Hinata: by the end of last chapter, yes, it was still
attached. Severus didn't cut it, and Madam Pomfrey was far more
concerned with getting Hermione's bleeding stopped.
Toranoko:
No doubt of that, : ) I'm looking forward to letting one of my other
babies out.
Tracy: Ooooooooo!!!! Good question! I actually
partially deal with her statement (by implication -- don't blink you
might miss it. LOL) in this chapter and outright in the next, but
didn't think of the goblin angle at all. ::Grins:: I'll really have
to keep that in mind when I get to the sequel. ::Already has a couple
of ideas spinning because of your review:: Thanks!
Snakegirl:
LOLOL yes, I've had three. And all three worth it, despite the
frequent irritation factor. But, she was outside the vault by the
point she gave birth. She had already rejoined Professor Snape, who
couldn't go inside the vault itself. I have to agree with the ewwwww
factor for the other though. EEWWWW. LOL
Mamajmarie:
Thanks! I actually modeled it on the labor of my oldest daughter's
grandmother. She had been in labor all day and hadn't realized it,
she'd just had a worse than normal backache. Hermione's reactions,
though, were all mine. LOL By the time I got to the point where
Hermione was when she was fighting with her knickers, I wouldn't have
cared if the philharmonic orchestra and a news crew had tromped
through the delivery room. Embarrassment? What's that? Of course, I
was much nicer to her than what I went through. hehe. I wasn't one of
the 'lucky' ones.
Elvish: Thanks! : ) They couldn't very
well be stupid, could they? LOL
Everyone who reviewed:
Thanks so much for your encouragement! There have been times I really
needed it to keep going.
To anyone interested: Look for
"Hidden Truths" after this story is finished. It's the next
story I'm putting up. : )
AN: And finally in this chapter we finally get back to Harry's POV, for those of you who were wondering how he was actually fairing. : ) Others -- in the story -- had noticed prior to now that Harry has been withdrawn and quieter than usual -- at least some of the time, but what with various levels of preoccupation, their attention keeps getting drawn away from him and back to themselves. I don't remember what chapter it was, but Hermione talked with him for a bit, and for a moment was drawn outside her own worries. It got pushed aside again, however, as other, seemingly more pressing, matters took her attention away. Hope that helps those who were wondering about the seeming ease with which Harry seemed to move past Ginny's death/spirithood/death.
AN2: the name of the baby, I blatantly stole (well, the first name, anyway) from DH; though, this story remains -- quite obviously -- very au from that book, as well as HBP.
xxxxxxxxxx
Chapter
Fifty Three
xxxxxxxxxx
Severus stumbled slightly as the portkey released them directly in the infirmary. Potions had helped Hermione enough that they could afford the time to transfer her and the baby to a place where Madam Pomfrey could use direct magic to finish the healing process. Severus just hoped they were in time. Magic may be far in advance of most muggle medicine, but there was still only so much it could heal.
"Please get the baby cleaned up, Severus," Poppy instructed, not taking her attention off the girl she was levitating into a bed.
The moment Hermione was settled on the bed, Poppy had her wand out and set to work.
It took every ounce of Severus' considerable willpower to turn his attention away from Hermione and onto the baby. The moment he unwrapped the infant, however, he frowned. Turning toward Pomfrey, he opened his mouth, but closed it before asking his question. He didn't want to take any of her attention away from her patient.
So, he thought with a mental shrug, I do it the hard way. He didn't know whether or not magic could be used on newborn babies -- most potions certainly couldn't be -- and he wasn't about to use it without being absolutely certain. What he knew about babies could maybe fill a thimble! Making sure the baby couldn't fall, he hurried to collect cloths and water. He debated some sort of mild soap, but did know that babies' skin was notoriously fragile, so decided against it. He had absolutely no clue where he'd heard that, but figured it was better to be safe now, rather than sorry later.
As he began gently wiping the blood and muck off, an actual pink-skinned baby began to emerge from under it all. He was especially careful around the clamped umbilical cord. Apparently it would take a couple of days to finish healing . He was just glad that Poppy had already taken of that back at Gringotts. He would have had trouble cutting off anything still attached. There was more than one reason he was a potions master, not a mediwizard!
He was nearly done when the infant decided to take exception. He started crying like someone was trying to kill him. Not knowing what else to do, Severus set aside the washcloth and wrapped him in one of the big, fluffy towels and picked him up. He sat almost immediately, afraid he was going to drop the fragile looking baby. The baby didn't stop hollering, so Severus was quite sure he wasn't holding him right. Maybe he was hurting him. He shifted his hold, but it didn't seem to help.
"He's probably hungry, Severus," Poppy called out, not removing her attention from Hermione.
Hungry? he thought incredulously. All this fuss because he's hungry?!
He called for a house elf.
"What can Dobby do for Potions Master?" the elf asked, bowing, then noticed Hermione's child. "Oh! Yous is having a baby! Is you wanting Dobby to take care of baby?"
Severus blinked. He hadn't thought of that. "No, thank you, Dobby," he said, even before he'd fully thought about it. He well knew -- Who didn't? -- Hermione's views on house elves and did not think she would appreciate it. "What I need you to do, is get a warm bottle for the baby, then go to H-- Miss Granger's room and get the green bag. It's also for the baby."
"Yes, Sirs, I be doing that now."
"Wait."
"Yes, Sirs?"
"After you've brought that back, I need you to fetch Mr. Malfoy," he ordered, paused, then added, "and Mr. Weasley."
Dobby nodded again, snapped his fingers and was gone. It took Dobby all of two minutes -- the baby screaming bloody murder the whole time -- to bring back a bottle. No sooner had the elf handed it to him, it was gone again. Seconds later, the elf popped back, left the bag and was gone yet again.
Severus snorted, then set his mind to trying to figure out how to hold the baby and feed him at the same time. He only had two hands! Despite how long it seemed what with the baby's cries, it really didn't take him long to get the baby cradled in one arm and the bottle held in his other hand.
Silence reigned and Severus breathed a sigh of relief. Well, he supposed it wasn't quite silence. It seemed the baby wasn't exactly a silent eater, smacking and slurping the milk down quite greedily.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing, you manic elf?!"
Just in time, Severus thought, smirking at both Draco and Mr. Weasley, both of them looking a little disgruntled to be virtually kidnapped by an elf. The over-enthusiastic elf probably hadn't even told them why he was snatching them.
"Mr. Malfoy," he said quietly, causing both boys to snap their heads around and stare.
"Professor!" they exclaimed.
"What's going--" Draco's words abruptly cut off and his eyes widened as he caught sight of the baby. He swallowed heavily, taking a wary step forward. "Is that. . . ?"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, it is your son."
"My son," Draco breathed, incredulous.
"Wow," Weasley mouthed, then frowned. "Wait a minute," he exclaimed. "Why wasn't anyone told when Mione went into labor?"
Severus snorted, but was beaten to a response by Poppy.
"Because, Mr. Weasley, he was so impatient to arrive, he couldn't wait for Miss Granger to get back to Hogwarts let alone wait to give us a chance to notify anyone."
Weasley's jaw dropped.
"May I hold him?" Draco asked, as Severus spoke.
"Sit down, Draco."
He sat down quickly, co-opting the nearest bed, not bothering to go find another chair.
Severus rolled his eyes as he stood and carefully walked over to his godson, gently placing the baby in his arms. The moment the nipple left his mouth, however, the infant began to holler.
"What's wrong with him?" Draco asked, sounding quite panicked. "Am I holding him wrong?"
Severus would have smirked, but the very fresh memory of him thinking the exact same thing kept him from doing so. He knew exactly how scary it was to hold such a tiny, fragile thing. "A little," Weasley said, "but that's not why he's crying."
Both Draco and Severus turned to stare at him.
"What?" Weasley asked defensively. "In a family that's as likely to have another baby as not, it's a good idea to learn a thing or two about them."
Severus backed off then, quirking an eyebrow and handing Weasley the bottle.
Grinning, Weasley joined Draco on the bed, and carefully instructed him how, exactly, to hold a newborn. It didn't really take long before the bottle was back in the baby's mouth and blessed near silence once again reigned.
At that point, Severus turned to Poppy. "How is Miss Granger doing?"
"As well as can be expected," Poppy replied. "She's resting right now."
"Something went wrong?" Weasley asked, sounding panicked, his head snapping up quickly.
Neither Severus, nor Poppy, answered.
Severus dodged around her and headed straight for her bed. He heard Weasley's protest as Poppy prevented him from following, for which Severus was grateful. He smirked at her next words, however.
"Now, you two, as soon as the little one is finished with that bottle, I'll just make sure you both know how to burp, diaper and dress an infant. Which one will go first?"
After that, he tuned them out, intent on making sure Hermione really was still in the land of the living. It had been far to close a call for his comfort. Not that he truly doubted that Poppy would have told him if she was still in danger; he just had to see for himself that she really was going to be all right.
x-x-x
Harry came bolting into the infirmary. After he'd called the house elf, Dobby had told him where he'd taken Ron and Draco. It hadn't taken him but five minutes to arrive from Gryffindor tower after that. He skid to a halt, his jaw dropping. Draco Malfoy, rich boy, snob-extraordinaire was diapering a baby. It boggled the mind. Beside him, Ron was grinning wide enough that Harry was sure the corners might actually be touching his ears! He stood silently watching them tease each other, Madam Pomfrey instructing them in the fine art of changing a baby.
His heart clenched as he watched. This, more than anything yet had, brought home to him just how much he'd lost when Ginny had died. He had only just started to think about things like this a couple of weeks before the final battle. After she'd died, he'd pushed it all away, not wanting to acknowledge it, not wanting to burden others with what he was feeling, not beyond the first couple months, anyway. Everyone had been grieving then, and it was okay to grieve right along with them. Then, everyone else had started moving on, being happy, and he hadn't felt he had the right to inflict his grief on anyone. Who was he supposed to talk to? Ron? It was his sister for God's sake. Harry certainly didn't want to reopen those wounds. Hermione had enough of her own troubles.
Who was left? Draco? Harry smiled sadly. He couldn't see himself confiding this to the blond, despite how much he had helped when Harry had been hearing her. That was concrete -- sort of -- this wasn't.
He didn't even notice he'd been crying until Ron turned and saw him.
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed happily, then frowned.
Harry hastily wiped off the tears and nodded, grinning despite how he felt. It was easy to be happy for Ron and it was certainly better than feeling sorry for himself. "Is that him?" he asked, finally stepping closer.
"Yeah," Ron said, nodding, his grin widening even further -- if that was remotely possible.
"In between the three of you," Madam Pomfrey said, chuckling, "you can figure out how to get his clothes on him. Just you mind what I said about supporting his head, and wrapping him up to keep him warm."
"Yes, Ma'am," Ron and Draco replied, nearly in unison.
"So," Harry asked as Poppy moved away, "what are you going to name him?"
Draco and Ron shared a look, then grinned.
"Scorpius," Draco said.
"Arthur," Ron said.
"Weasley-Malfoy," they finished together.
Harry blinked. It was almost like being in the same room with the twins. "Good name," he replied absently. He watched the three of them for a moment, then his attention drifted to Hermione. He slowly rose and quietly walked toward her bed. He didn't want to alert Madam Pomfrey, since he wasn't sure if they were allowed to come over yet, but he had to make sure she was okay. He froze as he caught sight of her bed. Snape was sitting beside it, holding her hand! He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but the scene didn't change.
Oddly numb, he continued to watch. When the bloody hell did that happen? he wondered incredulously. Suddenly, the conversation in the library, about Hermione learning to think like a Slytherin took on a whole new level of meaning. He frowned and started getting angry, then, rather abruptly, his anger derailed. Who was he to deny her happiness -- or the professor for that matter. Life was too short to waste on petty hates. He may not like Snape much -- though, he liked him more now than he used to -- but, then, he wasn't the one apparently getting involved with him.
After debating with himself for several minutes, he continued forward slowly. "How is she, Professor?" he asked, and jumped when Snape jerked his hand back, launching himself to his feet.
"What are you doing, Potter?" he hissed.
For the first time, Harry recognized where the professor's anger was coming from, and didn't automatically leap to the defensive. "It's alright, Professor, I get it," he said. "I won't say anything. I just want her to be happy."
The professor stared at him through narrowed eyes for several -- very long -- moments, before nodding once sharply and sitting back down.
Harry stepped closer, repeating his question quietly.
"That tear inside her? It opened during delivery," Snape told him, his voice so quiet that Harry had to strain to hear him.
He gasped sharply.
"She's going to be okay, but it was a very near thing. I-- We were down at the vaults, where I couldn't use magic to help her."
Harry winced, half wishing he'd been there, half profoundly grateful he hadn't been. It would have been horrible to have to sit and do virtually nothing. He'd had to do that too many times already. Sirius as he fell through the veil. Hermione when she disappeared. Ginny when she was calling out to him. None of those times could he really do anything to help. Failing Hermione like that a second time would have been hell.
He blew out a breath and slowly walked to the chair on the opposite side of Hermione's bed. "At least she'll be okay, now," he said finally, wishing he knew what else to say. "You got her help." He fell silent, then. Nothing that anyone had said to him had helped, and figured that, maybe, with the professor, it just might be better not to say anything at all.
A gasp had both of them snapping around, only to find both Ron and Draco gaping at them. Well, Ron was gaping, Draco was just staring wide-eyed.
"Bloody hell," Snape muttered and it was Harry's turn to gape. He'd never heard this particular professor swear, not even when he was spitting mad.
Snape rose abruptly, and strode away. He made it as far as Draco before the blond reached out and touched his arm -- the only one of the three of them who would have dared, Harry was sure. "You should tell her," he said quietly, no less firmly for the lack of volume.
Snape stiffened visibly. "She's a student," he snapped. "It isn't appropriate."
Ron frowned and bit his lip, and Harry winced, trying to keep most of it internal. He was certain that what Ron was thinking about saying was not going to be good.
"Seems to me there's only two weeks left of school, and you never know when it'll be too late and a bloke'll have lost his chance forever."
Harry gasped, barely keeping himself from tearing up. He had been wrong. Apparently, they had all done some growing up in the last several months. "He's right, Professor," Harry added.
The professor growled at them, sneering, but the expression was cut short when Hermione moaned, gaining the instant attention of all four of them.
"Keep quiet!" Snape snapped at them, striding back to the bed. "Get Madam Pomfrey, Potter."
Harry took off at a run.
x-x-x
Hermione blinked, the familiar ceiling of the infirmary slowly coming into focus. I'm alive! was her first coherent thought. Her second was acute humiliation. She had all but ordered Professor Snape -- of all people -- to remove her knickers! She didn't think she'd ever be able to face the man ever again! She gasped. "How's the baby?" she asked suddenly, finally noticing Madam Pomfrey hovering over her.
"He's fine," Professor Snape said, startling her, not really having expected him to be there when she woke up. She blushed hotly and looked away; not before she noticed his unholy smirk first, however. She frowned, not that she had actually expected to wake up, stuck, as they had been, in the bowels of Gringotts when she'd passed out. She wished she knew what had happened -- beyond the obvious that Madam Pomfrey had arrived in time.
"He's with the unholy three."
Who? she wondered, confused.
"Misters Malfoy, Weasley, and Potter."
Oh. "What happened?"
"That can wait," Madam Pomfrey ordered. "You need to rest, Miss Granger. I've successfully healed the tear in your uterus, and you shouldn't have any trouble with it in the future."
Hermione nodded. That was good news. She may not want children now, but she did want the option open should she choose to have one or two later. There was just something about not being able to have children that didn't sit well, despite the fact that she had no interest in them at the moment.
"You were given a general healing potion and an energy stablizer to help you recover from the birth, but you will still become easily tired for the next couple of days."
"That explains why I'm not sore," Hermione said with a half-smile, beginning to feel a part of the world again.
Madam Pomfrey nodded, smiling back. "I also gave you a blood replenishing potion to compensate for your loss of blood, but until that has run its course, you will become light headed easily. So, for the next day or two don't stand up too quickly, move too quickly, or become too energetic."
"Yes, Ma'am," Hermione replied, nodding again. She wasn't really worried about that, she was just worried about needing to study, the NEWTS were only a couple weeks away. Oh! She turned to Professor Snape. "We need to sign the paperwork," she said.
He nodded. "I will make sure Mr. Malfoy stops by later today."
"Just after dinner," Madam Pomfrey interjected firmly. "She's to have no visitors until then."
Hermione started to protest, but a strong glare from the mediwitch silenced her.
"You almost died, young lady. You will rest until this evening," she ordered, handing her yet another potion.
Hermione frowned. "Dreamless sleep?" she asked. "I can rest without this."
Madam Pomfrey's eyes narrowed and she stared for several long moments before nodding sharply. "All right," she said. "I'll give you one chance. If it turns out you can't sleep, however, I will insist."
Hermione nodded emphatically. She really didn't like to sleep drugged up, not if she didn't have to. And she was tired, more tired than she should be, considering she had just woke up. She turned to speak to the professor, only to find him already gone. She frowned, disappointed.
TBC
Kiristeen ke Alaya
Feedback: Yes,
please! : )
