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Chapter 11: Aftermath

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Several minutes ticked by. Harry was in a state of shock. Severus was pregnant, but they'd never had unprotected sex… well except for when they conceived Joseph, but Harry was pretty sure that was the only time they got caught up in the moment and forgot. The door of the toilet opening brought Harry out of his thoughts. Severus came out looking very pale.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked, rushing to Severus's side.

"I'm fine" Severus replied harshly, making his way back to the bed and sitting himself down, Harry and Madam Pomfrey watching him.

"How… how did this happen?" Severus whispered.

"Now really, surely I don't need to explain that to you Professor Snape."

"No, I don't mean that" Severus said impatiently. "Harry and I have been very careful with our love making, we always use protection."

Harry felt his cheeks reddening on hearing Severus speak so bluntly about their sex life to someone else. He was grateful that Severus wasn't looking at him, he was sure to think he was acting like an immature adolescent. Madam Pomfrey looked at Severus with a pitying gaze.

"I'm sure you have both been very responsible, but everyone can slip up now and then… get carried away, or have one two many glasses of wine. Harry fell pregnant with Joseph after all."

"That was our only slip up though" Severus spat back. "I am not trying to make out we are absolute saints, but we have not had unprotected sex."

"Well if you're absolutely certain" Madam Pomfrey began sceptically. "I take it you use contraceptive spells and not condoms?" Severus nodded. "Then there is still a way to get pregnant even if you use protection spells. It's not very common, but if the recipient, you Severus, have an overwhelming desire to get pregnant and the need is strong enough, this is magically able to break through the spell."

"But I didn't want to get pregnant" Severus blurted out. "I've had enough of this." He jumped up from the bed and rushed out of the hospital wing.

"Harry, the sooner Severus deals with what's happened, the better it will be for all of you. He's a very proud man, tread carefully."

"Thanks Poppy."

A couple of minutes later, as Harry approached their living quarters, he saw Remus walking towards him.

"Don't worry; I haven't deserted your children" Remus said smiling. "Severus arrived back a few moments ago."

"Thanks Remus."

"Harry are you ok? You seem a bit… spaced out. Did everything go alright with Poppy?"

"Oh, er, yeah fine. Severus has a bug that's all. And me… I'm just tired."

"Get some sleep Harry."

"I will."

Harry made his way through the front door and into their bedroom. Severus was sat on the bed looking down at Joseph in his moses basket.

"Severus?" Harry said quietly.

Severus didn't turn around. He kept his eyes fixed on his son. He felt Harry sit down beside him.

"It's ok" Harry said, lightly running a hand through his hair. "I know this is a shock but we can deal with it."

"I don't want to deal with it" Severus replied in a whisper. Harry noticed his hands were shaking. "After… after what happened, I vowed to myself that I would never get pregnant again. Ever!"

"I'm not going to pretend I know how you're feeling right now, but… what I do know is, that I love you with all my heart Severus… and I only have to look at Joseph and Matthew to know how much joy my children have brought to my life… and how much joy this one will too."

Harry placed a hand on Severus's tummy, who it turn, looked away from Harry.

"It's ok to cry Severus."

"I'm… I'm not crying" Severus said unconvincingly, lifting a hand to wipe his eyes.

"I'll be with you every step of the way. We can do this together."

Severus turned around and wrapped his arms around Harry tightly.

"I don't know what I'd do without you" he whispered into Harry's ear.

Harry had a hard time stopping the tears from flowing. He didn't want Severus to see how scared he was. With Malfoy on the loose, would he find out about the pregnancy? Would he endeavour to get to Severus and cause him to miscarry like the last two times? Harry knew Severus wouldn't be able to cope with another loss.

"Everything's going to be fine" Harry said trying to sound convincing.

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It was approaching midnight and Severus had holed himself in his bedroom since coming back from seeing Poppy. He had told Harry he needed time alone, to think. As Harry was contemplating going into the bedroom, Severus came out.

"Hi" Harry said smiling and running over to him to give him a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Ok."

Severus managed a weak smile and walked over to where Joseph was fast asleep in his moses basket. He reached down and stroked his cheek gently.

"I'm sorry Harry, you must be knackered, and it's nearly midnight."

"Oh, I'm ok; I had a sleep earlier when Matthew went to bed."

"Erm, I' need to speak to Albus… I won't be long… is that ok with you?"

"Yeah fine" Harry said trying to sound ok, but not. Maybe he just had to face that his boyfriend would rather talk about their personal matters with someone other than him.

As Severus left, Harry watched him walk up the corridor and felt like crying. Moments later Professor McGonagall came into view.

"Evening Harry, I didn't expect you to be up this late."

"I had quite a long nap earlier so I'm not tired yet."

"Well you look tired. I wish I could go to bed, but it's my turn to patrol the corridors tonight. How's that little bundle of joy of yours?"

"He's good" Harry said beaming. "He cries a lot more than Matthew did, but I think that's because he takes after Severus. He's stubborn… er, would you mind staying here for a few minutes, there's something I forgot to tell Severus."

"Of course."

Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office. He was going to put his foot down. If Severus wanted to talk he was bloody well going to talk to him. He arrived at the stone gargoyle, said the password and stepped inside. As he rose higher he could hear Severus and Dumbledore's voices. He got to the door and was about to knock when something caught his attention.

"…paternity test can only be performed after the baby is born. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing whether Harry is the father prior to the birth."

"I just know he's not the father."

"You know my views on that matter Severus."

"What should I do?" Severus asked quietly.

"That decision is entirely up to you."

Harry had heard enough. He rushed from the Headmasters office so fast by the time he reached the Entrance Hall he stopped clutching a stitch in his side and breathing deeply. He could feel tears threatening to appear. He was grateful the students were all in their dormitories. A voice behind him made him jump.

"Harry?"

"Oh Remus" Harry cried, flinging his arms around the older man.

"What on earths wrong?" Remus asked as Harry pulled away.

"Severus is pregnant."

"Oh… so why the tears?"

"I'm not… I' not the father. He cheated on me."

"Oh Harry."

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Severus felt a wave of nausea hit him as he left the Headmasters office. He caught himself rubbing his flat stomach affectionately and quickly stopped. As he walked back to his living quarters his mind was racing. He had to tell Harry he probably wasn't the father… or did he? Could he keep it quiet and hope for the best? Hope the baby isn't born looking like the other father? He shook his head; of course he had to tell Harry, he couldn't lie to him, despite everything, he still loved Harry more than anything.

As Severus reached his front door, he stalled and took a deep breath. On the other side of that door laid his fate. Harry was bound to leave him and take Matthew and Joseph out of his life. The very thought sent a cold shiver through his body, but he had to be honest.

He walked through the door and found himself standing in silence. Why was it so quiet in here? Where was everyone? He walked through to his bedroom and found that Joseph's moses basket was gone. What was going on? He was just about to check Matthew's room when he noticed an envelope on his bed. He picked it up slowly and saw that it was addressed to him, in Harry's handwriting. He ripped it open and read:

Severus,

I have taken the kids to Molly and Arthur's. I just don't think our relationship can survive this new revelation and I'm not sure I will ever be able to forgive you. I'll be in contact regarding visits to see Joseph. I'm sorry things have ended this way. Good luck with your pregnancy.

Harry

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"Oh Harry, we came as soon as we heard" Hermione said, hugging him. "How are you?"

"O-ok" Harry replied his voice cracking.

Hermione guided him to the sofa in Molly and Arthur's living room and they both sat down. A couple of minutes later Ron joined them.

"Mum's playing with the kids… so Harry, I never imagined Snape as a bottom."

"Ron!" Hermione shouted, hitting him in the arm. "What is the matter with you?"

"Sorry, thought I'd try and lighten the mood a bit… I'm just not that good at these types of things."

"You really should think before you s-"

"It's ok Hermione… erm, generally Severus wasn't a-… I can't believe I'm telling you guys this."

Harry went bright red and put his face in his hands. A few seconds later Ron and Hermione heard the sobs begin. Hermione rubbed Harry's back and mouthed "get a tissue" to Ron. When Ron returned and held out the tissue to Harry, he took it and wiped his eyes.

"Harry, you're going to be fine. We're all here for you" Hermione said kindly.

"I… I can't… I thought… I thought he loved me. W-why did he cheat on me?"

"That's something you have to ask that fucking slime ball" Ron replied. "I always knew there was something not quite right about him. You're better off away from him Harry. You've got Matt and Joe to think about now."

"I know… but what am I going to tell Matthew? He l-loves Severus."

"Kids are resilient Harry, he'll adapt quickly. I'm more worried about how you're going to cope. You've got a new born baby, you look exhausted and you've just found out the man you love has cheated on you and has got himself pregnant."

"Hermione, I don't think I can cope. I don't want to cope, I want things back how they were. Before this, before Malfoy… we were so happy on the run up to Joseph's birth. And all the while he was hiding the fact that he was letting another man… f-fuck him."

He broke down. For a few minutes Ron and Hermione let Harry cry. Hermione held one of Harry's hands in hers and squeezed it. Slowly he began to calm.

"Are you definitely not the father?" Ron asked.

"Not definitely. We did… on my birthday. Like I said we didn't do it that way very often. But we used a contraceptive spell. Poppy said there's a slight chance of still getting pregnant, but the likelihood is that the father is this other guy. They were probably in too much in a hurry to think about protecting themselves."

Two hours later Harry woke up from a sleep. Molly and Hermione had ordered him to bed whilst they took care of the children. He got up from the bed and looked at himself in the mirror on the wall. He looked a mess. Severus obviously went looking elsewhere because he wasn't satisfied with what was on offer at home. After all Harry was seven months pregnant at the time, hardly in the best of physical health.

As he entered the living room, he was greeted by smiles from Molly, Hermione and Ron. Matthew came running over to him and Harry lifted him up into his arms and kissed him on the cheek.

"Have you been eating chocolate Matty?"

"No" Matthew giggled.

"Then why do you have chocolate all round your mouth?"

Matthew giggled again. Harry took him into the kitchen and sat him on the worktop whilst he grabbed a tissue. He wiped Matthew's mouth and then stared down at him affectionately. Matthew held his arms wide.

"Do you want a hug?"

"Yeah."

Harry hugged his son tightly and whispered "I love you" into his ear. A few seconds later he heard his name being called. He carried Matthew into the living room and found Arthur standing there with a huge grin on his face.

"We got him… Malfoy. We got him."

"Oh my God, that's fantastic" Molly shouted.

"We caught him hiding out at Borgin and Burkes. He put up a fight so we had to kill him" Arthur said, looking directly at Harry.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked in desperation. "There's no mistake?"

"No mistake Harry. He's gone. You're free."

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Severus,

I'm writing to let you know that Joseph is doing well. We're moving back into your house today if that's ok with you, only temporary. As soon as I find something we'll leave.

I thought perhaps you could come and see him every Saturday and Sunday 12pm - 4pm and an evening of your choice. Obviously, the older he gets the longer we can make the visits.

Please let me know if this is convenient for you.

Harry

P.S. I'm sure you've heard about Malfoy being killed. I hope it's lifted a weight off your shoulder.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry,

How are you? I miss you and the children terribly. Please tell them I was asking after them. The visits you have suggested are fine with me, although, if it's ok with you I'd like a couple of weeks to get myself together.

The house is yours Harry; I want you and the children to have it.

Love always,

S x

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It had been two weeks since Severus had locked himself up in his bedroom. He wasn't one to cry, but he hadn't done much else, apart form running to the toilet to throw up the little food he was consuming. He figured the best way to deal with things was to get back to normality, to put up the Snape mask and return to his teaching. Tomorrow everything would be dealt with anyway.

As he entered the staff room shortly before lessons were due to start he sighed inwardly at Lupin being the only other person present. He sat himself down and picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Hello Severus, good to see you about again." Remus said. "Good news about Malfoy isn't it? You must be relieved."

"Indeed" Severus replied shortly.

"Oh I hear congratulations are in order as well" Severus didn't answer.

"So how far along are you now?" Still Severus didn't answer.

"Dumbledore tells me you've been quite sick. Has Poppy given you anything?"

"Spare me the small talk Lupin. I'm going to St Mungos tomorrow for a termination."

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Coming up in the next chapter: Severus goes to St Mungos to get a termination. Is he doing the right thing?

Reviews: If you're reading this, please take a few moments to leave me a review. I really do appreciate them and they do help immensely with my motivation. My profile has details of all my story updates.

(This chapter was posted on March 3rd)

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