A/N: Hello! First off this is a sequel story to Don't Leave Me, personally I'd suggest you read that along with it's companion story The Serpents' Kiss by animalwriter first but it's likely not necessary. There are also two short stories Christmas at Grimauld Place on animalwriter's profile and Summer at Hogsmeade on mine. Both take place during the previous two stories. If this isn't the first time you're joining me, welcome back! I hope you enjoy this first, short chapter and please leave a review!

Chapter 1

It was the end of the summer and everything was in place. Invitations had been sent, responses gotten, dresses made, flowers picked out, and food ordered. Now the only things Lucy had to deal with were her ever-increasing appetite, morning sickness, perpetual sleepiness, and the invasion of her home.

A total of eight people were infiltrating her three-bedroom home; three Weasleys, four Lupins, and one Potter. She was grateful though that Bill and Fleur had taken a room at the Three Broomsticks and the rest of the Weasleys, plus Hermione, were staying with Fred and George in their rather roomy apartment over the Hogsmeade branch of Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes.

When the guests finally knocked on the door Lucy slowly unwound herself from Sirius and called, "Come in!"

Everyone bumbled into the living room. They must have all decided to arrive together. Harry was carrying Teddy, his godson, and Ron was talking animatedly with Remus and his father.

"Lucy, dear. So good to see you!" Molly gushed, "Oh, do you feel all right, dear? You look tired. Did we wake you?"

"No, no," she assured her aunt, "I just haven't been sleeping well. I'm fine, really."

"Ah, probably nerves."

"I'm sure," Lucy smiled, "Well, I thought you and Dad could have the guest room. The Lupins can have my room and Ron and Harry will be bunking in with Sirius, if that's okay?"

"Where are you going to sleep then?" Tonks asked, knowing full well Lucy and Sirius actually shared a room.

"The couch. I'm not about to send you or my aunt and uncle down here to sleep and I can't share a room with Sirius," she gave her friend a significant look. "It just makes the most sense this way."

It didn't make much sense the next morning throwing up in the downstairs bathroom after a rather sleepless night. She had taken her anti-nausea potion last night, but it had apparently worn off by this morning and there was very little left in her vial.

After cleaning herself up and getting dressed, Lucy made her way out to the kitchen to start making breakfast. Slowly everyone came down and gathered around the table. Molly eventually shooed her away from the stove and took over the cooking. Lucy was grateful for the reprieve since her early start to the day was beginning to catch up with her.

"Lucy, honey, you look terrible. You should take our bed. Arthur and I will be just fine in the living room," Molly said, seeming to appear across the table from Lucy out of thin air.

"No, no. You take the bed," Lucy insisted. She was not going to force her relatives to sleep in the front room just so she could get a decent night's rest. Especially when there was a perfectly decent bed not far away just waiting for her to come and visit. "But I think you're right. I'm not going to sleep well if I continue on in the living room. So I think I should move to Hogwarts early. It's not that far away and I'll be able to help Minerva take care of some things while I'm there."

"That might be best dear," Molly nodded, taking a bite of the eggs she'd prepared. "You'll be able to relax before school starts and it is only a week after all. A week after that…you'll be married." Molly looked decidedly teary at the thought of her sister's only child getting married in a week.

"Yes," Lucy grinned, "Well, if you don't mind making sure Ginny and Hermione get to Nerissa's for a final fitting, I think I'll get some things together and go on over there."

"I'll take care of everything," Molly assured her, regaining her motherly status in Lucy's life, "You just relax and concentrate on work."

"Thank you," she said, getting up and hugging her aunt from behind, "I love you."

Molly reached up and patted Lucy's cheek. "I love you too, dear."

"I look pregnant," Lucy complained, standing in front of the mirror in her Hogwarts rooms.

"I hate to point out the obvious but you are pregnant," Sirius said, reclining on the bed and admiring Lucy standing there in her knickers, inspecting her abdomen.

She poked at her belly, convinced her knickers were tighter then they'd been last week and that her stomach was protruding noticeably. "But I'm not supposed to look it," she insisted. "You know," she said, turning to look at him and pulling on a robe, "Aunt Molly would kill you if she knew you were here."

"Well, she's hardly going to come bursting in here, is she?"

"Probably not," Lucy admitted. "We should be going though."

"Going where?" he asked, looking like he had no clue what she was talking about.

She sighed, though she really wasn't surprised. After all, she hadn't mentioned where they were going. "Poppy arrived yesterday. I thought it might be a good idea to go see her…get checked out…"

"Yeah, of course," he said, sitting up and suddenly looking concerned. "You're almost out of that potion Severus gave you?"

"Out," Lucy said, "but there's not much point in owling them now as they're going to be here within the week I'm guessing. It's not as bad as it was really and Poppy might have something to help."

Together they walked through the oddly silent halls of Hogwarts up to the Hospital Wing. This was the first time Lucy could recall being in the school when it was completely devoid of students. It was nice, but a little eerie at the same time.

When they entered Madam Pomfrey's domain she turned and raised an eyebrow, "Come to have me fix another one of your…injuries?"

Lucy blushed remembering the last time she'd been to see the healer. "No, none of that this time. I'm…well, I'm pregnant." It was the first time she'd said it to anyone who wasn't Sirius, Dinah, or Severus.

The healer had the good grace to look shocked. "Well, that's different then. Have you seen someone before now to confirm this?"

"Um, Dinah gave me a Muggle test and it said I was. Plus I've been falling asleep really easily, throwing up constantly, and if I'm not pregnant I'm very, very overdue for a period."

"Well, then come right back here," she said, gesturing first behind a curtain and secondly at Sirius, "You stay there."

Lucy reluctantly let go of his hand and followed Poppy behind the curtain. In the back of the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey asked her all sorts of questions. What was the date of her first missed period? How far along did she estimate herself to be? What symptoms did she have? The entire time she was asking these things the healer was assembling some sort of concoction. When the older woman stopped asking questions and turned around she held out the little cup of clear liquid.

"Here," she told her, "take this and use the restroom."

"I just…urinate in it? Like a Muggle test? That should be easy enough." Lucy took the cup and followed Madam Pomfrey's directions. When she came back out the potion had turned a bright shade of purple.

"It seems you are, without a doubt, a little over eleven weeks pregnant," Poppy confirmed after examining the potion.

"I know. I told you that," Lucy said, a little annoyed with the healer.

Madam Pomfrey ignored her, "You're a few weeks overdue for your first prenatal appointment, but as far as I can tell everything seems to be in order."

"Seems to be?" she asked, starting to worry.

"Yes. There's no reason to worry. I'll need to brush up on this bit of medicine; seeing as I'm a school healer I haven't had to deal with a pregnancy in quite some time. I assume," she said, giving Lucy a pointed look, "you don't want anyone to know until after the wedding?"

"Yes. It's September 4th. We moved it up when we found out."

Poppy nodded, "All right. That should give me enough time to refresh myself on where you need to be appointment-wise. I want you in here that next week."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I…I wasn't sure what to expect and I feel more comfortable having you do this than going to St. Mungo's and dealing with a healer I don't even know."

"You're welcome. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Um, I have morning sickness. A lot. All day. Do you have anything that will help? Dinah and Severus know about the baby and he had given me some potion he made up, but I'm out of that now and it's only a week until school starts. It just seems silly to owl them for a potion he'll be around to brew in a few days, but I can't be throwing up all the time."

"Of course not," she said, turning to her closet and pulling out an orange, smoking potion. "Here you are. Take it once in the morning and once before bed and you should be fine."

"All right, thanks," Lucy said, hopping off the table and exiting the Hospital Wing with Sirius. "Everything's fine," she told him. "Now let's go out and see what Aunt Molly has in store for us today."