The usual disclaimer applies. I own nothing and make nothing.
A/N...I was going to wait to post until tomorrow, but to leave a cliffie like that, that would just be cruel ;)
Chapter 20
Life or Death
Severus had just finished assigning a potion to the third years when he saw Minerva standing in his doorway. He opened his mouth to question her, but before he could, he heard her stern voice, "Class dismissed. Now!"
As the confused class quickly left, he turned around towards her thunderously, "What gives you the right to dismiss my class, Minerva?"
"I earned that right when I received a frantic Patronus from Hermione, after you failed to respond to the one she sent you first."
He visably paled, "Is she okay?"
"No, she is not. My floo has an open outside connection, Severus." But he was gone before she even finished the sentence.
-ooOOoo-
As Severus stepped out of the floo in Hermione's flat, he noticed immediately how unnaturally quiet it was.
"Hermione?" He looked around the room for her, and then noticed the open bedroom door.
He gasped when he noticed her pale, unconscious body lying on the bed. He paled further as he noticed the trail of blood leading from the closet to the bed. He gently put his hands on her neck, trying to find a pulse. He was thankful to find it quickly, even if it was faint.
He gently picked her up and walked towards the floo as quickly as he could. His mind was racing as he stepped into the floo and called out, "St. Mungo's." He only hoped he was not too late, for either of them.
-ooOOoo-
Severus sat in the waiting area, drinking his third cup of coffee. His eyes were glistening with the tears he fought to hold back. The healers had taken her to the surgery ward more than an hour ago, and he still didn't know if she was okay, or if their daughter was okay. They had asked him so many questions after they took her back, and he was ashamed he didn't know most of the answers.
"When did this happen? How long ago did the bleeding start?"
"Do you know her blood type? Does she have any allergies?"
There were many more questions about her health, and his answer for all of them had been "I don't know." He just did not know her well enough to answer any of it, and he had felt so helpless.
He shook his head sadly as he thought about the plans he had for her this evening. He was finally going to tell her that he cared about her, and wanted to be in her life as well as his daughter's. But now he didn't know if he would ever have that chance. As far as he knew, they both could be dead right now. The tears he had fought to hold back were now rolling down his cheeks. He put his head in his hands and gently sobbed as the emotions took over.
He was startled as he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up into the reassuring face of Healer Smythwick.
"Mr. Snape, we need to talk," she spoke calmly as she sat down beside him.
He tried to hide his emotions from her as he spoke, but the words still came out slightly broken. "Is Hermione-"
"She is stable at the moment. We were able to do an emergency caesarian section just in time. She had lost a lot of blood and was in shock when you found her. We had to give her several blood transfusions and blood replenishing potions after the surgery. She is still unconscious and heavily sedated, so I can't let you see her just yet."
He had a brief sigh of relief, until he thought about the baby. "What about our daughter?" He asked cautiously, praying that she was okay as well.
"She is as well as she can be, for being a few weeks early. She is small, and still needs some help breathing, but she should be able to go home in a week or so. Would you like to come see her in the special care nursery?"
"Yes, please."
He followed her through several corridors until she opened the door to the nursery. They walked past several small cots until they came to hers. He gasped as he saw her small body sleeping soundly. She was very tiny and very skinny, but with a shock of black hair. She had a tiny little button nose like Hermione, but long fingers and legs like himself. She was perfect.
"Would you like to hold her?" The nursery healer smiled at him, reassuringly.
He looked slightly panicked as he looked at her, then the healer. "I...I don't know. I've never held a baby before, and she is so small."
"You won't break her," the healer spoke reassuringly. "There are charms and spells in place to help her breathing and maintain her body temperature. Holding her won't interfere with them."
Severus nodded, and the healer gently placed her into his arms. He looked at her face, hardly believing that she could be so comfortable in his arms. She stirred slightly, and he was amazed to see her small eyes looking into his own. They were a deep murky brown, and he knew that she would eventually have his eyes. As he continued to watch her, her eyes slowly closing again, he realised he felt at peace for the first time in his adult life.
-ooOOoo-
Severus sat in the chair beside her bed, wondering when she would finally wake up. The healers had intially told him it would be less than a day, but now it had been almost two days, and she was still unconscious and unresponsive. Not only did her body have to heal, but her magic was almost totally depleted when he had brought her in. The healers had insisted that it was normal to be unconscious until at least some of her magic had returned. He had gently rubbed circles on her hand, hoping that contact would help wake her. She needed to see her daughter, and he needed to see her...healthy again.
He had contacted Minerva yesterday to let her know what had happened, and she had graciously agreed to contact everyone else since he did not want to leave her bedside. She had already had plenty of visitors, including the Potters, Luna Lovegood, and a few of the Weasleys. Despite the tears and pleas from many of the visitors, she remained unresponsive.
It was now late in the evening, and Severus had started to fall asleep in the chair when he felt a gentle squeeze on his hand. He quickly looked up and watched her eyelids start to flutter.
"Severus," she whispered as she opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. She tried to pull herself up, then winced as she felt the pain in her abdomen. It was then that she gasped as she felt her no longer pregnant stomach.
"The baby...I was bleeding. Is...is she okay?" The panic was evident in her voice.
"She will be fine, Hermione. She is the nursery since she is so small," he smiled a genuine smile at her.
Hermione leaned back into the pillow, more relaxed now, and smiled. "Have you seen her yet?"
"Yes, and I was able to hold her as well. She is perfect, Hermione. She has black hair and dark eyes, and she has your nose." Hermione noticed that he sounded every bit the proud father, and she couldn't help but smile back at him.
But she watched him slowly pull his hand away from her,and he began to shift in his seat slightly.
"What is wrong, Severus? What are you not telling me?"
"There is nothing wrong with her, but I had to make some decisions without you, Hermione. The hospital needed to file her birth certificate with the ministry. I...I know you wanted to name her Eleanor, but we never discussed the rest of her name."
"Oh...is that all," she breathed a sigh of relief, "You had me scared at first. What did you put on the birth certificate?"
"Eleanor Anne Snape," he replied quietly. "I did not know whether you wanted her to have your name or mine, but it can be changed later on at the ministry if you are unhappy."
"No...I know we didn't discuss it, but I want her to have your name. You are her father, Severus," she paused for a moment, "Where did you get the name Anne from?"
"It...it was my mother's middle name. I hope that is okay."
Tears started to well up in Hermione's eyes as she thought about the conversation all those months ago with Ginny.
"Hmm...Eleanor Granger. Not very wizarding, but I do like it. Have you thought about a middle name?"
Hermione's smile faltered, and she shook her head. "No, Ginny...and I just can't...not yet. In my family, the babies usually have a middle name from the father's side." Hermione paused for a moment, deep in thought. "I don't know if I even want to give her a middle name."
She looked up at Severus and simply said, "It's perfect."
A/N...Of course Hermione and the baby will be fine. Snape had a cruel enough life in canon, no way was I going to make it even worse here.
Most of the caesarian scenes were parallels of the birth of my oldest son. I didn't have placenta previa, but I did have delivery complications and an emergency c-section. We both almost died, and this has been a bit of a release writing this after having gone through it almost 12 years ago. I don't think Snape is too OOC with his emotions in this chapter...my husband is not an emotional man, and he sobbed for hours after the birth of our son.
Anyway, hope this gets me off the hook from the last chapter :)