Ch1: Song for this chapter All My Heart by Sleeping with Sirens
HPOV
The first day of my life, that was tomorrow, today was a day that was unfortunately devoted to the past. Before Severus and I moved back to Hogwarts for the new school year, there was an interview that each of us had to sit through in order to fulfill a contract we had drawn up with the editor at The Daily Prophet. In return for the extensive interviews we were about to give, the paper was agreeing not to publish any article in relation to either of us without our seal of approval. The only exception was breaking news that affected the wizarding world at large. I made sure there was a specific line written into the contract that should anything about our personal lives make it onto their pages without our consent they would be facing a mountain of a lawsuit.
And so I sat down to answer questions about the downfall of Rita Skeeter, which admittedly I had orchestrated, and Severus would be giving an interview about the revelation that Peter Pettigrew was alive, and was the true responsible party for the murder of the Potters. I was actually looking forward to seeing what all Severus shared with the paper. Would he tell them about how he and Sirius had built a strong relationship and were actually friends now, or would he simply state that Sirius was able to make friends now that he was released from his wrongful imprisonment? Would he state his belief that Wormtail deserved far worse than his double life sentence in Azkaban or would he be political and say that justice had been served after such a long delay?
"We're ready for you Mrs. Snape," the mousy little reporter said as she hurried over to me with quill in hand.
"Lead the way," I said standing from my seat, and waiting to see if she was planning to take notes on how I walked into the interview room.
She began to move forward, and I followed after her peaking over my shoulder to pucker my lips at Severus where he sat waiting for his own interviewer. As always he pressed his fingers against his lips, and I felt the smile take over my face. The girl I was following held a door open for me, and I stepped into the small room with a plain wooden table and a chair on either side. I took a seat in the chair nearest to the door out of habit from all the time I needed to be able to make a quick escape due to the time turner, and she sat down opposite of me.
"Mrs. Snape, how are you this afternoon?" she asked me.
"Just fine," I answered with a soft smile. "How are you, Miss…"
"Hornbecker, Miss Hornbecker," she offered eagerly. "But you can call me Ellie."
"How are you today Ellie," I asked again, amused by her enthusiasm.
"I'm great Mrs. Snape," she gushed. "This is my first front page article. Which is a big deal even if I am running below the fold."
"Ah yes, I believe we've been over shadowed by my husband," I chuckled. "But I hope you will write a wonderful article even if it is below the fold."
"Oh absolutely," she chirped, and I wondered where she got all of her energy from. "We should probably get started shouldn't we?"
I nodded at her patiently.
"When would you say that you first noticed something wasn't quite right about Miss Skeeter?" she asked me.
"That depends," I hedged. "Do you mean with her writing practices, or with how she obtained the information for her articles?"
"I'm so sorry, I should have been more clear," she rushed. "When did you first question the types of articles Miss Skeeter was writing?"
"The very first time she interviewed me," I answered honestly. "She was one of the reporters allowed access to the Victory Ball and rather than asking any questions about the event we were there for, her questions all revolved around my relationship with Severus. I noticed immediately that she wasn't necessarily interested in current events, but rather in spreading gossip."
"You didn't think her work constituted news?" Ellie pushed.
"Well not the type of news that should run in a paper as reputable as The Daily Prophet," I said slickly. "Her articles, while offensive, would probably be perfectly acceptable in a women's magazine. Those usually have gossip columns in them don't they?"
"Do you not read women's magazines?" Ellie asked with a nearly inaudible laugh, making me unsure of if the question was on or off the record.
"I might have found time for them in the past," I answered as diplomatically as possible. "But after the way my name was publicly thrashed by the type of gossip that runs in those periodicals, I can't bring myself to support such a practice."
"Do you think perhaps Miss Skeeter should have been allowed the option of writing for such a magazine?" Ellie asked.
"If she had committed only one offense of libel I would agree that she shouldn't receive such a harsh punishment," I pointed out. "But her career is littered with the scandalous articles that I blew the whistle on. I honestly don't believe she should be allowed to publish when she gives such little care to the effect her words have."
"Wouldn't you say the effects of her work are short lived?" Ellie asked kindly, but I had to stifle the anger that rose up in me at such an impertinent question.
"I don't think they are," I said as lightly as I could manage. "For example Rubeus Hagrid is still facing discrimination for the article written about him, and I myself have yet to repair a personal relationship that was torn apart by the article that insinuated I was seeing four different men."
"Would that be your relationship with Mrs. Weasley," Ellie rushed. "Our sources said that there was a falling out over the rumored treatment of Ronald Weasley."
"I'm sorry, is this article about Rita Skeeter?" I asked her pointedly, and fixing her with a shrewd stare.
"Yes of course," Ellie said apologetically. "So, Miss Skeeter has been banned from publishing on the continent, do you feel this is a sufficient punishment?"
"Maybe the entire continent is a bit much," I offered respectfully. "But I do think a ban from publishing in any source that is made readily available the British Isles would have been perfectly acceptable. Though to be honest I think she should be working in a different field since she has such self-control issues."
"What are you feelings on the lack of criminal indictment," Ellie asked.
"I have mixed feelings," I admitted. "She did violate a law by being an unregistered animagus, but she has been heavily punished already. I think that stints in Azkaban should be reserved for harden criminals, and while Rita Skeeter did hurt people, she isn't a hardened criminal by any means."
"Is there anything else you would like to add about this ordeal?" Ellie asked, clearly in closing.
"I think there are many things that can be taken away from what happened here," I told her, locking her eye line and hoping she would understand that I was speaking directly to her. "But the most important thing that I think people should take away is that words can truly hurt a person. And words presented in the media as fact are extremely important because of how much influence they have, so the people writing those words need to be aware of the impact they have."
"Thank you Mrs. Snape," Ellie smiled. "I don't have any other questions for you."
I shook her hand, and then I exited the little room we had been sitting in to go wait for my husband in the lobby. As soon as he was done with his reporter, we would apparate out to Hogwarts. I was excited to get there both because that put us one day closer to the start of term, and because I really wanted to see what our chambers would be like. I had spent so much time worrying this summer that I would be forced to stay in chambers up by Gryffindor tower all by my lonesome that Severus had solicited Albus for a letter affirming that it would not be the case. Of course he laughed the whole time, much to my chagrin.
The letter had affirmed what Severus had been telling me since the wedding. As a married couple living and working at the castle it would be expected that we would live together, and no headmaster would ever ask us to live apart. It had also said that the chambers Severus had been residing in would be altered to accommodate the needed space. I had my fingers crossed for a kitchen.
"Are you ready to go my lady," his deep baritone broke through my day dreaming, and I turned to look at my dashing husband.
"Or course," I chuckled, standing to take his proffered arm. "It's time to move into our home away from home."
We walked out of the lobby for The Daily Prophet, and made our way as casually as possible into an alley so we could apparate away without drawing the attention of any passing muggles. I held onto his arm, and Severus turned us to the left and we disappeared with a pop. We reappeared at the gates, and I pulled my arm free of his with offering him a beaming smile.
"You know, we never did yoga this morning," I pointed out as I pulled a hair tie out of my pocket and started pulling my hair into a pony tail. "So how about I race you up to castle."
I didn't wait for him to answer, I just took off running. I peeked over my shoulder with a chuckle and saw that he was chasing after me. I had a head start, but I was fairly certain he would catch me before I even made it to the lake. I ran as fast as I could, but he still caught me. His closed his arms around me, and swung me up into his arms while both of us laughed.
"You probably shouldn't go out for the Olympics," he chuckled, as he took my hand, and we walked together toward the doors main entrance of the caste.
"Maybe not for sprinting," I laughed with him. "But I could be a real contender in marathon running. I can run five miles before I even begin to feel tired."
"I will never understand why you like running so much," he sighed with mock drama. "Personally I hate running unless I have to."
"You hate running, I hate jumping jacks," I laughed. "Tomato, Potato, or whatever that phrase is. I can never remember."
"Well I assure you it has nothing to do with potatoes," he assured me as he pushed the door open for me.
It was nice to be back at the castle, no matter how stressful the last year might have been. There was something about this place that would always feel like home to me, and stepping into the entrance hall was like being welcomed home.
I was even more excited to be standing in this entrance hall holding Severus's hand without having to worry about anyone seeing. And I was excited to go down into the dungeon chambers without sneaking, and to be going to chambers that were mine as well was even better. We went through the potions classroom, Severus placing his hand against the wall to reveal the doorway, and we stepping into the chambers.
"Yes!" I cheered the second I was inside.
There was a new doorway, and inside of it I could make out a stove. It would need further investigation, but that was definitely a kitchen.
"I may have pointed out how useful a kitchen could be," Severus said with a smile as he hugged me from behind. "Newlyweds can't be expected to share all of their meals with the entire student body after all."
"Thank you," I gushed. "Don't get me wrong, house elf food is delicious. But I would much rather eat your grilled chicken penne."
"Or your innumerable variations on the parfait," he chuckled, before twirling me around to face him. "What do you say we check out the other changes?"
I nodded, and followed him as he lead me further into the sitting room I was already familiar with. There was the door that went to the bed room, and the one that went to the bathroom. And just past the fire place there was another door. I quirked my eye at Severus and hurried forward to push that door open. It revealed a room that was unfurnished other than a small table sitting in the middle of the room with a note on it. I ran forward to pick up the note and see what it said.
I had a feeling the two of you might need more space, but I wasn't certain as to what you might like to use your space for. Thus an empty room for you to fill however you wish. My personal vote is for a walk-in closet, with so many socks that you will never have to wear a pair more than once for the rest of your long lives.
Albus
I giggled as I handed the note to Severus to read and looked around the room. It had potential, thought it did need some sort of window. It could become and office, or a craft room, or even a potion room. There were plenty of options. I couldn't help but smile at Severus as I hugged him tightly and reveled in our little love nest.
Ch2:Song for this chapter: Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes
SPOV
My beautiful wife had that classic look of determination on her face, and I knew that Poppy was in for quite the morning. She had purchased a set of scrubs from one of the muggle hospitals in London, and she was wearing them instead of the heavy woolen dress and matching hat that Poppy had sent down for her. She was preparing to head up for her first day in the apprenticeship with the stuffy and outdated uniform in her arms. I could tell without even asking that she was preparing for an argument about feminism and gender roles with the old witch. I kissed her on the cheek and sent her on her way unsure of how I wanted the argument to turn out. One the one hand, I liked it when she got what she wanted, but on the other hand I actually liked seeing her in that maroon dress. Perhaps that was because it filled my mind with images of taking that matronly dress off of her.
I pushed though thoughts from my mind and gave her a chaste kiss before heading into my classroom to evaluate my potion stores. I had replenished much of the stores before the end of the school year, but I wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed, and that nothing was wilted or expired in anyway. I expected Hermione would update me later tonight as to the stock level of the potions in the hospital wing.
It appeared one of the house elves had been in to clean the storage cabinet when I was away. I always had mixed feelings about them cleaning in my highly organized cabinet. It was nice that they made sure the room didn't get dusty, but they had the nasty habit of rearranging things. They tended to put my ingredients in color order, which was visually appealing, but I preferred that everything be in alphabetical order. I would be able to find anything I needed when they were in color order, but the students, particularly third year and under would have some difficultly completing their tasks with such a system.
Maybe it was Hermione's influence, but I thought perhaps it was time to take it a bit easier on my students. They still needed to learn the art of potion making properly, but it might help them learn quicker if I was just a little bit more helpful. The first effort in being more helpful… that would be putting all of the ingredients back into alphabetical order. Besides, I could check how much I had of each while I moved them around.
It was easy to while away the entire day in the storage room, my mind mostly cleared of thoughts about the students returning tomorrow or what Hermione might be doing up in the hospital wind. I rearranged all of the different jars, and discovered that the few ingredients I did need would have to be ordered in anyway as they weren't indigenous to Europe. I took the time to write down my order, and send it off before returning to our chambers to begin making dinner for my beautiful wife. I was in the middle of chopping chicken into small pieces to sauté for a pasta when I heard Hermione come in through the potions classroom entrance.
"Honey I'm home," Hermione called with a giggle as she sauntered into the kitchen.
"I see you won the debate," I nodded, taking in that she was still wearing the pink and black scrubs she had purchased and not the matronly gown.
"Mmmm, yes," she said as she nuzzled her head into my robes and wrapped her arms around me. "I kept the other uniform though."
"Oh?" I questioned as I turned back to the task of preparing dinner.
"Yes, I noticed that you rather fancied it," she told me as she strutted out of the kitchen, and I struggled to focus on the task at hand. "I'm going to grab a shower before dinner. Today's lesson was surprisingly work intensive, and I'm all sweaty."
"I'll make you all sweaty," I muttered to myself as I threw the chicken and green peppers into the frying pan.
"What was that?" Hermione called from the other room, and over the sound of the shower turning on.
"Nothing sweetheart," I called back with a chuckle.
I couldn't help but picture her getting in the shower as I cooked the chicken. I dropped the pasta noodles into the boiling water while I fantasized about what she was doing in there. The end result was that I was plating a delicious dinner when Hermione exited the shower, but I was also nursing a bit of a situation that I would have to keep my teaching robes on to hide.
I took the two plates over to the breakfast nook and was just setting the plates on the table when Hermione came out with wet hair wrapped up in her silk robe. I stifled a groan and wondered if she was actually trying to torture me.
"Aren't you cold?" I asked her, embarrassed by the husky tone my voice had taken on.
"No," she offered enthusiastically. "I'm still flushed from the hot water. Besides, I'll get dressed in something a little warmer after dinner."
I took a seat, and she mirrored me. I picked up my fork to start eating, noticing that she was watching me with a coy smile on her face.
"Aren't you going to take off your teaching robes?" she asked as she twirled pasta around her fork.
"Later," I assured her with a smirk of my own, realizing that the saucy woman was indeed toying with me this evening.
We made small talk over the meal about what we had done all day, even through the sexual tension that was growing between us. I told her about my organizing, and she told me about learning bone healing techniques on a simulation dummy which apparently Poppy found amusing to make particularly active. I did my best to focus on her story of having to chase down the dummy to fix its broken finger in an effort to learn how to deal with feisty first years, but she kept licking her lips after each bite of dinner, so it was a struggle.
"Why don't I get things cleaned up," I suggested as she stood with her plate in hand. "And you can go get changed into something warmer."
She giggled at me and handed over the plate before trouncing out of the room. I was interested to see what her follow-up to the little show at dinner would be. I hurried to gather all of the dishes in the kitchen sink and cast a charm so they would wash and dry themselves. I closed the kitchen door on their gentle clinking of the dishes. I walked into the bedroom looking for Hermione, but it appeared she must be in the bathroom.
"Why don't you climb into bed Mr. Snape," she called from the bathroom. "I'll be in for your examination shortly."
My arousal spiked at the very idea of playing doctor and I peeled off my teaching robes and shoes, climbing into bed in my slacks and t-shirt. I pulled the blanket over me, and slipped into the role of the patient. Hermione appeared in the doorway, and I sucked in a breath at her appearance. She had altered the uniform quite a bit.
The maroon gown was no longer loose. Now it hugged all of her curves, and stopped at mid-thigh. She still wore the smock, shortening it as well, and she was wearing the little white hat in her now dry hair.
"Now Mr. Snape, I understand you were complaining of a fever," she said as she sauntered over to the side of the bed. "You think you might have the flu?"
I nodded my head, not tearing my eyes away from the tight bosom of her dress.
"I suppose I can find time in my busy schedule to take your temperature," she said with an air of annoyance that was circumvented by the smirk on her face.
She pulled the blanket off of me with a flourish, and her face fell with what I assumed was fake concern.
"Well no wonder you're feeling over heated Mr. Snape," she said with a cluck of her tongue. "You're wearing far too many clothes."
She set to work unbuckling my belt while I sat up so I could pull my t-shirt quick to comply with her assumption that I should remove my clothing. I tossed my shirt onto the floor and lifted my hips up when Hermione began to pull on my trousers. She pulled them and my boxers of in one swift motion and left me exposed beneath her on the bed when she dropping my clothing onto the floor.
"It seems I've forgotten my thermometer," she told me with a sigh. "But not to worry, I can use the old fashioned method of taking your temperature"
She pressed her lips against my forehead, and I remembered that mothers would often check the temperature of their child with their lips. Just when I was becoming annoyed with myself for thinking of a mother at a time like this, she pressed her lips against my throat and I forgot about every other woman except for her.
"Hermione," I groaned when she pressed her lips against my collarbone.
"That's very inappropriate Mr. Snape," she chided, pulling back so she could meet my eyes. "You should refer to me as Nurse or Madam Snape."
"Yes Ma'am," I agreed readily. "My apologies."
"Very well," she said, keeping the stern look in place on her face. "Now may I resume taking your temperature?"
I nodded my assent, and she kneeled on the edge of the bed so she could press her lips on my chest directly over my heart. I loved the feel of her lips on my skin, but I was awfully distracted by the way her skirt was riding up while she kneeled over me. I wanted to reach out and run my hand up her exposed leg, but I was rather certain that would lead to another scolding.
"You are rather over heated," she told me when she removed her lips from my chest. "Do you have any other symptoms?"
"Uhm," I said, trying to think of what she would want me to say. "I have been having some aches and pains."
"Where are you hurting?" she asked me, her face filling with just the right level of concern for a school nurse.
"My neck has been stiff," I lied. "And my abs are a little sore, from all of the coughing that is."
"Oh dear, we will have to do something about that," she clucked, and she shifted so all of her weight was on the bed, and she was straddling my thighs.
The fabric of her dress drug over my erection and I couldn't hold back a moan. She smirked at me before forcing a clinical expression back onto her face, and placing her hands on either side of my neck. She began to massage gentle circles into the skin of my neck, which did feel good. But what felt better was the way her body shifted above me, brushing the fabric of her dress back and forth on my sensitive skin.
"Does that feel better?" she asked me as she removed her hands from my neck.
"Yes," I told her, the huskiness of my voice revealing just how good I was feeling.
"Good," she smiled. "Now to work on those abs."
She settled down on my thighs as she put her hands on my stomach. I groaned and bucked against her when I realized that she wasn't wearing anything underneath her dress, and her warm wet flesh was pressed against my legs.
"Nurse," I ground out as I did my best to lay still beneath her. "You feel as if you may have a fever as well."
"Well yes Mr. Snape," she said breathily. "I think your fever may be contagious."
She scooted forward as she focused on massaging the skin that stretched between my hips, and whether consciously or unconsciously she was rubbing herself against my thighs. I put my hands on her thighs intending to push her dress up so I could see the way she was moving against my legs.
"Ah ah ah Mr. Snape," she said, slapping my hands away from her legs. "There should be a certain level of propriety between a healer and her patient. We mustn't cross those boundaries."
I growled at her, tempted to grab her by her hips and slam her down on my straining erection right this moment. Instead I shoved my hands into my hair and watched her move. Her hands were slowly moving further south, and she was driving me insane. Her breaths were growing more ragged, and I realized she was driving herself insane with the way she was rubbing against me.
"How are your aches and pains now Mr. Snape," she asked me huskily as her hands came to rest on the cutline of my hips.
"I'm feeling much better," I assured her in a deep voice. "I think I need a little exercise to break this fever though."
"That's very astute of you Mr. Snape," she whispered as she lifted her hips once more, and climbed sexily up my body. "I think a little exercise is exactly what you need."
She brought her hips down swiftly and brought us together in the way I had been craving all night. We both hissed at the sensation, and immediately began to rock together. I fisted the skirt of her dress in my hands pushing it up so I could see more of her as I thrust up into her.
"Oh God Hermione," I panted as she leaned down bringing her chest right into my face. "Would you be terribly angry if I tore your dress?"
"No Severus," she breathed in my ear, and she pulled her wand out of the pocket of her smock offering it to me as she continued to crash her hips into my mind.
I stilled beneath her so I could focus on using a severing charm to remove the dress without hurting her. I cut it right down the center, and when it swung open it reveal that she hadn't worn anything at all underneath. I dropped her wand onto the bedside table, and grabber her bare hips as I began to thrust up into her once more.
When we fell back into a rhythm I let my hands wander. I brushed my fingers over her scar, feeling the minute fluttering over her inner muscles at the sensation. Then I began to knead her breasts, watching enraptured as her head rolled back on her shoulders and a string of profanities fell from her lips.
"Mmm, Severus, harder," she groaned at me as she leaned forward to support her weight by putting her hands on my shoulders.
I gave her what she wanted, using her hips as leverage to get deeper thrusts. She started gasping with each thrust and I knew she was close to falling over the edge. She cried out loudly and slammed her hips against mine as she clenched around me. I tumbled over the edge with her calling out her name as I spilled my seed inside of her.
"I love you Hermione," I panted as I pulled her down to lay against my chest. "Or should I say Madam Snape."
"Hermione's fine," she breathed against my chest, holding herself tightly against me. "I love you too."
-`-'-
Hermione and I still found time to be together once the school year started, but it was more sporadic with how busy we were. She was working long hours in the hospital wing because of an unfortunate outbreak of dragon pox amongst the first years.
And then she had an unexpected string of days off when Hermione, suspecting she had come down with the dragon pox herself didn't leave bed much. Being a muggle born, she had never been exposed to the dragon pox, though she told me one night in the height of her fever about having chicken pox as a child. I'd never actually heard of chicken pox, and I was wondering if perhaps it was an illness she had imagined while delirious.
I nursed her back to health, only leaving her bedside to attend my lessons, and by the end of the first week of October she was as good as new. All of her pox had healed nicely, and she didn't have a single scar. Mostly because I had used a sticking spell to attach her mittens to her hands so she couldn't scratch herself. I would never say anything of course, but one of my favorite memories of Hermione was now the image of her with her hair matted down with sweat, wearing my night shirt, mittens attached to her hands, pouting at me as she rubbed her back against the doorframe of our bedroom whilst begging me to scratch it for her.
The first match of the quidditch season was approaching, and Hermione was excited to attend the match that would signify Ron's debut as a quidditch keeper. I was happy that she had been able to maintain a close relationship with Harry even with the barrier of her being a member of the school faculty now. but her relationship with Ron wasn't nearly as close anymore. I got the impression it had more to do with Hermione's refusal to really make up with his mother than anything that was wrong between the two of them.
I was doing my best to like Hermione's new friend, who visited us occasionally at the castle, but it was a struggle not to find Fleur a bit annoying. She was just so bubbly and giggly much like the students that I found so pedestrian in my classes, but I tried for Hermione. She came to see us on Halloween, and the girls spent a few hours laughing and talking in the sitting room about inconsequential things. I realized as Fleur was apparating home that Hermione like her just for that carefree attitude. Fleur appeared to be the only girl who Hermione tolerated conversation with unless it was of an academic nature.
"Do you dislike women?" I asked her as I picked through the bowl of candy on our coffee table.
"A bit I guess," she admitted, snatching the piece of candy corn I had taken out of my hand and popping it in her mouth. "They're all just so catty and obnoxious."
I nodded my head in amusement and sought out a new piece of candy.
"And to be honest Fleur can be a bit catty too," she admitted with a shrug of her shoulder. "But she's pretty self-confident, so she doesn't go on and on about other girls and all that."
"She seems very superficial," I pointed out as I bit into the liquorish whip I had pulled out. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"That's just on the surface," Hermione told me as she joined me on the couch and snuggled into my chest. "She's really more concerned with doing well at her studies. Well that and whether or not Bill is going to propose to her or not."
"So, they're serious then?" I asked, surprised that I cared.
"Yeah I think so," Hermione told me with a chuckle. "At least Fleur is madly in love with him. I haven't really asked Bill what his feelings are. She's been begging me to ask Ron though."
"Are you going to get involved?" I wondered.
"I don't know," she answered plainly. "If it were Sirius, and he wanted you to ask one of your other friends if they were in love with him… would you do it?"
"I doubt Sirius would ask me that," I chuckled. "For one, he's a guy. And for another thing Sirius isn't even interested in anyone. If he is in love with anything, it's his own freedom."
"That's not the point," she laughed playfully slapping my thigh before she nuzzled further under my arm.
"I probably will ask Ron through. Fleur is going crazy over the whole thing after all."
"I love you, you silly woman," I chuckled, peppering her hair with kisses.
"I love you too Severus." She sighed into my chest.
Ch3: Songs for this chapter: Don't Let Me Fall by Lenka and Capri by Colbie Caillat
HPOV
November dawned cold and dreary, and the weather was starting to get to me. I seemed to be forgetting everything. I slept in on a
Saturday that as far as I could remember had no special significance only to be shaken awake shortly before ten by an already dressed Severus. He was wearing his cloak and a green and silver tie with a snake embroidered on to the bottom. Why was he so very dressed?
"You do still want to go to the match don't you?" he asked me when I sat up in bed rubbing my eyes blearily.
"What match," I asked him stretching languidly, not quite ready to climb out of the nice warm bed.
"The Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff quidditch match," he said, his brow climbing up toward his hair line. "The one you've been excited about for weeks now."
"Oh yeah," I said, slapping my head against my forehead. "I completely forgot. I just need a minute to get dressed."
I jumped out of bed, and almost toppled over. I righted myself and stood still waiting for the lightheadedness to pass, and then I hurried into the bathroom. I splashed some water on my face to wake myself up, and brushed away my morning breath before I went back into the bedroom to get dressed. I saw that Severus had pulled out my favorite pair of jeans and a warm charcoal colored sweater for me and I gave him a beaming smile before pealing of my pajamas and puling on the clothes.
I rummaged through our armoire and found a pair of woolen socks to pull on as well as my maroon and gold striped scarf. I hurriedly fastened on my cloak and then wrapped my scarf around my throat. I couldn't find my gloves, so I wove my arm through Severus's and buried my hands in the pockets of my cloak. Severus and I made our way out to the quidditch pitch along with the crowd of students that were making their way to the match as well.
For the first time in my few years of attending matches here at the school, I made my way into the group of seats that was reserved for the faculty as well as the match announcer. I saw that it was Lee Jordan again this year as I took my seat beside Severus, with Minerva on my left. I joked with Severus about how watching a sporting even didn't quite count as our morning workout until the match actually began.
I clapped enthusiastically when the Gryffindor team flew out onto the pitch, and I couldn't help but smirk when I saw Severus forcing himself to clap when he clearly didn't care for the Gryffindor team. I nudged his shoulder with a chuckle as the Hufflepuff team flew onto the field and we offered some polite applause.
I really tried to focus on the match, but my mind kept wandering. One minute I was watching Ron attempt to stop a quaffle from going into the golden rings, and the nest I was mentally tabulating what potions needed to be replenished in the hospital wing. Or I was watching Ginny make a brilliant pass, but then suddenly I was wondering if I would learn the charm for mending cuts and abrasions soon.
"You're missing the match," Severus whispered in to my ear, and I realized I was staring off in the opposite direction of the match. "Do you want to leave?"
"No, no, I want to watch the match," I assured him, swiveling in my seat to watch the action. "I guess I'm just easily distracted today or something."
He seemed concerned, but he didn't say anything. He just wrapped his arm around my shoulder and turned his attention back to the match. My focus didn't get much better, but his shoulder shifted subtly when he turned to follow the match so I knew which way I should be facing when my mind began to wonder again.
I got lost in a day dream about what I'd like to do to Severus after the match, but I was pulled back into the present when I realized that the crowd of Slytherin students in a nearby stand where singing a rude and inappropriate song about Ron. I snapped my around to look at Severus, and saw that he was chuckling to himself.
"That's not funny," I snipped. "It's hurtful, and they shouldn't be doing that."
"I'm sorry," he said sobering up when he saw how angry I was about this. "I can talk to them about it."
"And give out detentions to boot," I scathed when the jeering got particularly bad as Harry caught the snitch.
I actually stood up out of my seat feeling a particular rush of anger when I heard the song turn to insults about the Weasley family as well as Lily Potter. I clenched my fists at my sides so I wouldn't go off at any of the students in an unbecoming way, but I turned to look at Severus with my anger clearly showing in my eyes.
In the time it took for me to look at my husband and tried to find some way to school my features an all-out fight had broken out over the song that had been sung. Out of protective habit Severus pulled me behind him and out of the way as the a few teachers hurried down onto the pitch to break up the fight. I looked over the railing and saw that Harry, Fred, and George were fighting with some of the Slytherin students. I watched Minerva and Filius hurry to break up the fight by magically moving the two parties away from each other, and for some inexplicable reason I almost burst into tears over the whole thing.
"Why are your students so mean?" I asked Severus as I hurried out of the quidditch stands pulling him along behind me.
"Why are your students so aggressive?" he countered and I realized I had hit a nerve.
"Sorry, I know you aren't in control of all of their behavior," I said quietly, stopping so I could turn to face him. "I just get so frustrated with that behavior sometimes."
"It's fine," he sighed as he hustled me forward so we wouldn't be blocking the path out of the stands. "Everything is just a little off today isn't it?"
I nodded, and let him lead me back to the castle. I would have liked to have gone back to our chambers and curled up in front of the fire with him, but a fight had broken out, so I made my way up to the hospital wing. There was a chance that I might get to heal a broken nose or something, so I was going to take it.
I bustled onto the wing and all of the quidditch players affected by the fight were already in the wing seated on separate beds being glowered at by an unhappy Poppy. It looked like nothing more would be needed that a little essence of murtlap and a bruise paste, but I hurried to get supplies and help Poppy out.
She lectured the students on violence while I dabbed murtlap onto George's knuckles and bruise paste on Goyle's eye. It was quick work healing everyone up, but it was nice to feel like I was really doing something to help out instead of just studying each day. I cleaned up my supplies and bid Poppy goodbye. She nodded to me and waved without breaking stride in her lecture about safety.
-`-'-
I noticed over the next few days of working with Poppy in the hospital wing that my forgetfulness and difficulty concentration was still hanging around. I forgot a list of potions she gave me to have Severus brew, and when she asked me a couple days later how the progress was coming I reached into my pocket to fish out the list, only then realizing I never actually gave it to him.
"I'm so sorry Poppy," I told her as I held the list in my hand. "I completely forgot. I will run it down to him right now."
"That's unlike you Hermione," she said with a frown, but she nodded her approval for me to run down to give it to Severus.
I jogged through the halls, making my way down to the dungeon where I knew Severus would be. It was his free period, but he was likely to still be in the classroom grading papers. I hit the entrance hall when suddenly I couldn't run anymore. Normally I could run for miles, but today just the few flights I had taken to get down to the entrance hall had really taken it out of me.
I slowed to a walk and sucked in deep breaths trying to get more air as I took the stairs that lead down into the dungeon corridor. I pushed open the door to the potions classroom, and sucked in my breath and held it so I wouldn't have the added embarrassment of showing up in my husband's crowded classroom whilst panting. Apparently I hadn't remembered his schedule correctly after all because he had his sixth year potions class with him.
I ignored the students that turned to stare at me, and made my way to the front of the classroom where Severus was standing by his desk. I got the distinct impression that he had been in the middle of a lecture, but it was too late to turn back now. So I stepped right in front of him, and extended my hand out to deliver the list.
"Sorry to interrupt your lesson," I said quietly, both so the students wouldn't hear, and because I was still breathless. "I was supposed to give this too you the other day, but I forgot."
He took the list, and I didn't wait for him to respond, I just turned on my heel and walked right back out of the classroom. As soon as the door was closed I took a minute to lean against the wall and took slow calming breathes until I wasn't panting like the out of shape girl that I used to be. What was my deal? I shook my head and made my way back up to the hospital wing to finish out the day, and my lesson about properly diagnosing students who were dishonest about how they ended up on the wing to begin with.
-`-'-
Severus had to supervise a detention, but I had plans to seduce him when he came back to our chambers. I dabbed some sleek easy through my hair to smooth the curls out of it, and put a little blush on my cheeks since I had been looking a little peaky all day. I changed out of my scrubs and put on the pink nightie I had bought just for tonight. It had matching boy shorts, and hugged my curves in all the ways I knew would drive Severus wild.
I put candles all around the bedroom, and lit them so there was romantic lighting. I opened a bottle of wine and poured to glasses that I had waiting on the bedside table. Everything was perfect; I just had to wait for Severus. So I climbed into bed and tried to arrange myself into just the right position for when I came in. I tried several different positions, but I eventually settled for lying partway on my stomach with my legs stretched out toward the doorway so they caught the light.
I managed to maintain that position for a while as I waited, but apparently I eventually fell asleep. At least that was what must be what had happened, because one minute I was waiting for Severus, and the next I was waking up to him moving me under the blankets. I looked around the dimly lit room, and I saw that he had blown out all of the candles, and taken the wine glasses away. He was wearing a pair of cotton pajama pants and was climbing into bed with me.
"Wait," I cried stifling a yawn. "I was going to seduce you."
"You're tired baby," he soothed me, coaxing me to lay back down as he pulled the blankets up to my shoulders and snuggled in beside me. "You can seduce me tomorrow, I promise."
"Okay," I sighed, snuggling into his chest. "I didn't mean to be so tired."
"I'm tired too," he chuckled into my hair.
He held me tight, and I drifted off to sleep in his arms. Tonight I would just have to dream about my delectable husband.
-`-'-
I woke up before Severus the next morning and slid out of bed to go freshen up. I splashed extra water on my face groaning at the headache I felt building behind my eyes. I still felt incredibly tired, and now I had a headache to boot. I held the back of my head checking if I had a temperature or not, but I didn't seem to have a fever. If I wasn't feeling better in a few hours I would have Poppy run a diagnostic.
I decided to take a quick shower since I had fallen asleep with sleek easy in my hair. I stood under the hot shower spray, attempting to will my headache away when the shower curtain was pulled back and a very naked Severus climbed in behind me. He pulled me into his embrace, and I nearly toppled right out of the shower when I was hit with a wave of dizziness.
"Woah, I guess I ran the water to hot," I stuttered trying to write myself in his arms and turn the shower nozzle to cool down the water.
"Hermione are you feeling alright?" he asked me, his voice laced with concern.
"Yeah," I assured him, turning to face him and pull his face into my hands. "I've just been feeling a little run down lately. I've been stressing over the practical exam Poppy is giving me next week."
"I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors," he assured me as he reached for the shampoo and began to lather it into my hair. "I'll make us a hearty dinner tonight, to help with your energy."
"Thanks," I sighed focusing on the feeling of his fingers rubbing over my scalp hoping it would make my headache go away.
Severus directed my head into the shower spray so he could rinse my hair. His hands followed the trail of soap suds as the cascaded down my body, and when his hands brushed over my breasts I winced. They were sore today. Though I suppose that explained the headache, I must be starting my cycle.
"Tender?" he asked me removing his hand immediately.
"It must be that time," I sighed as I started to lather shampoo into his hair.
"Oh good," he sighed, seemingly to himself as he let his eyes drift closed to enjoy my ministrations. "I was wondering about that."
I laughed at that, and didn't think much more about it. We wrapped up our shower without any funny business and dressed for the day. Once I had my scrubs on I pulled my hair into a ponytail, and grabbed a panty liner. I slid it into the pocket of my scrubs in case I needed it later today. Once I was ready to go I took Severus's hand and we walked up to the great hall to grab some breakfast.
I ate some sausage links, and when Severus looked like he was going to say something about needing food to keep my strength up I scooped up a helping of eggs and poured myself a glass of pumpkin juice. I wasn't really hungry but I didn't want him to worry about me.
I gave his hand a squeeze so the students wouldn't notice a display of affection, and then I made my way out of the great hall and started walking up to the hospital wing. I rubbed at my chest idly; feeling chagrinned that apparently the sausage had given me heart burn. I just couldn't seem to win today. I tried to stifle my annoyance, and put a smile on my face as I pushed open the massive doors and made my way into the hospital wing.
Poppy was waiting for me in her office, and I started to walk over to meet her. I made it about half way when I was hit with another dizzy spell, but this one was much worse than the one in the shower this morning. I reached out for the nearest bed rail to try and steady myself but before I knew it the floor was rushing up to meet my face.
.
When I came to I was laying in one of the beds and Poppy was waving her wand above me, doing a diagnostic spell. I reached up to rub my face groaning when I felt that my cheek was swollen where I had hit it on the floor.
"Don't worry, I'm going to heal that," Poppy told me quietly, seeming to know instinctively that I had a headache. "I just wanted to check your vision before I messed around with anything so close to your eye."
"I can see just fine," I assured her.
"I'd like to test it all the same," she smiled at me. "Follow my finger please."
She moved her finger back and forth in front of my face. I followed her finger wherever she moved it without issue, so she pointed her wand at my face, and I felt a cool tingling as the swelling went down, and my headache went away.
"That's the spell that mends a hairline fracture," she told me as she pressed on my cheek bone testing for a pain reaction. "I'll teach you the wand movements later."
I nodded my head eagerly, and then regretted it when I felt dizzy once more.
"What is going on with me," I asked, pressing my hands against my head as waited for the spell to pass.
"I think I know the answer, but I have a few questions for you first," she said as she sat down on the foot of the bed.
I nodded that I was ready for her to ask away.
"Do you have any other symptoms," she asked me. "Anything out of the ordinary lately."
"Uhm, I've been tired lately, and I've had headaches," I admitted. "And actually I've been really forgetful, though I'm sure you noticed that."
"Hermione, when was your last cycle?" she asked me delicately.
"Oh, it can't be that," I assured her. "I'm on birth control, so that isn't a possibility."
"Birth control is effective 99% of the time," Poppy agreed quietly. "But on the off chance that you are the 1%, when was your last cycle?"
I thought about it, and with a sinking feeling in my stomach I realized that I should have had my last cycle almost three weeks ago. How hadn't I noticed that I was so late? My heart skipped a beat when I realized that Severus had noticed I was that late. What was it he had said in the shower this morning.
"Oh good, I was wondering about that."
So he had noticed my cycle was late, but he was relieved that I was starting today. What was I supposed to tell him now? Sorry false alarm, looks like you're stuck with a baby that you didn't want?
"Uhh," I stuttered at Poppy. "Apparently I am three weeks late and I didn't notice. My breasts have been tender all day, so I just assumed I was about to start."
"Well, we should do a test to be sure, but I think you're pregnant Hermione," the matron said quietly before taking a little white stick out of the pocket of her smock and handing it to me. "Do you need me to walk you to the bathroom?"
"No," I told her as I sat up and swung my feet out of bed. "I think I'll be alright."
"Maybe not," Poppy offered with a nervous chuckle when I almost fell onto my face getting out of bed.
She held my arm as we walked over to the bathroom. She made sure I was fine in there by myself and then she left the room and closed the door behind her. I stared at the little stick for a long time, but I eventually did pee on it and then set it on the lip of the sink while I waited for the result.
"Please be negative, please be negative, please be negative," I chanted while I watched the stick.
Much to my horror the result did appear, and it confirmed what Poppy had been saying. There was a little pink plus sign informing me that I was in fact with child. I closed the lid on the toilet, and took a seat before bursting into tears. Poppy heard me crying and came bustling back into the room. She stopped by the sink to check the result, and then she came over and patted my shoulder reassuringly.
"It's not so bad Hermione," she soothed. "Maybe you two weren't planning on it, but I'm sure Severus will be very excited that you're having a baby."
"He won't," I sobbed. "He was practically over the moon today when I told him I was starting my period. We've only been married or three and a half months."
"Shh," she hushed me as I grew more hysterical. "Everything is going to be okay. You just need some time for it all to sink in."
I fought to get my tears under control while she continued to rub my shoulder. It took a few minutes but I did eventually slow them to occasional sniffles. I pulled some toilet paper off of the roll and mopped up my face while Poppy waited for me to get it together.
"Well what do I do now?" I croaked at her.
"Well we need to get you started on prenatal vitamins," she told me as she slipped into business mode. "And you should take it easy for the next few days, or at least until the dizzy spells pass. I want you to take the rest of the week off."
"But the practical exam is on Monday," I interrupted.
"We'll push it back until the week after," she shushed me. "There's plenty of time or that. Instead on Monday I want you to come up here, and we'll do your first examination. It's too early to see the baby, but you and Severus could hear the heartbeat on Monday."
I bit my lips against the threat of another round of tears and just nodded my head.
"Don't cry, it's going to be fine," she smiled. "Better than fine actually. You're having a baby Hermione!"
I nodded again, unable to muster the same excitement she was feeling.
"If you're up for the walk you can go back to your chambers to rest," she told me as she scooped the pregnancy test up off of the sink and tossed it into the trash. "Otherwise you can stay here and I'll put up partitions around one of the beds for you."
"I'll go back to my chambers," I told her as I tossed the soggy tissue into the trash on top of the test. "I'd much rather be in my own bed right now. Thank you for being so understanding Poppy."
She waved me off dismissively, but watched me closely as I stood from my seat on the edge of the toilet. When I didn't swoon she gave me a sharp nod and left the bathroom. I took a moment to wash my now puffy face, and then I made my way out of the bathroom. Poppy was waiting there with a bottle of vitamins which I took from her with a quick thanks. I walked on wooden legs down to the dungeons. Severus was in class right now, so I went further down the corridor to go through the secret passage that entered the sitting room from the other side.
I hurried into the bathroom, and hid the bottle of vitamins in the cupboard under the sink behind my sanitary napkins. I went back out into the living room and as much as I wanted to pace back and forth to soothe my nerves I was tired, so I took a seat on the settee. I massaged my temples while I tried to think about how I was going to tell Severus.
I sat thinking for a long time, but no answer came. I needed advice, and without being able to call up my mom and ask her, I wasn't sure who to go to. For a moment I actually considered Molly Weasley, but then I pictured her calling me all sorts of names for an unplanned pregnancy and I thought better of it. It dawned on me that the only female person I could reasonably ask for advice was Fleur, and I walked over to the fireplace, quickly igniting a fire in the grate. I opened the leather box we kept on the mantle, and pulled a pinch of floo powder out, tossing it into the fire.
I kneeled down on the floor, and stuck my head into the fireplace, saying Gringotts business suites. I felt the swooping sensation of my head flying off to a different location, and fought the urge to vomit. My head appeared in the fireplace near the desk of the receptionist, which lucky for me was Fleur herself.
"Ermione!" she cheered when she saw my head appear, but then her brows shot up when she seemed to really see me. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Any chance you can take an early lunch?"
"Surely," she assured me. "Let me talk to Margèry about covering for me, and I will apparate out to zee school."
"Thanks Fleur," I said, and then I pulled my head back out of the fire, and went to sit on the couch once more.
It didn't take more than a few minutes before I heard Fleur knocking out in the corridor. I stood to let her into the room, and lead her back into the sitting room with say anything. I sat on the couch, and she sat on the chair facing me.
"Why 'ave you been crying?" she asked me as soon as we were both seated.
"I'm just so overwhelmed," I gushed at her, the tears spring forth once more almost instantaneously. "I need some advice."
"Tell me what is 'appening," she prodded, as she pulled a packet of tissues out of the pocket inside her cloak and handed them to me.
"I'm pregnant," I sobbed at her. "And I don't know how to tell my husband."
"Do you want to be pregnant 'Ermione?" she asked me hesitantly.
"I didn't expect it," I coughed. "But I want to have it, if that's what you're asking me."
"Okay zat is good," she said with a beaming smile. "Are you afraid Severus will not want zee baby?"
"Yes," I sobbed. "We're newly married, and we've never talked about kids, and he seemed relieved when he though I got my period today. What if he doesn't want me to have the baby?"
"I think that he will want zee baby," she tried to assure me. "He is so in love with you. A baby is just another part of you."
"I don't know how to tell him," I sniffed, dabbing at my tears. "And what is with all of this crying?"
"Zee hormones," she chuckled. "I 'ear it gets better."
"I hope so," I sighed, rubbing my eyes in frustration. "I've already cried more today than I care to admit."
"Well no more tears," Fleur said hoping up from her seat. "If you are going to surprise zee father with zee news tonight we need to spruce you up."
"What?" I said dumbly.
"I 'ave zee plan." She cheered clapping her hands. "We will dress you up, and you can tell him over a nice bouillabaisse."
"Severus doesn't like bouillabaisse," I interjected.
"Okay, Boudin blanc," she sighed.
"That will probably give me heartburn," I pouted.
"Ratatouille then," she huffed.
"That sounds great," I smiled. "Can you help me though? I have no idea how to make that."
"Of course," she assured me. "You go 'ave a shower, and I will go to your kitchens for ingredients."
I gave her quick instructions on how to find the kitchen as well as how to get in, and then I went to take another shower. I ran the water a little cooler, both hoping to avoid another dizzy spell, and hoping that some of the swelling around my eyes would go down from all of the crying.
By the time I clamored out of the shower and wrapped up in a towel, Fleur was once again in my chambers, and it sounded like she was banging around in the kitchen. I snuck over to the kitchen and peaked in to see what she was doing. She was slicing up vegetables and tossing them putting them into a casserole dish until she saw me in the doorway.
"You'll catch your death like zat," she chided me before setting her utensils down on the counter, and brushed her hands off on my apron that was tied around her waist. "Let's find you somezing nice to wear."
I lead her into my bedroom, and she immediately started rummaging through the armoire looking for something she deemed to be nice. In the end she pulled out my greenish blue sleeveless jumper dress, and handed it to me.
"You go put zis on," she instructed me. "And zen we will deal with zat sloppy wet hair."
I chuckled at her, and dug through the armoire for some under garments before making my way back into the bathroom to change. I used my towel to wrap my hair up so it wouldn't drip all over my clothes. I got dressed taking a moment to really look at my body before I pulled on my clothes. My breasts looked quite a bit bigger, and there was a subtle swell at the base of my abdomen. Now that I knew what it was, I was surprised I hadn't noticed a change sooner. I pulled on the dress, and I was relieved to see that it hid the changes in my body fairly well. Fleur had chosen well.
Once I was clothed I poked my head out of the bathroom and saw that Fleur was patiently waiting for me by the fireplace. As soon as she saw that I was dressed she bustled into the bathroom, and gentle unwound the towel from my head. She cast a drying spell on my hair before picking my brush up off of the counter.
"You 'ave such beautiful curls," she told me. "Why do you always straighten zem?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "I just like my hair straight sometimes I guess."
"Well tonight curls," she said firmly, and I nodded my agreement.
I would agree to just about anything Fleur suggested today. She felt like the only lifeline in this sea I was drowning in today. So I let her brush my hair, and arrange it however she wanted. It didn't take her very long to be pleased.
"You don't need any makeup," she told me as she looked over my shoulder to see my face in the mirror. "You already 'ave zee glow in your cheeks."
I smiled at her, actually happy to see this subtle pink in my cheeks that she was talking about. I leaned forward to look at my face a little closer in the mirror. The redness in my eyes was almost completely faded, and my cheeks did look rosy even if the rest of my complexion was a bit pale today.
"How can I help with dinner?" I asked her as I looked away from the mirror.
"Absolutely not," she chided me. "You sit on zee couch and rest; it's good for zee baby."
I shook my head, but I did as she said. I was actually feeling pretty tired still. I snuggled into the couch, being careful not to wrinkle my dress or muss up my hair. For a while I listened to Fleur moving around in the kitchen, but I eventually I drifted off to sleep right there in the living room. I don't know how much later it was when Fleur starting shaking me awake.
"I 'ave to get back to the office to close up," she told me. "Zee ratatouille is in zee oven so it will stay warm. Severus will be back very soon. Put on shoes."
"Thank you for all your help Fleur," I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and pulled myself up off of the couch.
"It was no'zing," she waved me off. "I want juicy details later. You give me a floo call."
"Of course," I assured her with a chuckle, she really was a total girl. "Thanks again."
She gave me a dismissive wave and walked over to the door leading out of the sitting room.
"Put on shoes," she demanded with a laugh, and then she disappeared.
She was right of course; I did look ridiculous without shoes on. I went into the bedroom and found my most comfortable black flats and pulled them on. Once I had shoes on I got to work setting the table for dinner. I transfigured on our cloth napkins into a full sized table cloth and put it on the table before I set out plates and silverware. I put a single candle stick in the middle of the table, and got to glasses which I filled with the sparkling cider Fleur had left on the counter in the kitchen. I was just lighting the candle in the middle of the table when Severus came through door that lead into his classroom.
"Did you make dinner?" he asked me, clearly smelling the delicious aroma wafting out of the kitchen, then he turned to really look at me. "Wow you look really nice."
"Thank you," I stuttered my nerves getting the better of me the second I saw him. "I uh… I'll get dinner out of the oven. You can sit, if you want I mean."
"Are you okay?" he asked me as he made his way over toward me.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I said, stepping closer to the kitchen door, to put some distance between us before I lost my nerve all together. "Sit. Have some cider. I'll be back in a minute."
I hurried into the kitchen before he could say anything, and leaned against the closed door taking deep breaths to calm myself down before I attempted to take dinner out of the oven. I walked over to pull open the oven, and I saw that Fleur had really out done herself, it looked amazing. I reached in absent mindedly to grab the pain, and gasped pulling my hand back when I burned the tips of my fingers.
"Stupid, stupid," I groaned hurrying over to run my hand under cold water.
"Is everything alright in there?" Severus called from outside the door.
"Everything's fine," I called back, turning off the sink and gingerly drying my burnt fingers off.
I grabbed a pot holder off of the shelf and made a second attempt at pulling dinner out of the oven. This time I managed it without causing bodily harm. I hurried out to the breakfast nook where Severus was waiting and set the dish on the pot holder that was already waiting for the dish to be placed on it.
"You made ratatouille?" he asked me with a smirk as I took my seat.
"Not exactly," I hedged as I nervously straightened the skirt of my dress. "I had help."
"Well it looks delicious," he said as he began dishing it up for the both of us. "What's the special occasion?"
"I uh… have something to tell you," I stammered, hoping my resolve wasn't about to abandon me again.
"What is it?" he asked me quietly, watching my face as he put down the serving spoon.
"Maybe we should eat first," I suggested. "I wouldn't want dinner to get cold."
"Ok," he agreed easily, and we began tucking into our meal.
I managed to get down one bite before I was fighting the urge to through up. Normally I loved ratatouille, but today it reeked of garlic and it was making my stomach turn. I drank down my entire glass of sparkling cider as I took deep cleansing breaths trying not to get sick.
"Are you okay sweetheart?" Severus asked me as I poured myself another glass of sparkling cider.
"I'm not sure," I admitted, staring at my dinner plate, afraid to make eye contact with him.
"What is it Hermione," he asked me sounding concerned once again.
"I'm pregnant," I whispered in a rush.
There were a few beats of silence, and I chanced a quick look up to see how he was taking it. He was frozen in pace watching me, but his face seemed soft. He didn't seem angry at least. I drew a shaky breath and forced myself to make prolonged eye contact with him.
"A baby?" he asked me quietly, and I was surprised to see his eyes were sparkling. "We're having a baby?"
"You aren't mad at me?" I asked him quietly, feeling my shoulders drop in relief.
"How could I be mad at you?" he asked.
"You seemed relieved when I thought I was starting my cycle this morning," I pointed out cautiously.
"I did?" he asked, looking confused.
"You said 'oh good, I was wondering about that,' when I said it," I pointed out.
"Well I was wondering, but I didn't mean anything by that," he assured me, his eyes gleaming more as what appeared to be tears built up in them.
"You promise you aren't mad?" I asked, needing further assurance.
"You're having my baby," he said, and he said it so reverently that the last of my fears bleed away. "I'm going to be a father. How could I ever be made about something like that?"
"We're having a baby!" I gushed, finally allowing myself to be happy about it now that I knew he was as well.
He jumped up from his seat, and came around the table pulling me up into his arms and spinning me around. I clung tightly to him even after he set my feet back on the ground.
"I love you," I murmured into his chest.
"I love you," he told me, holding me out at an arm's length before he dropped down on his knees and leaned his head against my abdomen. "And I love you too little baby."
"You are adorable when you are talking to my stomach," I said with a laugh, running my fingers through hair as he hugged me gently around the waist.
"Well I intend to spend a lot of time talking to your stomach over the course of the next nine months," he assured me as he climbed back to his feet. "Are you still hungry?"
"Yes," I admitted. "But not for that. That smells like death."
"I'll get rid of it," he told me quickly and scooped the meal up off the table and hurried it out of the room.
He came back, and took our plates away as well, mostly ridding the room of the garlicy smell. I cast a charm to remove the rest of the smell before sitting back down at the table and sipping some more of my sparkling cider. Severus stayed in the kitchen for a while, but when he came back he had a turkey sandwich on a plate, and he offered it to me with a smile.
"Thank you," I said with a huge smile before tearing in to the sandwich.
It was so good. It was possibly the best sandwich I had ever eaten. I shoveled it down at a very ungraceful speed while Severus watched on with a smile on his face. I wiped my face delicately with a napkin after I finished, and then Severus offered me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up into his arms once more and began to slowly dance around the living room with me. He hummed a song I didn't recognize in my ear as we danced slowly in front of the fire.
"I love you so much Hermione," he whispered into my hair.
"I love you too," I answered looking up to see his face.
"We're having a baby," he said again, a single tear trickling from his eye. "I never even dared to hope for a child Hermione."
"I'm so glad I can give you a baby," I told him squeezing him tightly.
"Giving us a baby," he whispered into my hair as he wrapped his arms tightly around my shoulders. "You're going to be a wonderful mother."
"I certainly hope I'm better at being a mother than I am at figuring out that I'm pregnant," I chuckled lightly into his robes. "We'll find out for sure, but I think I'm already about five weeks along, and I had no idea."
"I didn't either, I thought you were coming down with another of the bugs that is going around with the student body," he said, and I got the impression he was just trying to make me feel better. "But now we know."
"Yes we do," I smiled. "And I'm very excited about it, but do you think maybe we could go to bed now?"
"Of course," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "It's been an eventful day."
We blew out the candle on the table, and turned out the lamps in the sitting room. Once in the bedroom I pulled off my dress, and bra before sliding into the night shirt I had taken from Severus so many months ago. When I turned to climb into the bed I saw that Severus had been watching me change, that reverent look back on his face gain. I gave him a quick smile, and he finished stripping down to his boxers before climbing in to bed with me.
"You are so beautiful," he told me as he pulled me flush against his body.
"Thank you," I whispered into the sudden darkness as he silently extinguished the lamps in our bedroom.
I pressed my back tightly against his chest as he curled around me. I wrapped my arms around my barely pregnant stomach, and he wrapped his arms around me. It was a perfect moment laying there together in the darkness, cradling our tiny baby in the only way we could. I drifted to sleep peacefully, finally relieved after such a stressful day.
I claim no actual medical knowledge, so there is every chance that the medical part of this chapter is incorrect. If that is the case I apologize.
Ch4: Songs for this chapter: Capri by Colbie Caillat (again :P) and Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles
HPOV
I spent essentially my entire week off in bed. I was tired, and achy, and other than getting up to have meals with Severus the only time I got out of bed was to vomit. It seemed discovering that I was in fact pregnant was the catalyst for morning sickness. As I lay in bed, bundled up in the blankets hiding from the smell of the fish Severus had been cooking in the kitchen I wondered why it was called morning sickness. I had been sick, every night, like clockwork at five o'clock I got sick once more.
"How do potatoes sound instead?" Severus called through the door that I had barricaded against the god awful smell.
"They sound wonderful," I called out from under the blankets. "You're a saint."
"Hardly," he chuckled as he moved away from the door, and for a second I thought I was going to cry.
Why did he always say stuff like that? Subtly degrading himself for past choices. He was a great man. I pressed against my eyes, taking deep breaths trying to keep myself from bursting into a ridiculous bought of tears.
I made it half way through the dinner of mashed potatoes and a beef broth with vegetables before I was running for the bathroom again. Severus held my hair back, and rubbed my back while I got sick yet again. I huddled over the toilet when I wasn't sure if I was done or not, panting and feeling pretty darn frustrated that I kept getting sick.
"I hate this," I groaned as I reached up to flush the toilet.
"Just think about the end result," he prodded, rubbing my lower back. "Right now you're sick and miserable, but in the end you get a baby."
"I think the baby is made entirely of vomit," I sighed, hoisting myself up of the floor, and going to the sink to brush my teeth.
"Well, if it is, we'll find out in the morning," he laughed, but stopped immediately when I turned to glare at him.
-`-'-
When morning came, I drug my tired body out of bed and dressed in my scrubs so I could work after our appointment with Poppy. Severus was waiting for me in the breakfast nook with ginger tea, and a spinach and egg white omelet. I sat down with a smile and began to devour the delicious breakfast.
"You sir, are the best husband ever," I moaned after swallowing another bite of my breakfast.
I thought I saw him shudder, but he didn't say anything so I didn't react to it. He stood at the table, his hands grasping the back of his chair watching me eat, and I wondered if he had eaten already, or if he wasn't hungry. He held onto the back of his usual seat, and watched me eat my breakfast.
"Are you excited?" I asked him a smile creeping on to my face. "I'm excited."
"I am excited," he beamed at me. "I want to hear the heartbeat more than I should probably admit. I do have a reputation as the dungeon bat to uphold after all."
"I think that reputation might be shot," I smirked at him. "Or did you notice that you're wearing a green button down shirt this morning. Even the collar buttons are undone. The bat has left the building."
"Well you like the green," he shrugged. "Maybe I will dole out some more detentions to get my rep. back."
"Oh Severus," I chided playfully as I picked up my empty breakfast plate and made my way into the kitchen. "Who cares about reputations anymore?"
"You're right, it's character that matters," he said as he followed me into the kitchen. "And as a matter of character, I think we should make a trip up to see Albus after our appointment."
"I hadn't thought about that," I sighed as I walked over and took his hand in mine. "It's probably important to tell my boss that I will eventually be on maternity leave."
Severus nodded with a smile.
"Well, actually maybe I won't need leave," I mused as we left our chambers and made our way up to the hospital wing. "I mean I should be due during summer."
"Still, we should tell him," Severus said as he instinctively slid me behind him to allow a group of students to pass him on the stairs. "In case you need time when you aren't feeling well, or something along those lines."
I nodded in agreement and followed Severus into the hospital wing. I could see where Poppy had already set up partitions around a bed at the end of the ward, so it wasn't hard to tell where the appointment would be taking place.
"Good morning you too," Poppy said as she came out from behind the partitions. "Today's visit will be a little unorthodox, because I want to make sure teach Hermione all the practices I will be using today."
"That sounds great," I gushed, excited by the prospect of learning prenatal medicine, even if I was unlikely to use it much here at the school.
"Why don't you step behind the curtain and change into one of the gowns," Poppy told me. "We'll wait out here until you're ready."
I walked behind the curtain and started stripping off my scrubs, and listened in when I realized Severus was taking the opportunity to ask Poppy a question. Technically it was eveasdropping, but I really wanted to know what Severus might want to know about the pregnancy, but be too embarrassed to ask in front of me.
"I have sort of a sensitive question Poppy," he said quietly, and I imagined that she nodded before he continued. "What are the rules on, uh intercourse throughout the pregnancy?"
"You still can, unless there are other medical conditions that arise," she answered him quietly, but I could hear the amusement in her voice. "And you can do just about anything, as long as the two of you are comfortable. Don't do anything to strenuous, but we'll talk about that in relation to exercise with Hermione."
"Also, should I be feeding her twice at night," he asked, sounding embarrassed that he wasn't sure. "Since her morning sickness seems to fall around dinner time. Is she getting enough nutrition?"
"If the morning sickness doesn't clear up by the end of the first trimester, we probably want to revisit that question," she answered him. "But for now as long as she is taking her vitamins, a snack in the evening should be fine to balance out the sickness."
"I ready," I told them as I peeked around the partition, holding the back of my gown closed. I gave Severus a sly wink in acknowledgement of his asking one of the questions I was most curious about. His question also illuminated his behavior at breakfast a bit for me. I climbed into the bed, and Severus came to stand at the head of the bed with me. He held my hand, and traced the fingers of his other hand over the front of my scrubs where they were sitting on the bedside table.
"Okay, first I am going to do a physical exam," Poppy explained as she lifted the blankets from the foot of the bed and draped them over my knees. "I'll explain what I'll be doing, but you'll have to wait until one of the students need an exam of their own to see the finer workings of what I'm doing."
"Okay," I agreed, trying not to feel awkward about how I was exposed to the world, even if Poppy was the only one who was looking.
"Now, you've had an exam like this before, so you know what I am doing with my hands down here," she said as she put on gloves. "But do you know what I am checking?"
"My cervix," I answered mostly sure that I was right.
"That's correct," she said as she began the exam. "I'll also be palpating around the ovaries and the uterus, to ascertain whether or not there are any normality's."
"Right, and you palpate internally as well as externally right?" I asked, watching for her a visual confirmation. When she nodded I continued. "What happens if you find an abnormality?"
"Well that depends on the abnormality," she told me as she pressed down on my abdomen from above as well. "But let's not worry about that unless we find one alright?"
I nodded, and took a deep breath to relax the nerves that had built up in my chest at the idea of an abnormality.
"I'm going to move on to the cervical exam," she told me as she pulled the speculum off of the little tray she had at her side. "I cast a warming spell on it, which you always want to do before inserting it. It makes it a little less uncomfortable. There will still be a bit of a pinch though. Try to stay relaxed."
I did as she said, and I couldn't help but want to see what she was seeing. To have a better understanding of how to do the cervical exam. I flinched when she opened the speculum, and Severus squeezed my hand in encouragement.
"When you do this, you are again looking for abnormalities," she explained, "But you also want to take a sample of fluid to test for any illnesses. I will show you how to run those tests later today."
She took the sample so quickly that I didn't even feel her do it, but I saw her putting the swab into a container. She removed the speculum and I was better able to relax. She pulled the blankets back down to cover me up and offered me a smile.
"This next part is the most fun," she told me as she drew her wand. "From what I understand muggle doctors use a machine to create a black and white picture of the baby, but we use a charm that allows the parents to see a three dimensional projection of exactly what is happening in the womb."
"That's kind of amazing," I said in surprise.
"It is always a great moment for the parents," she told me with a smile. "Today you aren't quite far along to really be able to see the baby, but when I cast the spell we should all be able to hear the heartbeat. This method allows us to hear the heartbeat fairly early in the pregnancy."
Severus and I both nodded eagerly, excited to hear our baby's heart.
"The incantation is sonusultim," she explained. "And you want to make sure your wand makes contact with the flesh of the abdomen when you cast it."
I quickly pulled my gown up and the blanket down to expose a sliver of my abdomen for her to utilize for the spell. She placed the tip of her wand against my stomach, and cast the spell silently. And just like that the room was no longer quiet. The air around us was filled with the sound of a rapidly beating heart. I looked up at Severus and I saw that his face looked absolutely enraptured. I felt tears filling my eyes, but I bit my lips trying to keep them from actually falling.
"That's our baby's heartbeat," he breathed reverently, reaching down to brush the tears from my eyes.
"That is a very healthy heartbeat," Poppy assured us from outside out little bubble. "I'm going to cast the spell that ends this one now."
"Okay," I said, fully aware of the pout in my voice.
"Quietus," she said, tapping my stomach gently once more.
We could no longer hear the heartbeat, but I still felt like I was inside the warm bubble from before. I looked up at Severus, and he was glowing with the same happiness. I pulled his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles as more happy tears started to spill out of my eyes.
"I'll give you two a few minutes," she said as she took her tray and made her way around the partitions. "Go ahead and get dressed again, and let me know when you are ready for me to come back."
I sat up and Severus pulled me into his arms hugging me close while I nuzzled my face into his neck. We didn't say anything, just held one another and basked in our mutual joy. We were so in love with one another, and so in love without baby. It was one of those perfect moments that everyone is always longing for, and it sort of crashed down on us unexpectedly overwhelming us with the feelings that came with it.
When we finally pulled apart I quickly changed out of the gown and back into my scrubs. Severus wiped away the stray tears I hadn't gotten under control just yet, and then we both sat down on the bed together. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned into him blissfully.
"We're ready for you Poppy," Severus called out, and it didn't take her long to rejoin us.
"Do you two have any questions for me?" she asked, stopping to stand at the foot of the bed.
"Uhm, I was wondering what will happen to the baby," I said nervously, leaning into Severus for support. "I mean since I was taking birth control after conception. Since I didn't think it was even a possibility for me to be pregnant."
"It shouldn't cause any issues with the baby," she assured me. "Obviously you don't want to take the birth control anymore, but if you keep up with your vitamins and eat right, you should have a very healthy baby."
"Should I stop drinking caffeinated tea?" I spat out my next question.
"You should limit your caffeine intake, but you don't have to cut it out completely," she answered easily.
"Should I stop working out?" I questioned.
"No certainly not," she said with a shake of her head. "But nothing to strenuous. Those marathon runs around the lake probably shouldn't happen, but light physical activity is good for you and the baby."
"If I sleep on my stomach will I squish the baby?" I asked, ducking my head into Severus's shoulder to hide my blush.
"No," she said, doing her best to stifle a laugh. "This early in the pregnancy the fetus is tucked away between your hips and completely protected. By the time your stomach is big enough to leave the baby more exposed it won't be comfortable to sleep on your stomach for long enough to do any damage anyway."
"Should she worry about any sleeping positions?" Severus prodded when I left my face buried in his chest.
"As the pregnancy progresses it will become less comfortable to sleep on your back," she pointed out. "It will also become a bit of a health risk because of the pressure it can cause which can raise your blood pressure among other things. If you tend to sleep on your back, you can prop a pillow behind your back while sleeping on your side."
I nodded, filing that information away, but silently deciding that I would much rather be spooned by my husband than propped up on a pillow. I couldn't think of any other questions so I waited to see if Severus would have anymore. Well anymore he wanted to ask in front of me I thought while trying to suppress a giggle.
"My only other question is if I might borrow Hermione for a bit longer this morning," Severus said. "We need to inform the headmaster of our news."
"Of course," Poppy said quickly before turning to look at me. "Just come back here when you're done there. When we run our tests on your sample, we will be able to calculate your due date."
I nodded enthusiastically and let Severus lead me out of the hospital wing and off to face our boss.
-`-;-
Telling Albus about the baby was surprisingly easy. He was so excited for us, you would think we had told him he was going to be a grandfather. Telling Harry and Ron had proved to be more difficult. As understanding as they had been about the change in our relationship, and my relationship with Severus, they freaked out at the idea of me having a baby. The first words out of Ron's mouth were 'but you're only 15! Which of course lead to the awkward conversation of how he knew that I was 20, and that I was married.
By Christmas break they seemed to have come around, which was probably for the best, since my hormones were taking enough of a toll without being in a fight with. I burst into tears over the slightest thing, and went into rages over just as little. I had a twenty minute fight with Harry over whatever disgusting cologne he was wearing only to discover that Ron had spilled something on himself during his potions lesson and that was what I had smelled to begin with. How they were managing to tolerate my insanity was beyond me.
I went with the boys down to Hagrid's hut for a visit, both because none of us had seen him in a while, and because I needed to get out of the castle to get some sun or something. My moodiness had reached an all-time high, and when I burst into tears because Severus decided to make shrimp scampi for dinner instead of the stuffed mushrooms I had been craving all day I realized I needed to clear my head.
"I don't mean to sound like jerk, but couldn't you have just told him you wanted mushrooms," Ron asked as we walked through the snow on the grounds. "I mean he would have made them wouldn't he?"
"Yeah he would have," I told Ron with a giggle, trying to maintain a good mood and not cry again. "I'm just so crazy lately. You know I woke up in the middle of the night with an insatiable craving for watermelon dipped in gravy. Gravy! What is that?"
"My mum said her cravings were pretty weird when she was pregnant with me," Ron offered lightly, and I smiled the thought of Molly not bothering me… today anyway.
We stopped on the steps of the hut, and Harry knocked on the door. Hagrid opened it almost immediately and I discovered just how incredibly excited I was to see him. I hurried forward to give him a hug, and he hugged me back enthusiastically.
"Hermione, it's good ter see you," he boomed, holding me out at arm's length to look at me. "Would you look at you? Yer glowing."
"Yeah, she's totally radioactive," Harry joked, and I burst into a fit of giggles.
"What is radioactive?" Ron asked. "Is that how muggles describe how she's all blushy and smiley?"
"No Ron," I chuckled as we made our way into the little hut and took seats around the table. "It's a science thing that would take way too long to explain. Harry was just being silly."
"How are yeh all doing?" Hagrid asked as he poured us tea. "Not fightin' anymore are yeh?"
"No, I'm not interested in anymore detention," Harry laughed. "Besides I don't think Malfoy's heart is really in the teasing anymore, sort of takes the fun out of punching him."
"I'm sure what's happening with his family has taken its toll on him," I said, disgusted by the fact that my eyes were tearing up again. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."
"Hey Hagrid, do you have any mushrooms?" Harry asked when he saw that I was starting to cry, and I couldn't help but laugh through the tears that were starting to fall.
"Sure, are yeh hungry?" Hagrid asked, his beard twitching with a smile.
"No, but Hermione is," Harry chuckled. "For mushrooms anyway."
"Cravings?" Hagrid asked as he got up and started rummaging through his cupboards for a can of mushrooms. "Do you know when you're due?"
"July seventh," I told his while I dabbed at the tears that hadn't dried yet with the sleeve of my robes. "Woman rarely deliver on their actual due date though. I'm just glad my due date is after school is out, so I won't have to miss work."
"What are your plans for next year?" Ron asked, seeming to have just realized that I was going to actually have a baby, and it might affect my future.
"We are going to turn the extra room in our quarters into a nursery," I said, feeling all warm and glowy at the idea of setting up the nursery. "And we are hiring one of the house elves to look after the baby while we are both working."
"Are you going to have a nursery at Spinner's End too?" Harry asked, and I was surprised to see that he remembered where our house was.
"Yes, Severus is excited to work on it when we head home tomorrow," I smiled, thinking about the plans that Severus had drawn out for what he wanted to do and had hidden away in the room that would soon become the second nursery.
"This is probably a stupid question," Ron said, his ears turning a bit pink. "But is it safe for you to apparate?"
"There pressure is for such a short period of time that it isn't really something to worry about," I assured him. "That being said, with the way everything seems to be swelling lately, adding more pressure sounds awfully unpleasant, so we'll be taking a portkey."
Ron looked embarrassed by that, so I didn't bother trying to explain that I meant my feet, ankles, and hands. I wasn't sure he wanted to know what I was talking about, and that was fine. I had to remind myself frequently that Ron was fifteen, and young for his age at that. Harry was adapting to the change in our relationship much more rapidly, thought I wondered if it had to do with the influence of Sirius. He was so much happier now that he was living with Sirius, and they seemed to talk often which I assumed effected his easy acceptance of this situation.
We spent an hour more with Hagrid and I did my best not to make a scene with just how much I enjoyed the mushrooms he had scrounged up. We made small talk about what we planned to do over the Christmas break, but other than spending time with loved ones it didn't sound like any of us had big plans. I ended up cutting my visit short when we hit the not so magic hour of five, and my 'morning' sickness came roaring back. I bid them all a good night, and beat a hasty retreat back to my chambers so I could be sick in private.
Severus was waiting for me with a cup of ginger tea, and a promise of stuffed mushrooms if my appetite came back when my stomach settled. When I quirked my brow in a silent question of how he had known what I wanted he told me that Hagrid had sent a quick word up to him shortly after I left his hut. I felt completely ridiculous and half-crazy lately, but I was lucky enough to have a loving husband and great friends who seemed willing to put up with the insanity.
Ch5: Song for this chapter: Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
SPOV
I was more than excited to spend another Christmas with my Hermione, and spending it with her while she was pregnant with my child was more than I could have dreamed of or hoped for. I obviously wasn't allowed to laugh, unless I wanted to be faced with another bout of tears, but watching Hermione try to come up with an answer to the question of what she wanted for Christmas dinner was very funny.
We were nearing the end of the first trimester, so some of the emotional outbursts had faded, but her cravings hadn't. She craved some of the strangest things. A couple days before Christmas she offered to make dinner, but twenty minutes later I found her in the kitchen watching a pot of water boil while she dipped a pickle into peanut butter absentmindedly. She was so lost in her snacking that at first she didn't even notice I was in the kitchen with her.
"What are you eating?" I asked her with a smile as I took up residence on the stool next to hers at the island counter.
"Oh," she gasped, dropping the pickle onto the counter, and jumping out of her seat. "The noodles!"
She grabbed the canister of angel hair pasta off of the counter and put a handful of it into the boiling water. I picked the now contaminated pickle up off the counter and threw it away. When I turned back to my seat I saw her pouting.
"Oh, don't be mad," I chuckled. "It had germs on it."
"That's probably true," she conceded. "And the counters going to have even more germs on it in a minute, I need to start making the meatballs for the spaghetti."
"Do you want help?' I asked her.
"No I want to do this for you," she said with a wave of her hand. "You've been making me all of these great meals, and I want to make you a meal."
"Are you going to eat it with me?" I chuckled, nodding my head at the open jar of peanut butter. "Or are you full up on your very interesting food choice?"
"That was a strange craving wasn't it?" she chuckled before fixing me with a deep stare. "That's not the only thing I've been craving today."
"Oh?" I asked, sucking in a breath at the way her eyes darkened as she drank me in.
"Mmmm," she nodded as she sauntered back around the island to slid in between my legs. "Are you… hungry for anything Severus?"
She didn't actually wait for an answer to her question, instead claiming my lips swiftly. I told her my answer silently by deepening this kiss. She leaned into me, and I felt a swelling of possessiveness when her baby bump pressed into my abdomen. She was 12 weeks along now, and she was starting to show. I loved seeing the ay her sweaters hugged her and the baby. I slid my hands into her hair, and grasped it lightly to pull her more tightly against me.
"Oh," she gasped at me, and I knew why.
I had felt what she had felt. Her stomach was pressed up against me when the baby kicked for the very first time. I brought my hand down to rest over where the baby had just kicked, and Hermione placed hands over mine. All thought of what we had just been doing was forgotten at the realization that our baby was kicking.
"Did you feel that?" Hermione gushed. "Oh my gosh, did you feel that?"
"I felt that," I confirmed, running my thumb gently over the spot where I had felt it.
"Well, its official it's really our baby," she chuckled.
"Was there a question as to whether it was our baby?" I laughed.
"Well no," she said. "But now we know for sure. Since our baby is clearly an over achiever."
"Is that so?" I asked, realizing that I obviously needed to start reading the pregnancy book Hermione had left on my bedside table.
"Well according to what I've read, we shouldn't be able to feel the baby kick until I'm eighteen weeks along," she explained. "But with you as a father, and me as a mother, I guess it would make sense that he or she would learn how to kick early."
I was distracting from what I was going to say by the sound of the pasta water boiling over onto the stove. I gently moved Hermione to the side, and hurried over to the stove to take care of the forgotten dinner. I knew as soon as I picked the noodle pot up from the burner hat all hope for the spaghetti was lost. The noodles were burned to the bottom of the pan.
"How about I make us some sandwiches," I suggested as I tossed out the noodles.
"Okay," she pouted. "I'll make you dinner tomorrow. I promise."
-`-'-
We enjoyed a very laidback Christmas together. We slept in, and did a modified version of yoga designed to accommodate a pregnant body, before we opened our present. She had gotten me a tool belt as well as the tools to go with it. I was very excited to use them while working on the nursery here at Spinner's End. I had taken a page out of her book and gotten her a gift certificate for a full body massage, as well as a basket of comforts like a new fluffy robe, slippers, and lotions. Basically all of the things I thought would brighten her mood on her more difficult days.
We spent the day together cuddled up in front of the fire. I read to her, and she read to me. We were debating which stories we wanted to reach to our baby, and we were sampling different stories. I was torn between muggle fairy tales versus wizarding fairy tales, whereas Hermione was struggling with the idea that all of the fairy tales where about men rescuing women, none of them portraying a female hero.
We snacked on fruits and vegetables throughout the day, and then made a Christmas dinner of pot roast together in the evening. All in all it was a quiet and reserved day, but it was enjoyable. By the time we went to bed we were both tired and we cuddled together under the covers and fell asleep straight away.
-`-'-
-`-'-
HPOV
I woke up at three in the morning on boing day after a particularly exciting dream which left me frustrated on a level that left me groaning into my pillow. I tried to be quiet, because I knew Severus was still sleeping, but the second my muffled groan disturbed the silence of the room his arms constricted around me.
"You okay?" he mumbled sleepily into my back.
"Yeah," I assured him breathily. "Go back to sleep babe."
He hummed in quiet assent, and I heard his breathing start to even back out. I took deep breaths of my own trying to will my body into being tired once more. I wasn't having any success though, so I tried to relief my frustration without waking Severus once more by shifting my thighs back and forth attempting to get a little friction without jostling my husband.
"Baby?" he asked, his voice sounding a little more awake, but still fairly tired.
I bit my lip to keep from whimpering at him, and as much as I didn't want to, I stilled my legs and lay still.
"Yes?" I asked, my voice betraying me with its breathy quality.
"Can't sleep?" he asked pulling himself flush against my back, unknowingly making my situation that much worse.
"Mmmm, just woke up early," I sighed relishing the feel of his body pressed against mine even if it was only going to add to my dilemma. "I'm sure I'll fall back asleep soon."
Whether it was a conscious decision or not he rubbed his hand over the bottom of my baby bump, and his hand brushed so closely to another area that I was unable to bite back to groan that climbed up my throat. I felt the shiver that rolled through him in response to the sound, and I was fairly sure he ha figured out what was keeping me awake this morning.
"I can help you," he whispered into my shoulder as he drug his hand down from my abdomen to my knee, and pulled my leg back and over his hip drawing a shaky breath from my chest.
When my leg was hitched over his he pushed my night gown up to my hips and slid his skilled hands under the hem of my underwear. My hitched breathing was drowned out by his throaty groan when he discovered just how aroused I already was.
"No wonder you couldn't sleep," he breathed in surprise, and I felt a certain part of him stir as he started rubbing circles into my already swollen bundle of nerves.
I leaned my head back on his shoulder, struggling to draw an unhitched breath as he continued his ministrations and I rocked my hips against him. He began pumping his fingers rhythmically with my thrusts, and I was consumed with mewls that left little to the imagination as to how good I was feeling.
"I'd like to try from this position if you are interested," he said huskily as he nipped at my ear.
I nodded eagerly, pushing my underwear off hastily. He slid my leg off of his hip for a moment so he could remove his boxers, but then he returned my leg to where it had been. He guided himself into me and I cried out at the sensation of him filling me so completely from this angle. I rolled my hips back toward him and he groaned into my shoulder as he began to thrust slowly.
He brought his fingers back into the equation and I felt so good that I was unable to stop myself from rocking back toward him with increasing speed as I raced towards the precipice of my release at a surprising pace.
"Merlin Hermione," he gasped as my muscles clamped down on him and I kept riding him through my orgasm.
He kept up his slow almost methodical thrusting, and my muscles almost immediately began the fluttering that signaled I was close once more. I reached behind me and tangled my fingers tightly in his hair, unwilling to let go of him as he drove me over the edge once more.
"Oh Severus, oh God," I chanted as I tried to force him to increase his speed with the pressure of my hips. "Come with me please."
I know he heard me begging, but he didn't comply. Instead he slid his other arm under my ribs so he could massage my breasts while he continued to send waves of pleasure rolling through me with his hands and his manhood. I bucked against him, crying out again and again as he brought me once more into that blinding sensation of absolute pleasure for a third time.
"Hermione, I'm close," he growled into my hair as I continued rocking my hips against him through the spasming of my inner muscles.
"Please, please," I begged him as I panted and writhed, a hot mess in his arms.
He began to move with more speed, and as I was hit with a blinding orgasm that left me on the verge of losing consciousness. This time he tumbled over the edge with me, and his primal cry of pleasure touched me in places he was physically incapable of reaching.
"Oh my God," I panted as his stilled against me. "Severus, that was so…"
"Perfect," he said when I trailed off without answering. "Sleep now my love."
I heard what he said, and I listened. I lowered my leg off of his, and lay curled up in his embrace until I drifted back to sleep.
-`-'-
Severus had awakened a monster in me by responding to my desires. The emotional outbursts were gone, but they were replaced by an insatiable libido. I had a hard time leaving him alone to make the changes to his old childhood bedroom that he was so excited about. I was excited to, but lately I was so wrapped up in my urges that whether or not the baby had a crib right now was not a priority for me.
I did my best not to interrupt him while he was building or adjusting furniture, and to not be angry when I was banned from being in the room while he was painting. Logically I understood that he was worried about paint fumes making me or the baby sick, but my hormones were angry and sexually frustrated. I found myself spending a lot of time alone in the shower trying to deal with my little problem while Severus was busy.
"Hey, I want to try something," Severus said with a beaming smile over dinner.
"What do you want to try?" I asked, my heart rate increasing immediately as I tried to guess which position he would want to try tonight.
"I was reading in the pregnancy book that in the fifteenth week the baby can see light," he said, and my heart sunk when I realized this had nothing to do with what I thought it did. "Tomorrow marks the beginning of the fourteenth week, but since the baby kicked early, I thought maybe the light thing would be early too. Do you want to try it?"
"Sure," I agreed, setting my fork down and turning my chair out so my stomach wasn't hidden by the table.
He came around the table with that huge smile still on his face, and I tried to feel the excitement he was feeling. My brain was so wrapped up in sexuality that I was missing out on his excitement and it was frustrating to me. He lit the tip of his wand and moved it around in in a swirling line over my abdomen.
"Any movement?" he asked looking up to my face.
"No, I didn't feel anything," I said quietly, knowing his face would fall.
"That's okay, it was early anyway," he said, quickly schooling any disappointment out of his features.
He caressed my baby bump his features relaxing into a happy smile once more, and I was so in love with him. Frustrated that he didn't seem to be attracted to me lately, but in love with him. He kneeled on the floor in front of me and whispered secrets to our baby. I knew it didn't matter to him that the baby couldn't hear him yet. These secrets were for him. He felt connect to the baby by talking to it, and I could understand that. I felt connected to the baby when I talked to it too, or what I wrapped my arms around my belly. It was a simple thing.
We finished our dinner and while Severus cleaned up the kitchen I went to take a shower and get ready for bed. I looked at my body in the mirror when I pulled off my clothes, and for the first time in a couple weeks I felt those stupid tears building up in my eyes. I was getting big, and today I didn't feel very good about it. I slid into the shower so the sound of the water would cover the sound if I ended up bursting into tears. I found myself wondering if my size was the reason that Severus wasn't as interested in sex as I was. I washed my hair while I cried over the idea that perhaps my husband wasn't attracted to me right now. I cried more when I realized I didn't think I was very attractive right now.
I cried myself out in the shower, and then I dressed in a baggy pair of sweats and a sweatshirt before burrowing into the bed where Severus was already sitting, reading the pregnancy book. He looked so studious propped up against the headboard, flipping through his book. I offered him a weak smile, that he didn't see because he was wrapped up in his book, and the I buried my face in the pillows and tried to fall asleep.
I heard the sound of the book being set down, and I felt his hand run down my arm. I suppressed a shiver, and told him I loved him before pulling the blankets a little tighter around my chest. He started running his fingers through my hair, and I sighed at the sensation of it sinking further into the bed. I simultaneously relaxed, and stiffened as my emotions started to bubble up again, as he played with my hair and trailed his fingers over my arm and my back. I could hear his breathing getting louder, and for some reason that made me want to cry.
"It okay Severus," I said thickly, my throat tightening as I pulled the blanket all the way up to my chin. "You don't have to pretend that you are attracted to me right now."
"Whose pretending?" he said his voice sounding shocked as he gently pulled my hips backward to meet his causing me to feel his excitement.
"That's a natural reaction to doing intimate things," I sighed, tears leaking quietly from my eyes. "That doesn't mean I don't look completely disgusting right now."
"Hermione," he tutted trying to wrap his arms firmly around me while I was trying to roll away from him. "You are beautiful."
"I'm fat," I groaned. "And puffy and I don't know, just not pretty. So you don't have to pretend you want to have sex with me. We can just go to sleep."
"If you really want to go to sleep, then we can go to sleep," he told me pulling me tight against his chest. "But you should know that I don't think any of those things about you. I think you are beautiful, gorgeous even."
I burst into tears and he turned me gently so I could burry my face in his chest, and he could wrap his arms tightly around me. He rubbed my back soothingly and I cried myself to sleep in his arms. All in all, it wasn't the best night of our Christmas break, and I couldn't have been more ready to return to the school tomorrow. I was ready to be distracted by work if I was going to be feeling this way for much longer.
-`-'-
I put extra effort into my appearance when we returned to the castle. It made me feel better about myself, and how rapidly I was gaining weight now. I knew from the beginning I would get bigger, but during the first trimester I had actually lost some weight due to all of the morning sickness. So the rapid weight gain did catch me a bit off guard.
I didn't bring it up with Poppy when we went in for our next exam partly because it was normal to gain weight, and partly because Severus and I were both so excited to find out what the gender of our baby. I changed into a dressing gown once more, and slid into the bed ready for yet another exam, expelling a soft giggle when the baby started fluttering about.
"Someone's excited," I told Severus, rubbing my stomach. "The baby is moving like crazy."
"Are you ready to be able to say he or she?" Poppy said as she came around to join us.
"Yes," Severus said, offering her one of the rare smiles that anyone other than me rarely saw.
I adjusted the blankets for her, and she cast the spell that allowed us to see the baby silently. Today's visit wasn't about teaching me anything. The sound of our baby's heartbeat filled the air around us, and suddenly the air above my stomach was filled with the partially transparent view of our tiny baby. The baby was just slightly larger than an avocado, and was squirming around a bit like an uncomfortable sleeper while we watched.
"Everything is developing nicely," Poppy assured us. "See how the little toes are becoming defined now?"
We both nodded, watching enthusiastically as our baby raised its tiny hand up to hold onto its face.
"Any if you look here," she said with a smile pointing between the baby's legs. "You'll see that you are having a little girl."
I suddenly felt like I was seeing our baby in an entirely different light. Suddenly everything just seemed so… pink. I was picturing her in dresses, brushing her hair, playing with dolls. A baby girl! I was so excited. I looked up at Severus to see if he was excited too, and saw him staring at our baby like it was the first time he was seeing magic.
"We're having a daughter," I gushed and he turned his head to smile at me.
"A baby girl," he beamed. "She's going to be beautiful just like her mother."
I felt my eyes prick at that, but I blinked back the tears and pressed his hand against my cheek, enjoying another perfect moment with my husband. We talked with Poppy about how the pregnancy was progressing, and finished the checkup. Everything was progressing well so we enjoyed the time watching our baby girl roll about inside of my womb.
-`-'-
January turned into February, and I just kept getting bigger. I stopped spending as much time with Harry and Ron, because the thought of dragging my rapidly growing body up to the seventh floor became less and less appealing as time went on. When February turned into march, I started to feel even more sluggish.
I started spending more time in the nursery here at the castle as my nesting instincts kicked into over drive. I was using a book called Transfiguration for the Home since building things wasn't exactly my forte. I had transfigured little wooden blocks into all of the furniture our little girl would need when she got here.
Lately I was focusing on the walls. I wasn't painting them since Severus and I were both concerned about paint fumes, especially in the dungeons where there wasn't a lot of ventilation to begin with. Instead I was using pastel crayons to draw a fairy tale kingdom on her walls. I wasn't the world's greatest artist, but the castle surrounded by a flowering forest looked pretty good to me.
Severus helped me by filling in the sky and the grass in places I couldn't reach as my mobility started to dwindle. During the hours we spent together personalizing our baby girl's room, we talked about all sorts of things. One of our more common topics was baby names.
"What do you think about Elizabeth?" I asked reaching down to swap a pink pastel for a purple. "Ow."
I stood up with a gasp, my hand going instinctively to the right side of my stomach where I had felt a pinching pain.
"Are you okay?" Severus asked hurrying to my side.
"Um, I think so," I said taking a deep breath to steady myself. "It just hurt when I bent over."
"Is it still hurting?" he asked, placing his hand over mine on my stomach.
"No, I think I'm fine now," I said offering him a smile in an attempt to sooth both of our nerves. "Maybe I should be done for the night though."
"That's a good idea," he said, shuffling me out of the room in front of him. "Why don't we sit down for a while?"
We snuggled up on the couch together. I nuzzled into Severus's shoulder, and absentmindedly rubbed my side where I had felt the pain.
"What do you think about Elizabeth," Severus asked, leaning his head in a way that alerted me to the fact that he was talking to the baby.
"I think she likes it," I said as she started kicking. "She's sure kicking up a storm in there."
Then I stifled a wince when one of her kicks hit on my right side and another spike of pain hit me.
"I like the name Elizabeth," Severus nodded, seeming not to have noticed my wince.
"We could call her Ellie for short," I beamed at him, trying to ignore the pain that seemed to be pulsing in my side with each kick from the baby.
I felt a particularly strong wave of pain in my side, and I lurched forward cradling my stomach wincing again.
"Is it still hurting Hermione?" Severus asked, his voice laced with concern, as he reached forward to grab me. "You feel a little feverish."
"Yeah," I panted when the cramp like pain didn't pass. "I think maybe we should go see Poppy."
"Okay," he agreed readily, helping me up off the couch with a light touch. "Let me just go grab our shoes."
He hurried off into the bedroom to grab our shoes, and I stood by the couch, rubbing my stomach trying to stay calm. I could still feel the baby moving around, and I hoped that was a good sign. Severus set my shoes at my feet, and I slid them on without bending down, wary of eliciting that sharp pain again.
Once I had my shoes on, Severus took my hand, and we calmly walked out of our chambers. I was feeling stressed out enough that I would have liked to have run up to the hospital wing, but I was worried that would make the situation worse. Not to mention, with it being just a couple weeks until I started my third trimester I was getting too big for running.
We reached the hospital wing soon enough, and Poppy was quite surprised to see us. She had been in the process of turning out all of the lamps when she saw us enter the ward, and she bustled right over.
"What brings the two of you here this time of night?" she asked as she stopped in front of us.
"I'm having pains in my right side," I told her, trying not to sound like I was freaking out. "We were concerned."
"Well I'm glad you came to see me," she said motioning for us to follow her to the bed in the back corner that she was keeping the partitions around indefinitely. "We'll check everything out and make sure Mom and the baby are both okay."
I hurried through changing into the dressing gown, needing Severus to help this time when the pain in my side made me want to curl up into a ball. Once the gown was in place he helped me to climb into the bed. This time he paced back and forth beside the bed while we waited for Poppy to return, and I realized he was just as freaked out as I was.
"Stand still Severus," Poppy chided when she joined us with her rolling cart. "You aren't helping with keeping Hermione calm acting like that."
He nodded his head, and came to stand stoically at my side, offering me his hand. I rubbed my fingers over his knuckles, knowing he was stressing out just as much as me, and trying to comfort him.
"Now, is the pain localized to just your right side?" she asked as she lifted up the gown and began to gently palpate my abdomen.
"Yes," I winced when she pushed on my right, just above where my appendix would be if I still had one.
"Hmm," she said with a quirked brow as she moved her fingers around the area pressing gently.
She took a breath like she was about to say something else, but I didn't hear her. I turned awkwardly to the side, and threw up over the side of the bed. I was embarrassed, and I immediately started apologizing but Severus simply drew his wand and vanished the mess.
"Okay Hermione, I'm going to need you to lie still for me okay," Poppy said firmly, drawing my attention back to her.
I lay back on the bed, praying that I wouldn't be hit with another wave of nausea. Poppy moved swiftly to push my gown up to just under my breasts, and pull down the blanket to under the swell of my belly. She cast a spell silently, and I watched in fascination as the skin of my stomach turned transparent. I also breathed a shaky sigh of relief when I felt my entire abdomen go numb. The pain stopped, and I could think clearly for the first time since the initial moment of pain in the nursery.
I could see my swollen uterus from my position laying on the bed, but I couldn't see much else. Severus could apparently see something else though, because his face constricted in confusion and what looked like fear, before his features smoothed out, and he turned his head to look back at me. He smoothed out the crinkle in my brow with his thumb and then he turned his gaze back to Poppy.
"Okay, we have a bit of a situation, but it's nothing to get too upset about Poppy," Poppy said calmly from her position on the other side of the bed. "You appear to have developed an ovarian cyst over the course of the last few weeks, and this evening it burst."
I let out a shaky breath, attempting to take in what she was saying without panicking. Severus squeezed my hand reassuringly, waiting for the rest of what Poppy had to say.
"There is a risk of infection from the fluids that were expelled by the rupture of the cyst," she continued. "But we'll have you take a potion for that and your body will absorb the fluids. Also, a mild analgesic to help with the pain that will likely return when I remove the spell."
"The baby?" I asked, not sure how to word my fear of how each thing she had said, and everything that had just happened might affect our daughter.
"She should be fine," Poppy assured me. "I want to check on you every day for the rest of the week to be certain everything is healing alright, but with a little rest, and well applied potions, you should both be just fine."
I relaxed, and I saw Severus's shoulders drop as the stress bled out of him as well. Poppy bustled off most likely to get the potions she had mentioned I tugged on Severus's hand and he kneeled down so he could lay his head on my shoulder. I breathed in his musky cologne, calming myself further, until Poppy came back.
"I want you on bed rest for the rest of the week," Poppy said as she handed the two potion vials to me. "I will visit you in your chambers to check in, so you don't have to get out of bed to come see me."
I took the potions in quick succession, screwing my face up against the bitter taste. Poppy removed the spell, and my abdomen turned opaque once more. I was relieved to feel that the pain potion had already taken effect, and the pain from before didn't return.
"Severus, if you would carry her when the two of you go back to your quarters," Poppy said as she collected the potion vials onto her rolling cart of supplies. "I want her to stay off of her feet for the rest of the night."
Severus nodded in compliance, and stooped to scoop me up. Which I was surprised he could still do it with how big I had gotten.
"And send for me immediately if the pain returns," Poppy said sternly. "Or if you show any symptoms of infection or hemorrhage. You know what those signs are right?"
I nodded my head, mentally ticking off all of the signs I would need to keep an eye out for.
"Okay then," she said with a sad smile. "Try to get some rest."
Severus swept us out of the room without another word.
"So what are the symptoms I should be keeping an eye out for," he asked me as he moved through the corridor with me.
"Nausea, dizziness, fever," I listed off for him. "Those sorts of things, but I'll keep my eye out for them too."
"I just want you to rest," he said firmly as he shifted my weight so he could push a tapestry out of the way to take me through one of the many secret passages in the school. "That really scared me Hermione."
"Me too," I told him honestly and solemnly. "Me too."
"You really didn't feel any pain before today?" he asked me as we descended into a dungeon hallway.
"No, I felt fine," I assured him. "Until I didn't."
"I must admit I don't know anything about ovarian cysts," he sighed as he maneuvered us around so he could engage the ward that would open our chambers. "But I don't like them one bit."
"Neither do I," I sighed as he lowered me gently onto our bed. "They aren't any fun that much is for sure."
He climbed into bed with me, after pulling off his shoes and then mine. We snuggled together, and even though we were both fully clothed I fell quickly to sleep. I was still feeling pretty overwhelmed, but there was something about being wrapped up in his comforting embrace that soothed me.
