Author: Luna_2015
Fandom: Harry Potter
Title: Bad to Worse
Spoilers: Books 1-7
Disclaimer: This is written purely for entertainment purposes and the no profit is obtained.
Chapter 2 : Diagnosis
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The moment Severus got home he collapsed face first on his bed. His mind was too wound up with worry that he hadn't even bothered turned on his bedroom light.
He hadn't even spoken to his mother about what the medi-witch had told him. Being an underage wizard, the witch had informed his mother. On the ride home she had been just as silence as Severus.
Eventually he flipped onto his back to stare up at the ceiling where he had enchanted as a starry night sky.
He found the enchantment soothing. It was also handy for remembering the various celestial bodies, as it was easier to understand the centaurand their warnings when they spoke in their strange puzzles. It was always safer to have them nearby in the dark forest.
The dark forest was full of dangerous things, but he wasn't afraid. He was cautious and observant and most important, he was prepared. He knew from Hagred what sort of creatures lived there and being a studious student he was able to research everything. He wasn't brave. He wasn't looking for a fight, what he had wanted were potion ingredients, plants mostly, though finding a unicorn horn last fall was the lucky prize. Just as with deer, they only shed one every year.
Most of the time what was he was in there getting wasn't unavailable at Diagon Ally. Some were very common, but usually his small budget for potions was exhausted by November.
What was he going to do? His mind continued with what the Mid-witch had told him.
Who could he tell?
Would this affect his schooling? 'Of course it will', he thought.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The last thing he wanted was to end up in the same position as his mother. If he couldn't finish his schooling, he wouldn't be able to get a job in the wizarding world...at least not an honest one. He was not ignorant to many illegal practices, the dark arts in particular, but they were dubbed 'dark' for a reason. They were dangerous, but very convenient to those on the right end of them.
He knew from his childhood that he could not spend the rest of his life in the muggle world. While most muggles were nice enough, he had been quick to learn that he didn't belong in his father's world. Though his mother had avoided using magic, she didn't belong there either.
Freedom was just a year away and then this happened.
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Earlier at St. Mungos...
Severus watched as the medi-witch excused herself for the fourth time. He was starting to get irritated. She had cast spell after spell, made him drink potions, pee in bottles containing potions and now he stood there in his underwear as she scanned his body with a type of crystal.
She asked what spells he had been casting over the last few months and if anyone had, to his knowledge cast one on him.
He had informed her about the various curses he had cast and those ones cast onto him. She did not seem satisfied by this.
She then scanned him again with a larger crystal.
Next she asked him about any potions he might have drunk? Especially those made by himself.
Severus felt insulted by this remark, but he hid it well and told the witch every potion he had drunk. Those he had drunk from potions class he had verified to have been done correct by his potions professor, Horace Slughorn. Though he admitted he could have had something slipped into something he drank.
She put he hands on her hips. Not out of anger, but frustration. He thought he heard her mutter 'but why would anyone...I don't understand.' and 'must be wrong.'
She asked him to sit down. Feeling a little awkward still only in his underwear, he did as she asked.
Next she asked him if he had any recent sexual encounters; particularly with any men.
'Men?' Blushing he told her no.
She looked him straight in the eye before asking him if he was sure.
He told her he was sure. He went to school to learn. Eventually he would leave the school and join the magical world. He wasn't there to experiment with his sexually. Besides there was only one who he had feeling for...and it wasn't a man.
She explained her results seeming to be prolonging the diagnosis.
He just snapped. "What is wrong with me?"
"You're pregnant."
"uh...What?"
"Congratulations Mr Snape, you're pregnant."
"I heard you." He said trying his best to conceal his annoyance. "How is this possible?"
"I personally have never seen a case, but about once or twice in century it happens to someone. Usually to someone from... an old magical family." He knew she meant Pure-blood family. "Given your mixed heritage, I was surprised."
He didn't know how he should feel. The medi-witch had been treated him like vet would an animal. Poking and prodding.
"My mother was born a Prince."
"I know. I attended school at Hogwarts too. She was a year ahead of me. In Slyerine house if I recall correctly. I was in Ravenclaw myself."
"So what do I do about this?"
Her face became stern. "This? It is a child, not a wart Mr Snape."
"I know but...I still have some schooling...so I don't want it. I want to get rid of it."
Her mouth hung open. "Mr Snape! This is a child you are talking about!"
"I know, but I'm only 16."
"Maybe you should have thought about that before."
"Before?"
"I trust that I don't need me to explain where babies come from."
This just didn't make any sense to him. Traditionally women became pregnant. Traditionally a pregnancy was preceded with sexual activity. But Severus was a virgin...wasn't he. There was a disturbing thought for Severus. Was he still a virgin? Was there any other way to get pregnant in the wizarding world he had never heard of?
"I'm not having it." He informed her. "I want an abortion."
She put her hand on her hips, this time angry at him. "You grew up in the muggle world didn't you Mr Snape?" He nodded. "Muggles may do abortions, but here in our world it is illegal."
"Illegal?"
"Yes, Illegal. It's called the repopulation act of 1947. After the fall of Grindlewald it was decided that any children conceived to one or both parents of magical ability would be protected by the ministry, unless the pregnancy posed a threat to mother's health."
"But I'm not a mother. Mothers are woman. I am a man."
"I do not care if you are the minister of magic. It is illegal and no one wanting to stay out of Azkaban would perform one."
"Men aren't supposed to get pregnant. Surely that qualifies as a threat to my health." he pleaded.
She ignored him. "I expect that you will to inform the father,... the... other person involved."
The Father! He had forgotten about that! Unless this was some cloning spell or potion, the thing inside him was 50% someone else's...but who.
"Since you are still underage, I must inform your mother of the results." She wasn't asking for permission. She was telling him. Initially he was angry she was telling his mother, but as he thought, he imagined it would be better this way. She would eventually know and he didn't want to look her in the eye when she found out.
She left the room and returned with two bottles of what looked like pill caplets.
"For your nausea." she explained. "Take one at least an hour before each meal and one before bedtime. It's completely safe for the baby. These are in pill format. They are quite popular for those who live in the muggle world. It looks less magical. You will also need to take vitamins."
He felt a little embarrassed now, but not for the same reason as before. "I don't have...I have a budget." He informed her. He was always embarrassed when the issue of money came up.
"Not to worry." she held up a hand. "Both of these are available free-of-charge to any witch-er, person who becomes pregnant within your income bracket."
Severus knew she meant 'poor', but was still thankful she phrased it the way she did.
"I'm going to tell your mother now. Do you want to join me."
He shook his head.
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Spinner's End – Present
Still in the dark Severus reached over his night stand and turned on the radio.
He was having a baby. How this had happened, he didn't know. Who had gotten him pregnant, he didn't know. How he would support his baby and self, he didn't know. Would he be raising the baby or give it up for adoption? He just didn't know.
What he did know was that his lot in life had just got harder.
He could almost see his future now. Marrying someone he didn't love; having the baby, maybe more after, and having to give up his dreams of being a potion master to care for a house and child.
He'd be trapped. Just like his mother was.
Even if he put the child up for adoption, he would still have months to endure the pregnancy, something his body was not build for. Worse yet people would know about it.
They would want to know how far along he was. They would ask if he had picked out any names, whether it was a boy or girl. But most important they would ask about the father.
When he told them he didn't know, a scandal would be born before the child.
It wasn't usual for a couple to marry young. In 'Hogwarts: A history', told of a couple, 1834 both 15, who not only married while attending Hogwarts, but also had a baby while there. They were the first couple to both graduate after becoming parents. Usually the mother was forced to abandon her schooling with the news of a new arrival. While the account was full of praise it was quick to point out that marring and having a baby before graduating was not advisable.
The boy and girl was husband and wife so what happened was allowed by the rules of Hogwarts.
Getting pregnant out-of-wedlock was not. Having a pregnant student in the school without a legal partner reflected badly on the impression of the school. The girls, and it was always girls, were expelled. The school's statement about the issue was that these girls now had another life to care for. Privately they just wanted them out of sight and no longer associated with the school.
He was pregnant and had no partner. He didn't even have a name. People would talk.
They would say that he had been with too many to keep track of or if they know his economic background, that he prostituted himself while at school. Perhaps that like his father he got frequently drunk and had too many drunken one-night-stands to keep track of or that his lack of memory was simply a black out.
He didn't even have the faintest clue who the father was...or if it was a guy. Could it be a girl? Could some potion or spell be at work which allowed a female to provide DNA. He knew that he would still need some method for DNA delivery. Assuming still that it was not a clone.
Below his room he heard the all too familiar sounds of the Snape household.
"Well maybe if you did the dishes once in a while!" His father yelled at his mother.
"I might have the time if you ever got off your lazy arse and got a job" his mother yelled back "do you think that money just appears in the bank account by itself! I work all damn day!"
"Well, why don't you wave your magic wand and make everything better then!" He mocked knowing full well she had agreed not to do magic.
Severus turned up the volume on the radio. He didn't want to hear anymore. Chances are he had heard everything they would say, or rather yell, before. His parents seemed to be in a never ending loop. For as long as he could remember they had fought. About everything and anything;
As he grew older those fights started to be more and more focused on him.
As a child he had just assumed it was normal for them to do that. He had no idea how dysfunctional his family was until he met Lily Evens and her family started inviting him for supper.
The Evens were a nice family. They lived only a few doors down from the Snapes. They were one of the few around who did not look at his father's disgraceful behaviour or lack of the property's upkeep negatively on the boy.
Whenever his mother worked the night shift, the Evens often invited him over for the night. His father, you see would usually take this opportunity to invite his drinking buddies over. Even on nights when young Severus was expected to go to school in the morning.
It was while he was there that he came to understand how it was to be part of a normal family. To see a man, a father, provide for his family, instead of just drink the money away; to see a mother able to attend to her home and children. Mrs Evens had a part-time job, which she did mostly to occupy her time. Unlike his mother who had tried to get as many hours at work just to make ends meet.
The Evens family was harmonious. There were fights he had overheard from time to time, but it was nothing compared to his parents. For starters they ushered their children out of the room, remained civil to one another through out, and keep their voices down. His parent yelled so loud that half the neighbour knew not only that they were fighting, but the topic as well!
Though he was the spitting imagine of his father, he was more like his mother. Like her he was highly intelligent, skilled at potions and magical.
His father had never approved of any of those things. His father didn't much approve of anyone who was more intelligent than he was, which there were plenty.
When he had told his father about potions once and his ambition to take that up as a career, his father had given his approval... in a demeaning way.
"That's not science or magic," he father had laughed, "chopping, grinding, slicing and throwing everything into a pot! That's cooking!" His father had turned to face the kitchen where his mother had been making supper. "Your mom did that too, potions. Little good it did her though, can't cook worth shit! But if that's what you want to be, then fine. Just don't be asking me for nothing."
He heard the sound of the front door slamming. Someone was leaving the house; His father, probably to the local bar.
Severus drifted off to sleep staring up at the starry night sky at an unnamed cluster of stars. Though he had given these stars a name, one night long ago: Lilly.
Both very beautiful; both out of his reach.
Lilly.
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END of Ch 2
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AN:
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Preview of the next chapter: Mother's Ancestry
She was an affection cat, except when it came to his father, who empathically hated the thing and had a history of stepping on and kicking her both accidently and deliberately.
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