but he knew that there was never good news when the teller wanted you to sit down first. He urged his wife down into a chair, then sat himself and took her hand in a firm grip. \"Tell us.\"

\"While Ron is not hurt or ill, there IS a physical condition that will have to be dealt with.\" He sighed, looking at the ten tensed parents. \"Arthur, Molly--you\'re going to be grandparents.\"

Molly frowned. \"But Ginny...\"

\"Oh, my word!\" gasped Arthur, eyes g rou round. \"Ron?\"

\"Don\'t be silly, Arthur,\" snapped Molly. \"Ron couldn\'t possibly be pregnant.\"

\"Mrs. Weasley,\" said Snape, \"You *did* take Family Living in your Senior year?\"

\"Of course I did--it was required.\"

\"Then you must know that it *is* possible. Improbable, but possible.\"

\"But... but...\" Her expression was puckering. \"Yes, all right, I remember that it *has* happened. But Ron would never set out to do something like that, and a man has to *try*--it doesn\'t just happen, right?\"

\"In most cases, but strange things happen in the universe. Sometimes events can align just right, and something that you would never believe possible comes to be. I haven\'t heard the full story from anyone directly involved, but I think I know the circumstances.\" He shrugged. \"What it boils down to is that Ron was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and destiny touched him.\"
ToucTouched_ him?\" Her voice was shrill. \"It bloody well kicked him in the bollocks!\"

Snape\'s lips twitched. \"Colorful, but accurate.\"

\"Are you sure about this?\" asked Arthur. \"Did Ron just tell you? I love the boy, but he\'s unlikely to be able to accurately diagnose a pregnancy.\"

\"No, Ron was quite insistent that it could be nothing of the kind. I performed a Muggle test. They\'ve proved to be accurate for witches as well as Muggle women, and I see no reason why they wouldn\'t work for a wizard as well.\"

Arthur was nodding his head. \"An EPT test. I understand they\'ve become very accurate in the last few years.\"

\"You and your Muggle objects!\" Molly\'s tone was exasperated, but affectionate. Dumbledore could feel his apprehension easing. If the parents hadn\'t fallen into rage or hysterics by now, they were probably going to manage this all right. Molly looked at Pomfrey. \"How far along is he?\"

\"I couldn\'t say, but I understand that he\'s been having symptoms for several weeks,\" she replied.

\"I believe that the conception took place five weeks ago--give or take a day,\" said Snape.

Arthur gave him a sharp look. \"And how would you know this?\" he said suspiciously.

Snape gave him a small, cold smile. \"No, you needn\'t worry about having me about for family reunions in the future, Mister Weasley. I know I haven\'t the best reputation, but I\'m scrupulous when it comes to my students--at least while they\'re still at Hogwarts. There are certain facts that point to the proper time frame, though no one can say EXACTLY when a child is conceived.\"

\"Well, if it\'s not you, then who?\" said Molly. \"Who got my baby into this state?\"

Everyone looked at Snape. He shook his head. \"I have a few suspicions, but I refuse to say. I won\'t risk slandering an innocent boy. You\'ll have to speak to Ron. If he is willing, I might share my own speculations, but until he agrees, I say nothing.\"

\"Right.\" Arthur stood up, and Snape thought wryly that he\'d never have believed that a man could look dignified while wearing a loose shirt, patterned with gigantic red and purple flowers. Arthur Weasley managed it, somehow. \"Let\'s go have a talk with our boy, Moll. If I know Ron, he\'ll have worried himself into a fit by now.\"

As they started toward the door, Molly grumbled, \"And I thought I wasn\'t going to have to worry about something like this, since Ginny is such a shy thing.\" She looked up at her husband, and her expressions softened slightly. \"What do you reckon, Arthur? Will I need to buy pink or blue yarn for the jumpers?\"