Severus lay lazily reclined against a mound of pillow in the bed she now shared with Sirius Black, her eyelids heavy and half-closed as she worked to finish the delicate embroidery on the yellow robe she had just finished sewing for her Father's upcoming birthday. And while she would have prefered to not be putting the finishing touches on the clothing only four days before the event itself, Severus had been forced by necessity into spending the larger portion of all last week letting out the seams in her own clothing.

"You'll go cross-eyed doing all that needlework." Sirius warned, coming into the bedroom with a resigned grimace on his face.

"You sound like Lily." Severus accused mildly, still working even as she looked away from her cotton canvas.

"I've never been accused of that before." The unsmiling man informed, gracelessly collapsing unto the bed with his boots still on.

Too exhausted herself to request that the Gryffindor remove his sullied boots, Severus sighed inwardly and made a mental note to change the bedding on the bed for the fourth time that week.

"Why so glum?" She queried, tying off an impossible small knot with her nimble fingers.

"Harry still won't speak with me." The animagi bemoaned, burying his bearded face in the golden quilt. "And neither will Remus, apparently."

While Severus could not help but sympathize with the young Potter, given the way in which his birthday festivities had ended, her disdain for the werewolves sullen behavior could not help but rear its ugly head. For while she had no doubt that discovering one's mate had been married via newspaper was upsetting, if not admittedly insulting, the fact still remained that he was a grown man acting a petulant child. At least where Harry was involved, the excuse of youth could be given.

"They will have to forgive you soon enough." Severus reasoned. "Lupin lives with you, after all, and I am sure Harry will not want to return to Hogwarts without making peace with his Godfather."

"I really don't think I'm the one who needs forgiving." Sirius grumbled, his voice half-obscured by a mound of fabric.

"You cannot blame them for the things they said while upset." Severus asserted, knowing better than anyone else just how true that was.

While Harry referring to her as, 'just some bint' his Godfather had taken up the Duff,' had certainly wounded her to the quick, Severus had by far found Lupin's thinly-veiled assertions of her having plotted to entrap his mate with a baby far more insulting given his age and supposed maturity. But, even then, she had allowed the insults to slide - her desire not to intervene in family matters just as strong as her desire not to lose the begrudging truce she had only just forged with the father of her child.

"Harry shouldn't have spoken to you that way." Sirius persisted. "Lily would have never allowed it, nor would James."

While Severus was of the learned opinion that the elder Potter would have actually joined in with the bashing of her person, she held her tongue and thought of ways in which might change the subject of elsewise sooth her frazzles husband's nerves.

"It's true." Sirius asserted, having caught her fleeing look of disbelief. "He wanted Harry to be a gentleman."

"Harry has quite a lot going on in his life right now." Severus reminded the man. "And he's only just turned fourteen. It's only natural he's struggling to adapt to this change."

"Well," Sirius grumbled, searching for a retort, "What excuse does Remus have?"

While it was a much better question, Severus remained unthwarted.

"I think you, of all people, should know just how stressful it is dealing with an expectant woman." She smirked, drumming her fingers against the rising swell of her belly.

"That may be so," Sirius allowed, rolling over to face her, "But you don't see me snapping at Tonks without reason."

"Well," Severus frowned, "We haven't exactly been fighting as much as they have."

Though the Lupin's took great care to conceal their rows within their bedroom, both Severus and Sirius were more than unlucky enough to have stumbled upon the newly-married couple as the bickered spontaneously in the corridors and snapped at each other in the living room and kitchen. And while the discomfort of witnessing such a familiar phenomenon had seen her hiding up in the master bedroom more often than not, Severus could not help but feel the chiliness in the air whenever she left the bedroom in pursuit of Sirius or food.

"I told him she wasn't his type." Sirius growled, crawling up the bed to lay beside her.

"There are many people saying the same about us." Severus stated pointedly.

"If they bothered saying it to my face there would be less people saying it." Sirius scowled, snatching up one of her hands as she stilled her needlework.

"Don't go getting yourself locked back up in Azkaban." Severus warned. "Our child needs you." She added, placing his hand on her belly.

Grinning like a fool, Sirius caressed her stomach as he relaxed into his own mound of pillows. Still slightly uncomfortable with such intimacy, especially so where it involved violations of her modesty, Severus blushed and thought to start anew a conversation.

"You should take Harry to the Quidditch match tomorrow." Severus decided, not looking at the father of her child as she fiddled with his fingers. "He might really enjoy that," She prattled, "And maybe then he won't feel so...put aside."

"Do you really think that's what is bothering Harry?" Sirius asked. "Feeling left out?"

"Knowing Petunia, he's very likely grown up feeling set aside in favor of others." Severus rationalized. "It's only natural he thinks the baby will replace him."

Sighing loudly, Sirius closed his eyes and shook his head at his own ignorance.

"I'll never be able to get tickets now." He bemoaned. "We'll have to do something else."

"I've already had Lucius secure two for me." Severus grinned, rolling onto her side to face her husband. "I had planned on giving them to Harry as a gift before...well, before the fighting started."

Not wanting to be accused of bribing the boy into forgiving her, she had tucked the exclusive tickets away into her nightstand drawer, a compartment in which Sirius never deigned to enter after she had claimed it as her own.

"Merlin," Sirius grinned, pressing his forehead against hers, "Am I ever glad I chose you as a wife."