Getting back to Hogwarts always made Snape feel a little better. Just as it did in his school days when he boarded the school train with jubilation, having left his arguing parents for a short time at least. Despite his unsatisfactory condition and hopeless outlook, he couldn't feel unhappy being back at Hogwarts in the late summer, seeing the trees shake in the chilled wind, the giant squid moving just above the surface. He would spend the week before students arrived enjoying the quiet castle as much as possible by cleaning his classrooms and making his office and bedroom his own again. As Snape didn't bring many personal belongs with him, save for a few books, his owl and personal cauldron, unpacking took only a few moments. He would cast a spell on his mattress to make it full of volume and feel more comfortable. Depending on how he felt that year, he would use his wand to make the walls of his personal room a new color. This year, he decided upon a sort of saturated plum, which while making the room seem to cave in around his belongings, did make him feel more relaxed and the room darkened faster at night, which he preferred.

He went to Hogsmede later in the day to gather a few necessary things to start the year. He disliked going when the students were running around the village as most of them seemed incredibly too curious to see what it was he did in the time he wasn't teaching. He was watched a little too closely to be comfortable, when he bought everyday essentials and potions ingredients so he liked to go when he could be assured privacy.

Currently waiting for his next paycheck from Hogwarts, he was low on money but resolved to buy everything he could until term started and he got his salary pay for the end of the summer. He picked up a small bag of owl pellets for Marciana, a few necessary items from the apothecary that would be necessary to start teaching potions again, and a new tin of floo powder as he had run out about a month ago and couldn't apparate on the Hogwarts grounds.

Snape never really was one to window shop, but having nowhere to go and feeling a little sentimental being back in Hogsmede, he resolved to look through the fairly comprehensive bookstore the village had to offer.

"Looking for anything in particular?" The shop assistant asked him cheerfully, her smile fading a little when she recognized it to be Snape. He couldn't recall her name, but she had graduated a few years ago... maybe a Hufflepuff?

"No, thank you." Snape said blankly, pushing past her to look through the bookshelves that contained largely assigned reading from Hogwarts. The witch blinked and went back to moving in new books to the display window.

Sure enough, all of Snape's assigned and recommended readings were displayed under the POTIONS and ADVANCED POTIONS tags. Not many had been purchased however, as most of the students purchased their books in Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley, the books were mainly geared towards the students that switched or added classes in the first week of term. But of course there were the book smart Hermione Granger type students who always came to grab new editions when they came out and the store catered to them.

Mildly interested to see what the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher had assigned, he ran a skinny finger down the shelves, looking for the familiar tag. He furrowed his brow at the single textbook assigned for all the levels of classes. There wasn't even an option for any Advanced Classes, just a very old edition of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard. He picked up one of the many copies and looked through it, silently laughing at the poor outdated illustrations that had to have been as old as he was.

Dumbledore must have been right about this new Ministry appointed teacher, he thought as he replaced the book on the shelf. They would be doing anything to discredit Dumbledore and his teaching of practical magic. He imagined a newly appointed Percy Weasley type teaching the position and the thought sickened him. At least Dumbledore had a good excuse not to hire him for the position this year, anyone could tell he was more qualified and experienced then Quirrell or Lockhart, Lupin was just a slap in the face to him. But if the Ministry had really bullied their way into Hogwarts there was little he could do about it.

The bookstore had plenty of other interesting volumes. There were many books for foreign and magical languages, books for very young children up to young adult fiction. Books that claimed to read your fortune or read your thoughts when you opened them. There were quite a few dedicated to crafting and knitting as well as the arts, self help, personal finance, and a table devoted to gag gifts and quidditch calendars. It was the row of books dedicated to motherhood and pregnancy that caught his eye, and he stood debating for a moment if he should be seen even in the vicinity of the books. There were smiling witches and wizards holding wide eyed laughing babies, books on fertility and 'taking advantage of your cycle' it made him nauseous, standing there looking at them.

Truthfully, Severus knew very little about pregnancies of any kind. He knew they lasted for several months and he knew there came a point where the babies would kick and move around, but having no real interest in the matter, mixed with the fact that his parents nor any teachers really sat him down to tell him about sex or babies, he had whatever common knowledge he could gather.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he walked over to the books, peering at the titles and trying to find the most wordy and most technical one possible. All of the books had pictures of flowers and carriages and babies, bright colors of pink and blue. He thought surely that there had to be a book that placed importance on fact over feelings. The closest he could find however was an female anatomy book which didn't explicitly explain pregnancy so much as the organs that controlled it. He looked around hurriedly, hardly glancing at the pages before snapping the book shut and placing it on the shelf.

He thought rather stupidly, about Hogwarts vast library back up at the castle. There had to be some book he could look at there that might give him some answers, surely a castle full of hundreds of teenagers should have some information on sex and reproduction.

He left the shop in a sort of strange daze, the overwhelming weight of what he had gotten himself into seemed to surface and he walked up the Hogsmede streets rather blindly, not caring where he was going. If he had actually conceived, he wasn't sure exactly when he would know, his next period would be in about 2 weeks so he couldn't expect to know until then. He wondered rather uneasily when he could physically tell when he was pregnant, and even worse when others could tell. He was too tall and skinny to pass off any bulk weight properly. He prided himself as well by having very properly sized robes, custom tailored to fit. After enduring a childhood of having everything secondhand he much liked having a very specific wardrobe. What would he say when he would have to go to the tailor when he was clearly very pregnant?

His head was swimming with all the variables he now had to contend with. Perhaps, he thought rather optimistically, he wasn't pregnant at all. He could have his period in a few weeks time and then he would write to Voldemort to tell him his body hadn't been able to produce a child. It was a possibility, and he doubted Voldemort would call him back to repeat the session when he was teaching. He wouldn't have time at least until Christmas and no one could be sure what would be happening then in the war. Perhaps Voldemort would be too preoccupied to try to schedule anything again.

Snape looked into the window of The Three Broomsticks, relatively quiet as it was a weeknight. He was hungry and thirsty and didn't feel like waiting until he got back to the castle to eat so he decided to grab a quick bite.

He was an accomplished legilimens, he could put this out of his mind for now, he thought dubiously as he looked down the menu, undecided over a sandwich or soup. Still a little too hot outside for soup, he purchased a chicken sandwich with a cup of ice water. So he sat watching the people at the bar and thought only about what next term could have in store for him as far as the students went. As overly optimistic as it was to hope for a normal year at Hogwarts, Snape at least felt happy he wouldn't have to deal with another triwizard tournament again. He tired himself out just dealing with the Slytherin Quidditch team pestering him for special permission to use the field and making appearances at all of their matches while dealing with the students themselves. It was a little harsh to say Snape did not like children, but it was pretty accurate to say their were quite a few he could do without.

All in all, he hoped he could focus primarily on teaching this year, rather then any international schools or dances or dragons. He had enough on his plate.

"Severus? I didn't know you were already here."

Professor McGonagall had entered the bar and she waved at Snape warmly, making her way over to his lonely table. "I didn't think you would have arrived yet."

"Good evening," He murmured, wiping his mouth on his napkin. He wasn't really interested in company but found himself unwilling to make any excuse. "I just got in today. How long have you been here?"

"Well," She started, looking at Snape a little hesitantly but Snape gave a small nod and she sat opposite him. "I'm not really settled in at all yet, I came because Dumbledore had sent me an important news." She said all of this in a very low voice, Snape had to lean in a little closer to hear her.

"What did the letter say?" He asked cooly, feeling his heart pound a little faster. Was Dumbledore telling the entire wizarding community about this? Surely he knew the importance of keeping a low profile, especially if they were to maintain the story of this being Voldemort's offspring.

"Mostly information on this new teacher." McGonagall said. "This woman is straight out of Fudge's office."

"Really." Snape said, moderately interested. Taking a bite out of his sandwich. McGonagall nodded gravely. He wasn't so sure why she was being this cautious when she wasn't talking about the order. Surely it was normal for two teachers to talk about their peers.

"Just trying to keep us on our toes this semester, not that I'm very worried." She admitted "Nor do I expect you are either, but I doubt we are the type that will really come under much criticism. Even if we are Dumbledore sympathizers." She said this last bit rather nastily. As though daring anyone not to agree with her.

"So why did you feel it was necessary to come up to the castle just for the letter?" Snape asked curiously. "Did you have something to ask of Dumbledore?"

"I was trying to make sure that our conversations weren't going to be overheard." McGonagall said, and again in low tones. "My owl looked like it had been intercepted coming back from Dumbledore, and I don't pretend not to know that the ministry is looking for scandals to publish around the headmaster."

Snape nodded, a faraway look in his eye. He tried not to think about what would happen if the prophet got information on his current situation. He continued to eat and began to wonder how paranoid this whole affair was going to make him. The way McGonagall was looking at him now was almost analytical. Had Dumbledore asked her to see how he was doing?

"Would you be interested in getting a bite to eat Ma'am? Maybe a butterbeer?" A waiter came swinging by their table, a stack of trays in goblets in one hand.

"No thank you," She said politely, "I must be off again," McGonagall rose to her feet again, giving Severus a nod. "I'll see you around the castle Severus."

"Have a good evening." Snape mumbled back, just finishing off the last of his sandwich. The waiter watched a little breathless as she left.

"Could I help you with anything else sir?" He offered "Would you like a refill?"

"No, I would like the bill please." Snape wiped his hands on his napkin and let the waiter take the plate, levitating a whole dining set over his shoulder, he jogged off.

The sun was beginning to set now and Severus made his way back to Hogwarts, resolving to feed Marciana the fresh pellets and draw a bath before retiring for the evening. She at least seemed to be glad to be back at Hogwarts, when the students would return with their owls she would stay pretty regularly in the Owlery but she came to Severus when she wanted more then cheap grains. He spoiled her with over priced naturally made food.

He decided on making a trip to the library the next day, before he dusted off his classroom and cleaned anything he had forgotten to last year. Despite how well he maintained the room and urged students rather viciously to remember all of their things before boarding the Hogwarts express home, he always seemed to find a text book or two from Neville Longbottom and the contents of someone's potions kit left out to decay. Because his classrooms were in the dungeon, the smell was hard to get rid of without much ventilation.

It was also his job as head of Slytherin to check the common room and ensure that all the four poster beds, curtains and mattresses were in good condition. While it was typically the duty of a house elf to clean and sweep the dormitory, it was Snape's task to put them to work and notify Dumbledore if there was anything missing.

It was all very tedious, he thought while running a towel through his hair, scrubbing fast to get it as dry as possible. Snape disliked bathing in the morning because his hair seemed to stay wet for an abnormally long time and he disliked trying to dry it magically as his hair seemed to compensate by getting greasier and dirtier faster. Instead he would pin it back and let it dry over night.

Removing the towel and drying off his pale extremities, he thought his hair looked a little long, he hadn't cut it since before summer and it had gotten a few inches past his shoulder. He went to his bedside table for his wand, arranged the towel around his shoulders and gave his wand a forceful flick. His hair shook slightly, the bottommost inches falling lightly on the towel. He shook it out over his bathroom refuse bin and looked to his reflection. Same style as always.

He remembered when he was a young boy, sitting outside a muggle gas station with lily, eating large ice cream bars she had bought for them with her pocket money. She asked him about his hair as he sat, trying to catch the ice cream with his tongue as it melted all over his hand.

"I mean, all the boys in my class have these really short cuts. Doesn't your mum ever trim your hair?"

He recounted the tale to her, of his father angrily shouting about how his hair was too long and he looked like a girl, and that Snape didn't comb it enough to maintain it. Crying the entire time, Tobias Snape shaved his hair off completely in the family kitchen while his mother yelled that it would be winter soon and Snape needed his hair because he always forgot his hats.

"How old were you when he did that?" Lily asked appalled. "You managed to grow it back ok."

"I was six." Snape muttered, giving up his fight with the melted ice cream and simply shaking the drops onto the pavement where they sat behind the gas station. "Mom wouldn't let him do it again, said I didn't have the right size head to go bald." Lily was still staring shocked.

"I can't believe them." She said dramatically. "Besides, you look nice with longer hair. You don't look like a girl at all."

He had blushed scarlet, and even just thinking about it now he got warm in the face. Not even bothering to pull on his pajamas, he sunk into his newly made bed. Taking in the welcoming familiar smell of his room and the castle. Feeling very much at home, comfortable for the first time in weeks. Marciana hooted loudly, turning her head to look at him with her large dark eyes.

"Do you want to go out? Or are you just saying goodnight?" Snape asked, face down in his pillow, he felt rather unwilling to get up. Marciana hooted again and he sighed, getting to his feet and walking over to her cage stand where he undid the latch and she perched on his finger. He led her over to the cracked window which he opened fully, a calm summery breeze rolling in. She kept hooting her small playful hoots, stepping onto the window and looking at Snape, she bobbed her head by his open hand smoothing her feathers under his fingers.

"Oh you're going to be needy." He purred, scratching her head while she closed her eyes, obviously enjoying it. His owl was the only being he let down his barriers for, he could care less about any other pet or bird but he quite liked Marciana, not like a child or a best friend, as she was just an owl. But there were times he was unsure what he would do without her company. He amused himself more than anything by talking to her when she became very vocal. "Go on," he urged her, opening the window a little wider. "Go catch me a mouse or something."

She looked a little hesitant, but bobbed her head excitedly and took off into the night. Snape left the window open behind her, enjoying the cool breeze that wafted in, he sank back into bed, looking to the window to see a very pearly moon, with not a cloud in the sky. He hoped he could carry this good feeling as long as possible, he thought yawning widely, slowly his mind quieted and sleep was upon him.

He was woken very late in the morning by Marciana, who startled him by jumping to his bedside table and letting out a sharp screech. He was shocked awake and looked to her patronizingly as he sat up, trying to collect himself. The sun was already high in the sky which meant he had slept far past what he was used to, yet he still felt tired. He knew know that he was awake that he couldn't keep sleeping, but it took his steely resolve not to simply roll over and continue dozing. He couldn't recall the last time he had got that much sleep, as he was typically an early to bed early to rise type, he woke up at 7:30 each morning on the dot, even in the summer. Looking at the grandfather clock opposite his bed, it was almost 11:15. Had he really been that tired?

He dressed quickly, gave his hair a quick look and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before grabbing and pocketing his wand. He wasn't sure how long the house elves would leave out breakfast for him, but he was certainly hungry, he was surprised his stomach hadn't woken him up.

In the week preceding the student's arrival, a small buffet table was set up in the great hall so that the teachers could have a meal between preparing the castle. Only one small table was set up and it and compared to the typical Hogwarts meals, it lacked the typical magic.

Snape was relieved to find some food left over and he grabbed a plate from the stack to dish up some eggs, toast, and a small bowl of oatmeal. He was just thinking about whether or not he wanted Bacon when Dumbledore's familiar figure came striding out from the closest staircase, waving happily to Snape and holding a few pieces of parchment.

Company was the last thing he wanted at the moment, least of all Dumbledore who would pester him to no end. His curt blank stare did nothing to deter the old wizard however, who grabbed a plate and spoke a very kind, "Good morning, Severus." He was wearing very long azure robes today, his gray hair flowing behind him as he inspected his breakfast options. "Got a bit of sleep?"

Snape nodded, trying to find his oat meal more interesting then it really was as he grabbed cutlery from the buffet table and then sat down, filling his mouth with food so he wouldn't have to respond.

"Professors Flitwick and sprout will be joining us this evening." Dumbledore mused. "I've received owls from Trelawney, Burbage, and Vector saying they will be coming later in the week."

Snape nodded again, taking his toast and spreading a minimal amount of butter over it before taking a bite. He was mad, and would stay mad at the headmaster for awhile, he thought. In the interest in steering conversations away from what could possibly by swimming around in his stomach right now, he thought back to his meeting with McGonagall the previous day.

"And, the new Defense against the dark arts teacher?" He hissed lowly. "When will she be arriving?"

"The day before term starts I expect." Dumbledore said woefully. "Professor Dolores Umbrige, straight from the Ministry."

Snape wanted to ask exactly how he should go about hiding a pregnancy in front of a Ministry official but didn't care to bring up the topic first. Dumbledore couldn't appreciate the situation he was in like he could. Pregnancy was such a romanticized emotional thing for anyone who was engaged in a long term relationship and had a stable environment to raise a child. Unfit teenage witches and Severus Snape were in the category of people that had no business around children.

"Been feeling alright then, Severus?" Dumbledore asked a little cautiously. Snape, right on queue put a large spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth. Nodding in answer, not looking up from his food.

"I suppose it will be a few weeks before you'll be feeling any changes." Dumbledore said, aware Snape didn't want to be talkative, but plowing on anyway. "I will be talking to the teachers, with the exception of Umbrige, just so they don't have reason to worry and will be able to act fast in the event of an emergency."

"And what if I don't want the teachers told." Snape swallowed angrily, looking at Dumbledore for the first time since he had sat down. "What if I don't want to be made a laughing stock of the school."

"You know that's not my intention Severus," Dumbledore sighed, resigning to put down his knife and fork. "I don't want to give cause for worry and seeing as how many of our teachers are already affiliated with the order, they know full well not to be telling students about matters they aren't to be disclosing."

Snape bit his lip, looking back down to his food which didn't look as inviting anymore. He had known this was going to happen so why was he so angry about it?

"I've already informed Madame Pomfrey," Dumbledore admitted, "She is to be looking after you and giving you check ups while you are here. I've told her enough of what she needs to know and if you chose to fill her in on any details, it is at your discretion."

Snape didn't know what to say, he wanted to leave the table but knew Dumbledore would only pester him more if he didn't get to say everything he wanted in one sitting. Nothing felt fair, it was like being 17 again, sitting in the boys bathroom with a box of muggle tampons, holding back tears as he felt up inside himself. Cursing everything and everyone that made his life so difficult. He couldn't have anything he wanted.

"May I leave?" He asked angrily, "Are you done talking?"

"Do you have anything you want to say Severus?" Dumbledore asked politely. "If you have any questions I want you to know that I am here for you."

Snape couldn't look up to meet the headmaster's icy gaze, but rather clenched and unclenched his hands, not sure of the words.

"When I... When I start to show." He began, the words sounding childish and stupid with every syllable. "When I start to show how am I supposed to explain that?" He glanced at Dumbledore, worry and anxiety spilling over his face as he did so. "What am I going to tell people when they ask?"

Dumbledore looked at him very genuinely, his eyes almost a little sad.

"There are concealing charms we may use that can disguise yourself for several hours at a time." Dumbledore said helpfully. "There are many young witches whom have sat in your classes and had been pregnant when they graduated without anyone the wiser. Madame Pomfrey could tell you all about them when she meets with you."

Feeling only a little relieved, Snape gave the slightest of nods and set his spoon and knife on his only half finished plate, feeling a little tired and dizzy with all of this personal talk. He rose to his feet, and without saying another word to Dumbledore, he walked out of the great hall in the direction of the library.

So the whole staff would know and probably be watching him like a bomb for most of term, he thought gravely, walking up the marble staircase, his black robes billowing behind him. He could only hope that they wouldn't be treating him like an invalid, giving him strange looks as he walked through the castle and had lunch with the rest of the school. If this concealing charm Dumbledore was talking about could work for him, he wouldn't be nearly as self conscious as he initially feared.

He was unsure exactly what Madame Pomfrey would have already known of his situation if Dumbledore gave her an abridged version. It was a well known fact that Snape lived alone and had no intent to change that, so explaining having a child would probably promote the idea that Snape was an old gay loner who had meddled in dark magic so much that he had destroyed his interior male piping.

The thought of it made him want to gag, if only he could tell everyone how much of a hero he was for letting Voldemort have his way with him.

He stopped on the stairs, the very thought making him uncomfortable and dizzy, or was it his body? His legs felt very weak and his eye sight seemed to twinkle and dim. He grabbed the banister fast, unsure of what to do or if he should get help. He felt a little panicked, swaying on the spot, praying the moment would pass. For a few moments he stood in limbo, blinking furiously to clear his head and then it passed, leaving him weak and exhausted.

Was he still exhausted from the night? Or did he not get enough to eat at breakfast? Was this something that happened when you were pregnant?

He walked now, a little slower, sweating with his heart pounding; into the library which was vacant. The door had been propped open so that the vast room might get some ventilation after two months of being locked, light poured in from the windows casting long shadows across the reading tables and long extensive shelves. There was a definite dusty quality to the room that tickled his nose, a definite welcoming smell of old parchment and books to relax him. Hopefully he could get his answers here and now before Madame Pomfrey would arrive. Still feeling very shaky, he began to walk through the rows, looking for the section on anatomy and health. The library had only changed a little since he had been a student and he knew it like the back of his hand. He could always be seen with about two or three books under his arm, so the other students used to joke that he knew the librarian better than any other Slytherins.

He was in the right area, when he stopped at a row of books dedicated to puberty, sex, illegal herbs and substances, and finally a single shelf dedicated to pregnancy and motherhood.

He felt much safer here then he did in the Hogsmede book shop, here he didn't have to look over his shoulder for any watching eyes. He crouched down, looking at each of the titles with his chin resting on his thumb. These books looked to be a little more informative, rather then a bunch of titles from a daily writer for witch weekly, most of these books looked to be catered to inexperienced parents as well as those interested in pregnancy from a biological stand point. There weren't nearly as many gooey eyed smiling witches and wizards from stock photos.

He sat on the floor, letting his robes flow behind him as he picked a few books out, forming a stack on the floor as he opened the first book, a week by week guide to pregnancy with informative drawings and descriptions. Nervously, he skipped the introduction and flipped through to the pages depicting the third and fourth weeks, looking ominously at a drawing of what looked like to him, to be a tiny bean.

Words like neural tube, ectoderm, and mesoderm jumped out at him but he couldn't take his eyes off the tiny bean like lump of flesh that was surrounded by protective layers and fluids. Almost without thinking, his right hand slithered down to rest just over his still very flat stomach, smoothing out the black fabric slowly as his hair fell down in locks over his downturned face, fascinated.

He flipped through the pages, watching the tiny ball animate slowly week by week from formless ball to a developing alien like being with growing appendages and eyes. Right now, he didn't even have a fetus, it was smaller then a grain of rice.

He caught himself, absentmindedly tugging at the fabric of his robes and nervously he shut the book.

The other books revealed a much more sexually active side of Hogwarts that Snape was previously unaware of. Being a very abstinent adult who didn't like to think much of his student's personal lives, he was surprised at how many times the books revealed to have been checkout out. The old punch cards told a long history of girls who took the books every year, some had even written and drawn in the books. They had been battered and from what Snape could tell; even bewitched to resemble textbooks, perhaps to avoid suspicion. He felt for the girls who had taken the books out, finding notes from them stuck inside the pages as he paged through each one in his stack. He found everything from homework and stray bits of parchment to tell all notes that seemed to have been written anonymously for others who might find the books. One note stuck in a book on mother's health scolded any girls who took out the book, calling them whores and harlots for getting pregnant at Hogwarts. Another book yielded a long diary entry from a girl who seemed to be almost nine months pregnant, panicking about going home for the summer holidays and being unable to return as she would have a child. It was terrible, reading through each sad notice and scribbled bit of graffiti. He lamented the school's lack of a sexual education class.

He felt conflicted, finally reading up on pregnancy symptoms. The book listed vertigo, fatigue, and nausea as all possibilities due to hormonal imbalance during the first initial phase of pregnancy, split into trimesters. It was good to know that his moment on the stairs was perfectly harmless, alarming and maybe a little concerning as he was on a staircase, but it wasn't abnormal.

But the small voice inside Snape that thought there was a possibility he couldn't be pregnant was suddenly silenced. He now had proof that he was carrying a child. He never had random dizziness before and having it now could only mean the tiny speck on the side of his stomach was affecting him and growing bigger everyday.

He decided to take the books with them, planning to return them before term to avoid suspicion. As much as he would like to sit in the library for hours on end, he still had his responsibilities as a teacher to uphold. So he grabbed the week by week guide, a book on birthing and unusual pregnancies, as well as a book on smart dieting and things to avoid. Slipping them into his robes in case another teacher walked by, he left the library and dropped the books off in his room before heading to the dungeons to begin the process of readying the Slytherin common room for the start of term.

He felt a little disturbed at himself for the strange prickling sensation he felt in his stomach. It was very strange, the entire ordeal. He wasn't entirely sure how a woman justified doing something of this nature to themselves, thinking of Mrs. Weasley and her seven children. He could barely understand having one child, putting his body through mortal agony once, let alone seven times. Children were useful and necessary of course, but who had it in them to sacrifice their body and health to put so many babies into the world?

His tiny unformed baby would be with him for nine months, nine months of a whole host of horrors he had been unaware of until looking through the books. He wasn't sure how to feel or what to think of it, would Dumbledore make good on his word to protect the baby? Would Voldemort find out that he had purposefully used birth control?

His mind was swimming as he stepped behind the cellar wall and into the common room, the door closed with a echoing thud and the lamps instantly illuminated themselves upon his entering. The Commons area was fairly light today, the lake in the windows a much lighter green as the sun was still shining on it. It was stuffy and warm, and always eerily quiet. For the most part the commons was clean, a few items lay forgotten by the fireplace and on the leather sofas. Snape gathered an old water bottle, a single sock, tie, and post dated and graded charms homework from a third year. He put them all in the House's lost and found box by the bulletin board, which still had last year's Hogsmede visit notice and a posting from himself- a checklist for students to follow as they began to move out for the last few days of school. There was also a short notice announcing the feast and the moment of silence for Cedric Diggory the school had observed.

He mentally reminded himself that he would have to write up a new welcome sign for the first years as well as a list of rules for the common room as someone had removed the posting and used the tacks to advertise a broomstick they were selling.

He would have the house elves sweep and mop the commons, but there was no real damage done to any of the sofas, windows or walls. The fireplace needed to be swept and new logs needed to be placed, but the cleaning wouldn't take more then a day.

He then walked through the girls dormitory, making sure the beds were all in order and in the correct places. He had never really had any problems with the Slytherins not following his postings, perhaps it was because he was regarded as a strict teacher, as he had never had to enter the common area before the end of term to remind anyone. Regardless, he was glad he was able to put in place some discipline with his students. The girls were fairly clean, only one set of curtains was ripped and had to be replaced, there was nothing left under the beds and all the sets of drawers were placed in move in order, within a foot of each bed.

The boys he could count on to always be a little bit more rough, there were always random burns and tears on the curtains and more often then not a copy of Which Broomstick lying around. He wrote down a total of five sets of curtains he would need to replace and walked along the lines of beds carefully. The four poster at the far end was always his when he was a student. He always kept it immaculate but the many years of other students using it had taken its toll. Without much thought, he sat down on it, feeling the mattress sink down a little, he was far too tall now and he had to bow his head to sit. His hair falling in sheets across his face.

He really did feel like a teenager again, so unsure of himself. He felt like his body was changing and betraying him. He remembered many sleepless emotional nights he would spend, his friends urging them to tell them what had happened, threatening to hex anyone who had hurt him. He shook them all off, telling them his stomach hurt and he wanted to be left alone or that he was fine and he had to study. He lay back, His feet dangling off the edge, he looked around, seeing the graffiti of years of Slytherin boys etched and burned into the posts. He had to crack a smile, he had almost forgotten about his own contribution, but over the years it had remained and it was still the biggest and cleanest out of all of them. Burned into the post with magic read "The Half Blood Prince was here"


This chapter felt a little better reading, yeah? It'll get more interesting too as term starts, I promise. If you like what you're reading I urge you to review! I'm going to try to update this as consistently as possible but I'm going to need motivation seeing as how I'm probably going to be working more then 40 hours a week pretty soon.

Thanks for reading! It's cool to watch all the traffic for this story piling up!