Hermione's Baby

Chapter 8

By the end of the day Hermione thought she was going to explode.  She honestly wanted to strangle the next person she heard whispering to his or her friend about 'the old git' being married.  And the looks that she got as she walked down the hall made her want to scream. 

The only thing that got her through it was Harry and Ron's support.  They hated the idea that she was married to Snape, but they accepted that she had somehow fallen in love with him, and there was nothing that they could do about it.  They weren't happy, but they didn't want their friendship ruined by this. 

They would walk her down the halls, glaring at anyone who so much as glanced in her direction, and during classes they made sure that none of their classmates made some sort of rude comment. 

When it was time to head towards dinner after their last class, Hermione was exhausted.  She slumped down in her chair between Harry and Ron, and slowly began to eat.  It was hard for her to believe that less than a week ago she had still been pregnant, and even more recently she had given birth to her baby and given him up. 

As she thought about her baby, her gaze fell upon the boy.  She wondered how he would react if he knew that Severus was his father.  He would probably run away screaming.  Frowning, she realized that she didn't even know if Seamus was aware that he was adopted.  She sighed, realizing that she hardly knew anything about her son, even though she had been living in such close quarters to him for seven years. 

"Hermione!" Harry's voice broke through her daydreams. 

"W-what?" Asked Hermione, starting slightly.

"You were in your own world," Ron informed her, "you were just sitting there, staring at Seamus."

"I was?" Asked Hermione, feigning surprise.

"Yeah," Ron nodded, stuffing more meatloaf into his mouth.  "But that doesn't matter.  I was wondering," he paused, looking at her sheepishly, "could you help me with my potions essay?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, causing everyone around her to shudder.  "Don't do that!" yelped Neville before Hermione could reply to Ron, "It makes you look like Snape!"

"Is that so?" questioned a familiar quiet voice, causing everyone in the vicinity to freeze.  Neville looked fearfully at his potions professor, wondering what his punishment would be this time.  But luckily for Neville, Snape's attention was not focused on him.  "Lavender," he acknowledged quietly, handed her a paper, and swept from the room.

Ignoring the looks that were no doubt coming her way from all corners of the room after her little exchange with Severus, Hermione opened up the paper in confusion.  It was "The Evening Prophet."  Hermione curiously flipped through the paper until she came to a page that made her freeze in her spot as she quickly began to read it. 

"SCANDAL AT HOGWARTS" by Rita Skeeter

A scandal has occurred at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  A mind-boggling report has reached this reporter's ears from a very reliable source.  It appears that Hogwart's top student Hermione Granger -- yes, Harry Potter's best friend -- is married to Hogwart's potions professor Severus Snape!  And the circumstances that led to this unlikely match are even more unbelievable.  It appears that Hermione Granger recently traveled through time, landing in the year 1977, finished her seventh year at Hogwarts, married Snape, lived with him for around three years, and then mysteriously disappeared.  Nott, a Slytherin year-mate of Granger's and housemate of Snape's, says that he "always thought that there was something strange about that girl.  Something was always off."  Why would Hermione Granger willingly marry the boy she knew would some day be her fearsome potions professor?  This reporter wonders what the reason for Granger's sudden departure from the past was and what will happen with this unlikely couple now that Granger is Back to the Future., 

"Bloody hell," muttered Hermione, "shit… shit… shit…."

Gryffindor table was staring at her in confusion.  None of them got the Evening Prophet, so they had knew that the article, whatever it was, had to be pretty bad to make Hermione Granger curse.


"Hermione," said Ron, "what's in the paper?"  Hermione wordlessly handed the paper to Ron, and he read it out loud to the surrounding students.  When he had finished, everyone was staring at Hermione.  "Well," said Ron slowly, "at least she didn't talk about how you kissed him in potions."

Hermione smiled weakly at him and said, "Yeah, I guess.  But still…" her voice trailed off.  After a pause, Hermione cleared her throat slightly and said "So.  I've been gone for a while.  At least it's been a while for me.  Tell me what's been going on." 

Knowing she wanted to change the subject, the Gryffindors eagerly began to tell her stories of pranks they had recently played, mistakes they had made in class, and unfair detentions they had been given.  They usually refrained from mentioning who had given them those detentions. 

After a while, the talk went back to normal, and Hermione was receiving only the normal amount of stares from people who were still in shock over her marriage.  Hermione immerged herself in her thoughts as she wondered what that article would mean.  It would certainly cause some problems with the minister.  That was for sure. 

She was drawn back to earth by hearing Harry say, "I wonder who that owl's for?" 

Looking around, Hermione noticed that, indeed, a solitary owl was flying towards the Gryffindor table.  It sometimes happened.  Parents often decided that they'd send their children letters late in the day, and if the child was in the Great Hall, the owl went there.  So no one paid it too much attention as it landed in front of Seamus, deposited its load and left. 

Hermione discreetly watched as Seamus opened his letter.  She heard him tell Dean that it was from his mum.  Hearing that, Hermione sighed.  If he only knew…  She shook her head slightly, took another bite of beans, and watched as Seamus's face turned paler and paler as he continued to read. 

Hermione wasn't the only one who noticed this, and Ron was the one who voiced everyone's question.  "Seamus mate," he said, his mouth filled with half chewed food, "What's w/ you?  You look like someone died."

Harry smacked Ron on the head for his tactlessness as Seamus wordlessly got up from his seat and left the hall.  "You prat," he said, "Maybe someone did die."

"Oh, oops," said Ron, looking slightly ashamed, "pass the turnips?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When the dream team reached Gryffindor common room not too long after that -- it was too early to go to bed, so she saw no reason to return to her room yet --, they found Seamus staring listlessly at the fire, his letter held limply in his hand.  As they approached, he hardly seemed to take any notice. 

Hermione cautiously went up to him and said, "erm, Seamus?"

He looked at her, and she was surprised to see that his eyes were filled with tears.  Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to hug him.  "Yes?" he replied quietly, glancing away again.

"Erm, are you alright?" She wasn't quite sure what to say, and after that came out she could have smacked herself.  Of course he wasn't ok!

Seamus just shrugged in response.  "What happened?" she pressed gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He looked at her in confusion, before saying slowly, "What's it to you?  I mean-" he hesitated, "It's just that we've never really been the best of friends." 

Hermione bit her lip.  He had no idea how much he had just hurt her with those few words.  "Seamus," she said quietly, "believe me, I've been through a lot lately, and I know that whatever it is, however much you don't want to talk about it, you should.  It'll help in the long run.  I didn't, and it was the stupidest mistake I ever made."

Harry and Ron were now staring at her in confusion, and Seamus, after looking at her for a few moments, wordlessly handed her his letter.  Hermione gave him a slightly encouraging smile, and then read the letter.

Dear Seamus,

I don't know how to say this, so I am just going to say it outright.  Your father and I have been trying to think of the best way to tell you this for years, but we have never been able to do it.  We are acting cowardly we know, but we cannot manage to tell you this to your face.  Here.  I am just going to say it.  You are adopted. 

You might wonder why we never told you this.  I am unable to bear children, and no amount of magic would be able to change that.  Your father and I always wanted children, so adoption seemed to be the only way.  We argued for a while about whether or not we should adopt a muggle or magical child, and finally decided that it did not matter to us whether our child was magic, muggle or squib.  So we went to a muggle adoption agency and the woman showed us the babies and children that they cared for.  They were all extremely well fed and happy.  When she led us to the cribs with infants in them, we wanted to take them all.  But something about you just called to us, and we told her that you were the one we wanted.  She smiled and told us that we had made a good choice.  She said that you had been left on the steps not a week before, and all that had been left with you was a letter that was addressed to 'whomever adopts my baby.'  We opened the letter and read it with trembling hands.  It was short, but sweet.  We enclosed it in this note, so you can read it.  And it tells you part of why we didn't tell you yet.  We took you home and within a month we felt that you were ours.  We loved you more than anything, and we wanted you to feel like you were one hundred percent part of the family.  That is why we never told you the truth.  As I think back on it it is an extremely feeble excuse, but what happened happened. 

You may wonder why you look so much like your father and myself.  Well, when we were researching pros and cons between muggle and magic orphanages, we discovered that at magical orphanages, the babies are given a potion to make them look more like their new parents.  While we had decided that the muggle orphanage from which you came was the best choice of orphanages, we invested in that potion, and that is why you now look like us.  There is a counter potion that came with it should you wish to learn what your true appearance looks like. 

Another question you might have is why you ended up being a wizard when we adopted you from a muggle orphanage.  Well, when we adopted you we were prepared to bring you up knowing about both worlds and telling you that because your father is a muggle while I am a witch, you would only have a fifty percent chance of becoming a wizard.  But from a very early age you started exhibiting signs of magic, so we knew that we would never have to tell you that lie, and you would grow up to be a wizard.

But as you got older, you started showing extremely advanced spurts of magic.  No one would expect a four year old to be able to explode a couch into a thousand little pieces, but you did.  Concerned, we took you to Albus, and, after examining you closely he informed us that your parents must have been very a very powerful witch and wizard.  It was almost as if he knew who they were.  He put a few dampening charms on you, that would suppress your greater magical outbursts.  If you went to him now and asked him to remove it I am sure that you would find your magical abilities greatly improved.  Not that they aren't already wonderful dear, but you would just be even more powerful. 

Seamus, your father and I love you very much.  More than anything else on this planet in fact.  We knew that you would some day have to know the truth, but however hard we tried we could never bring ourselves to tell you face to face.  If you wish to look for your birth parents we will help you all you want and give you our full support.  I would certainly like to thank them for giving me the greatest gift ever possible.  I hope that you can forgive your father and me.  We understand that you must be extremely angry at the moment, but we do hope that you can find a way to forgive us. We love you so much and while you may not be our biological son, you are our son in our hearts.

Love,

Mum & Dad

Hermione had tears in her eyes as she finished, and she gave Seamus a tight hug.  "I'm so sorry," she whispered to him, thinking that he never should have had to go through this.  Seamus took it to mean that she was sorry that this had happened to him and nodded slightly before handing her the other letter.  He wasn't so sure why he was trusting her with this, but something told him to.  He wordlessly handed her another, older looking letter.

Hermione took it with shaking hands.  She didn't need to read it, seeing as it had been only a few days since she had written it.  But she nonetheless took the letter and read it, taking in the messy handwriting that was obviously written by a shaking hand and the dried tear stains.

Dear whomever adopts my baby,

I want you to know that there were reasons beyond my control that forced me to give up my child.  I love him more than anything else in this world even after only knowing him for a few short hours, and if the circumstances would allow it I would definitely raise him as my own.  Please love him to the greatest extent possibly and treat him well.  If you decide to tell him that he was adopted tell him that his mother loves him dearly and never wanted to give him up.  Name him as you choose, I couldn't bear to give him something as precious as a name just to give him up.  If he wants to find me, wait until he grows up.  Let him be seventeen before he tries to contact me if he so desires.  I cannot tell you why, but trust me.  Give me the trust that I am giving you to raise my son.  I love him.

There was no signature.  Hermione looked at Seamus and didn't know what to say.  For the first time in her life, Hermione Granger was speechless.  She had forgotten that they were in the crowded Gryffindor common room, forgotten that there were people milling around them, doing homework and talking, and forgotten that her best friends were standing close by, waiting for her to explain what was going on.  She had forgotten that Lavender was sitting nearby, and she was oblivious to the glare that was being shot her way by the other girl, obviously thinking that she was doing something to her boyfriend.

Seamus looked at the floor and said quietly, "I don't know what to do."  His voice was so depressed and desperate that Hermione felt as though she was going to start crying. 

Looking at him for a moment, she opened her mouth, closed it, and, after a moment's silence, opened it again.  "Come with me," she said quietly. 

Seamus, looking slightly bewildered, followed her out of the Gryffindor common room.  She was still clutching his letters in her hand as she strode purposefully through the halls, leading her son.  She was so absorbed in her thoughts as she strode through the halls that she knocked into someone, falling over.

Looking up, she saw Severus scowling down at her, but at the same time he looked slightly amused.  But that look turned to confusion and anger as he saw who her companion was.  "Lavender," he said warningly, "what are you doing."

Glancing at Seamus, Hermione said to the boy "Seamus?  Wait here for one second.  I need to talk to Severus under a silencing charm.

Bewildered, Seamus nodded, and Hermione cast the charm.  Immediately Severus said "What do you think you are doing?  You can not tell him now!"

"Why not?" Hermione asked him, staring at him strangely, "He deserves to know, especially seeing as how he just got a letter from his mother tonight telling him that he was adopted.  Why should the truth be kept from him any more?"

"Because-" Severus paused slightly and Hermione interrupted him.

"Look," she said, placing a hand on his arm, "If you're not ready for him to know, then you don't have to come with me as I tell him.  But you didn't see his face earlier.  You didn't read the letter his mother sent him, along with the letter that I placed with him when I left him.  You didn't drop him off at an orphanage less than a week ago.  You didn't give birth to a baby you had to give up."  Although she had started out calm, by the end Hermione was practically in hysterics. 

"By whose fault was that?"  Asked Severus quietly.

"I know!" Hermione exclaimed, "But don't make me keep any more secrets from him.  Please Sev!  You don't have to come!"

Severus gave her a piercing stare before saying, "very well.  The room?"

Hermione nodded slightly and took down the silencing charm.  Seamus was looking thoroughly confused now, and Hermione gave him a small smile of encouragement.  "Um Hermione?" he said uncertainly, "Where are we going?"

"Follow me Finnegan," snapped Severus, earning himself a glare from Hermione as he whirled around and stalked through the hallways, his robes billowing out behind him.  Only Hermione could tell that he was scared.

Seamus followed his professor and Hermione completely and utterly bewildered.  He didn't know why Hermione was taking Snape with them, especially since this supposedly had something to do with his adoption.  But fear of the towering dark man kept Seamus' mouth shut as he struggled to keep up with the fast pace of the two people who, although unknown to him, were his parents. 

They came to a halt outside a portrait of a frog and a princess, and Snape spoke what Seamus could only suppose was the password.  He was shocked to hear a slight tremor in the man's voice as he said "emerald lion, crimson snake."

The portrait swung open, revealing a room filled with purple couches.  Puzzled, Seamus followed the other two into the room, and when Snape ordered him to sit, he sunk down into one of the bright purple couches and looked up at the other two in confusion.

He saw his professor and suddenly adult housemate trade glances before Hermione opened her mouth to tell a story that would change his life forever.

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A/N: Hey everyone!!!! Sorry it's taken so long!!! it's kinda late so I don't really feel like typing up the thanks, but I just want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!! Please please please review this one too!!!  It's kinda late and I've had way too much homework lately so it's pretty sloppily written, but whatever.  Anyway, I'll love you forever if you review!!! J