Hi! So it has been two years since I revisited this story and I am very sorry for that! I am recommiting to the story and I hope you will rejoin me.
I am literally just picking up where I left off. It's been a while since I wrote so please forgive my rustiness!
Enjoy!
"Please, please tell me this doesn't mark the return of SPEW?" Ron gasped as he watched Hermione's knitting needles click happily beside her.
I smiled tiredly. I was too tired to defend my beloved organisation. "This, Ron dear," I gestured to the yellow wool that was slowly taking shape in the air, "is my attempt to clothe my child. I am making baby clothes. She will need something to wear."
"It could be a 'he'" Harry pointed out tentatively, "a 'he' like his father..."
I froze. The two of them had been making attempts to find out the identity of the father for the last few days now. Their reasoning being that they were going back to school in two days and they could beat up anyone who had put me 'in this state', to quote.
But I wasn't ready to let go of that information yet. The baby's conception had been far from conventional and I wasn't going to allow that stand in the way of the love she should have. The second I voiced it I knew everything would change.
"Hermione!" Remus' voice floated up the stairs sparing me the necessity of replying to the boys. "Someone's here to see you"
I dragged myself out of the chair. I was three months gone and starting to show slightly. This was making the prospect of the baby all too real. My moods were alternating between scared stiff and nervous excitement. I had a little person growing inside me and this little person needed me, she depended on me for survival.
Reality was dawning for the boys too so I barely got the opportunity to move without an over attentive chaperone. They seemed to feel that they had to take on the responsibility of the father. However they had turned into neurotic fussers!
Therefore, the short trip from the drawing room where we had been sitting down to the kitchen where my visitor was residing, required the two of them at either side of me clucking like mother hens. Ron held my hand and stood slightly in front of me while Harry walked a few steps behind me.
I was nearly looking forward to their departure in a couple of day's time! Space to breath was getting rarer and rarer.
The steps into the kitchen were manoeuvred with care. Being steep at the best of times, the boys had started seeing them as a threat. I knew that I was well able to nimbly make my way up and down the steps without a problem but no matter how many times I said this, the boys seemed deaf to the reality. As such, I was watching my feet when I entered the kitchen and was taken unaware when I heard the voice of my visitor.
"You two can leave" the cold voice ordered as we ambled through the door. I jumped at the sound of the snarl. My knees immediately went weak. I clutched at Harry's arm before looking up to meet the penetrating stare of Severus Snape.
"Out" Snape repeated.
"No, no" I whimpered, "please stay. Please."
"You can't tell us what to do. We're not in school now" Ron replied, making a valiant attempt to sound unafraid; an attempt that brought a sneer to Snape's austere face.
"What was that Weasley?"
"Maybe you two should go" Sirius said calmly, alerting me, for the first time, to his presence. "I will stay with her. He can hardly attempt to kick me out of my own kitchen."
Snape looked as if he might be tempted to try.
"Now, Hermione you sit over here with me" Sirius ordered, gesturing to the empty seat beside him. "And you might get to the point? There is enough filth around this house without your presence."
"The Headmaster," Snape drawled, "wishes to know why you did not confirm your registration"
It took all my strength to meet his grey eyes. I clenched my fists on my lap and forced myself to sound like I wasn't dying inside. "I'm pregnant and will not be returning to school"
"Pregnant?" For a moment he was shaken but he pulled himself together after an infinitesimal lapse. "How did the perfect Ms. Granger get herself into that condition?"
"You know perfectly well" I hissed, feigning a confidence that didn't exist.
I couldn't sit there anymore with him staring at me like that. Storming out was not a very Hermione Granger thing to do but I just wanted to get out of there. Sirius called after me put I opted to ignore him. I pushed past Ron and Harry, who were waiting for me outside.
I just wanted to get to my room.
By seven o'clock on the morning of the 1st of September a cacophonic excitement filled the old house. Mrs. Weasley had insisted that I got a sleep in but after Ginny's third tiptoed visit into the room I couldn't pretend to be asleep anymore.
Fred and George had bewitched a Muggle digital clock to count down the time until they had to leave for Kings Cross. It did, however, have an annoying habit of shouting out the time every half hour. So much so Mrs Weasley had threatened to throw it in the Thames at least five times.
The twins, of course, were not going to Hogwarts but their car was escorting half the crowd to the station.
The goodbyes took longer than I would have liked.
"And we'll see you at Christmas" Harry promised hugging me for the third time.
"I'll be as big as a house by then!" I groaned, wiping away the tears. I really thought I wouldn't mind their departure but I had been teary since I got up that morning – by this point I was in full blown floods of tears.
Mrs Weasley kept patting my back and muttering about hormones, while simultaneously organising everyone. Sirius and Remus, recognising my distress, were hovering close to me. It was as if they wanted to help but were unsure as to how.
Sirius was being especially tentative. I had been attempting to avoid Sirius' furtive glances for the last two days. There was no doubt in my mind that Sirius had already told Remus all about the episode in the kitchen. I knew that once the others had left I could no longer avoid them, but for now I needed to keep my head down.
"And we will write to you all the time" Ginny chimed in. "And-"
"We're late" Mrs Weasley declared, cutting across her daughter. "Out, out, out!" She began shepherding her flock toward the door. "Hermione dear, I will call into see you in a day or two, once I get the house back together." After a fleeting hug she followed the rest of them out the door.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, as the hallway emptied.
Suddenly the house felt very empty.
Hope you liked!
Thanks for reading!
xxx
