Dedicated to 'checkered squares'
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recongnise from the Harry Potter series.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She opened her eyes, glad that curtains were closed and blocking the morning sun. Looking down she smiled seeing the masculine arm wrapped around her stomach possessively. Moving her gaze up the arm she turned to look at her husband. His angular, rugged appearance, with predominant nose, thin lips, black hair falling to his shoulders and in his eyes which, she remembered, were so black it was like looking into a bottomless pit. She reached up to move her husbands' hair out of his eyes when she started feeling nauseous. Making the usual morning trip to that bathroom she threw up what was left over from last nights' meal. So far, she was able to convince her husband that it was just a virus but wasn't sure how long she could keep it up. Putting her hands on her stomach she thought about what his reaction might be to her telling him that they were going to have a baby. They had never really discussed having a family before because of the whole Voldemort verse Harry war and anyone and everyone being in danger…especially them. Him being a spy for the order and her, one of the best friends of The-Boy-Who-Refused-To-Die, a mudblood and one of the brightest people of her time - Hermione Granger, now Hermione Snape. Yet somehow they had found each other, fell in love and survived the war to tell future generations the tale of the downfall of Voldemort, the most evil wizard since Grindelwald.
While Hermione was reminiscing, she failed to notice the dark figure coming toward her from the bedroom till he was standing right in front of her. Kneeling down on the cold, bathroom floor, so that he was face-to-face with her, he lifted her chin so she was looking into the dark, bottomless eyes. She tried to stop the tears from falling but found she could not. He sighed, and then lifted her into his arms. Hermione sobbed into the crook between his neck and shoulder while her husband carried her back to their bed. They lay on the bed for what seemed like hours, Hermione sobbing into her husbands' chest while he ran his hand up and down her back in a comforting motion.
Severus Snape was not known as a gentle or caring man. The few that did know him well enough knew that he only showed emotion on a rare occurrence and only then when he was feeling an extreme emotion. However, when dealing with the love of his life he was a very different man than what most people saw. Only when they were alone did he show all emotion that he was capable of and held nothing back and when in company, if you looked closely enough, you would be able to see the love in his eyes when he looked at her.
Seeing her like this made Severus very uneasy. He had tried to figure out what was wrong with her. She had been throwing up for the past three weeks, had sore breasts and didn't have a lot of strength. She had tried to tell him that it was just a common virus but Severus didn't believe it anymore. Hermione had stopped sobbing now and was just relaxing against Severus. Suddenly, Severus sat up, resulting in Hermione almost falling off the bed. He looked at her, horror written all over his face. Hermione realised he had worked out what was wrong with her. She looked down to her hands residing in her lap in shame. She stayed like that till she heard a small sniffle, almost so soft that she barely heard it. Looking behind her she saw her husband with tears falling down his cheeks. She was confused. He pulled her to him and planted kisses all over her face while the tears still fell. She pulled back and asked him what was wrong. Slowly, he choked out "You…you…h.have…c.cancer." and pulled her to him again. She took his head and looked him in the eye. Placing a hand on his cheek Hermione told him in a soft voice "sweetie, I don't have cancer". Shaking his head, Severus told her that all the symptoms she had were symptoms of Breast Cancer. Taking a deep breath she said to Severus, "Sev, I don't have Breast Cancer. There is another reason I have all of those symptoms. Sev, I'm pregnant."
Severus Snape then did something much unexpected, even to his wife. He jumped off the bed, picked her up and swung her around with a 20 watt smile plastered on his face. He was ecstatic. He would finally have a family he always wanted but was still confused. Placing Hermione back onto her feet he gave her a questioning look and asked why she was crying if they were having a baby. She shook saying that it didn't matter but Severus was persistent until she finally gave in. "I was worried. Worried that you didn't want to have a baby and would leave me." He chuckled and told her "Of course I want a family, especially with you. I love you so much and I would never leave you. Please, never doubt my love for you again." Wrapping his arms around her, Severus gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, then kneeled down kissed her stomach and dragged her back to bed.
