Madam Pomfrey was not present at breakfast the next morning. Severus assumed she was administering the potion to those petrified. There was a difference in the amount of time it took for each patient to be revived so Severus did not know when Florence would be back.

The first patients had entered the hall and had reunited with their friends and Severus nervously waited to see who be the next to return.

Hermione Granger was greeted happily by Potter and Weasley. They led her to the Gryffindor table which cheered as she sat down. He sighed and was frowned as Misty pawed his leg, 'What is the matter?' he whispered, 'I suppose you are hungry.' He discreetly moved some sausages and bacon onto a side plate and placed it onto the floor.

'I'm glad to see you've been feeding her.' A familiar voice said.

He slowly looked up, as did Misty. Misty barked and jumped up as she saw Florence standing next to the professor's table, 'Oh gosh, I think Severus has been feeding you too much!' the dog kept barking and wagging her tail and Florence laughed as she sat down. Misty attempted to sit on Florence's lap with little success, 'You're too big!'

His eyes were wide due to the shock of seeing her standing in front of him, 'I-I… how are you?' he stammered slightly.

Florence beamed, 'I feel great! Poppy said all my statistics are normal. She said she needs to check on something minor, but I should be fine. Speaking of which, I need to see Hermione… oh there she is! She seems pretty happy, so I'll just talk to her during lesson. Is it true they cancelled exams due to the attacks and Lockhart lost his whole memory? Pretty ironic right. I have a LOT to catch up on. I think Minerva is going to catch me up during break or lunch. Anyway… what have you been up to?'

Severus chuckled, 'You have not changed. You can still talk my ear off. Not a lot has happened, to be quite frank. You will soon discover Misty will not be happy about sleeping on the floor, but since you are back… that will be your problem.' He smiled as she groaned.

'Oh no. Just when she starting to like her bed,' Florence shook her head, 'I'm sorry, girl.' She rubbed Misty's head as the dog nuzzled Florence's hand.

'Florence! I am glad to see you are happy and well,' Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkled, 'I do give my apology that your lessons were suspended during your absence. However, the students did go over the recommended reading list, so they should be up to date for your next lot of lessons.'

'That is a relief. Hopefully they have been doing the reading.'

Dumbledore laughed, 'I would like to think our students would go the extra mile,' Poppy hurried in and came up to the table, 'Well done is order Poppy! Everyone petrified has been treated. Has the message to Azkaban been sent regarding Hagrid's release?'

'An owl was sent this morning. Unfortunately, it was Weasley's owl,' Severus rolled his eyes, 'so hopefully Hagrid will be back later today.' Minerva said.

Dumbledore chuckled, 'Hopefully indeed.'

Florence's first lesson back was reasonably successful. The majority of the class had caught up with the missed work but a few hadn't, much to Florence's annoyance, 'Seeing as the exam has been cancelled, I will issue you all a choice of essays and you ALL need to answer one question,' she glanced at the smirking Malfoy, 'NO exception.' He rolled his eyes, 'All the teachers are doing something similar and these marks will contribute to whether or not you can take this subject further. And it will effect potential career paths.' His smile dropped, and Florence smiled sweetly, 'Any questions?' Hermione put her hand up, 'Yes Hermione?'

'I missed part of the year, so I might not be able to answer some of the questions,' she looked incredibly worried.

Florence smiled warmly, 'I've made sure there will questions on modules from the start of the year.'

Hermione relaxed in her chair, relief clearly on her face.

She checked her watch, 'Okay guys. Here is a list of the questions,' she waved her hand and a stack of paper floated to the centre of the class and sheets landed on each table, 'Once you've selected one you can't change your mind and I've made sure none of you can cheat. Good luck and I want the papers in by the end of next week.' The students groaned but a few called out that they were glad she was back as they left for break which made her smile

Florence checked her watch and sighed, 'let's go and see what Poppy wanted to tell me.'

/

After dinner Severus and Florence went back to her quarters, 'I hope everything is still as I left it,' she grimaced, 'oh God. I left food in there. Hopefully the house elves got rid of it.'

Severus laughed, 'I would be shocked if they did not. The Hogwarts elves are particularly picky about cleanliness.'

Florence opened her door and smiled, 'It seems so strange it's been nearly a month since I last was in here.' She glanced around and smiled fondly at her belongings, 'nothing has changed really. Misty's toys are still scattered all over the floor. My research is still on desk.'

She felt arms around her waist and Severus kissed her neck, 'I missed you. I did not want the dunderheads to see me like this.' She leaned against his chest.

'Like what?' she asked, she moaned as he tilted her face towards him and kissed her deeply.

'Like this,' he kissed her again and ran his hands down her back, 'I wanted to ask you something.' He murmured in her ear.

He led her to the sofa and cleared his throat, holding her hand, 'I did a lot of thinking whilst you were in the Hospital Wing. And it was clear I needed you. I realised that I did not want to spend another day without you, Florence,' Severus knelt down onto one knee, 'Will you marry me?' he held a small sapphire ring.

Florence gasped, her hands were shaking, 'I-I… yes!' she collapsed onto the floor next to him, throwing her arms around his neck, tears flowing from her eyes, 'Yes I will marry you!'

Severus removed her arms and carefully placed the ring onto her finger. He gazed at the woman who accepted his propose. She had the biggest smile on her face and looked lovingly at him, her fingers playing with the ring on her finger. She leant towards him and kissed him gently, his arm snaked around her waist pulling her flush against his chest. He deepened the kiss, a hand cradling her face.

She pulled away, breathing heavily, 'We have so much to plan! How do you plan a wedding? I bet Minerva would kno- '

Severus silenced her with a kiss and she let him lead her to the bedroom, 'Merlin, I missed you,' he murmured, his hands quickly unzipping her dress.

/

Florence struggled to sleep. A mixture of flashbacks and Poppy's news made her feel nauseous. She continuously woke up, fiddling with the engagement ring. She glanced at Severus who was sleeping peacefully, a small smile on his face, 'I wish I had a way to tell you this. It's not going to be easy, Sev. It really isn't.'

Florence was sitting in the staff room, her eyes were fixed onto her engagement ring and she absentmindedly flicked pages of a magazine, not reading anything. She did not notice Minerva sit in the chair next to her.

'Congratulations, I am very happy for the both of you,' Minerva said, hugging Florence, 'You don't look very happy, what's wrong?'

Florence sighed, 'Poppy told me something yesterday.'

Minerva furrowed her brow, 'It can't be too bad, hmm.' She patted Florence's hand.

'I'm pregnant, Minerva.' Florence said, shaking slightly, she laughed nervously.

'That's brilliant! I am sure Severus would be delighted, albeit worried.'

'I was going to tell him yesterday but then he proposed,' Florence wiped away her tears, 'he's going to think I only accepted it because I'm pregnant, which is completely not true!'

'I'm sure he won't think that,' Florence smiled weakly at Minerva's words, 'what else is on your mind?' Minerva poured her a cup of tea which Florence accepted and drunk quickly.

'I'm scared that I'll end up like my mum. A single mother. You see my father left when she was pregnant, and she struggled doing it all by herself. Her family abandoned her due to the disgrace of it all and she worked right up until she got sick. I can't go through that. Mum said my father got bored of her. I'm scared, Minerva. Scared that I'm going to be like her. She was miserable, and she couldn't forget or move on from him.'

Minerva sighed, 'Talk to him, Florence. It is the only way you will feel better about it.'

Florence nodded and chewed her lip nervously, 'What if he takes it badly?'

'He loves you. It would not surprise me if he has an initial panic, but he won't abandon you.' Minerva hugged Florence again, 'If he does, well, I'll give him a good seeing to.'

Florence laughed, 'Thank you, Minerva.'

The rest of the day went slowly and as the final lesson drew to a close, Florence felt a pit of nerves and fear collect in the bottom of her stomach. Misty rested her head in Florence's lap, 'I guess we should tell him the news. I reckon we should take the long route.' Misty tilted her head and then barked, her tail wagging, 'Glad you're pleased.'

As she neared the quarters she noticed one of the Hogwarts' ghosts looking out of the window. Florence tilted her head, confused due to the ghost resembling her mother, 'E-excuse me…?'

The ghost turned to face her, 'Are you lost?'

Florence shook her head, 'This make sound strange, but you look like my mother, Helena Mountfield.'

The ghost's face stiffened, 'The family name is familiar.'

Florence's face lit up, 'Really! Perhaps you know my ancestors? I know my mother was named after one of them.'

The ghost drifted towards Florence, her eyes fell onto Florence's necklace, 'Where did you get the necklace?'

Florence's fingers went to the sapphire and diamond necklace, 'It's a family heirloom.'

'Indeed. I suggest you look after it… I beg you not to let it get into the wrong hands.' The ghost turned to leave.

'What's your name?' Florence called out.

The ghost stopped, 'Helena Ravenclaw.'

Florence paused, 'My mother was called Helena…' her hand fell onto her stomach, 'Did you have children?'

'One. Elizabeth… Mountfield.' The ghost drifted away, her head down, 'Care for your child. Learn from our mistakes.'

/

'You have been quiet. I thought after yesterday you'll be rambling about dresses, flowers and food for the wedding.' Severus said, he looked up from his marking.

Florence's eyes were fixed the first wave of essays. Hermione and a few others had handed in their assessment early and Florence promised to give the marks back as soon as she could, 'Andrews' handwriting is quite difficult to read,' she said.

Severus hummed, 'Are you sure you're okay?'

Florence nodded, 'Yep.'

Severus sighed, and they went back to marking. It took them two hours to complete all the work and Florence sat next to him on the sofa, taking his hand, 'I have something to tell you.'

'Please tell me what the matter is.' He said, rubbing her hand with his thumb.

Florence took a breath in shakily, 'Poppy gave me the news.'

'Yes?'

'I'm pregnant.' She broke down crying and Severus moved so he put his arms around her.

He kissed the top of her head, 'Why are you crying?'

She looked up at him, 'Aren't you disappointed? Or angry?'

He shook his head, 'No. It only means the wedding will need to be sooner. To be truthful I'm only slightly annoyed you did not tell me when you found out.' He felt his eyes stinging, 'Did Poppy tell you how far along you are?'

She smiled in relief, 'I was scared. When Mum found out she was expecting my father left her and I didn't want to ruin last night. Poppy reckons a couple of months.'

He cautiously placed his hand on her stomach, 'I cannot believe this is happening.' A smile broke over his face.

Florence beamed, 'It came as a shock to me too.' She bit her lip, 'We have a lot to sort out.'

Severus hummed, 'We will figure it out. I am just glad you are back.'