It wasn't even a full week after the "coin incident" that I found myself in a cab, on my way to a muggle clinic for a sonogram. I couldn't take it anymore; between the teasing and the worried glances and the awkward silence that ensued every time I walked into the room, I was ready to prove once and for all that the coin trick was silly superstition, and that there was nothing wrong with my baby.

… Of course, I needed to convince myself just as much as I needed to convince my housemates. I wasn't sure if I believed in the coin test, but even if I didn't, I was long past due for a checkup. And admittedly, I was curious about the baby's gender. I was supposed to be due in January. That meant Remus and I had about three months left to decide on a name and complete our collection of "baby things". Knowing for sure what gender the child was going to be would make things a lot easier.

"Are you nervous?" he asked, squeezing my hand gently. My uncle had been kind enough to give him the day off, so he could accompany me to the appointment.

"A little," I said, smiling softly. "Are you?"

"Absolutely petrified," he confessed, but he smiled back at me all the same. "I can't believe we're this far along already."

"I feel like that, too; until I look at myself in the mirror," I said, placing my hands on my stomach. "I'm getting pretty big."

Remus laughed, "There is a little person inside of you."

Seeing him smile like that was comforting. Though he didn't want to admit it, I knew Remus was worried about the baby. He had been worried for a long time. There were very few cases of werewolves reproducing in any records Ashley could find, and none of those records were particularly helpful. I knew he was convinced that his condition would be passed along to the baby; I worried that the coin test had only confirmed that belief.

We're going to settle it once and for all, I thought as Remus helped me out of the cab. I had tried to make myself look as presentable as possible, but the only thing I could fit around my stomach was sweat pants and a t-shirt. It was embarrassing; Violet Carroll never left her room in sweat pants. Even during my sixth year, in the midst of my mental breakdown, I had put some effort into my appearance. The logical part of my brain knew that it couldn't be helped, but the more superficial part of my mind continued to criticize my outfit as Remus escorted me inside. Even in one of his shabbier suits, he made me feel grossly underdressed.

They're not all staring at you, I told myself, glancing around the waiting room while Remus signed us in. There were two other couples in the room, and one single woman with her other children. One of the couples was middle aged, flipping through the magazines and looking bored (they must have done this before, I thought). The other couple was younger, closer to my age, sat in the corner, holding hands and giggling to themselves. They looked very happy.

The woman who was there on her own sat in the corner, painting her finger nails while her children played on the floor in front of her. They were both very young – too young to be in school, even – and very cute.

I couldn't help but notice that, of the four of us, I was by far the biggest. Up until that moment, I hadn't had anything to compare my pregnancy to, and now that I did, I was concerned. How far along was I?

"Violet," Remus said, pulling my attention back to my own business.

"I'm sorry," I said, smiling nervously as I turned around to face the front desk. "Were you speaking to me?"

"Yes," the secretary said, looking a little irritated as she handed me a clipboard. "Please fill out these forms, and the ultrasound technician will be with you shortly."

"Alright," I said, taking the clipboard and retreating to a sofa on the opposite side of the room. Remus sat down next to me, grinning.

"Doing a bit of snooping?" he asked.

"No…" I mumbled. The forms were simple enough; name, address, phone number, basic medical history. Nothing too exciting. "I was… becoming acquainted with the environment."

"Mhm," he said, winking at me.

"… Shut up," I said, glaring down at the clipboard as I filled out my information.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be cross with you."

"It's alright," he sighed. "I can't imagine this being easy for you."

He's always so nice to me, I thought, scribbling responses in as quickly as possible. I always knew he was patient, but sometimes I wonder if Remus is a saint…

I was surprised when we my name was called next. The rest of the couples stared at us with varying levels of contempt as the nurse led us back to the examining room. She told me not to be nervous as she helped me onto the large, padded table and helped me re-adjust my clothing, so that my belly was bare. She offered Remus a place to sit – close enough that he could hold my hand during the procedure, something I was grateful for – and then she set to work, squirting a layer of goo over my stomach.

"How far along are you?" she asked.

"Um… five months?" I said, glancing at Remus for conformation. He shook his head, indicating that he didn't know, either. "Maybe six? We're not really sure…"

She chuckled, "Sometimes it can be hard to tell. We should be able to answer some of your questions after this. Just relax, Miss Carroll."

Using a small device, she spread the goo out across my stomach, and directed our attention to a screen next to the table. The image was black and white, and a bit blurry, but the shapes vaguely resembled a human baby.

"Remus, look…" I said, squeezing his hand softly. I looked over at him, and he pushed some stray hair out of my face. He looked so happy; for a moment I was completely at ease.

"Both of them appear to be healthy," the technician said. "Their heart rates are normal, and they're roughly the same size."

"B-both?" I sputtered. Suddenly, that short tranquil moment seemed like a distant memory. "What do you mean both?"

"You mean you didn't know?" she said, her eyes widening with shock. "You're having twins..."

"What?"

She laughed nervously, "Uh… surprise?"

"Twins…" Remus mumbled, examining the screen in disbelief. "You're sure? Can you see them with this… machine here?"

"Yes," she said, nodding as she moved the scanning device to the other side of my stomach. "See, here's one…" she moved it again, lower this time, revealing another baby on the screen. "And here's her brother. Oh, shoot; I gave away the sex, didn't I… Er, congratulations!"

"That's alright," Remus assured her. "We wanted to know that much."

She laughed again, "Sorry, you just caught me off guard. Did you really not know you were carrying more than one child?"

"I had no idea…" I said. My stomach was doing back flips. In a way, it was like finding out I was pregnant all over again.

"But… you're, like… huge," she said. "No offense, but most women don't even reach this size until they've hit the last couple of months."

I cleared my throat, trying to keep control… at least until we got home. "This isn't something I have a lot of experience with."

"I suppose this was a good idea after all…" Remus said, running his hand through his hair. "You said they're both healthy? There aren't any… abnormalities?"

The technician nodded, "As far as multiple pregnancies go, you've got the ideal situation. I don't see any foreseeable complications at this point."

Other than the fact that now I have to push two of those things out of my… Erm, and buy two of everything; if one is a boy and the other is a girl, they won't be able to share much…

"But I must say, seeing the two of you come in like this really brightened my day," she said, wiping off her equipment before giving me a similar treatment. Even after she tugged my shirt back down, I still felt sticky underneath. "Fathers in these kinds of situations don't usually come to an ultrasound."

"Really?" I questioned. "But most of the women in the waiting room had their husbands with them."

"But…" she trailed off, looking back and forth between us before she continued. "I don't know a more delicate way to put this; being an unwed teenage mother isn't easy, and a lot of families aren't exactly supportive, which makes the situation even more stressful. You're lucky you have a dad who wants to stick by you."

My face reddened; I wasn't sure if it was because I was embarrassed or frustrated. It was probably both. I opened my mouth to correct her, but… nothing. I felt so frazzled, I couldn't think of what to say to her.

Thankfully, Remus had a better handle on this situation. I felt his grip on my hand tighten as he spoke, "I think you've misunderstood. I'm not her father… I'm the father."

"Like… Of the babies?"

"Yes."

"… Oh," she said, her face turning pale. "But you're so ol-… I'll just go sign you out, how about that?"

"That would be lovely," I grumbled.

"You're free to go whenever you're ready!" she said, her sentence running together as she gathered a few things and fled the room.

Neither of us said anything as we left. Remus was in such a hurry to leave that I had to struggle to keep up with him. By the time we reached the waiting room I was already panting. I couldn't wait to be back to my normal weight and size...

I stopped to catch my breath before I continued my chase… and caught another glimpse of the single mother and her two children. They were fighting now, screaming and swinging at each other while their mother tried to separate them.

That's going to be me, I thought, watching them with morbid curiosity as one of the girls grabbed her sister's hair, pulling and pulling until the other girl cried.

I couldn't remember the last time I had felt so terrified.

Hey, it's me again. I'll try not to take up too much of your time; I just have a few things I want to say.

First… Chapter Seventy-Seven. Chapter Seventy-friggin'-Seven. Holy crap you guys. I cannot believe how long this story is, especially when I originally planned for it to be thirty chapters, at the very most. I would never have had the courage or enthusiasm to keep going for this long if it weren't for you guys. Seriously. When I first started writing WFtMtR (geez that abbreviation is long), I thought I would be lucky if a few people looked at it. Now, it has over 100,000 hits and most chapters have five or more reviews. I'm not sure what it was I did right, but I couldn't be happier.

Recently, someone told me that reading my story has been helping them get through a difficult time, and I couldn't stop myself from tearing up. Knowing that people find your writing entertaining enough to read, especially with the mounds of Harry Potter fan fiction out there, is a fantastic feeling, but having someone tell me that I made a deference in their life – even if it was just a small one – words cannot describe how wonderful that made me feel.

To sum up this little rant; thank you, readers, for making me feel like the luckiest fan fic writer in the entire world. And to the person I mentioned before (I hope you know who you are), you are in my thoughts, and I hope things start to look up for you soon.

Peace and love,
Komaki