Chapter Five.
Severus sat quietly with his cup of tea as the Order meeting carried on around him. He rarely spoke in full meetings without being addressed, so his silence wasn't at all unusual. However, Severus had noticed a few unusual things since he'd arrived for the meeting. And each and every one of them involved Hermione.
Firstly, Hermione had been helping Molly in the kitchen when he arrived. While that in itself wasn't unusual, their interaction wasn't normal. Severus knew that Hermione found Molly suffocating and controlling, meaning she wasn't a fan of the older witch. Of course Hermione had always managed to remain polite and friendly towards Molly, but now she seemed to genuinely be enjoying her company. Within five minutes of arriving, Severus spotted Molly hugging Hermione a few times and Hermione didn't pull away as she would normally do.
As if Hermione's behaviour around Molly wasn't strange enough, it got even stranger when Ron and Harry entered the room for the meeting. When Ron entered the room, Hermione greeted him with a large smile, and more shockingly she kissed him. Severus had seen Ron try to kiss Hermione before, but she very adept at springing his advances without making it seem strange. But he'd never once witnessed Hermione initiating a kiss, least of all the passion filled one they indulged in.
Watching Hermione kiss Ron, Severus knew something was very wrong. There was no way Hermione would betray Draco by kissing Ron in such a manner. She did just enough to keep Ron thinking they had a solid relationship, but she would never do anything to encourage him to be more hands on with her. But between the kiss and the way she was acting with him afterwards, it would appear as though their relationship was genuine, not just an act to ensure no-one suspected her true identity.
As the meeting got underway, Severus continued to keep a close eye on Hermione. The entire time, she sat far closer to Ron than she would normally sit. Ron even had his arm slung casually over her shoulders, but she never made any attempt to remove it. The more he watched the more convinced Severus became that something was very wrong. He knew Hermione hadn't been in contact with Voldemort or Draco since leaving school nearly nine weeks ago, and he was beginning to think it wasn't because she had nothing to report. It was looking increasingly like she hadn't been in touch because there was something else going on with her. Possibly there was even something preventing her from getting in touch with her father.
By the end of the meeting, Severus was wondering how to get Hermione alone to talk to her. Several times he'd tried catching her eye, knowing just a simple look would be enough to convey that he wished to speak with her in private, but she'd never once acknowledged him. However, his luck seemed to be in when almost as soon as the meeting ended Hermione excused herself to go to the bathroom. Making sure no-one was paying any attention to when he was doing, Severus used the activity that always happened at the end of a meeting to slip out of the kitchen and make his way up to the bathroom, so when Hermione exited the room he would be waiting for her.
"Professor Snape," Hermione declared in surprise when she emerged from the bathroom to find her former Potions Professor hovering in the hallway. "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was waiting."
"It's quite all right," Severus replied. "I was actually waiting for you."
"Me, why?" Hermione frowned.
"I just wanted to check you were okay," Severus answered. He did want to know if Hermione was okay, but he was doubtful he would get a truthful answer out of the young witch. She was most definitely acting strange, and she was treating him as though he was nothing more than a former teacher. If he didn't know any better he would swear she wasn't aware of how friendly they actually were. "Molly mentioned you'd been feeling off colour."
"It's only natural I guess," Hermione said with a shrug. "I just wish my morning sickness would confine itself to a morning, at the minute it strikes any time of the day."
"Morning sickness?" Snape's mouth dropped open in shock as he tried to process what he was hearing. "You're pregnant?"
"Yes, but would you mind keeping it quiet," Hermione said. "I'm still in the first trimester and we're waiting until the three month mark to tell people. At the minute only a few people know, not even all of Ron's family know yet."
"I won't tell a soul," Severus promised, although he knew he was going to break the promise before the end of the day. "How far along are you?"
"We're not entirely sure yet," Hermione replied. "Madam Pomfrey is going to run further tests in a few weeks. But we're fairly confident the baby was conceived either just before I left school, or just after."
"Well congratulations," Severus said, doing his best to offer the young witch a congratulatory smile.
"Thanks," Hermione replied, smiling back at the wizard. "I'll see you at the next meeting, but I really should be going now. Ron and I are heading back to The Burrow to have dinner with his family."
Severus said goodbye as Hermione turned and headed back downstairs. Making sure he didn't look as blown away as he felt, Severus also made his way back downstairs. Grabbing his cloak, he said a brief goodbye to the members of the Order that spoke to him, before heading back to Hogwarts. After taking a moment to compose himself, Severus flooed to Malfoy Manor. As usual Severus emerged in Lucius's study, and unsurprisingly the man himself was sitting at his desk.
Lucius looked up at the sound of the floo network and smiled at his old friend. "Severus, do you want a drink?"
"I think I need one," Severus muttered as he sunk down in a chair in front of Lucius's desk. "We also need to get in touch with The Dark Lord. I have news that he and Draco will want to hear."
"Is it bad news?" Lucius questioned.
"We've definitely got a problem," Severus replied.
Lucius handed Severus a glass of firewhisky before he headed off to find Draco and summon The Dark Lord. Within five minutes an anxious Draco and a worried Voldemort were in Lucius's study. Narcissa was also present, and Voldemort had brought along Hermione's mother, Adele.
"There's no point beating around the bush, we have a problem," Severus said once everyone was ready. "Hermione was at the meeting tonight, and there's something off with her. Firstly, she was too friendly with Molly and over attentive with Ron. It's as though she wasn't acting with them. I did finally manage to get her alone, and it was as though I was nothing more than her former Professor."
"They've done something to her," Draco interrupted with a snarl. "I'm going to kill the lot of them."
"Don't be so rash, Draco," Voldemort warned. "We need more details."
"I agree that we need more details, but I agree with Draco in the respect that the Order have done something to Hermione," Severus said. "Especially with the other piece of news I found out. Hermione's pregnant."
A silence hung in the room for almost a minute, before everyone began to speak at once. As well as everyone being stunned at the news, questions were fired at Severus while threats were being issued against the Order.
"Enough!" Voldemort called, bringing silence to the room. "Severus, tell us everything you know about my daughter's pregnancy."
"She believes that Weasley is the father," Severus said, causing Draco to swear under his breath. "But for some reason they haven't yet determined how far along she is. They know the baby was conceived either just before or just after she left school. Apparently they'll run more tests in a few weeks to find out for sure when the baby was conceived."
"If they're running tests, then Weasley must have slept with Hermione," Draco said in a quiet voice. "She never would have willingly slept with him, either they've done something to her or he forced her."
"I think they've altered her memories in some way," Severus said. "It was like she believes the persona she puts on for the Order."
"Could anything like that be done?" Adele asked, angry that her daughter could have had her memories tampered with. If she had her way, Hermione wouldn't still be with the Order, but both her daughter and Voldemort had insisted she was safe.
"We can look into it," Lucius said. "If anything like that can be done, we'll find out about it."
"What I don't understand is how they don't know how far along Hermione's pregnancy is," Severus mused. "Surely magic can tell them when the baby was conceived."
"It can," Narcissa answered. "But you have to be very careful using magic on the foetus in the first few months. The baby is still developing and using magic to detect when it was conceived can cause problems. By the end of the first trimester, an accurate test can be performed to determine the exact date the baby was conceived."
"And what do you think will happen if the baby was conceived before she left school?" Draco asked as he jumped up and began to pace the room. "What will they do to my child?"
"It'll not come to that, Draco," Voldemort said. "We're getting Hermione back, as soon as possible. Draco, get your friends on board and find out everything about Hermione's life. We need to find an opening to snatch her."
"You want to treat this as though we're kidnapping her?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Voldemort replied. "If the Order have tampered with her memories, she'll not come willingly. As far as everyone else is concerned, we're just snatching a valuable asset from the Order. We will be the only ones to know what's really going on."
"And what happens when we get her back?" Adele asked. "What happens if we find out the baby is Weasleys?" As she asked her second question, she turned her attention to Draco. She knew Draco loved her daughter, but she didn't know how he would react if the child she was carrying wasn't his.
"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," Voldemort answered. He noticed that Draco's grey eyes filled with pain whenever the paternity of the baby was mentioned, and while he didn't think for one minute believe that the youngest Malfoy would abandon Hermione, he did think that if the worst happened he would find it hard to cope. "Right now our focus is getting Hermione back with us. Once we've got her, we'll decide on our next move."
"I'll try and find out everything I can," Severus offered.
"And I'll start looking into memory altering spells and potions," Lucius said. "This sounds like something far more complex than a simple obliviate."
"Draco, I want you to start tonight," Voldemort said. "Contact your four friends and begin making plans to gain information on Hermione's life. I want to know how she spends every second of every day, and I want to know the best way to get my daughter back."
"How long do you want me to watch her?" Draco questioned. He was eager to get to Hermione as quickly as possible, but he understood that they needed to make sure they didn't mess up. They needed to get Hermione away from the Order before they knew what was happening, if they had any clue what was happening they would close ranks and it could be practically impossible to get to her.
"We need a clear picture of her movements, so give it a week," Voldemort said. "But I want a personal report every day. Once we've found a weakness, we strike. Hermione will be coming home."
Voldemort's tone left little doubt that he would be getting his daughter back, no matter what it took. They would find a way to get to her, and once she was back with them, the Order wouldn't get their hands on her again. Soon, she'd be back with them and they would find a way to fix whatever the Order had done to her. They'd get her back to normal, the alternative just wasn't worth thinking about.