The end

A knock on the door of her rooms made Hermione jump. It was nearly midnight now and Nathaniel was already asleep while she was looking for a bottle of dreamless potion. The problem wasn't that she wasn't exhausted enough to fall asleep; no she fell asleep faster than one could say "butter beer", but her dreams were always plagued by memories of her time with Severus. And when she woke up she still remembered those dreams which meant her days were just as bad and painful as her nights. Therefore she needed this simple potion to exist.

Severus hadn't made an attempt to come back to her or at least visit her. And she hadn't seen him for a week. Nobody seemed to care about his absence. But she did. Even if it was stupid. Damn stupid.

Hesitantly she walked to the front door. Of course she didn't expect an enemy to stand in front of her chambers, she was in Hogwarts after all, but something inside her told her to be careful.

Slowly opening the door she glanced outside and saw Severus standing a few meters away. His back was turned towards her. Apparently he hadn't heard her open the door and was now rethinking his idea to visit her. Running his hand trough his hair he took a deep breath and started to go away, but Hermione let her instinct lead her and opened the door wider to run to him.

"Severus." She said. Her bare feet touched the cold stone and sent chills through her body.

He turned around, his mouth opened as if he were searching for words. When he finally shut it his gaze fell to his hands. An envelope came into Hermione's view as he raised his arm and held it in front of her face. She frowned but took it. Her body trembled and she couldn't tell if it was from the cold air or the tension she felt whenever he was around her. She didn't dare to say something. Didn't want to sound desperate or weak. Surely he wouldn't approve of that. So she bit her lip and he cleared his throat.

"Good night." With that he turned around and left her alone. And she stood in the middle of the corridor. Her body covered with Goosebumps and her fingers clenching around the envelope.

She had never felt this left alone.

The envelope, how she found out later, had a check in it. A rather big one with a large sum of money. The sum of money she had paid him to get her pregnant. And that was the point where she got angry.

"What is the meaning of this Severus. I want an explanation. NOW!" Hermione shouted when she entered his chambers. She had been surprised he hadn't changed his password. He had always been so careful with things like this. But apparently he had changed.

"I don't know what you are talking about, but if you want to we can sit down and discuss it. Just do me the favor and stop screaming. I think my ears are bleeding already." He replied and went from the kitchen counter to the sofa.

Hermione didn't make an attempt to sit down too; she simply stood in front of him and threw the check in front of his feet.

"I want an explanation." She said with a low voice.

"What do you want to know exactly?" He asked, but didn't look at the check.

"Oh, come on. You know exactly what I want to know. You give me a check with the exact sum I paid you for Nathaniel and you think I don't notice? What is this about? Why give it back?"

She folded her hands in front of her breasts and waited for an answer.

"I don't want to get paid for…it. So it's just… I want you to have it. You need it for you and the baby." He said but didn't look at her directly.

Hermione calmed a little bit.

"So it's just an act of kindness. This is not about you wanting Nathaniel now suddenly and trying to steal him away from me?"

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"Wouldn't dream about it."

"Okay, sorry about screaming at you." Suddenly she was nervous.

"You know if you want to be a part of his life I've nothing against it. I just feared…"

"I would take him away from you." Severus finished and she nodded.

"Don't worry about it."

She turned to leave again though it felt wrong.

"Wait." His voice sounded hoarse. "I hate this."

It was the first time he actually said what he felt and Hermione was so shocked that she stopped walking and turned around to have a better look at him.

"I hate that we act like nothing happened between us. You know a while ago I really tried to talk myself into believing you didn't care for me, but considering everything you've done, it's the only logical explanation. Now that I figured that out you don't have to jump into my arms or anything. I'm not expecting you to live with me or even like me, but if you ever felt something for me I would like to know. Just one word, so I can go on in peace and not twist my brain because I don't know for sure."

He looked pleading at her and she felt cold, almost like you feel before you faint. Her mind was arguing with her heart at the moment. Did she want to give them a chance? Maybe it would be like the last weeks of the pregnancy. Maybe they could really have a future together. This was not only about her but also about Nathaniel. He needed a father.

When she didn't say anything, Severus hung his head. He was wrong. Of course he was. He had never been right when it came to relationships. Something always went wrong.

"Yes." Hermione suddenly said and a smile crept on her face. It felt good to say what she had kept inside her for so long.

"What?" Severus froze.

Hermione gave him a radiant smile.

"I felt something for you after we came back and I was so angry at you for being an ass I simply made a plan more slytherin than I ever thought I could. I talked you into being my sperm donator because I thought with time you would fall for me and want to be a part of Nathaniel's life."

Severus raised an eyebrow. Hermione had wanted this from the start?

Then he realized something.

"You tricked me into sleeping with you?"

Hermione gasped.

"How dare you! Of course I didn't. The medi witches really couldn't help me. That evening I visited you wasn't a show. There was just no one else I wanted to talk to. "

Severus nodded slowly then made a motion for her to go on. She cleared her throat.

"Well, after the months I spend with you, I realized my plan had backfired. I was already in love with you when I found out I was pregnant."

Severus eyes widened.

"That's the reason you didn't tell me right away, true?"

Hermione gasped. "You knew I was pregnant? Why didn't you say something?"

Severus shrugged. "I liked spending time with you. You were not only my lover, but my friend."

"I know what you mean." Hermione smiled at him again.

"You said you were in love with me. Do you still feel that way?"

She blushed and that was answer enough for him.

"I love you, too." He said and was amazed by how easily it came from his lips.

He stood up and took her hand.

"I… made some changes, when I was absent."

He glanced at her and felt confident when she smiled back.

"If you still believe we could have this future together maybe you would like to see what I changed."

Hermione frowned but followed when Severus led her to his potion lab. He opened the door with a quick motion of his wand and let her go in first.

Looking around at first she didn't see anything and then she realized it looked exactly like in the future.

AN: The Epilogue comes soon. I'm sorry for leaving you hanging for so long, but I'm going to work on my stories now.

Thanks for reading, Ace