[B]Author's Note:[/B] I do not, in any way, claim to own anything of JK Rowling's. No copyright infringement intended.

[I][CENTER]Tell her not to go.

I ain't holding on no more

Tell her something in my mind

Freezes up from time to time

Tell her not to cry.[/I][/CENTER]

[I]Tell Her This[/I], Del Amitri

Prologue

She mumbled something indistinct. He strained his ears to hear her and grew frustrated when he couldn't make out exactly what she was saying.

"Speak up, Granger!"

A slight flush began to creep up in her twenty-two year old cheeks as she blurted, "I'mpregnant!"

Still unable to understand her, his eyes widened. "Slow down and speak clearly. I haven't got all day!"

"I'm pregnant."

He froze mid-word. He set down his quill and looked up in her brown eyes, his black ones dilating by the second. "What?"

"You heard me."

"No. That's not possible. It…no."

Hermione Granger looked into her former professor's pale face. "I don't have a sick sense of humor, Severus. This is for real."

He stood up, his hands still on the desk. "But…we used a contraceptive. Didn't we?"

"We were under the influence of alcohol. Who knows what actually happened?" Hermione stated.

Severus Snape began to pace back and forth behind his desk. He clenched and unclenched his hands, and there was a hint of panic in his voice when he demanded, "Are you sure it's mine?"

"Of course. The only other time I've…you know…was far too long ago to be three months into a pregnancy," Hermione replied.

He looked up at her. She was right, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Harry and Ginny Potter's wedding had been three months and four days ago.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked, regaining strength in her voice, now that she had told him. Just as he opened his mouth to reply, she added, "Well, I should ask, what are you going to do? I'm keeping this baby. It's your decision whether or not you want to be more of a father than you already have been."

He looked at her, speechless. He was having a baby, with a girl who could be his daughter. Hell, he should be more worried about the friends of the impregnated girl. The age difference was the least of his worries. He held his head and sighed deeply. "Why aren't you panicking? Isn't that an irritating habit of yours?"

"Believe me, I was a wreck last night. I came to terms with it," Hermione responded calmly.

"It might take me a little bit longer to come to terms with it than it did you," Severus snapped.

"I wasn't accusing you of anything! I just thought you should know, since, you know, you're going to be a father, sometime within the next six months!" Hermione yelled.

"And whose fault is that?!" He snapped his head to face her and his eyes narrowed and focused on hers.

"Oh no, you are NOT going to play the blame game with me, Severus Snape! We are equally guilty, and you know it! I was a little intoxicated, and you weren't exactly sober yourself! It's not as if you pushed me away, either!" Hermione stepped up into his face.

"My purpose in telling you this is to give you a chance to have an active role in your child's life! Not to tell you exactly where you went wrong! Clearly, you don't want anything to do with me or your child. I'm done here."

Hermione turned on her heel and Apparated away, just as he was moving to tell her to stop. He let out a frustrated grunt and slumped down in his chair. What a mistake he had made, letting his guard down around that girl for one second.

[B]A/N: Hi, all! So this is my first Hermione/Severus fic. Please don't hate me! I'm planning to take this nice and slow, so as to keep them in character. It's obviously AU, just a bit. =) A nice review would be helpful and motivating. [/B]