[A/N]: Hi all! Sorry about the wait but I had some trouble figuring out how to approach this next chapter. I wrote another fic to work out my writer's block; it's called 'Tonight the Stars Revolt' it's an M-Preg and most likely SS/HP but voting for the pairing is on going until the next chapter so sit back and enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: This gets really repetitive, eh? *sigh* last chapter refers you to the chapter before that in which it says that not only do I *not* own the Harry Potter universe, I also don't make or have any money. The literary goddess known to the world as J.K. Rowling does.
MONKSHOOD, WOLFSBANE, AND AN INFUSION OF WORMWOOD
-----Chapter 5: This Protector------
Severus absently chewed on his plain toast as he sat at his usual spot at the end of the staff table; his dark eyes remained locked on to his plate as he saw the Potter twins entered the Hall. He had Double Potions that day, first year Slytherins and Gryffindor's. How could he make it through the day never mind the next seven years with the information he had found last night always looming over him, a lurking presence in the back of his mind?
//Flashback to the Night Before//
Severus had made his way straight from his rooms in the dungeons to library, not even slowing down to give a nod of respect to the Bloody Baron who was patrolling the hallway from the Great Hall to the Slytherin dormitories. His black robes, while they normally billowed out behind him, making him look like an 'overgrown bat', now rustled and flopped without their usual grace; he did, in fact, look like an overgrown bat flying clumsily in the air. He reached his destination, the medical section of the Hogwarts library in perhaps record time. Throwing his robe on the back of a near-by chair, his long, tapered fingers and narrowed eyes ran restlessly and impatiently over the spines of the leather-clad books in search of an appropriate title. Pulling 'Modern Magical Ailments and the Male Hominid' out of its place on the shelf, he went back to the chair on which he had thrown his cloak. Taking a seat, shifting slightly to get comfortable, he flipped open to the contents and looked for anything that could give him any information. There! Chapter 19: Modern Male Pregnancies…Page 294. Flipping quickly to the desired page, his eyes darted back and forth over the opening paragraphs;
"Male pregnancies were, during one era of wizarding history, a common and acceptable part of the magical society. While the actual conception is different for two men as opposed to a male and female [see pages 298-300 for diagrams] (A/N: *snickers*), the general belief at the time was that the love shared between two men that was great enough to cause for sexual deviance was also great enough that it caused for a bond in the magic of the two wizards; the more powerful being the one to carry the child to term. As Christianity became incorporated into magical beliefs, homosexual couples began to decrease and as did male pregnancies, knowledge of the possibilities of male pregnancies is limited as it is not taught in a regular curriculum, but only in medi-wizard school. In recent years, homosexuality, while always a part of the magical world, has become more apparent as male pregnancies rise; the numbers, however, are still miniscule.
The conception, as compared to past theories, is still quite similar. Soul, Heart and Marriage Bonds have been known to connect the magic of both homosexual and heterosexual couples; while a bond is not necessarily needed for conception, it allows for assurance that the child is carried to term and ensures the pregnant member's safety during birth and the final months before labor. The bonding of magic makes certain that both genes of the parents are combined, as the result of a non-magically combined pregnancy is usually an anomaly clone of the birth parent. Some children, if more than one is birthed, look more like one parent than the other as a completely equal genetic mix is nearly impossible. That same bond allows for the more magically powerful of the couple to form a uterus and birth canal to properly end the carrying term; the magic also reverts he anatomy back to normal after about two weeks recovery; the month before and after birth is tiring as well as magically and emotionally draining for the carrying parent.
During the first month of pregnancy, the parents can expect--'
"Severus?" The soft voice of Hermione Samson came from behind him, a lantern in her hand; funny, he hadn't noticed it was all that dark.
"Yes?" Not in the mood for his scathing wit he settled for glaring at the transfiguration professor.
"You're looking up on information about Harry's pregnancy, aren't you?" Severus blinked, he wasn't expecting that, or her for being here for that matter.
"And you're doing the same, I assume?" She nodded in the affirmative,
"And I assume that you're the father" Ignoring Severus' shell-shocked look, she sat down in front of his chair and placed a book on the table between them.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because you're the only person Harry was seeing before he left," Severus had opened his mouth for a retort when the Granger girl opened her mouth again, "Don't even try, you were a bastard in class but I saw the way you looked at each other when you thought no-one was there; you're getting worse at that in your old age" Observant girl. Pity he'd have to kill her for that last remark.
"So you think the twins are mine?" Hermione looked at him in surprise,
"How can you think any different? Aconite looks just like you, except that her nose is crooked or hooked; not to mention that Asphodel is in *your* house. And those names! Potions ingredients? Severus Snape, there is not a doubt in my mind they're not yours; and I think that they know it, that you're their father, I mean. I say the way they looked at you," Samson looked at him, exasperation written across her face; slowly, her brown eyes examined his face further, scrutinizing for something, "I wonder why Harry didn't tell you, he must have known he was pregnant before he left, I wonder," her voice got caught for a moment, "Why he didn't tell me or Ron about you and the twins"
Severus looked at Hermione, lifting his head from its previous position in his hands,
"I gather that he told you nothing then?" Hermione shook her head, her hands wiping furiously at her face, trying to rid herself of any evidence that she had been crying,
"So," Sev mused aloud for Samson, nee Granger's sake only, "Only Black and Pomfrey knew, figures" he snorted under his breath. Hermione's eyes looked at him sharply,
"They know?" Snape looked at her incredulously,
"If you're so observant, girl, you would have noticed that they disappear nearly every weekend together, and Pomfrey's too old for an affair. Use your brain! Harry couldn't have cared for those two alone! Definitely not in the muggle world! And he wouldn't have done that to Black, no matter what he did to you by leaving," 'and me,' he added softly to himself, "he knew you would survive, but Black *couldn't* have. I also think he needed that bit of companionship."
Nodding slowly, Hermione rose, placing the book on the table for Madame Pince to collect in the morning; 'You'll find nothing else except for the mechanics of the pregnancy in that book," she said to him as she prepared to leave, "I would suggest this" She unshrunk another book from her robe pocket, smaller in size but purely on the subject of male pregnancy. Severus nodded his thanks before shifting again, grateful for the light the lantern Hermione had left and settled in for a long night of reading.
//End Flashback//
He looked up from his plate for the first time, at the Gryffindor table, their sat his daughter, it had to be, and at Slytherin, his son, his and Harry's. The girl was bouncing in her seat, looking as if she had swallowed a hundred fizzing Whizzbees in one go, Asphodel, had gotten up from his seat beside a short brunette and grabbed his bag, making his way over to the other side of the Hall where his sister was. He bent down to her ear, scowling as she said something that obviously annoyed him,
'He may have Harry's face, but he has my scowl' Severus watched them interact with interest, barely noticing many other of the Professors doing the same; He soon grew disappointed as Aconite rose from her seat, waving a brief goodbye to the Weasley boy, they left the Hall.
*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
Asphodel sat in the Great Hall, glancing up, he saw Aconite digging into the mounds of food with an incomparable gusto; he couldn't understand how she could do it and still look as though a gust of wind could knock her over, he supposed she got it from Da; he was skinny even before he had gotten sick. Frowning, Del thought he ought to send an owl to his father as soon as he was able, perhaps he could squeeze it in before herbology, which he had first with the Ravenclaws. He ate some toast slowly, in thought, he needed to talk to Nite quickly, as well; he had missed her, loathe to admit it, usually she would jump on his bed to wake him up, or dump water on his face.
On second thought, maybe he didn't.
Giving a brief goodbye to Laurel, who hadn't disturbed him from his breakfast, he stood up and threw his bad over one shoulder, making his way to Aconite.
Nite was, predictably, talking animatedly about Quidditch while waving her fork around like a broomstick, littering some other first years with scrambled eggs. Ignoring their glares, she looked up at him, before exclaiming for Arty, who was only across the table from her,
"If it isn't my wittle-baby twinny-winny brother," she looked at him, mirth dancing in her eyes, "What are you doing here?" Asphodel scowled, annoyed at her teasing at her presumed 'natural right as older sister to baby'
"You were only a minute older than me! That hardly qualifies as having babying rights" He bent down to whisper in her ear, "Besides, I have a little plan that you would *love* to hear" Nite looked torn between her over-dramatized and slightly fictionalized win over Padfoot in Quidditch the previous summer before nodding and standing up, waving good bye to Arty, she walked with Del outside the Hall. Only until they were outside did they stop to speak,
"Okay, spill, what is this big plan of yours?" Nite, while the words sounded annoyed, she was actually quite curious, she could kill a hundred cats with her curiosity.
Del turned to her, amusement at her anxiousness in his eyes,
"Oh, it's really quite good, I think Padfoot and Poppy would *love* to help…Ooh! And Da would love it! Just imagine…" His face took on a dreamy expression, solely to get her aggravated, and as payback for the comment in the Great Hall.
"Just tell me!" Her eyes flashed for a moment before she pouted and began to poke him relentlessly, Del laughed before pushing her hands away,
"Okay, Okay," Del straightened up, trying to gain back his composure, "I think," he paused for dramatic effect,
"Del!"
"Alright, alright, I think we should set up Da and," he looked around, before leaning in and whispering, "Father"
Nite gasped, her face blank,
"Think about it! We and get Da to come to Hogwarts! He would love to see it again, and Poppy and Padfoot will be here; we both know he loves Father, but he won't come back, for whatever reason. Padfoot told us the other week that Father was miserable, so is Da! Hermione would be happy too, she hasn't seen Da for eleven years, or even met us! They were best friends!" Nite's eyes lit up,
"We could be a proper family now, maybe" she hesitated, "He will help Da get better?" Del looked at his sister sharply, she had, of course, caught the unsaid point in his argument.
Nite looked at him; her eyes had a glint in them reminiscent of when she was about to make a good save in Quidditch,
"I'll do it"
"Perfect!" Del grinned, "Let's talk to Padfoot and Poppy after classes, we have some planning to do!"
------End Chapter 5: This Protector------
[A/N]: Woo!!! I'm glad that's done…Sorry about the wait, but you see the plan coming out? Excellent! *evil grin*
THANK YOU'S:
SlashVixen, Sela, Moonmint, Laughing Cat, Kalina Quantum, louise, WittchWay, xikum, Teigra, Jorden, Ashley, VampireLover, ptijade, Tommieboy182, magicgerbil, Cloudburst200, Cat Samwise, c, candycane, Kaat ShadowLover, Sarah, Milkyweed, Sidda Baroness Jumping Rain, FieryOpal, wormtail's worst enemy, Jess the Great, frizzy, Dragonlight, tima, Pip, Schulyr, Sabs, Rowenna, Kafe, Mikee, Smiling-D'aho, asta, blackunicorn, Black Rose, ZetaStar, Renae Nyx Hunter, Lady Foxfire, Maxie, Saavik.
…AND TO ANYONE I MAY HAVE MISSED I AM *SO* SORRY!!! I REALLY, *TRULY* LOVE YOU FOR REVIEWING!
~To those of you who asked about Harry's illness, the details will come out in a few chapters when a little…fight…occurs, between who you ask? Uh-uh, not until later…
~All those authors who reviewed, I can't believe it! So many amazing authors that *I've* reviewed are reviewing *me* its amazing! I fully intend, when it isn't 11:30 on a school night, to check out all of your author pages and favourites lists for my ever-growing search for good HP/SS and other slash…Great Work to all authors!!!
~One person pointed out how Dumbledore mentioned meeting his 'great-grand children', once again, all in good time…
THANK YOU ALL!!! PLEASE REVIEW AND CHIECK OUT MY NEW FIC, 'TONIGHT THE STARS REVOLT', IT'S A SLASH AND MPREG, VOTING FOR THE HP/?? PAIRING IS STILL ON! IT IS MOST LIKELY SS/HP BUT TELL ME WHAT *YOU* THINK! ITS LONG AT NEARLY 6,000 WORDS! GIVE IT A SHOT!
^_~
Fair Lady Ravenclaw