THE OLIVE BRANCH
by The Goblet
Chapter 6 - The Shocking Truth
April 1976
After Remus returned back to school after the Easter holidays, he began to feel more relaxed. The uneasiness which had plagued him over the week long break had eased once he knew Severus was safe. Not that Remus knew that that was what had been troubling him.
On the fourteenth of April, 1976 , a Wednesday evening, Remus travelled down to the Shrieking Shack and transformed, once again, into Moony. Like he had on the previous three months, Moony waited until curfew before stealthily making his way back into the castle. He was very careful not to be seen, and curbed his animal instincts and resisted attacking any of the children in the castle. Moony wanted to see his mate, and nothing was going to get in his way and hold him up.
Snape was waiting for Remus in the Slytherin Common Room when he arrived. He had made sure that the room would be empty for when the werewolf appeared. A few stench hexes did wonders to clear a room.
Moony followed the Slytherin prefect down to the fifth year boys dormitories, where his mate ushered him onto the bed, and drew the curtains. After placing locking and silencing charms on the curtains, Snape hugged Moony. Moony knew that his mate had missed him terribly too.
The teenager started getting ready for bed. He pulled off his robes and removed the concealment charms on his body so that he would be able to rest properly, without a drain on his magic during the night. Moony watched as Snape stepped into a pair of pyjama bottoms and crawled into bed.
Jumping up on the bed himself, Moony made himself comfortable and snuggling close to his mate.
Soon both boy and wolf were falling asleep.
Early the next morning, Remus woke to find himself naked and entwined around a half-naked Slytherin. He freaked out, not knowing how or why he was in bed with Snape.
Sitting up, Remus looked at the boy in bed with him. Snape was sleeping so peacefully. For some reason, his skin didn't look sallow at all. The scowl which was constantly etched on his face had smoothed and he looked almost beautiful.
Remus shook his head. Had he just described Snape as beautiful?
Snape rolled over in his sleep: turning to cuddle into him. Remus's eyes almost popped out of his head. He heart stopped.
Snape was… Snape was… PREGNANT!
Remus began to hyperventilate. Trying to calm himself, he took big, deep breathes.
Scrambling out from the bed, he looked around for his clothes. Not finding any, he borrowed Snape's dressing gown and fled the dormitory.
Rushing through the castle, he made a beeline for Gryffindor Tower . Once safely inside his dormitory, Remus took off Snape's robe and pulled on his school uniform. It was then that he realised that it was the morning after the Full Moon. What had possessed his wolf to seek Snape out?
Confused, Remus opened his trunk, and pulled out all the books his father ever gave him about werewolves. Knowing that he would be allowed the day to recover from his transformation, Remus closed the curtains on his bed, and began reading.
Later that night Remus set aside his last book. He was exhausted. He was stunned.
It was nigh impossible, and yet all the evidence pointed towards it. He had bonded with, and knocked up Severus Snape.
Remus spent the next four weeks looking into Severus's pregnancy. He read books about werewolves. He read books about pregnancy. He read books aimed at expectant mothers, and expectant fathers. But he didn't say a word to Snape. He didn't know how to broach the subject with his mate.
One day, whilst working on a group project in Arithmency, Remus suggested forming a study group, primarily for the opportunity to spend more time with Severus. He succeeded in forming a small study group of students from each house: including James, Sirius and Severus.
During these study sessions, Remus kept paying particular attention to the Slytherin. Soon, he began to sneak food into the library; the type of food expectant mothers should be eating a lot of: fresh fruit and vegetables, grains and cereals. Sometimes he would share it with the group. Other times he would just hide it in the pregnant boy's bag.
Both the Marauders and Snape thought he had gone insane. They couldn't understand what was going on inside his head. The Marauders thought that Snape had bewitched him, and had placed him under Imperious, so that he could have a personal slave. Snape thought that it was all a cruel joke, intent on making him feel uncomfortable.
Eventually, Snape snapped. Remus watched from across the library as he pulled Potter into a secluded corner. He didn't know what Snape had said to James, but knew it was about him, as both boys continued to shoot glances in his direction.
Later that night, James, Sirius and Peter all took him aside and explained that his behaviour was inappropriate. It was especially inappropriate if Snape had dared speak to James , of all people, to make him stop. Ordinarily, they wouldn't have minded making the Slytherin as uncomfortable as possible, but Remus was definitely scaring them.
Albus poured out another cup of tea and handed it to his deputy. "I hope you did eventually tell Severus that you knew about the baby."