Warnings: Slash, Mpreg

Pairings: SS/HP and SB/RL

Genres: Romance, Drama, Angst

Summary: Sequel to 'Life, Love and Everything in Between.' Back from their Holiday, Harry and Severus decide its time to tell Sirius and Remus about their relationship and Sirius is not happy. Harry decides he wants more from their relationship, but can Severus provide what he needs?

Chapter Eleven: Eileen Snape

As soon as the kiss ended, Severus pulled back, although he didn't let go of Harry; his hands remained firmly on the young mans shoulders as he looked around at the gathering crowd. The woman with the small camera was frozen where she stood, her mouth open in a shocked 'O' expression and, behind her, an elderly man was smiling fondly at them both. Further down the street however, a woman had kneeled down to shield the eyes of her young son and daughter.

Severus scoffed dismissively.

"Come," he said quietly, "We mustn't keep mother waiting."

Smiling, Harry drew himself closer to Severus and they disapparated.

A split second later they reappeared behind a clump of bushes. Harry loosened his hold on Severus and looked at him.

"I guess we can't do anything to take care of that then?" he grinned, nodding at the bulge in Severus' pants. "Whoever would have thought – Severus Snape, an exhibitionist!"

Severus glared at him, but as his cheeks were rather flushed, the intended effect was lost.

"I am not an exhibitionist, Potter!" he snapped instead.

Harry just continued to grin.

"Could have fooled me." And with a wink of an eye, he let go of Severus and walked out from the bushes. Severus, muttering, followed.

They were stood on a patch of freshly cut grass facing a semi-circle, much like a cul-de-sac, of neat little bungalows. Cars were parked outside some of them, and somewhere, in the distance, he could hear the laughter of children.

"How do you know she lives here when you haven't seen her in 21 years?" Harry asked, turning to look at Severus.

"She wrote me a letter when she moved," he said. "I never responded though. Come on," he added, "Before I lose my nerve."

They crossed the quiet road and headed off down the pavement. Harry noticed all the garden ornaments on the front lawns they passed; wooden benches, little pot gnomes, plastic flowers than spun in the wind…this had to be a muggle residential area. Harry was suddenly reminded of mad old Mrs Figg, back in Surrey.

"…97…it's this one…" Severus came to a stop at the garden gate.

This bungalow looked the same as all the others they had passed; soft red brick, white plastic door, one bay window. However, the garden was so crammed full of all different types of flowers to the point where the path leading to the door was barely visible. Bees were buzzing about the brightest of them, collecting pollen, and butterflies were fluttering by the window.

Harry saw Severus wince – his lover, such a meticulous man, hated this sort of disorder.

Harry ginned and opened the gate for him, following him up the garden path; but then he remembered something. He'd gotten so caught up in kissing Severus that he hadn't brought with him the one thing they'd gone to Diagon Alley for in the first place.

"I forgot the flowers!"

"I'm pretty sure she has enough of those already," Severus replied, glancing uncomfortably at the garden.

"But I wanted to bring something," Harry went on, "It's polite."

"We are bringing her a grandchild. I should think that more than makes up for it."

"Yeah, well…I wanted to make a good first impression."

"You're Harry Potter," Severus said pointedly, but before Harry could reply, Severus had taken a deep breath and had knocked on the door.

Harry had to admit that he himself was starting to grow nervous now. This morning he'd been so excited about meeting Severus' mother, but now that he was stood on her doorstep, waiting to be let in, it occurred to him that he didn't have the slightest idea of what to expect. What if Mrs. Snape was now some crazy old woman, critical and harsh? What if she held a grudge against her son for leaving her? What if the only reason she'd agreed to meet them was because she wanted to make Severus feel bad for leaving her?

But when the door finally opened, Harry's doubts were swept away in an instant. Mrs. Snape – tall, dark haired, and wrinkled – had tears in her eyes as she pulled her son into a tight hug.

"Severus, oh, my son…all grown up," she was sobbing, "I've missed you…all grown up…let me look at you…" With an effort, she pulled away from Severus and stood back to take in the sight of him, but seconds later, with renewed sobs, she flung herself at him again. Severus, unused to such behaviour, patted her on the back; although Harry noticed, with a smile, that he'd closed his eyes.

After a minute or so, she pulled herself away again and straightened up and Harry had the chance to take in her appearance. She was wearing a white blouse with blue flowery patterns on, and a knee length brown skirt, with skin coloured tights and brown slippers. Her dark grey hair was tied back in a short plait and, like Severus, she was tall and slim in figure.

"And who do we have here?" she asked, her watery eyes on Harry now.

"Mother, this is Harry," Severus said and Harry could tell he was nervous; Mrs. Snape had no idea her son was gay. "Harry Po – "

"Harry Potter?" her eyes widened. "My, my, this is a…well, don't just stand there, come in, come in," she said, standing back to let them pass, "My Severus, all grown up…"

Harry followed Severus into the living room and noticed immediately all the photographs on the walls; baby Severus, toddler Severus, teenage Severus...Tobias Snape appeared in a few of them, and above the mantelpiece was a muggle photograph of Mr and Mrs. Snape on their wedding day.

"Sit down, sit down," Mrs. Snape was saying as she bustled into the living room. "Can I get you anything to drink? Eat?"

"We're fine, thank you," said Severus, but Mrs. Snape was already on her way out of the room and they could hear her opening cupboard doors.

"She never used to be like this," Severus muttered to Harry as they seated themselves on the sofa. "She was always so sullen."

"Just like you then," Harry teased with a smile. "She's just pleased to see you," he added seriously. "She's obviously missed you very much."

As they waited for Mrs. Snape to rejoin them, their eyes wandered about the room. Over by the window was a large squashy armchair next to which, on the floor, sat a pile of knitting wool and needles. Next to the fireplace, on a small footstool, was a tattered box full of newspaper cuttings and Harry thought he saw a picture of Hogwarts flash out at him. At the back of the room stood a large antique cabinet which held all of Mrs. Snape's finest china. The dining table was covered with dusty boxes and dog-eared books and, as Mrs. Snape re-entered the room, she caught them looking.

"I was just having a clear-out," she said, passing them both a glass of lemonade. She walked over to the table and pulled out a black and silver blanket from on of the boxes. "This was Severus' baby blanket," she said, looking at it fondly. "Ever since I heard he was coming to visit, I've been going through all his old things." After a moment, she folded the blanket back into the box and went to sit down in the armchair.

"I can't get over how grown up you look Severus," she smiled, looking at her son. "I haven't seen you since you were…" she faltered, but continued, "Well, that doesn't matter now. The important thing is that you're here."

"Mother," said Severus, rather awkwardly, "I'm sorry for – "

Mrs. Snape held up a hand. "I know," she said softly, "I know you are, and I don't need to hear it. You're here now." She learned forwards and picked up the box full of newspaper. "I've been trying to keep track as much as possible," she said. "Potions teacher at Hogwarts; I always said you were gifted." She beamed at Severus, who tried to smile back.

"But what's all this Death Eater business?" she asked, rummaging through the cuttings. "One day they're saying you're working for You-Know-Who, and then the next that you're working with Dumbledore."

"Oh," said Severus, "Well, I, erm…"

"You son's a hero," Harry said, seeing Severus struggle. "He risked his own life to help us win the war. If it hadn't have been for him then a lot more people would have died."

Mrs. Snape stopped her rummaging and looked up, her eyes filling with tears again. In that moment, she looked so proud – Harry had never seen someone gaze with such admiration.

Things seemed to be going well, he thought. Mrs. Snape didn't seem to be the slightest bit angry at her son for leaving her for 21 years. As she had said, it was the fact that he was here with her now that mattered; that he had written to her, that he had wanted to get in touch. And even though Severus was sat on the sofa looking slightly uncomfortable, Harry knew he didn't regret his decision

As they drank their lemonade, Mrs. Snape told them stories of when Severus had been a little boy, always locked in his bedroom reading, or else getting into trouble with the neighbours. Harry particularly liked the story of when Severus had given a funeral to his pet flower 'Petal' when it had died. In turn, Severus told his mother what working at Hogwarts was like. She asked if they still had the Gobstones and Chess teams and he replied yes and told her which houses had been in the lead for the passed couple of years. She asked after Dumbledore and McGonagall and he told her that they were well.

"And young Mr. Potter here," she said, addressing Severus but smiling at Harry, "You would have taught him, yes? I take it you have become quite good friends."

The subject had come up unexpectedly and for a moment Severus struggled before regaining his composure.

"Yes, actually mother, about that…" He looked at Harry, who smiled in what he hoped was an encouraging way; so far, there had been no mention of anyone's love life's. "Harry and I…" he seemed to falter under his mother's stare. He lowered his eyes to his hands in his lap. "I'm gay."

The words seemed to hang in the air, waiting to be made sense of, and not one of them spoke for a good few seconds. The clock on the wall ticked away and outside, Harry could hear the birds chirping merrily.

"Oh," said Mrs. Snape, "I see." She paused again and in the silence Harry started to fidget nervously. It was strange, to know that two mere words were capable of having such an effect.

"And..." she began delicately, "And are you and Harry…together?"

Severus looked up at her and nodded. Absently, she nodded back, thinking…and then she got up. She crossed the room in her slippers and picked a copy of the Daily Prophet up off the table.

"But it says here that Harry's pregnant," she said, shaking the newspaper. Her wide eyes roved over the two of them as she slowly shuffled into the middle of the room, the paper clutched loosely in her hand. "Severus?" she spoke quietly.

When Severus gave no response, she turned to look at Harry again. He smiled and offered a small shrug and she broke down in tears again.

"I'm going to be a grandmother? Oh, come here," and she pulled Harry off the sofa and kissed him on the cheek. As she released him and turned her attentions to Severus, Harry couldn't help but feel slightly overwhelmed and relieved. Eileen Snape was nothing like he'd expected her to be. When Hermione had first shown him a picture of Severus' mum, his first thoughts had been that she looked cold and withdrawn, and when he'd found out what she'd been through, that had quickly changed to vulnerable and loyal. But the woman in front of him was sweet and fussy, just like he imagined all grandparents would be. She didn't seem to have any qualms about her son's sexuality at all and she was ecstatic about the baby. Things were going very well indeed.

"So when's the wedding?" she asked, and Harry was brought out of his musings with a bump. The wedding? He'd expected Mrs. Snape to be a lot of things, but traditional wasn't one of them.

Harry's shock must have shown on his face for Severus said quickly, "There is no wedding. Just the baby."

"No wedding?"

"Marriage isn't really something we've discussed," Harry told her, and he couldn't help but feel a slight pang at the realisation that they probably never would either.

"We're comfortable with where we are," Severus agreed; "There's no need for any marriage nonsense."

Harry felt himself nod.

"Ah," Mrs. Snape said knowingly, a smile on her wrinkled face, "I take it this baby wasn't planned then?"

Harry couldn't stop the blush that crept into his cheeks and ears and Mrs. Snape chuckled.

"I understand," she said, nodding. "Severus here wasn't planned either. I'm not saying he was a mistake though," she added quickly. "He was definitely my little miracle."

The three of them ended up going out to a restaurant for dinner and the tension definitely lessoned as they chatted over their meal. Mrs. Snape was quite interested in Harry and her son's take on the Ministry, and after they'd talked politics, they moved on to other areas. She asked Harry about himself and his friends and he told her of the Weasley's and how they were like family to him. Ron and Hermione also came up, although Harry didn't dare mention Sirius or Remus, just in case. Half way through the meal, Harry had excused himself to go to the bathroom, to give Mrs. Snape a private moment with her son.

Once dinner was over, they returned to the bungalow. The blue sky had turned a dazzlingly shade of pink now and, as they sat back down in the living room, a glass of wine in hand (or in Harry's case, Pumpkin Juice) Harry had to stifle a yawn.

Mrs. Snape seemed to have caught it however.

"It is getting on a bit," she said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Why don't I make the spare room up for you both?"

"It's fine," said Severus, "We can just apparate later on. You don't have to go to any trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," she said, and she pulled out her wand and gave it a flick. "Now Severus, why don't you apparate home to get some clothes for you both, hmm? You're staying here tonight and I'm not taking no for an answer."

Deciding it was best not to argue, Severus clasped Harry firmly on the shoulder before exiting the room. As soon as they heard the crack of disapparation, Mrs. Snape seated herself next to Harry, who had a sneaky feeling that she'd planned for this alone time.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him.

"What for?" he asked, confused.

"For talking Severus into coming to see me."

"Oh, I didn't," he said quickly, "It wasn't me, it was all Severus."

But Mrs. Snape was shaking her head knowingly. "My son is a very stubborn person. When he left I was sure I would never see him again. You must be really good for him, if he's listening to what you're saying. Thank you."

"Your mum's really nice," Harry said that night as he climbed into the bed Mrs. Snape had made up for them.

"Yes," Severus sighed in agreement. "She does seem to be a lot better, now that my father is no longer around." He threw on his nightshirt and joined Harry in bed. The cotton sheets ruffled softly as he made himself comfortable.

"And you were afraid it was going to be awkward," Harry teased. "I told you you'd be fine."

"Indeed," Severus murmured. "I suppose I had better thank you for talking sense into me."

Harry grinned and snuggled up against Severus. He felt relaxed, fulfilled, as though he had crossed some huge obstacle. It was nice to know that family lay on the other side of the wall.

"She said I was good for you," Harry told him with a smile. Severus snorted but didn't comment.

Harry lay in bed for a long time after that, staring up at the dark ceiling and listening to the odd sounds outside. He wanted to sleep but his mind wasn't giving him a moments piece; it kept going over something Severus had said, something which shouldn't have been as much as a bother as it was turning out to be.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to rest until he'd cleared something up, Harry prodded Severus awake.

"Sev?" he whispered. "Sev, wake up."

"Hm?" came the gruff response.

"Do you really think marriage is a load of nonsense?" he asked.

With a sluggish grunt, Severus turned over.

"Harry, it's the middle of the night."

"Please," said Harry, "Just answer me."

Severus sighed heavily. "It's stupid that people think you have to get married to prove your love," he said. "Utterly pointless. Now leave me in peace."

After enjoying a lovely full English breakfast together the next morning, Harry and Severus said goodbye to Mrs. Snape, promising that there would be more visits in the future. Before they had left however, they had caught sight of the mornings paper and had told her to ignore whatever insulting things it said about Severus in the coming days. Meeting Eileen Snape had pushed their public kiss from Harry's mind completely and now, returning home, they would have to deal with the outcry that it had caused.

Just like when Harry had announced his pregnancy, there were hundreds of owls sat in the surrounding trees waiting to deliver their messages. Harry had gone straight into the living room and had plonked himself down on the floor, ready to start reading. Not all of them were letters, however; in the pile that had been deposited on the carpet in front of him, he could clearly see red smoking envelopes, fit to burst.

"This is utterly ridiculous," Severus said in frustration, throwing a letter on the floor. "Can't we just burn them all?"

"I want to read the nice ones," said Harry.

"What nice ones?" he asked, his voice a little high. "There're all 'Snape, you should burn in hell', and 'Snape, leave that poor boy alone', and 'Snape, you're a sick perverted man'. I swear I saw one in your godfather's handwriting before!"

Harry looked up from the envelope he had just opened. "You're not used to getting hate mail are you?" he said.

"And you are?" he scoffed. "Who would ever send the great Harry Potter hate mail?"

"Plenty of people," said Harry. "Remember all those I got the other day after I gave that interview?"

"They were only from homophobic pricks," Severus pointed out; "That's not exactly hate mail material. These are really having a go at me."

Harry watched as Severus threw a handful of letters pack onto the pile.

"I thought you didn't care what other people thought of you?" he said.

"I don't."

"Then fuck 'em," said Harry, turning back. "Fuck the lot of them. Just ignore it."

"'Fuck 'em'?" repeated Severus, eyebrow raised. But then his expression changed and he slid off the sofa with a smirk and joined Harry. "I'd much rather fuck you."

"Now, now Professor, this isn't the time to be getting frisky; we have letters to get through."

"I'd much rather get through something else," Severus whispered with a grin, "These clothes for a start." Ignoring Harry's feeble protests, Severus lifted his hands to Harry's shirt and began to unfasten the plastic buttons, cursing himself as he did so for not bringing Harry a normal t-shirt to wear the night before.

"Severus," Harry said, with a soft hiss, when he felt lips at his neck, "We have to reply to the nice people."

"We can do that later," he murmured, and Harry held back a gasp when he felt hot breath dance across his skin, "I want to fuck."

Before Harry could respond, Severus had covered his lips with his own. His tongue explored that delicious mouth and as Harry moaned, he placed firm hands on the now bare chest and pushed gently.

Harry fell back softly onto the many letters that littered the floor and Severus hurriedly covered his body with his own. His lips had now returned to Harry's neck and he nibbled gently, as he knew Harry liked, and his fingers trailed down and brushed over hardening nipples. Eyes closed, Harry arched and gasped before wrapping his legs tightly around Severus' waist, rubbing, bucking…

He turned his head to one side, a hand tangled in Severus' long hair, in an effort to keep that hot mouth worshipping his neck. He opened his eyes…and saw Ron's handwriting.

"Oh," he said breathlessly, "Look, a letter from Ron."

Severus growled in a somewhat possessive manner and moved his hands to Harry's pants.

"Harry," Harry read out, letter in one hand, Severus' hair in the other; "Mate, I thought I'd better let you know – Oh, dear God, that's good! – Mum's on the warpath. She, like Sirius, thinks Snape's forced you – Oh, yes! Do that again! – into something so expect an interrogation the next time you're here. Hermione and I have tried to tell her that everything's fine and that you love him – hell yeah, I love him! – and all that, but she doesn't believe us. All the best. Ron. Fuck, Severus!" Harry cried out as, losing his grip on Severus' hair, the older man slid his talented mouth down Harry's chest, teeth grazing his nipples, tongue circling his belly button, before coming to rest on the clothed erection. Harry clenched his fists tight, scrunching up the letter still in his hand. He threw his head back and bit his bottom lip, not caring if he drew blood, wanting to focus on the feeling of that hot mouth, that tongue, those hands peeling off his boxer shorts.

By the time they were finished, Harry was pretty sure they would need a hefty amount of cleaning charms if they were to send back any of the letters with polite replies.

A/N: I know, I know - I took forever to update! Sorry guys! I have no excuse except laziness. But since it's summer I'm gonna try to get back into my routine of quick updating. I've just started another fic which is a post-DH one and once I have a few more chapters on that, I'm gonna start to post that as well - but this story and its sequel are my main priorites.

Please review! xx