Chapter7: Love Doesn't Mean Marriage

Hermione lightly dusted off the last of the unused shelves before she heard Severus calling her from the lab. She stood back to admire her work thus far, before heading in the direction of his voice. She had agreed to move in with him and Draco in the castle, once Draco had made DADA teacher, so that she wouldn't be alone if she was to go into labor or have any complications. Although she missed her little cottage desperately, she understood that her son was more important than her need for isolation. She patted her stomach fondly as she thought of her cottage. Her time there had been so wonderful; a lot of good memories had been made there. She sighed; Severus had even proposed to her there, which she had quickly turned down. She felt certain he had either done it out of guilt that her child may grow up without a father or perhaps he intended to support her throughout her pregnancy and help her raise the baby. Where Severus was concerned she was no expert on his deeper feelings or emotions. She knew him well enough to know when he was mad, his brow would begin to twitch, when he was amused, his lip would quirk up, and when he was thinking, he would get a faraway look in his eyes. By now, she had made it to the doorway of his lab, and she paused to observe the master at work. He was concentrating fully on the potion at hand, his turns never faltered as he stirred it to perfection. He was an attractive man; there was no doubt about that. His hair was only greasy when he had been slaving away at potions all day, when he had spent three weeks with her at the cottage, his hair was always silky and shiny. He even let her run her fingers through it when they had enjoyed a picnic by the stream behind her garden. He had just gotten back from a trip for Albus and was dead on his feet, and yet he still agreed to walk with her. She had begged him to at least take a nap while they were in the fresh air, he agreed reluctantly, placing his head in her lap. He had eventually fallen asleep as she stroked his hair.

"Why are you staring at me, woman?" Severus asked without looking up from his potion.

"Am I not allowed to look at you, Severus?" Hermione questioned, moving closer to see what potion he was actually brewing before he held his hand up in a motion to stop.

"I don't think the fumes will harm the baby, but I don't think you want to chance it in case I'm wrong," he mentioned, looking up for the first time to look at Hermione, with concern evident in his eyes. She returned to the doorway of the room to lean against it for support, "Was there a reason you called me, Severus?"

He looked at her one more time before lowering his gaze back to the cauldron, "I just wanted to warn you that the School Board will be around often for the next week or so to do routine checks on the school, before we allow the students to come back."

"Why would the School Board concern me, Severus?" Hermione questioned confused. He let out a frustrated sigh before continuing, "All members of the School Board are required to participate at least one day, so members of every level well be trolling around the school," he glanced up, "which includes the Governors and their Lieutenant Governors." She inhaled quickly, finally understanding what he meant. Lucius was one of the nine School Board governors and one of the few with a Lieutenant Governor, his being Rodolphus Lestrange. Severus chose to ignore her little intake of breath and continued unfazed, "So if you wish for your location to remain a secret, then I suggest you busy yourself either here, in our rooms, or in the library until the checkups are complete. The house elves will be informed that we will be taking our meals here, until further notice." Hermione nodded at the end of this before daring to ask a question she knew Severus wouldn't like, "So I won't see Lucius, but what about Ruddy? You know how fond I am of that big lug," she finished with apparent affection. He huffed before replying, "Although Rodolphus is a friend of mine, how much do you trust the oaf to keep your location from Lucius when they work with each other every day for endless hours. I suggest you stay away for the time being." She paused at this, "I think I can trust Ruddy, Severus. Once I explain everything to him, he will see my need to distance myself from Lucius, until he sees reason," at this she crossed her arms over her chest and gave the sternest look she could must.

Severus smiled at the sight of the almost 8 months pregnant witch, who barely came up to his shoulder, try to pull of an intimidating stance. He prayed for Lucius when it came time for him to have a confrontation with witch, small though she was, she was a hellion just the same.


"Why the bloody hell do I have to go to Hogwarts, Lucius?" Rodolphus whined pacing in front of him, "You know that I have no fond memories of the place. Besides, you could have a chat with Severus while you are there," he stopped when he saw the look of sadness wash over Lucius's face.

"Severus hasn't spoken to me since the day I told him of …Hermione's pregnancy. He hasn't told me if he found her or how she's doing. The welfare of my child and its mother are unknown to me and my oldest friend has turned his back on me. All I have now is a whiny pest that makes her presence painfully apparent on a daily basis, a nagging son that guilt trips me at every turn, and another best friend that keeps making sexual innuendos about the woman I am still very much in love with, all the while whining about simple requirements of the high standing job I gave to him when no one else would have even considered him," he finished with a pointed glare at Rodolphus.

"I'll tell Rabby that you don't appreciate it," Rodolphus answered casually without missing a beat, while ignoring Lucius's death glare, "Look on the bright side, Lucius. You still have me". Lucius's shout of frustration could be heard throughout the entire manor, as well as Rodolphus's reply.

"You are such as Drama Queen, Grandma"