Beach
The early days of May soon overtook them all, and the weather slowly became nicer. Word of Draco's engagement to Astoria soon broke out, and before long, the knowledge was released to the papers. Within the four or so months of their engagement, the two of them had broken up twice. Astoria had even begun the process of moving out at one point, and yet they somehow managed to survive the fight. Their wedding was set for Christmas of the following year.
Severus couldn't help but be amused by their childish antics, though he supposed he should begin getting used to such unruly behavior. Hermione, on the other hand, was slowly growing, her stomach getting bigger and bigger as her pregnancy continued.
To his surprise, Severus found that he actually enjoyed having her pregnant. Not only did it reinforce his claim on his beautiful woman and make known to the entire wizarding community that she was taken, but it also made her particularly randy at night...
It was in the middle of Hermione's six month in her pregnancy that she received an invitation from Bill and Fleur to come and visit them at their beach cottage in the country. Harry, Ginny, and Teddy Lupin would be there as well, due to a speech Harry was giving on the Dark Arts at Beauxbatons a week later. Hermione was thrilled by the invitation; she had always liked Bill, and to get the opportunity to catch up with him was amazing.
It took a bit of convincing, but once Minerva promised him the weekend off, Severus agreed to accompany her on the trip. They arrived at the cottage late in the evening on a Friday, Severus toting the bags along, and were surprised when the door was immediately flung open by Fleur.
"'Ello! Oh, Bill," she called back up the stairs. "Bill! Zey are here!"
Hermione blanched for a moment as she stared in surprise at the blond before her and the slightly round stomach that protruded from beneath her tunic. "Fleur," she said, as the French woman's arms came around her. "It's been so long-"
"Too true, Hermione." She pulled back, giving the younger girl a smile. "I 'ave yet to see you pregnant. It is nice to no longer be ze only one, no?"
"No- Er, yes," she said, giving Severus a wide-eyed look begging for mercy. She had always felt awkward around Fleur, probably due to her total disdain for the overtly girly attitude the blond usually sported.
Luckily for her, Severus stepped forward, his voice smooth as he spoke. "Thank you so much for having us, Mrs. Weasley."
"Oh, please. Call me Fleur. Mrs. Weasley makes me zound old," she said, wrinkling her nose, as behind her Bill appeared carrying a little girl in his arms.
"We can't have that, can we?" he joked, kissing Fleur lightly on the lips before he turned to the two travelers. "Hermione! Severus! How nice of you to join us. Come in, please."
They stepped into the room, the door shutting behind them with magic. "Is that little Victoire I see?" Hermione asked, staring at the small redhead in her father's arms.
"Yes. Nearly three, she is."
"Zey grow up so fast," Fleur added, taking a seat in a small leather armchair.
"You'll find out soon enough," Bill mentioned, gesturing towards her stomach as she and Severus sat down. "I see you have one of your own along the way. Do you know what it will be?"
Severus fought the urge to roll his eyes. The Weasley boy spoke as if this was some insipid guessing game, and not a discussion about his child... "No. We are waiting until the birth to find out."
"Really? I don't know if I 'ould possibly do zat," Fleur commentated. "Ze moment I found out I was pregnant again, I went immediately to ze healers and learned of ze baby's sex. We even 'ave a name picked out, though we cannot tell you what."
"Oh?" Hermione asked, feigning politeness. "So which are you having?"
She smiled across the room at her husband. "Another girl."
"Congratulations," she said with a small smile. She gave a nudge to Severus, drawing him out of the thoughts he'd retreated to out of boredom, so that he could murmur his own well-wishes.
"Zank you. Oh! But where are my manners? Please, you two must be tired. Let me show you to your rooms."
"That would be lovely, thank you," Severus said, rising from the chair he had claimed.
"Hermione," Bill called out, halting her retreat. "A word, if you will." She raised her eyebrows at her husband before waving him on as she sat back down. Severus clenched his teeth together, knowing that the ensuing conversation would be about him. But he left anyway. "You do look good, you know."
She blinked. "Uh, thank you."
"Ginny and Harry took Teddy to the beach for awhile. Sorry about that. We would have delayed them had we known you'd be arriving so soon."
"It's all right," she said, crossing her legs.
"Listen," he said after a slightly awkward pause. "I just... wanted to touch base with you. Make sure that everything is going well."
She frowned. "Everything is fine."
"Right, but what I mean is... Your life. Is everything... good?"
She rolled her eyes. "And I repeat: Everything is fine." She paused as Bill let out a bark of nervous laughter. "Bill, what are you really trying to ask me here?"
He sighed. "I can't believe you married that man."
Her mouth dropped open; she was startled. "Well I did."
"He didn't... force you into anything, did he?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Just what are you trying to imply, Bill?"
He raised his hands, as if to ward off the attack he knew was coming for his stern words. "I'm just a little worried about you, Hermione. You up and start dating Snape, out of the blue. You get married younger than I had ever dreamed you would. And now you're pregnant. Are you happy with these events?"
"Very," she said, no hesitation present in her voice.
"Are you sure-"
"Extremely."
He smiled wryly. "You know that you can talk to me if you need to, right?"
Despite the awkward conversation that had preceded the genuine sentiment, Hermione couldn't help but smile. "Of course, Bill. What else are friends for?"
The rest of the weekend passed in a far less eventful manner. Days were spent lounging outside by the sea, nights were spent indoors, listening to wizarding-hits and staying up for hours talking with her friends. Victoire and Teddy got along well and occupied their time building sandcastles and chasing each other around Bill's property.
Severus was, of course, severely annoyed by Bill's confrontation with his wife, and even threatened to go home if he was going to be treated like an abusive man, but in the end, Hermione convinced him to stay.
On the last night of their mini vacation, Severus and Hermione managed to get away from the rest of the group. They settled down together on the beach, walking up and down the sandy shores as they gazed up at the cliff that held Bill's house.
"It's beautiful out here tonight," Hermione murmured, leaning her head against Severus' shoulder.
"Indeed," he replied, slipping his hand gently into her own. He noticed the slightly raised flesh on her arm. "Are you cold? Perhaps we should get back inside-"
"I'm fine, Severus. Just happy to be with you."
The smallest of smiles escaped onto his face. "I'm pleased to hear that." They walked in silence for a few more moments before Severus finally spoke again. "You don't think we're terribly behind, do you?"
She tilted her head to look up at him. "At what?"
"Names and such." He glanced down at her confused face. "You know. For the baby."
"Oh." Her brow furrowed. "Why would you ask that?"
"Well Weasley and Fleur-"
"Are a Weasley and a doting mother. Of course they already have names picked out. They've probably named their next thirty children. That doesn't mean we have to do the same."
Severus shook his head. "I feel so unprepared."
"For the name?"
"For everything. What do I know about children? Other than their extremely tedious moronic tendencies and their desire to fight anything that moves?"
"You think I know much more? All I do is read and study... That will be really helpful once the child goes to school, but until then?" she laughed. "Not so much."
He smiled wryly down at her. "I guess we're both a little unprepared for this, aren't we?"
"Undoubtably."
"Well then. At least we have each other."
She smiled back up at him, stopping their stroll in order to give him a kiss. "Yes. At least we have each other."
Hey everyone! I hope you like this chapter; the next one is called Pain, so good luck guessing what that means...
By the way, I have a new poll up on my profile concerning this story, so you should check it out...
Please read my Harry/Ginny oneshot Epiphanies of Romance! It's amusing and pretty short; if you enjoy this story, you'll like it!
Remember to please, please, please go and review Hidden Lives! I really need feedback for the competition, and all you have to do is tell me what you think. If you like it, if it's boring, if it sucks... if you want to give a more detailed review, that's more than appreciated! Thank you, in advanced!
And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!
Take care!
-Selene