/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟐.𝟟.𝟤

"if pain must come, may it come quickly." ~ Paulo Coelho

~january 1973~ (continued)

The baby was early. Fuck, Andromeda thought as St. Mungo's healers crowded around her to try and keep her out of pain. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "Will somebody in this place give me some goddamned information?" a familiar voice rang out in the crowd and her heart leapt. It was Ted, still in his work clothes, pushing his way through the crowd to get to his wife's side. When he made it to her bed, he took her hand in his and ran his other over her hair lovingly. "What's happening?" he asked in a much softer voice than he'd used just a few seconds ago.

"Baby's early," she said shortly. "Other than that, I dunno."

"Fuck," Ted voiced her thoughts perfectly. "What's that mean?"

Andromeda shrugged and put a hand over her round stomach. "It'll be okay," she crooned to the baby inside. "It's going to be okay."

Ted watched her for a moment, then turned to the closest healer. "Excuse me, my wife deserves some information on her condition- please."

The healer surveyed the couple with tired eyes. "We're doing everything we can," she said at last. "The baby's condition is critical. It's both early and breech, so we'll have to do emergency procedures to keep both the baby and the mother's safety intact." The healer took a long breath. "You're in for a long night."

~

Sirius rolled over on his side and groaned, staring into the fire in front of his usual couch with an almost painful gaze. "I'm so bored," he complained, his voice taking on a whiny tinge.

"Me too," James said, nodding from his position sitting with his legs over the armrest of his seat. "I wanna do something."

Remus closed his book and loudly snapped a piece of chocolate from the bar he'd been snacking on. "We do stuff all the time," he said drily, tossing the little square up in the air and allowing his mouth to twitch upwards when Sirius caught it expertly in his mouth.

"Do it again," Sirius said, momentarily distracted.

Remus snorted. "Here, fetch." He threw another piece and Sirius bounded upright to catch it in his teeth and bite down.

"Could I have one?" Peter asked from the floor in front of the fire, warming up. Remus threw him a piece, but he missed with his mouth and only barely caught it with his hand.

James watched with a slight frown on his lips, not really paying attention. "Remus, aren't you bored? We should do something."

"Like what?" Remus asked with a sigh. "We've already done everything fun."

"No, we haven't." James swung his legs over his armrest and sat up, reaching out a hand for a piece of chocolate almost like second nature. Remus tossed a piece across the center of the arrangement of chairs and James caught it without a second glance. "There's got to be something fun to do. Let's steal that one Slytherin girl's snake."