A/N: One-shot for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments), Assignment #7: Ghost Hunting: Facts About Ghosts, Handfasting, Task #4: Write about a birth.
(1012 words)

"You did really well honey," the nurse said. "I'll bring him to you in a bit, maybe when your husband is here?"

A fresh wave of tears welled up in Eileen's eyes.

"There, there, honey, that's just the hormones. You'll feel better tomorrow."

It's not the hormones, Eileen wanted to yell, And I'll never feel better again, ever! But she kept her mouth shut.

A boy. She had so hoped that it would be a girl. She had always referred to the baby in her belly as "she" when Tobias and Eileen had talked about their offspring. She had used the baby girl when Tobias had been drinking, had that look in his eyes that told her he was starting to get angry at something. Usually her. But their precious baby girl had mellowed that look, had reached a tender spot inside Tobias' heart.

When Eileen had told Tobias about her pregnancy, he had asked what it was, that look already behind his eyes. On a whim, she had said that she was sure it was a girl, even though she had no way of knowing. The look in Tobias' eyes had disappeared.

But it wasn't a girl. Somewhere down the hall, in a room full of babies, there was a little boy that she would have to take home, would have to show to Tobias.

No, she couldn't. Or could she? Why had she even said that it was a girl? Maybe Tobias would have reacted the same if she had said that it was a boy?

Wincing, Eileen got out of bed and into the slippers that stood before her bed. She could have mended everything the act of giving birth had ripped and torn, could even have given birth without any pain, if she had brought her wand. But her wand lay at home, almost forgotten at the back of a drawer. She hadn't yet told Tobias that she was a witch. The right time had never come up. A few months into their marriage, Tobias had first laid hands on Eileen. He had made a mistake in calculating their budget for the month and Eileen had been stupid enough to point it out. After that, Eileen kept her mouth shut about anything that could even hint at her thinking herself superior to him. Being a witch was on top of that list.

Eileen shuffled along the hospital corridor, towards the room where the babies were. Maybe the little boy would be like Tobias. Maybe he wouldn't be magical. Eileen looked through the window, trying to read the labels on the cribs, but they were to small. She let her gaze travel over the cribs. She knew him even without seeing her last name on the label. His hair was black as tar, just like hers. She couldn't see much of the child but she recognized the shape of his ears. She had often cursed her own small earlobes. He looks like me, Eileen thought. Her heart sank. She suddenly knew that her son would be like her in every aspect. Quiet, meek even, too serious and too skinny. And magical. He won't be able to control his magic at first. If Eileen had managed to hide her true nature from Tobias, her son would not be able to do the same. That baby in there would doom them both.

Eileen turned and walked, not back to her room, but further down the corridor. Before she knew it she was pushing the button on the lift. It wasn't out of the ordinary that patients would go out for a short walk in a dressing gown, so no one looked at her when she exited through the hospital's large revolving doors. She walked and walked, without knowing where she was going. She wasn't actually going anywhere. The direction didn't matter much when you just wanted to get away.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

How much time had passed? It wasn't dark yet, so it could not have been more than a few hours. She could still go back. She was freezing, sitting on a bench by a bus stop. Here, people did look at her funny. She kept her head down, hiding between her curtains of hair. Who was she kidding? There was nowhere she could run to. She had no money, no one to take her in. There was only Tobias. And the baby boy. He also had no one. No one but her. He'd be better off in an orphanage, Eileen thought. But what if he really was magical? If he grew up an orphan, he wouldn't know what was happening to him once his magic started showing. There would be no one to guide him. And he would probably wind up ostracized, "the weird child". It was no use denying it, the baby needed her.

Eileen got up, stiff with cold, and made her way back to the hospital.

When she came into her room, no one was there. There was a form on the small table beside her bed. Apparently, the nurse had just assumed that Eileen was in the bathroom and had left the form there, without bothering to look for Eileen. The birth ward was busy.

Eileen sat down and looked at the form. She had to put down her baby's name. Maybe, if she named him after his father, Tobias would be pleased. She touched the pen to the paper. She hesitated. If the child was a wizard, shouldn't he have a wizard's name? Eileen had always held her Hogwarts professors in high regard. Minerva. Filius. Albus. Her son would have a name worthy of the best of them. A feeling swelled inside Eileen. She would get him through life, would protect him from everything, even Tobias. The last time she had felt like this was when she had been sorted into Slytherin. Pride. Her son's life would not be a sweet one, it would be defined by hardship. But she would teach him to pull through.

She bent over the form and wrote, with decisive strokes: Severus.

Thank you for reading! If you liked this scene, please check out my finished story "Return of the Prince" (~95,000 words)