Cloudy Skies and Heartache

Chapter 6





Remus eyes flew wide open as he bolted upright as quickly as his swollen belly would allow him. A shuddering moan broke from his lips as a contraction ripped through him, his face twisting into a tight grimace.





‘Oh Merlin. I’m in labour. Fuck. Its only seven and a half months! It’s too early...’





However, any rationalising protesting thoughts flew from his head when another stronger contraction wracked his thin frame. The baby was coming and there was nothing anyone could do about it.





But the thing was, being a male, Remus lacked the female reproduction organs to physically give birth to the child within him. Up till today, there was still a great deal of information lacking on male werewolf pregnancies, partly because very few pregnant werewolves had dared to seek medical help, and had died in the process of giving birth, and partly because many refused to treat pregnant werewolves. Having werewolves was dangerous enough, but having them breed would be disastrous.





If it wasn’t for Madam Pomfrey and her kindness, Remus would have probably starved to death by now, much less have an opportunity to actually give birth to a healthy baby and survive. He was partially amazed to that he had been able to carry the baby in him for so long. He had worried constantly that his monthly transformations would have killed his baby by now. But it seemed that the wolf understood that it was carrying precious cargo too, and seemed to care for the baby as well, for he had woken up from the last six transformations with barely a scratch on him He could feel the proud satisfaction from the wolf too.





Madam Pomfrey had attempted to explain what she had deduced from the books and his conditions. It seemed that upon successful mating, Remus body would change to adapt to the possibility of reproduction, producing an egg for fertilisation and a womb for the baby to grow. That had allowed him to get pregnant, but his body had not developed a birth canal for the baby to come out, so Madam Pomfrey had warned him that she would have to cut his belly open to deliver his child when the time came. Just like a caesarean surgery then.





Thank Merlin he was a half-muggle. Remus thought he would have flipped if he wasn’t so comfortable and aware of modern medicine and surgeries. He would have half-smiled at this point if a contraction had not hit again.





‘URGHHHH!’





He had to get to Hogwarts quick. The contractions were getting stronger really quickly, and he understood that that was a sign that the baby was getting more desperate to get out. He had to get to Hogwarts NOW!





After he gritted his teeth and rode the last of that contraction out, he gingerly and wincingly pushed himself off the bed, and grabbed his sweater before waddling carefully and extremely slowly to his cupboard. Madam Pomfrey had gotten Professor Dumbledore to set up a portkey that would bring him to Hogwarts for this very occasion.





Gripping the wardrobe door tightly to keep himself upright as another contraction hit him, he had to use all the little strength he had left to keep himself from collapsing on his wobbly legs. When it finally passed, he quickly swung the wardrobe door open and reached to the back of the wardrobe where a baby rattle was wrapped up in a bundle of cloth.





He quickly unwrapped the cloth, and the moment he lay a finger on it, he felt the usually hooking feeling and a moment of weightlessness before he arrived on top of a bed in the Hogwarts clinic in a breathless sweaty mess.





Remus moaned gutturally, a very primal sound, as he attempted to deal with the next contraction, his hands scrambling for something to cling on to.





Suddenly the door leading to Madam Pomfrey’s room swung open sharply as Madam Pomfrey came rushing in, still in her nightclothes and her wand leading the way.





‘OH! Remus, its you! Merlin, I thought there was another intruder... Remus? Oh Merlin, are you in labour?’





Madam Pomfrey questioned as she quickly got her bearings and rushed to Remus’ side as he lay on his side with an arm wrapped protectively around his swollen belly. All Remus could muster was a brief nod before an even stronger contraction took over his body, causing it to shudder and convulse in pain.





Quickly summoning two bottles of potions from her cupboard, Madam Pomfrey poured them into two glasses before helping Remus into a sitting position.





‘Just drink these two up Remus. One will take away the pain and the other will put you to sleep. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you and the little poppet inside of you. When you wake up, I promise that your baby will be waiting for you,’ Madam Pomfrey spoke quietly as she rubbed Remus back gently as he swallowed the two potions.





Helping him lie back down on the bed again, Madam Pomfrey smiled reassuringly down at him as she wiped the sweat off his face gently.





‘Go to sleep Remus, your baby will be here when you open your eyes again.’





With that, the potion kicked in and Remus’ eyelids fluttered shut and he fell into a deep slumber with those last few words resounding in his head.





When he woke up, he would finally meet his baby.





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Hello! I’ve been feeling really enthusiastic about writing lately. So have a new chapter up! Haha. Hope you guys like it. The baby’s coming soon! Eeks i can’t wait :p though I haven’t really thought of a name yet. Suggestions? Though i’m not giving you guys a clue if its a boy or a girl. Heh. I’m off on a holiday soon, so the next update might be in one or two weeks time. But i’ll keep writing on the trip and hopefully will update whenever i get the chance. Do read and review!!! Thanks my loves. xxx



Ahou: thanks so much for the advice! i saw it just as i was finishing this chapter and so i went back and added a few more action and facial movements. haha. really grateful for your comments! will keep that in mind as i write the other chapters (: thank you! xxx