Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to JKR, except the ones I've made up. So there!
A/N: Thanks to Sunglow for beta reading and my husband for the critique, and to all you lovely readers out there for reviewing.
Sev and the Family Snape
Chapter 10 – Birth
"Put me down, Severus, I'm too heavy." Hermione protested around another contraction.
"Have you never heard of a weightless charm?" he smiled down at her, walking quickly down to the hospital wing.
"Oh. Shit, Severus, it hurts."
"I know, Hermione. Poppy will be able to give you something soon for the pain." He promised.
"I wanted to do this naturally." She complained.
"But you don't have to."
"I want to." She groaned again. The contractions were fairly close, and she hadn't thought it would happen this quickly.
Severus shouldered open the doors and shouted for Poppy, who hurried out of her office.
"The babies have decided it's time." He lowered his wife onto a bed.
"Let's see, shall we?" Poppy waved her wand over Hermione's stomach. "Yes. Her waters?"
"Broke in the main hall."
"Twins often come early, Severus, and the babies are a good size. It certainly won't affect them too much by being born now." Poppy soothed.
"Can you give her anything for the pain?"
"Hermione and I have already discussed this, Severus. She doesn't want any painkillers."
"I'm still here, you know." Now Hermione was lying down, it was easier to ride out the pain. She turned on her side, which helped ease it somewhat.
"How are you feeling?" Severus was immediately by her side.
"Like I've got really bad cramp. Can you help me out of these clothes?" she plucked at her dressrobes.
"I've got your nightdress here, Hermione." Poppy helped her to sit up, and between the two of them, managed to get her changed. Then Severus helped her into her cotton dressing gown.
"Ready to see everyone?" he asked softly.
"What?"
"Part of the tradition, Hermione. You have to go and welcome everyone."
"Didn't read anything about that part of it." She grumbled. "Get me a brush will you? I am not going out there with my hair like a rats nest."
"You look lovely, dear." Poppy handed her a brush anyway and they watched as she quickly secured her hair into a French braid with a flick of her wand.
"Do you think everyone is here yet?" Hermione asked and gripped Severus's hand as a contraction hit her.
"Probably. We caused a big enough panic in the hall." Severus helped her up off the bed.
"Sometimes it helps to keep walking, Hermione." Poppy advised as Hermione rubbed her back.
"Thank you, Poppy."
~~@~~
Harry dashed to the nearest fireplace and grabbed some floo powder. Stating his destination, the Grangers, in a clear voice that belied his inner panic, he entered the flames and was tossed unceremoniously onto Hermione's parents' living room carpet.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" Helen was surprised.
"Hermione's having the babies!" Harry hated travelling by floo, it always left him disorientated and covered in soot.
"I'll get John." Harry thought Helen was very calm, and said so.
"Babies take a little while to be born, Harry. We have plenty of time." She left the room and a minute later returned with her husband.
"Hello Harry. I hear the babies are impatient." John smiled at Harry.
"Yes. Are you ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be when travelling this way." John opened a jar on the mantelpiece.
"Do me a favour, Harry? Clean us all up when we get to the other end?" Helen indicated the mess on the rug.
"Sorry about that." Harry waved his wand and cleaned the carpet.
"Where do we come out?" John asked.
"Ask for the hospital wing, Hogwarts." Harry took some floo powder and tossed it into the fire. Stating his destination, he stepped in. A hair-raising ride later, he shot out of the fireplace in front of a crowd of people. Cleaning himself up, he waited for John and Helen. Both John and Helen arrived a lot more gracefully than Harry had, stepping out, rather than falling out, although still covered in soot.
"You really should get those fireplaces swept." Helen told Albus as he helped her out.
"Camille has already told me that."
"I totally agree with her." Helen looked around and caught Harry's eye. "Harry?" she indicated her clothes. Harry came over and made sure both Helen and John were free of soot. They greeted the Weasleys in turn and were soon surrounded by redheads.
Camille, Simeon and the twins stood to one side, watching the couple who were obviously Hermione's parents. They saw her father touch her mother on the shoulder and nod in their direction. The group parted and allowed the John and Helen to make their way across the room towards the small family group, and watched for any fireworks.
"You must be Severus's parents. I'm Helen, Hermione's mother." Helen held her hand out to Camille first.
"How do you do, Mrs Granger?" Camille shook her hand.
"Please, call me Helen. This is John, my husband." Helen drew him forward and he lifted Camille's hand to kiss the back.
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs Snape."
"Please call me Camille. This is Simeon, my husband, and my sons, Saxen and Sage." Camille introduced them in turn. Before they could move beyond the pleasantries, though, the other door opened and Severus and Hermione emerged.
"Thank you all for coming." Hermione was glad of her husband's supporting arm. Hopefully the 'meet and greet' bit of the tradition wouldn't take too long. Her gaze swept the room, and she frowned.
"Severus, Hagrid's not here." She murmured. She wanted the half giant here.
"Don't worry, I'll send Sage, shall I?"
"Please." They made their way towards where they could see their respective parents were standing.
"Mum, Dad. Glad you could make it."
"Wouldn't miss this for the world, Honey." Her father kissed her.
"Sage, could you go and see if Hagrid has heard yet?" Severus asked his brother.
"Of course." He reached out and touched Hermione's cheek gently. "Good luck, if I don't get to speak to you before you go."
"Thanks, Sage." She smiled at him and he walked quickly out of the room and towards the main entrance. He wondered what was keeping the big man.
"Have you been introduced?" Severus asked the parents.
"Yes." Simeon nodded.
"How are you feeling, Hermione?" Camille asked her, endearing herself to Helen immediately over her concern for Hermione.
"Don't ask." She gasped as another spasm clenched around her stomach. Helen and Camille looked at each other.
"Bugger this tradition. In. Bed. Now." Helen ordered, and with Camille on the other side, escorted Hermione back to the other room. Severus was left with his father and John.
"I always did hate this bit of the tradition." Camille confided. "I just wanted to hex someone."
"What's the point, anyway?" Helen was curious.
"I think it goes back centuries when the mother was not expected to survive the birth. It was a way of saying goodbye to everyone." Camille settled some pillows behind Hermione.
"That's pretty morbid."
"I know. It's also why they confiscate witch's wands at this time too. Stops them castrating their husbands."
"I'd never do that to Severus." Hermione protested. Camille and Helen shared a look.
"Just wait a few hours, then tell us that." Helen said. "Do you want us to get Severus?"
"Please."
They left with Poppy fussing over her and found Severus with John, Simeon and Saxen.
"Hermione wants you in there, Severus." Camille told him, and he glided away.
~~@~~
Sage made his way out of the castle and hurried down to Hagrid's hut, wondering what was keeping the man. He hadn't been at the graduation either, which was very unusual, according to Remus Lupin. He heard Hagrid's deep voice talking beyond the wooden hut, and made his way around the side. He stopped in shock.
There, about a hundred metres from the hut, in the pen where Hagrid usually kept the creatures he was using in his class, was a sleeping dragon.
"Hagrid?"
"Professor Snape!" Hagrid's deep respect for Severus caused him to impose the title of professor on both Saxen and Sage, even though they weren't entitled. Sage kept one eye on the dragon and the other on Hagrid.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing with a dragon? Does the Headmaster know?"
"It's Norbert!" Hagrid's lip trembled, and he wiped a happy tear away. "He remembered me!"
"Hagrid, you can't have a dragon here! It's illegal!"
"Not if there's a dragon keeper with it." A voice said. Sage swung his head in the direction of the voice, and found himself looking into a pair of deep blue, almost purple eyes. "Hello again." She said.
"Hello." He bowed slightly.
"Did you want summat, Professor?" Hagrid's rapt gaze was on the sleeping dragon.
"Hermione's gone into labour, Hagrid. She would like you to be there."
"I'll be right with you, Professor. Will you be alrigh' 'ere Lani?"
"I'll be fine, Hagrid. You go." She bit back an inward sigh. The man she'd thought about more than a few times over the last three months was married. With a pregnant wife who was about to give birth. He was the professor her friend Charlie had told her about. Funny, he didn't look like a greasy, sarcastic git.
She watched as the two men walked back to the castle, and then turned and rested her arms on the top of the pen, to where her dragon was resting. It opened one eye.
"You're awake then." She said.
**Nero tired.**
"I know, it was a long flight. Feel better now?"
**Hatching man feed me well.** he thought sleepily. **Sad?**
"No more than usual." She sighed.
**Need magic man.**
"No I don't. I'm fine." She shook herself. "Go back to sleep, Norbert." She smiled.
**Not Norbert. Nero. Nero only Norbert for Hatching man.** the dragon huffed, then stretched out his head for a scratch.
"All right, Nero. I'll be cleaning your harness if you want me." She rubbed his scales over one eye.
~~~
"Who was that, Hagrid?" Sage asked as they walked back to the castle.
"Oh, that's Kailani. A friend of Charlie Weasley."
"What's she doing here at Hogwarts?"
"Charlie was comin' 'ere anyhow for Ginny's graduation, an' 'Ermione 'ad 'eard that my little Norbert was with the same colony. Got special permission from Dumbledore. Great man, Dumbledore." Hagrid blew into a large, spotted handkerchief.
So she was involved with a Weasley. A grimace twisted Sage's lips. He really shouldn't have taken Hermione so seriously when she suggested finding him a wife. Thoughts of the dragon rider had been too frequent lately, and now he found she was already taken.
He lengthened his stride to keep up with Hagrid, pushing all thoughts of the lovely dragon rider to the back of his mind. She obviously wasn't for him. He entered the hospital wing just behind Hagrid and saw that the crowd gathered there had separated into different groups. His mother, Hermione's mother, Mrs Weasley and Minerva were sitting down, the youngsters, including Harry Potter, were on the farthest side of the room playing exploding snap, and Albus, his father, Hermione's father and Saxen were not too far from the women. Hagrid joined the group of older men and Sage joined them.
Everyone looked up as an unearthly scream trailing off into a groan reverberated through the room. Both Ron and Harry turned green.
"Haven't they heard of a silencing charm?" Ron asked.
"All part of the tradition, Ron." Charlie slapped him on the back. "I remember Mum giving birth to Ginny. She screamed blue murder."
"I heard that, Charlie Weasley, and I did not scream." Molly threw her eldest a filthy look.
"No, she just cursed a blue streak." Arthur murmured to Simeon. "I never knew Molly even knew those words."
"I was just happy they took Camille's wand off of her, or Severus would never have been born." Simeon kept his voice low, and John looked sympathetically at him.
"Helen told me I'd be eating certain parts of my anatomy for breakfast if I ever came near her again."
"Ouch." Simeon looked with new respect at Helen.
In the birthing room, as Poppy liked to call it, Severus was sitting on the widened bed supporting his wife against his chest. According to Poppy, things were going rather quicker than she'd expected. Two hours had passed and Hermione was already five centimetres dilated. No wonder Hermione was in a lot of pain; at the rate she was going the twins would be born before dinner.
Hermione let out another screaming groan and doubled over on her side. He stroked the wisps of hair away from her face and crooned soothingly to her. His hand on her stomach could feel the skin tighten as the muscles contracted, and Poppy was keeping a careful watch over the status of the babies. So far, apart from the speed, everything was proceeding according to plan.
"Are you sure you don't want a painkiller?" he asked anxiously.
"I've already told you! No!" she snapped over another contraction. He looked at Poppy, who shrugged.
~~@~~
"Anyone willing to find out how it's going?" Ron was getting restless.
"You can, if you want. I prefer to stay well away from screaming banshees." Harry said.
"Ginny? What about you?"
"No thanks. All I can say, Harry, is that if we ever have children, I want every pain potion and drug going. You can wake me up when it's all over." she said after another scream rent the air.
"If it's anything like this, Ginny, I'll be fighting you for the drugs myself." Harry grimaced.
The parents were getting along like a house on fire. Helen had discovered that the same age difference separated Camille and Simeon as it did her and John, and they were comparing notes on dealing with older men. Simeon was surprised to find John fairly knowledgeable on the magical world, and John confessed to reading Hermione's library while she was at school.
Bill and Charlie gravitated towards their group, and Sage looked at Charlie with interest. As a dragon keeper, he kept his hair short, and there were various scars and old burns on his hands and arms. Tough dragon hide trousers and boots covered his lower half, and the sleeves of his bright blue shirt were rolled up his forearms. He was shorter than Sage, but much broader, and the hide vest emphasised his tapered frame.
The conversation turned to Romania and dragons, and Sage listened intently for mention of the girl. Hagrid was ecstatic over the return of Norbert, and kept thanking Dumbledore for allowing him to stay at Hogwarts for a few days. Charlie moved slightly closer to Sage.
"Nero remembered Hagrid, you know."
"Nero?"
"That's the dragon's real name. According to Kailani."
"Kailani?"
"She's his partner. Fantastic with dragons."
"Really?" Sage didn't want to seem too interested, but Charlie, for some reason, was being very open with information.
"Yes. She has a real empathy with them. Especially Nero."
"I'm sure they'll be very happy together. Excuse me." Sage turned and walked away, leaving a puzzled Charlie behind. He was sure he'd seen a flicker of interest in the older man's eyes.
~~~
Hermione was being examined by Poppy again, and Severus was having his fingers crushed as another contraction hit his wife. He attempted to loosen her grip and earned a glare for his pains.
"Eight centimetres, Hermione. You're doing really well." She said.
"I didn't..think..it would..hurt..this much." She panted.
"You'll forget the pain soon." Severus really shouldn't have opened his mouth.
"Did you forget Crucio?" she hissed as another wave of pain rippled across her belly. She raised her knees and groaned. The contractions seemed to be constant now, and she was breathless after panting through it. Severus wiped her face with a cool cloth and raised her so she could take a sip of water after panting through it. The glass went crashing to the floor as she knocked it out of his hand when another wave of contractions hit. She elbowed him off the bed and rolled onto her hands and knees, panting through the contraction and snarling at him.
"Get away from me!"
They heard her in the other room, and Molly, Camille and Helen looked at each other.
"Transition." Helen said.
"Pardon?" Camille had never heard of it.
"It's called Transition. That period of labour where you want to kill the man that's the cause of so much pain." Helen explained.
"Ah." Camille and Molly nodded.
"I always wondered what that was called." Molly said.
"Just as well they took my wand then." Camille looked up at the door where the screaming was coming from "Listen." she said.
"Get away from me, you bastard! This is all your fault!"
The others could hear Severus's voice, but couldn't make out what he was saying. They could, however, hear Hermione's responses.
"Don't you dare blame me! Aaahhh! Shit, that hurts!" she sobbed.
"That sounds like it won't be long now." Molly said.
"Did you have a long labour, Helen?" Camille was curious.
"No. It only seemed like it. According to the doctors, I was only officially in labour for two hours. Apparently, mild contractions don't count. What about you Molly?"
"Once you've had three children, the rest were like shelling peas. Ginny was the worst, though, I will admit. Camille?"
"Agony, both times. Twelve hours with the twins, eight with Severus. I think I may have broken a bone in Simeons wrist with him."
"You did." Simeon rubbed his right wrist in remembrance.
There was a crash from the other room as if a trolley had been knocked over. Then..
"You were a fucking Death Eater, Severus! Don't you dare faint on me now!" Hermione was screaming.
"I thought Severus would have had a stronger stomach than that." Harry said.
"You've never seen the business end of a woman giving birth then." John told him. Simeon and Arthur looked sympathetic.
~~~
In the other room, Hermione just prevented her husband from keeling over after Poppy dragged him enthusiastically down to the end of the bed to show him that Hermione was nearly ready to give birth. He knocked the trolley over in his haste to move away and sat down next to her with his head between his knees, breathing almost as deeply as Hermione. He moaned pitifully.
"You were a fucking Death Eater, Severus! Don't you dare faint on me now!" she screamed as a much harder pain gripped her. She thumped him on the shoulder to bring his attention back to her. Taking another deep breath, Severus sat up and turned to Hermione who was now crying with the pain. He gathered her into his arms and rocked her through the next contraction.
"Can't you do anything, Poppy?"
"I'm sorry, Severus. If I give her anything now it will slow everything down and make it much worse." Poppy helped him get Hermione out of her dressing gown.
"I need to push, Poppy." Hermione gasped.
"Not yet, not yet." Poppy examined her again, her soft hands moved over her, feeling the position of the twins. One of the babies was already engaged and Hermione felt the urgent need to bear down.
"Now, Poppy!" she warned.
"All right. Severus, support her back. Hermione, when I tell you, push."
Severus sat behind his wife and supported her back, allowing her to hold onto his forearms for leverage. He was glad she kept her nails fairly short, because he knew there would be marks showing by the time this was over.
With words of encouragement from both Poppy and Severus, Hermione puffed, panted, sobbed, and finally one of the twins was born. Poppy quickly severed the cord and cleaned him up, making sure his airway was clear. He gave a choking cry, filled his lungs with air and bawled. Poppy wrapped him securely in a soft blanket and gave him to Severus to hold. Hermione reached out a hand to move the blanket away from his face, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked at their firstborn. But she only had a brief respite before she felt the need to bear down again.
Hermione gripped Severus's free hand in one of hers and clenched the other amongst the sheets of the bed. She could feel the other baby moving into position and what felt like steel bands tightened around her middle. This time, after severing the cord, Poppy laid the baby on her stomach and gently put Hermione's hand on him to secure him in place, laying a blanket over him to keep him warm.
"One more push, Hermione, there's a good girl."
"Isn't it over?" Hermione was exhausted.
"Just the placenta now, Hermione. Then we're done." Poppy placed a hand on her abdomen and told her to push one more time. Her muscles contracted and the last evidence of her pregnancy was expelled from her body. Poppy cleaned everything up and turned to the baby resting on Hermione. He was squalling now, so Poppy cleaned him, and wrapped him in a matching blanket, placing him in Hermione's arms.
"Two beautiful sons, Hermione." Poppy bustled around to the other side of the bed, peering at the baby in Severus's arms. "Beautiful." She sighed. "Are you ready to try feeding?" she asked Hermione.
"Hmm?" Hermione looked up, a dazed look in her eyes.
"They'll need feeding, child. Let's sit you up properly, shall we? After you've fed them, we'll run through the rest."
"Oh, OK." Hermione shifted awkwardly on the bed, wincing as she closed her legs. Her knees were still trembling with reaction, and her muscles were still contracting faintly. Severus was still enraptured with the baby in his arms, and he looked up as the bed moved.
The next half an hour was taken up with feeding, showing both Severus and Hermione how to change the babies and weighing them for Poppy's records. It had been a long time since any baby had been born at Hogwarts. When the babies were dressed, they were both placed in Severus's arms while Poppy helped Hermione off the bed and into a bath. Hermione was then given a healing potion to help her muscle spasms and to speed up the internal healing process.
"Have you decided on names yet?" Poppy asked as she helped Hermione into a fresh bed.
"Yes. Sebastian and Salvador." Severus smiled at Hermione as she reached for one of the twins.
"How are you going to tell them apart?"
"Sebastian was born first. See? He has a birthmark." Severus had examined every inch of the twins, finding them perfect in every way. He gently pulled back the sleep suit from one of the twins' shoulder and showed Poppy the small mark.
"Are you ready to show them off?" she asked the couple sitting on the bed.
"I suppose I should apologise to everyone." Hermione remembered her language during labour, and she looked at Severus.
"I'm really sorry for what I said, Severus." She reached out and touched his cheek.
"I'm sure you could have said a lot worse, Hermione. I think I got off lightly." Severus covered her hand with his and smiled back at her. "You weren't the one who nearly passed out."
"At one point I was wishing I would." She smiled. "Next time, give me every pain killer going, deal?"
"You want more after this?" Severus was astonished.
"A whole Quidditch team, remember?"
"You're crazy." He shook his head.
"About you." She whispered, leaning into his body. Poppy cleared her throat, unwilling really to interrupt this intimate moment between the two people in front of her, but she had a room full of people next door waiting to see the newborns. Severus looked up.
"All right, Poppy. They can come in now."
The next hour was exhausting for both of them. The babies were commandeered by the new grandmothers and taken to be shown off to everyone. Colin took innumerable photographs and thought that this may be some of his best work yet. After mother and babies were fussed over, Poppy decided that it was time Hermione got some rest. In a few hours the babies would be waking up and she needed as much sleep as possible. Shooing everyone out, she promised that the babies weren't going anywhere for a couple of days, and that visiting hours would be scheduled.
Harry and Ron were the last to leave, and they sat on the bed beside Hermione as she held a baby in each arm. Severus stood in the doorway, seeing the rest of the party off, and wished he had a camera to capture the moment, if only for Hermione's benefit. He knew how much the other two men meant to her, and he was willing to tolerate them as godfathers for her sake. He watched as they leant over for one last look at the babies, and then kiss Hermione's cheeks. Poppy moved in then, and whisked the babies away so Hermione could get some rest. He held the door open for the other two men.
"You look like shit, Professor." Ron couldn't help commenting on Severus's less than immaculate appearance.
"As I'm sure you will when your time comes, Mr Weasley."
"I don't understand, Professor. You chop up Merlin knows what in potions and you've lived through two Voldemort uprisings; how could this faze you?" Harry was puzzled. Severus bit back a scathing retort, trying to see it from their point of view. He looked across at Hermione, who was now asleep.
"Yes, it's true I've witnessed far bloodier scenes, Mr Potter, but imagine your Ginny in the throes of Crutiatus, and think about how you would feel that there was nothing you could do to prevent that. Double it, and you may get an approximation of my feelings." He let that sink in. Harry and Ron shifted uncomfortably at the depth of Severus's feelings for their best friend.
"And if you ever tell anyone I said that, your children will regret it for all the time I am a teacher here." And he shut the door in their faces.
~~@~~
Everyone congregated back in the Great Hall, and toasts were made to the new babies. It escalated into a full-blown party, and by the end of it no one was in a fit state to floo home. Dumbledore allocated rooms for the extra guests and made sure there was an adequate supply of hangover potions to go around.
Sage wandered out to the front steps of the castle and sat down. He could hear the booming voice of Hagrid in the background, which reminded him of the dragon. It was getting late, and he wondered if anyone had thought to provide Kailani with dinner. Idiot. She was a witch, wasn't she? He shook his head impatiently as he heard footsteps approaching, and turned his head to see Charlie Weasley there.
"Hello, Professor." Charlie nodded.
"I'm not really a professor, Mr Weasley." Sage corrected.
"As good as, in my opinion. Ginny speaks very highly of you."
"She was a good student." He shrugged.
"She tells me you're good with creatures." Charlie sat next to him on the steps.
"I've helped Hagrid occasionally."
"Ever dealt with dragons before?"
"Not really. They're fascinating creatures." Sage admitted.
"They talk, you know."
"Really?"
"Most dragon keepers have an empathic link to them, which makes them slightly easier to handle. A rare few can hear the telepathic thoughts of dragons. Most dragons don't choose to communicate this though, which is why you can't tame a dragon."
"Hagrid's dragon seems fairly tame to me." Sage wasn't sure why Charlie was telling him this.
"Don't you believe it. Nasty bugger, that one. Only Kailani ever gets close to him. See this?" Charlie pointed to a part-healed burn on his arm. "He sneezed, she tells me. Strikes me he did that deliberately. He seems to do that a lot lately."
"What do you mean?"
"He used to tolerate me before, ignore me, you know? Now he's downright mean. Possessive. Just as well I'm not interested in Kailani that way. A fire breathing dragon can really cramp your style." Charlie slid a glance at Sage, who seemed to have stopped breathing. He smiled to himself. Yes, he would definitely suit Kailani. He must remember to thank his mother for inviting Kailani to Ginny's wedding. Now all he had to do was make sure Ginny invited her former tutor. He was sure Hermione could persuade him to attend. Charlie leaned back on his elbows and smiled to himself. He made a pretty good matchmaker.
"I think I'd better check on Lani. Fancy a walk down?" Charlie jerked his head in the direction of Hagrid's hut. Sage thought for a moment.
"All right. I could use the exercise." he stood up in one fluid motion. Charlie sighed to himself; it was a pity the other man was straight; he had the most incredible arse on him.
As they walked down towards Hagrid's, they didn't see a figure in the shadows, watching them.
TBC