Chapter 49

Cognisance

After leaving the hospital wing following her appointment to see the Matron, Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Taya was feeling strangely bouncy. She had to forcefully stop the bout of giggles from escaping and tried to crush the sensation of elation. She wanted to jump up and down, run through the corridors yelling at the top of her lungs, do everything that was forbidden under the school rules. She wanted to hug every person she passed. She felt so happy.

If someone saw how she was currently behaving, especially one of the students they may have deemed her mad.

The dark forbidding dank atmosphere of the dungeons didn't dampen the elated feeling that was still captured even when she had entered the potions laboratory.

Taya gently eased the wooden door open and cautiously peeped inside. There were no students present, the only living soul that occupied the room was the man she had been seeking standing behind his desk apparently marking papers, again.

She heard him grumble about some delinquent teenager for getting his assignment wrong, despite the fact that the potions master believed that the task was the easiest thing in the world to accomplish.

"Foolish boy," he muttered. Taya made her way silently to where he was sitting. "Bloody Gryffindors.'"

He didn't seem to notice her creep up on him until he lifted his dark head slightly and moved it a little to the side.

"Stupid children," he said to her.

"Why are they stupid?" She said smiling and came to a stop in front the lectern.

"Because...because..." he sighed. "Look at this." He pointed down at the childish writing, "Everybody knows that monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant. The foolish boy never listens to a damn thing I say in class. No wonder his marks are as pathetic as they are."

"Now, now. Everybody learns at different speeds. You must have had difficulty in at least one subject while at school. Didn't you?"

Severus frowned at her down his long nose, thinking. "Actually...No."

"Well then Professor Perfect, some people just do. Perhaps if you lighten up a bit they wont feel so...intimidated and get things wrong?"

"Lighten up? HA. Hardly. I still have a reputation to live up to and I like being intimidating and besides it goes with my image." Taya snickered.

"Then perhaps give...What's the lad's name?"

"Samuel Johnson. Why?"

"Then perhaps sneak in a bit of support. It doesn't hurt for a bit now and again. Nobody need know if you have a chat privately. And I don't mean a detention." He managed a slight nod.

"A pep talk?"

"Yea."

"I will have to see, and why have you come down here? Don't you have assignments to mark, lessons to prepare?" He said in a sneering contradictory voice.

"Yes lodes." She looked defeated.

"Just a visit then to get yourself away from it all? You poor child, my heart bleeds."

"Your being horrible Severus. Stop being so sarcastic. I can see you are in one of your moods. Perhaps I'll see you later?" She turned to leave but stopped when she heard his voice again.

"No. I mean, no you don't have to go. I am sorry I have taken it out on you, but those bloody brats they're driving me to distraction,

"Believe me when I say that I am glad to see you. I was beginning to think I would never get a break from all of this marking." He waved his hand over the pile of texts.

"Thank you." Her face lit up. Severus gazed at her suspiciously through narrow cold as ice eyes. She watched him evidently still engrossed in what he was doing. Severus dragged the quill savagely across the parchment leaving a huge drawn out blood red cross over the page. Her heart sank for the poor unfortunate victim who would see it the next day.

"There is something I need to tell you," she said standing up again. Severus pulled his shirt together and fastened each button.

"Oh? So there is a reason to your visit other than devouring me. And what would that be my dear?" He pulled on his jacket and started on those buttons too.

"I've just seen Poppy." He looked up abruptly. And she noticed the sudden concern on his face.

"Are you still ill?"

"No, no. I'm not." She shook her head and smiled shyly.

"Then?"

"I don't know whether you will be happy or cross with me?"

"Why should I be cross?" A definite sneer started to form on his lips.

"What have you done? Did you take any of those ingredients I keep in my rooms? I warned you about them. How did you get the key when I keep them in my robes, you never asked. You are lucky you never blew yourself up" She laughed nervously.

"I am quite capable you know, I'm not a student any more, but no. It's got nothing to do with potions or dark arts lessons."

"What then?"

"It's rather what we have done." Severus' expression seemed to drop. "I knew you would be cross with me."

"I don't understand what you are talking about," he muttered.

"Um, I better try and explain then. When I was with my last boyfriend there was a time when we wanted a baby."

"Oh!!" Shock registered in his voice. Taya lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Please let me finish. Him and me, well we tried and tried, but I was finding it impossible to conceive,

"Any way back then I visited a healer and she performed several tests on me. She told me that I could never have a baby."

"If it's that is worrying you I will still care for you whether you can have children or not,

"We have plenty of others to look out for anyway. The blasted things are everywhere." He looked about him as if one had un knowingly crept into the room like a garden gnome would. Luckily students didn't have sharp pointed teeth and bit you. At least most didn't anyway. Non would in Severus Snape's class. They dare not cross him especially if he were angry they would probably get the same treatment back.

"Why do you teach still if you hate them so much?" She sounded sad and pulled away.

"I do not hate them, they merely annoy me. And besides they need someone to administer discipline in their sorry little lives." A slight smile touched his lips.

"You seem to hate them with a passion."

"Taya, I do not hate them."

She frowned at herself. She felt awkward discussing children with this man even though he worked with them every day. "Severus, that enchantment that was put on Hogwarts guarding against unwanted pregnancies..." She swallowed, wondering how on Earth she was going to explain all of this. "Um, I'm not making this sound very clear I know, but-"

"Try."

"I still didn't come on. I was-"

"Was it your period, or lack of it causing your sickness after all? What has it got to do with the enchantment? I thought-"

"Let me finish, Severus," she pleaded. "I thought I was infertile. I tried to tell you before but you didn't give me the chance."

"Tell me now. I shan't interrupt you any more."

"I thought about what you said and I decided you were right. I saw Poppy about it today. I told her I couldn't have children. She explained things to me, said that since you're my soul mate only you could give me a baby that's why we, him and me couldn't before. She did this test. She still didn't know how I could conceive in Hogwarts 'couse of that spell." Taya waited for an answer but non came. He was staring at her blankly, brows knotted together.

Taya sighed. Feeling awkward in her difficulty to confront him with her knowledge, Taya grasped the front of his deak, smooth finger nails stabbing into the wood grain, her hands visibly reacting to his unassuming gaze at it captured hers.

"Severus?"

He blinked and his mouth dropped open as the realisation of her words finally struck a cord in his mind.

Severus blinked.