:::Chapter 1:::
St. Leonard's
The piercing screams coming from behind the third door to the right set his
teeth on edge. Every fiber of his being longed to kick down said door to get
to the woman inside, and hex anyone who got in his way.
For the last five hours, Severus Snape had been nervously pacing the east
corridor of the third floor at St. Leonard's Hospital. Irritation had given
way to anger, and then outright fury at the repeated refusals of the staff
to allow him to be with his wife.
Bollocks! He didn't even know why she was here! The pregnancy had progressed
normally, and they had arranged for Madam Pomfrey to attend Hermione as
midwife when the time came. So what in Merlin's name had happened that she
had to be transported all the way to York?
Still in his teaching garb, he stalked toward the healer who had just exited
Hermione's room, black robes billowing menacingly around him. He was through
with diplomacy. He wanted answers.
She was standing at the information desk making notes on a chart. Upon
seeing him, she gruffly stated, "Professor Snape, nothing has changed. You
are still forbidden entrance while the healers are working."
Snape glared while placing his hands on the desk, one on either side of the
now-startled witch. He leaned in, gaining her undivided attention. She felt
a slight tingling in her head as he searched her eyes.
"Tell me," he began silkily, "who is in charge of this debauchery." Suddenly
he could see flashes of his wife's room. Healers and mediwitches were
swarming around the bed, expressions of grim determination on their faces.
And there, on the bed…
Hermione was as pale as the sheets she lay on. Sweat dampened her face, and
her hair, though normally unmanageable, was now completely matted on the
pillow. Focusing once more on the healers, one face stood out from the
group; one he recognised.
Severus released his mental hold on the witch and drew his wand. He swooped
down the corridor, Stunning the wizard who stood guard at the door. Stepping
over the body, he slammed open the door.
"MALFOY!" he bellowed. Like the parting of the Red Sea, mediwitches
scrambled to get out of his way as Severus marched up to the healer standing
over his wife.
The blond man stiffened in surprise, but recovered quickly to regain his
father's trademark haughtiness.
"Professor Snape, I wondered how long it would be before you'd come bursting
in here like the flightless bat you are." Draco smirked up at his former
Potions professor.
Severus' eyes narrowed and his voice dropped to barely above a whisper.
"Spare me the worthless small talk, Malfoy, and give me the prognosis on my
wife." His eyebrow quirked upward. "Unless you prefer life as a ferret?"
Draco's composure was shaken once more. "Well, now. No need to get personal
here, Sir. She's doing fine, but the labor is progressing.a bit slower than
we'd like. We may end up having to take the baby." He looked away from
Severus and down at the floor.
The color began to drain from the Potions Master's face. "What.are you on
about, Draco? Explain yourself."
The healer took a deep breath. "There is a new procedure, based on something
the Muggles call a 'C-Section'. It means to surgically remove the baby from
the mother's uterus."
Severus dropped to sit on the bed beside Hermione. Taking her hand, he
procured a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped the perspiration
from her face. She smiled weakly up at him. "I'm ready to have this baby,
Severus. Whatever it takes. I don't care anymore." Reaching up a shaky hand
to caress his jaw, she added, "I trust him. Let him do what he must."
A long silence ensued as Severus weighed the risks. Finally he gripped
Hermione's hand tightly and leant down to kiss the tip of her nose. "I'll
not leave you alone for a moment, love." Turning to look up at Draco, he
nodded his assent.
----------------------
True to his word, Severus never left Hermione's side as the mediwitches
prepared for the surgery. They lowered the head of her bed down to prone
position and replaced her bedding with sterilized drapes. Severus was made
to don surgical robes, and both the Snapes were given less-than-fashionable
bonnets to cover their hair.
Draco was similarly garbed, and held his hands up for his assistant, who
muttered "Expurgo!" while pointing her wand at each of them. She did the
same for Draco's wand.
"Shall we?" From behind his surgical mask, Draco smiled reassuringly at the
couple. He watched as Hermione gripped Severus' hand with both of her
trembling ones. "Alright. First I'm going to have you roll over on your
side, away from me. If you feel a contraction coming."
Hermione began to moan loudly. "I guess that answers that," Draco quipped.
"We'll just wait until this one subsides before we continue."
Until now, Severus never realized just how much strength his wife could
muster. But as he felt the very bones in his hand being crushed into dust,
there was no doubt left in his mind. His face twisted nearly as grotesquely
as hers, and even a roomful of Jarveys could not hold a candle to the
colorful obscenities that were spewed for the next twenty-five seconds.
After the ruckus died down, one of the mediwitches helped Hermione ease onto
her side while Severus turned away to tend to his throbbing hand. Draco
touched his wand tip to a spot at the lower curve of her spine.
"Obtorpesco."
Nearly immediately, Hermione felt a cool sensation trickle down her back and
into her legs, then.nothing.
"Oh, Merlin, why couldn't I have had this ages ago?" she sighed, rolling
over onto her back again. A look of bliss graced her otherwise exhausted
features, and she waved vaguely at Draco. "Carry on, my good man," she
giggled. Severus quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Well. Alright then." Draco drew back the drapes covering Hermione's
midsection and performed another cleansing charm on the area. Upon choosing
the spot for the first incision, he muttered, "Sectumsempra."
Severus turned ghostly white and leapt to his feet, knocking his chair over
with a loud clatter. Draco looked up in surprise, then grinned. "Calm
yourself, Professor. I have you and Harry Potter to thank for this spell,
but believe me when I tell you that I would never have used it for this
purpose had I not been able to control its effects."
Sure enough, Draco had incised a neat fifteen centimeter opening just below
Hermione's bellybutton, and the bleeding had been kept to a surprising
minimum. Two more incisions were made before he set his wand aside and
reached in, gently lifting out what looked like a slimy Mandrake in
desperate need of repotting. Snape recoiled, lip curled in disgust, but
Hermione cooed, "Oh, look, Severus! It's our baby! Isn't she beautiful?"
It took every ounce of control Draco had to keep from laughing at the man.
"Yes. Congratulations, Professor and Madam Snape. It is indeed a bouncing
baby girl." He indicated his wand with a nod of his head. "Would you like to
do the honors and cut the cord, sir?"
"I'll do no such thing, Malfoy," Severus shuddered. But Hermione stuck out
her lip, pouting up at her husband.
"Come on, darling. I promise she won't bite."
"Absolutely not."
Draco smirked and said with an overly dramatic air of nonchalance, "That's
quite alright, Professor. Most new fathers jump at the chance to help in
delivering their children, but there are some who just don't have the
fortitude. I'm sure Hermione will understand eventually."
Severus growled and snatched up Draco's wand, aiming it at the indicated
spot on the umbilical cord. "Diffindo!" Pointing it next at Draco, he
threatened in his most ominous tone, "Don't. Call. Me. Coward." Satisfied at
seeing the healer's eyes widen with fear, Severus tossed the wand back on
the tray and stalked out of the room, ripping the surgical robes off as he
went.
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Harry and Ron, with their wives (Ron with his children) were walking down the corridor of St. Leonard's just as Severus was storming from the room.
Ron looked at his friend. "Wow. Just like old times, eh mate?" he asked. Harry just nodded in amazement.
"And to think - Hermione, bookworm Hermione, married the old bat," he said in awe.
"Yeah, it's hard to remember how that came to be..." Ron answered. He looked at Lavender, who was just standing there grinning.
"I knew I was right. Hermione should have married Neville," Lavender stated. It took all the energy Harry and Ron had to stifle the laugh that was begging to be let loose.
"Love, you have to be kidding me. Hermione snogging Neville?" Ron snorted.
"I don't even want to imagine it!" Ginny cried. She was laughing so hard she could hardly stand.
After everyone had sobered a bit, they started for the Reception desk. Harry rang the bell. The receptionist did not turn around. Instead, she said something quite snarky.
"If you want to invade my thoughts, sir, you will have to find a different time. I am quite busy and I do not have time for violent husbands who are so preoccupied that they have to take out their nervousness on someone who isn't even doing anything to them," she snarled. She whirled around. "Oh. Oh, my. Merlin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you...I thought you were someone else," the receptionist apologized.
"Er...okay. We're looking for a Mrs. Hermione Snape?" Harry said, dumbfounded and scared at the same time.
"Right over there." the receptionist pointed. A door was open and surgical robes lay on the floor.
"Thanks." Harry said, turning toward the indicated door.
"Well that was obvious, wasn't it? Why didn't we look for Snape?" Ron asked.
"Because we're complete idiots striving to bring attention to ourselves," Ginny insulted.
After Lavender and Ron placed their children in the chairs outside the room, the group filed in.
"Hermione?" Ron whispered. The curtain was closed, and they could only see a shadow of a wizard. They all jumped back in surprise when the curtain was swung open and Draco Malfoy's head stuck out.
"What are you doing in here? Didn't the receptionist say that there was surgery going on in here? Well, I'll have to talk to the head Mediwitch up here...Out, all of you, out!" Draco shouted at the group.
"Sorry, Malfoy. Didn't know," Ginny spat. "You didn't have to be all snarky about it. Merlin, sometimes I wonder if you're related to Snape," she continued.
"Out!" Malfoy scolded. "I have a patient under sedation and I need to get back to dealing with her. Okay? Out!" he ordered. Casting a Banishing Charm at them, he didn't bother to watch as the group of friends flew one by one out of the room and into the waiting area.
A/N: Well ... This has been quite interesting. I'm continuing, but, unfortunately ... my betareader, Kimberly, has decided that she doesn't have the time to continue beta'ing for me. Sophie, on the other hand, who beta's nearly all my works, except for A Whole New World and His Magic Charm (which hasn't been posted yet), both of which she shares betareading with Sarah on. If that made any sense. I'm sorry for the delay, but, luckily ... I'm up to chapter four!!! -Kat