Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

Septima couldn't help squirming. The whole experience was a bit embarrassing. Having Dumbledore in the room, even if he stood at a respectful distance, didn't help. He stood where he couldn't see anything, fortunately, but he was there, guiding the conversation and the process. “It's such a relief that she conceived when she did; otherwise I would have had to give her a potion and after that it's weeks of waiting again...”

Poppy sighed and frowned as she pressed on Septima's tummy. Septima fretted at that frown. Was something wrong?

She cleared her throat, and Poppy looked at her expectantly. “That ointment you gave Severus last month... There's a little left. Will it work on magical abrasions or just cuts and scrapes?”

“It might help magical abrasions or burns; it certainly won't hurt.” Poppy thought for a moment. “With some, it's better to use essence of Murtlap. Of course, when you're looking at something like a Dark Mark... well, there's no way to heal that. You can only use soothing preparations and charms and hope for the best. That ointment may help, come to think of it, but I suppose we don't need to worry about that.”

“I just wondered,” Septima said. Severus didn't realize he was moaning in his sleep, but the soothing charm she was using on his arm wasn't working as well as it had the first few nights. Perhaps the ointment would help.

Dumbledore made an impatient sound. “She is with child, right? When I scanned a couple of weeks ago...”

“Yes, Albus, she's pregnant. Calm down. A person would think you were the father.”

“Don't be ridiculous. I've explained it all...”

“Yes, several times. I'm to deliver the child here at Hogwarts so that you can get blood from the cord for a potion to help Remus Lupin. Your scanning spell was perfectly accurate. She's pregnant with a boy.”

“And the child will be born in early March?”

Poppy pressed down again on Septima's belly, making her gasp. When Septima looked up, there was a definite warning in the Matron's eyes. “I think definitely by then.”

“Excellent! I'll have to look over my stores and obtain the freshest ingredients. I haven't brewed anything so interesting in years. What a shame Nick Flammel can't be here to work with me...”

Poppy leaned back and lowered the sheet over Septima's legs. “My exam is done, Headmaster. If you have no more questions...” She helped Septima sit up.

“I'll be off to my office then. There are final reports for the school year to file and all that. When should she have a check up?”

Poppy looked at Septima. “A month should be sufficient. It's early, and there is no reason to worry about complications.”

“All right then, Septima. I know you had plans for the summer, but you are to come here in a month as Madam Pomfrey says.”

Septima clutched the sheet to herself and nodded. The Headmaster whistled cheerily as he walked out of the infirmary. To her the sound was like a death toll. What would he do when he learned what really happened?

“Well, young lady, you're in quite a situation. Does the father know when you really conceived this child?”

Septima's heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

“When was your last cycle?”

She looked blankly at Poppy, who made an exasperated sound.

“When did you last bleed?”

“I knew what you meant,” she explained while shaking her head, “I'm trying to remember.”

“Don't you keep track of it?”

“I do, but so many other things are more interesting.”

Poppy made her exasperated sound again. Septima closed her eyes and pulled at a recollection. It was always such a nuisance. What was she doing that week? “I think it was right after the end of the Easter Holidays.”

“That was April, Septima, and now it's the first week of July. That's over two and a half months, not the six weeks the headmaster supposes. That also much better matches the exam. I was starting to question the scanning spell for telling me there was only one baby in there when he's already grown so large.”

“So the baby will be born...”

“You may reach the first week of February. You won't go past it.”

Septima went very still and thought about it. If the child wasn't conceived the night that Dumbledore had given her all that tea, then the only other possibility was the night she'd had the wine with Severus. Septima's mouth gaped as she looked up.

“Septima, who is the father of your child?”

She pulled the sheet tighter to her chest. “Dumbledore is so sure it's Remus's.”

“You're my patient, Septima, not the Headmaster, and you may recall that I saw you in Severus's rooms a few weeks ago when you were supposedly conceiving this child with Remus. Is there more to his protection of you than you're letting on?”

She nodded and whispered, “It's his baby.”

Poppy shrugged and sighed. “The Headmaster has some peculiar ideas about Severus, and he's overstepped a few times. Let's see how we can take care of you and this baby. Did you and Severus have sex in early May?”

“We didn't mean to...”

“But you did.” Septima nodded, and Poppy continued, “And you weren't taking a potion?”

“I always have in the past, but I wasn't supposed to be with Severus. I was supposed to be getting pregnant with Remus, and it seemed counter-productive.”

Poppy patted her knee. “It really isn't any of Albus's business, for all that he thinks he runs the world. Who you choose to sleep with and have children with is your affair, not his. My affair is to make sure you're both healthy, not to be a gossip about your business.”

Septima heaved a sigh of relief.

Poppy smiled again. “Now, on to being a proper midwife for a moment. I take it you want to continue this pregnancy?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Let's go over some directions for how to have a healthy pregnancy, then...”

A/N: Thank you to Owlbait and Kyria of Delphi.