Hidden Truths

Surprise

It was again Willow\'s favourite time of year. Indeed, Christmas time had come to Hogwarts once more. This year was different for Willow Rosenberg-Potter though. For one she was a mother, something she couldn\'t have imagined at this time last year, and for another she had Harry back with her. Between these two factors, it had been a wonderful few months.

Since their argument things had gotten better between the two of them, the air being cleared sufficiently that they could now talk without threat of one or the others feelings being hurt. And James was thriving, now a busy 5 and a half months old and starting to crawl, therefore causing a world of trouble for his parents. Indeed James was not only causing trouble by getting into everything, but his magic had started to emerge, meaning that an even closer eye had to be kept on the mischievous baby who had a tendency of procuring objects he wanted by any means possible. For instance, yesterday morning he had interrupted Willow\'s lesson from his playpen, set up in the corner of the classroom, by summoning Emily Weasley\'s wand from her hand. Emily had taken an apprenticeship with Willow that year at Dumbledore\'s request, understanding that with the new baby and the newly expanded class that (Willow now taught all the levels of Hogwarts students) Willow would need the help. It wasn\'t her ultimate goal though. Indeed, Emily was in training part time to become a curse-breaker for Gringotts but stood to earn more money if her wandless magic skills were more expansive. Noticing Emily\'s propensity for the subject, Willow had taken her on.

It seemed however, that fate had it in for Willow Rosenberg-Potter on this day. Indeed, Emily had come down with the wizards flu that was making the rounds of the school-even some of the teachers had had it- and was now at home at the Burrow. This meant that for the first time in months Willow was teaching a full roster of students as well as taking care of James who, with his magic coming in the way it was, was causing more trouble in the class room than Willow thought was possible for a baby. Combined with her new teaching schedule and the consultation work she still did for the Aurors after hours, she had rapidly been reaching her breaking point. Harry had learned of this last night, when a bleary eyed Willow had handed him James as Harry had come in the door from work and promptly gone to take a nap. She had ended up sleeping for 12 hours.

Indeed, just this morning Harry had offered to take some time off work to help her but Willow had refused, arguing that his role in tracking down Lucius Malfoy and Voldemort was far more important than looking after James who, she had assured him, could easily spend the day with his mother and perhaps his Grandpa\'s Remus and Sirius should Willow feel so inclined to ask them to take care of the baby. Harry had reluctantly left that morning, having secretly flooed Remus and Sirius asking them to keep an eye on his overworked wife, and knowing that if she knew they were looking after her for him that she wouldn\'t like it. Harry quite frankly could care less.

And now, as she stood at the front of her fifth year class lecturing on the value and ethical nature of glamours in wizarding society and her son finally slept in his playpen in the corner, Willow\'s nausea, brought on by too much work and not enough sleep, came back full force and the room began to spin lightly. Emily, it appeared, had passed on the wizard flu to her before she succumbed to it herself. It was now December 17th, the last day of classes before the holiday and a full week that her assistant had been excused from teaching, the first 3 days spent in the infirmary and the last 4 at home with her Grandma Weasley. Willow was determined to get through these last few minutes of class though, before finally succumbing to the relentless nausea and headache that had been plaguing her all day.

Her body had other plans however, her lecture being interrupted as the spinning abruptly got worse and her vision began to dim. Shouts for help were the last thing she heard before the darkness took over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

\"Willow? Willow"¦wake up now,\" a soothing voice crooned softly as she lay on the bed in what she strongly suspected was the hospital wing judging by the antiseptic smell that was stinging her nose. Oh wait. That must be the smelling salts. She abruptly sat up and immediately wished she hadn\'t as the nausea swept over her and she vomited into the bucket that was suddenly in her face.

\"Thanks,\" she groaned as the spasms subsided and she lay back down, feeling the bucket that now held what had been in her stomach be lifted off of the bed and placed on the floor next to her, its noxious contents magicked away by Madame Pomfrey. Indeed, Willow coulw sew see that she WAS in the hospital wing. She wasn\'t alone though. In the corner of the room sat Sirius, James sitting on his lap, and Remus, who were both wearing concerned looks on their faces. \"What happened?\" she croaked, closing her eyes against the bright light of the late afternoon sun that shone into her eyes from the windows facing her bed.

\"You passed out,\" Remus said softly and easily, his gentle tone belying any extreme anxiety for her current state. This couldn\'t be any farther from the truth. Indeed, a very scared Andrew Jones, 5th year Hufflepuff and a student in Willow\'s class, had broken into Sirius and Remus\'s 6th year lecture on the Patronus to announce that Willow had fainted in the middle of class. Remus hadn\'t been that scared in awhile, fear for Harry\'s wife and her health getting the better of him as he and Sirius had transported her to the Infirmary.

Willow chuckled. \"Really? Well that\'s something I haven\'t done in awhile"¦\" Her brow furrowed in concern as she remembered what had occurred before she had lost consciousness. \"Why are you guys here? And what\'s James doing with you?\"

Sirius smiled slightly, bouncing a giggling James on his lap. He COULD tell her that Harry had asked them to keep an eye on her, but he didn\'t want to cause trouble in his godson\'s marriage, not after all they had been through and the struggle they consistently had with worrying over each other\'s safety and potentially reckless actions. \"Harry\'s still at work. Poppy said Emily had probably given you the wizards flu so we didn\'t think we had to call him away just yet.\" This of course, was not true at all. They HAD flooed Harry, as per his instructions, but he had been away on a potential sighting of Lucius Malfoy and had been unavailable to speak to. Furthermore, Sirius was fairly certain that the wizards flu did NOT require the amount of tests that Poppy Pomfrey had subjected her to when she had been brought in.

\"I\'m glad,\" Willow murmured, remembering the case her husband was working on now with Draco and Ron; that of Lucius Malfoy\'s that had been handed down to them from the overworked M.I.A.\'s docket to the Auror\'s. Indeed, it was important that he work on that and not worry about any fainting spells that Willow had brought on by a small wizards flu because of the continued threat that Voldemort still posed to the wizarding world in general. \"It\'s just the wizards flu after all.\"

A filled silence suddenly appeared in the room. Remus and Sirius knew for a fact that it wasn\'t, based on Poppy\'s reaction when they had brought her in and the immediate slew of tests that Willow in her unconscious state had been subjected to. Indeed, Poppy had been deeply concerned, but didn\'t tell the two worried men what was wrong.

\"Um, actually Professor,\" Madame Pomfrey started awkwardly as she came out of her office, having heard that last comment about only having the Wizards Flu. \"It\'s a little more serious than that.\"

Her explanation was cut short however, as Harry came rushing into the hospital wing, still wearing his Auror robes and looking concerned. \"I got a message at work that something had happened to Willow. Where\'s my wife?\"

\"I\'m right here Harry.\" Willow said in a resigned voice, afraid for what Poppy had been about to tell her. She had just thought it was wizards flu. Apparently-and sadly- not.

\"Are you okay love?\" he asked, coming over and sitting on the bed that Willow was currently lying in. Willow\'s stomach roiled in protest at the sudden movement caused by this action, reminding her yet again that there was something abjectly wrong with her.

\"I don\'t know,\" she responded in a small voice to his rather large and ominous question. Indeed, at the moment, the answer could have several menacing connotations that Willow\'s brain was having no trouble imagining. \"Poppy was just about to tell me.\"

Madame Pomfrey looked awkward, her eyes shifting nervously from the couple on the bed to Sirius and Remus, who still sat with James in the corner of Willow\'s isolated infirmary room, one that had been set up specifically for professors. \"Perhaps this would be best told only to you two for now"¦

\"Alright Poppy my love,\" Sirius got up and motioned for Remus to do the same, \"We can take a hint. C\'mon James. We\'ll just give your Mum and Dad a moment alone with the good doctor won\'t we?\"

They turned and started out the door, Remus turning only for a moment to tell them that they would be in the Potter\'s suite with the baby.

\"Right then,\" Poppy went on in a crisp, no- nonsense voice as the door closed. \"You don\'t have the wizards flu. In fact, despite the fact that you fainted today, I\'m not making you stay in the Infirmary for the night.\"

\"Really?\" Willow said sarcastically, wanting Madame Pomfrey to just get to the point already.

\"Willow,\" Harry placed a soothing hand on his wife\'s in an attempt to calm her anger. \"What\'s wrong with Willow then Madame Pomfrey?\"

\"Nothing.\" She replied smugly, relishing the good news that she had for the hard-done-by Potters. Granted it was a little soon, but nonetheless, it was still good news. \"Nothing that another 7 ½ months or so won\'t cure that is.\"

There was a stunned silence at this news. Indeed, Willow had been assured by the book she had been sent by Buffy when she was having James that it was not likely a woman would get pregnant again if you were breast-feeding at the time. True there were a few isolated cases of this happening, but not enough that she and Harry had taken any precautions whatsoever. Apparently they were proving to be one of these isolated cases though.

\"I\'m pregnant?!\" Willow exclaimed loudly in an incredulous voice, breaking the silence. \"I can\'t be pregnant. That\'s not possible"¦\" She caught herself at this point and blushed darkly, remembering how possible it really was. \"James is only 5 ½ months old, I have classes to teach and"¦and"¦we need to get rid of Voldemort. This is WAY too soon for this to happen.\" She broke off, still protesting.

Poppy simply gave her a smirk. \"Maybe by Muggle standards it\'s too soon. Wizarding pregnancies however are not ruled by biological deterrents like the fact that you were "“and still are- breastfeeding James. They happen on their own time often in an effort to preserve and encourage the growth of wizarding society. In other words, stronger witches and wizards have to be more careful because their bodies are predisposed to reproduce due to their propensity at magic and the like.\" Seeing the confused and shocked look still on Willow\'s face, she went on in a gentler voice. \"Your body heals faster when you\'re wielding magic more often as well. It stands to reason then that the reproductive system would heal faster from birth too.\"

Willow suddenly realized that Harry was still silent. She turned to him, concerned about what his reaction would be. To her surprise, he was smiling gently. Indeed, she had been expecting shock, maybe reluctant acceptance that their family was growing yet again. But Harry looked happy, ecstatic even.

\"Harry?\" she said quietly. \"You okay?\"

\"No,\" he said neutrally and Willow\'s heart fell. \"I\'m fabulous.\" The smile that had previously been flirting on his features grew exponentially until it reached a broad grin.

\"You\'re alright with this? I mean, we just had James. I\'m in shock myself. I\'d understand if you felt the same way.\" Willow said in a cautionary voice. She was excited herself, the shock giving way to more positive thoughts and feelings but she was unable to let them loose while she didn\'t yet have Harry\'s opinion on the matter.

\"Willow, we\'re having a baby. That\'s wonderful news.\" Harry said exuberantly. \"So what if it\'s a little soon. James will just have a sibling that much closer in age to him. Ron and Ginny are like that"¦ think of it this way, at least they\'ll have someone to go to Hogwarts with.\" Harry continued, so absorbed in reassuring Willow that he was all right with another baby that he missed the tears that were welling in his wife\'s eyes until they had turned into sobs. With a look of horrified confusion at what he did he placed an arm around her shoulders. \"Um, Willow? Are you alright?\"

\"Mm-hm,\" Willow sobbed. \"You\'re just the most wonderful man. It\'s such a relief. You\'re okay with this. I\'m not even sure I\'m okay with this.\"

\"Of course I\'m okay with this. What I\'m not okay with is how sick you\'ve been lately. That\'s the only negative thing I have to say about this entire situation.\" He drew her closer in an effort to calm her down. Suddenly, as quickly as they had started, the sobs lessoned to mere tears.

\"I know. It is odd isn\'t it? I wasn\'t nearly this sick with James"¦\" Willow furrowed her brow, confused and more than a little tired.

\"I can explain that,\" Madame Pomfrey spoke up, having let Harry and Willow have the last few moments to talk about her news. \"All pregnancies are different you understand. Add that into the fact that you\'ve been sleeping and eating sporadically recently, I\'d say that\'s why you\'ve been so ill. Get some sleep and don\'t do anything strenuous for Merlin\'s sake.\" She handed Harry a vial of pills from her pocket. \"And make sure she takes one of these once a day for the next month or so as needed. It should help with the nausea.\"

Harry looked down at the vial in his hand and pocketed it. \"Thank you Madame Pomfrey. We\'ll see you again"¦.\"

\"In a month.\" Poppy said, answering Harry\'s unspoken question before he gathered his drowsy wife up in his arms and headed for the door. \"Oh and Mr. Potter?\" She called after him.

\"Yes?\" Harry turned, Willow still lying in his arms, now sleeping lightly.

\"Congratulations.\"

And with that, Harry and Willow left the infirmary to tell their young son that he was going to be a brother, and the two men that Harry had come to regard as father figures in his life that they were going to be grandfathers again.