The first morning of term had started and I was alone in the girl’s dormitory glaring into the mirror. It didn’t seem possible that my stomach had doubled in size over night but it had. I couldn’t see my feet anymore, I couldn’t bend over to put my socks on let alone tie my own shoe laces and it was incredibly frustrating. On top of all that, the baby’s favourite position seemed to be either using my bladder as a pillow or as a punch bag; either way, I was desperate for the toilet every five minutes.
“Lilly, are you coming down for breakfast?” Ginny popped her head around the door “Fred and the others are waiting for you.”
I looked around at her and sighed “yeah, once I figure out how to get my socks on, I’ll be right down.”
Ginny chuckled as she let herself in “sit down on your bed.” I sat down and watched as she took my socks and slid one onto each foot. “You know, without sounding mean, are you quite sure that you’re not having twins?” She asked as she tied my laces “it wouldn’t be a surprise considering as it runs in both of our families.”
“I’ve been wondering that” I admitted “but the matron is positive that there’s only one in there, either way, I am just about ready to wet myself.”
We made our way down to the common room to find Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Lee Jordan waiting by the portrait hole. “Finally!” Ron sighed impatiently “we were about to send up a search party!”
“Stop moaning, Ron” Ginny told him “we’re here now.”
Breakfast was a quiet, yet awkward, affair. No one had bothered Fred or myself about the whole baby thing but that didn’t stop people staring at me and whispering behind their hands. I thought that I’d get used to it or maybe it would all die down after the New Year but it hadn’t and I hadn’t. It still made me feel self-conscious, a spectacle of unwanted attention and I hated it no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.
“I’ll meet you outside here in an hour” Fred told me as we reached my classroom. I had Defence against the dark arts first with Umbridge and halfway through it, I had to go up to the hospital wing for a quick check up.
“Sure though I don’t think that Umbridge will be happy about me having to leave early” I replied.
“Well, she can shove it. Maybe Harry will have another fight with her or something.”
“Don’t encourage him!” I snapped as Harry laughed and nodded “she’ll ban him from Quidditch if he’s not careful!”
“Ok” he wiped the grin from his face and turned to stare at Harry. “Potter, you need to behave; unless Umbridge gives you crap then I am allowing you to curse her into next week. Is that understood?”
I rolled my eyes and walked into the room leaving them in fits of giggles out in the corridor.
“Professor?” Ten minutes before I was due to go to the hospital wing, I walked nervously up to Umbridge, who was sitting at her desk watching everyone write out a new chapter of her book. She really is a funny looking woman. Small, fat and I swear that one of her parents is a frog or something.
“Miss Snape” she smiled sweetly at me “what can I do for you?”
“I have a note from Madame Pomfrey” I told her as I dug into my pocket and passed her the note.
She read it slowly and then looked up but she didn’t look at my face, she stared straight at my stomach. “I see; you’ve gotten yourself into a mess and now you want everyone else around you to accommodate for your mistake? Well, let me educate you a little, Miss Snape; you are a worthless, stupid, idiotic child who is nothing more than an annoyance to myself and everyone else in this school. You may not have my permission to leave early and if you ask again it will result in two months’ worth of detentions. I for one will most certainly not make any exceptions to someone who doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘no’. Is that understood?”
I stared at her and as I did so I felt the anger bubble up inside me until, before I knew it, she’d been blasted across the room in a shower of red and gold sparks. I stood there panting with my arm outstretched and my wand sat snuggly in my hand. I didn’t even remember getting it out. “You are wrong!” I shouted at her motionless body “Everyone in this school hates you and I know that at least half of the people in this classroom want to use one of the unforgivable curses on you and-” someone grabbed me from behind and I twisted around to see that Hermione and Harry were hanging on to me.
“Lilly, stop it!” Harry grunted “you’re going to be in enough trouble as it is!”
“What’s going on in here?” I could hear the commotion all the way down the corridor! Professor McGonagall had appeared and was staring around.
“I think Lilly’s wand accidently shot Professor Umbridge” Hermione told her quickly “all I heard was Umbridge calling her worthless and the next thing I knew, Umbridge is blasted across the room.”
“What?” McGonagall looked at me, then at Hermione and then finally at Umbridge who was still in a heap on the floor. “Lilly, what happened?”
I wanted to tell her everything, that, just for a moment, I really wanted to kill my Defence teacher but I bit my tongue. “She was yelling at me and I guess my wand acted upon impulse.” There, that wasn’t a lie…I actually hadn’t meant to blast her. I didn’t even know that I was holding my wand. Luckily, she believed me and she conjured a stretcher, lifted Umbridge onto it and ordered Harry and Ron to take her up to the hospital wing before telling me to follow her to her office.
“Now, Lilly” she sighed once we’d both sat down “you are one of the best students that Hogwarts has ever seen; it’s not like you to lose control. What really happened?”
I sighed “it was basically that.” I told her. “She was shouting at me because I gave her my note from Matron and she was basically saying that she won’t accommodate me just because I’d made a stupid mistake. She was insulting me and, well, it seems that I blanked out for a few seconds because the next thing I know she’s on the floor and my wand is pointed at her.”
“Thank you for being honest but you do know that I’ll have to punish you?” I nod. “You used magic on a Professor and that usually means permanent expulsion but, in your case, I think I’ll exclude you until next year. You won’t miss out on work or exams but I think that, because you’re in this situation, it’ll be the best thing for you. What do you think?”
“Will it affect me in the future?” I asked.
“I won’t put it on your permanent record, so no. Lilliana, between me and you, this is not a punishment but I have to make it seem like one so that Umbridge is appeased.”
“I understand, professor, thank you.”
McGonagall nodded “now, you are expected in the hospital wing. I suggest you go up there straight away; I will have Miss Granger bring any homework you’ll need to do.”
I let the office as fast as I could and met Fred on the way. He looked questioningly at me but I just shook my head, took his hand, and made for the hospital wing.
“Everything looks fine” Madame Pomfrey informed us both “all but one thing.”
My heart plummeted “what?” I asked “what is it?”
“Nothing bad” she smiled “it seems that I miscounted”
“I knew it was twins!” Fred grinned as he punched the air “I told you so, Lil.”
“Hold on to your wand, Weasley; you’re not quite right.” Then she looked at me and said “you, my dear, are expecting triplets. Congratulations.”
I was still in shock at dinner and so was Fred, except that I was handling it better. I was at least aware of most things around me, whereas he just sat there looking as though he’d been petrified.
“Lilly! Where have you been? We haven’t seen you since this morning.” Hermione said as she joined us “did you get into a lot of trouble?”
“No, McGonagall suspended me until next year but it’s not going on my permanent record.”
“But that doesn’t make sense.” She frowned “why wouldn’t it go on your permanent record and what’s going on with Fred?”
“Because” I whispered “she’s only making it seem like a punishment to keep Umbridge happy whereas, in actual fact, she’s excusing me from going to classes.” I looked at Fred “he’s just had a huge shock, I’ll tell you later.”
“What about your work?” Harry asked “won’t you fail?”
I shook my head “I think she’s going to ask Hermione to bring back homework for me.”
“I’ll do better than that” she smiled “I’ll tutor you if you want.”
“So…about Fred” Ron piped up “what-”
“I’ll tell you later” I repeated “seriously, you don’t want to hear this in the middle of the great hall.”
“I KNEW IT!” Ron, Harry and Ginny exploded. We were the only ones in the common room; we’d left dinner early so that we could get the seats by the fire and so that I could tell them my news without nosey ears listening.
“Well not really” Hermione frowned “you all thought she was expecting twins so you’re all wrong.”
“Twins would have been the more obvious answer though” Ginny said “considering both Lil and Fred are part of a set.”
“What?” Ron scowled “Lil isn’t…is she?”
“Draco is my twin brother” I sighed “I’m glad that you can forget.”
“How many weeks are you?” Hermione asked.
“Uhm” I grimaced as I thought back. The ‘event’ happened at the end of July “around twenty four weeks I think.”
“Well, you have to count from your last cycle” she reminded me.
“Oh” I blushed “about twenty seven then.”
Hermione grinned “it can happen any time now; you, Lilliana, are going to regret ever saying yes when you have three screaming babies to look after.”
Her due date is getting ever closer!!! Triplets! Who'd have guessed? ;)