Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, or ideas (Harry Potter nouns) belong to J.K. Rowlings. Olivia McGonagall, Ferris Longbottom, and Eudora are mine.

Chapter 5: Not batched, just misplaced.

Minerva and Severus shared a quiet breakfast in her sitting room the following morning. He laughed as he watched her poke at her poached egg with the fork. "I always forget that every time I use this Eggs Benedict spell the egg is never as done as I'd like it."

"It's fine. Thank you for breakfast," he complimented. "How are you this morning?"

She took a bite of her food. "I'm quite well, actually. I have yet to notice any particular side affects."

He drank his tea and then faced her. "I do have one question though. What was Longbottom doing wandering around the castle at so late an hour?"

"He had asked my permission yesterday afternoon for homework purposes," she replied.

"I still think something should be done about him. Then we can all have an untroubled sleep," Severus added.

"The students are not what troubles my sleep," she commented, suddenly realizing that she had let something slip.

He raised an eyebrow. "What does trouble your sleep?"

She took another bite of her breakfast. "I've just had some odd dreams lately."

"What sort of dreams?" he inquired.

Sipping her tea, she looked over at him again. "Oh, you wouldn't find any of it interesting."

He thought it was interesting that she did not wish to tell him and he grinned. "Oh, I'm sure I'd find it very interesting."

His comment worked and she blushed. "No, you really wouldn't."

He chuckled as she took her wand out and made their dirty dishes disappear. "You probably dream of white knights saving the countryside," he teased.

She glanced over at her clock. "We have class to teach soon, and the knight had black armour."

They walked over to her door and were about to exit when he took her hands in his. "Are you certain that you shouldn't be heading off to the infirmary?"

She nodded and smiled. "I am perfectly fine. Thank you for helping me last night." After speaking she kissed him soundly.

"It would have been difficult to throw you out after you barged in," he joked.

Minerva had been correct: she was indeed fine, for a while. The eating problems began toward the middle of April. Certain foods the staff ate for breakfast would not stay down. The problem only became worse as she taught her first two classes. She would quickly leave notes on the board for them to copy down and excuse herself from the room in order to control her nausea. The only person who seemed to notice that anything was out of place was Severus.

Rain doused the grounds as Severus and Minerva played chess Saturday morning in the middle of May. He sighed as he watched her leave the game for the second time to empty her stomach of its contents. When she returned he handed her a glass filled with a clear fizzy liquid. "It might help somewhat."

She slowly took a sip. "Thank you."

He took her free hand. "Why don't we forget the game for now and sit on the couch?"

She nodded and curled up next to him on the couch. "I'm sorry I'm just not myself today."

He brushed a stray hair out of her face. "I think it's more than today. You've left breakfast in the Great Hall several times and you look as pale as the snowman we made in December. How long has this been going on?"

She leaned against him. "I think it started about a month ago. I'm more or less myself after 10:00 though."

"How on earth have you been teaching your morning classes?" he questioned.

"I give them notes and excuse myself when necessary," she explained.

"I hope whatever you've got, it isn't contagious," he commented.

She laughed. "If this had been contagious, you would have gotten it a long time ago. I don't think I have the flu because the flu wouldn't last this long."

"What does Poppy say?" he asked.

She did not answer immediately. "I haven't gone to the infirmary yet."

He stared at her incredulously. "You should have gone there the moment you felt badly. You may have some terminal disease for all you know!"

"I didn't have time and I didn't want to trouble anyone," she explained.

He shook his head. "You really ought to take better care of yourself."

"Then I'll go now," she concluded as she stood. However, as she walked toward the door, dizziness came over her and she placed her hand on a table to steady herself.

He linked his arm with hers. "Perhaps I had better walk you there."

When they reached the infirmary, Poppy opened the door and looked at them with concern. "She should have been in to see you a while ago. Please help her, and please don't let it be something terminal," he told the medwitch.

Poppy nodded and led Minerva inside, Severus preferring to wait outside. "What is going on?" she asked as soon as Minerva had seated herself on a bed.

"I've been feeling absolutely dreadful for about a month. I can barely keep breakfast down, but I feel better by 10:00. I've also been a bit dizzy lately," she explained.

Poppy walked over to her desk and returned with what appeared to be a bowl of water. "This is a new diagnostic method. Place your hand in the solution and the colour the solution becomes will help me identify the problem. I don't think you have the flu, but this could help to answer that question."

Minerva did as she was instructed and the liquid turned pink. Poppy looked at the bowl curiously. "I suppose not all new methods are accurate. I'm going to try a couple of other things," she stated as she removed the bowl.

She returned with a syringe and tourniquet. "I'm going to try a blood test. It'll take a few minutes to analyze what's there, but it might shed some light on the problem."

Minerva nodded as she felt the pinching sensation in her arm. Though it was a muggle method, she knew it could at times be more accurate. After the collected blood sample was deposited into an odd cylinder-like container for analysis, Poppy brought over another test.

She removed what appeared to be an oral thermometer from a box. "This is a diagnostic thermometer that should tell me what the problem is as soon as I cast the spell." She did as she planned and then removed the thermometer, staring at it strangely. Then she walked back over to her desk.

Minerva watched Poppy with anticipation as the medwitch checked the blood test. "Well? Am I dying or not?" she pressed.

Poppy dealt her a half-smile and walked toward her. "I think some of Severus' impatience is rubbing off on you. I have good news," she paused and looked back at the desk for a moment. "And I have questionable news. The good news is that you are not dying."

"And the other news? Poppy, if I don't have the flu and I am not dying, then what is wrong with me?" Minerva questioned.

Poppy placed a hand on Minerva's shoulder and looked her in the eye. "What shouldn't be, is, and I need to understand why. I need you to recall anything peculiar that might have occurred roughly two months ago."

She thought for a moment and the only thing that came to mind was the incident with Ferris Longbottom's batched potion. "Mr. Longbottom accidentally spilled a failed sleeping draught on me during the evening, but I don't see what that has to do with anything."

Poppy's eyes widened. "Was it purple, and did it have any odor at all?"

"It was purple, but it had no odor," she replied.

Poppy darted over to her desk and flipped open a potions book. She carried the heavy book over to Minerva and sat it down on the bed. Flipping it open to the page containing the sleeping draught, Poppy read the potion on the adjacent page.

"Would you please tell me what the problem is?" Minerva requested.

"I need to know as much as you can recall from the incident," Poppy insisted.

Minerva looked at the ground for a moment. "He accidentally dropped it when the stairs were changing and I was a few levels below him when he called out 'Professor, duck!' I missed the container, but not the potion itself and I was covered in purple goop. I headed to the nearest place I could find to wash off the substance, which ended up being the Potions classroom. Whatever that liquid was, it made me feel as if I was on fire. Severus let me use his shower and then walked me back to my rooms."

"Did you encounter anyone else after being covered in the potion? Did you brush hands with or touch anyone else?" Poppy questioned.

"I honestly don't recall if I did or not," she answered.

Poppy kept her eyes on the book in front of her. "You should have come to me immediately. I might have been able to prevent it," she paused and pointed to the potions. "These two are identical except for two ingredients. The last two ingredients are what causes the potion's lack of an odor. I know this is what Longbottom spilled on you because he came to me for the ingredients instead of Severus. He didn't batch the potion; he made the wrong one."

"I still fail to see what this is all about," Minerva commented.

The medwitch looked up slowly to meet her friend's eyes and sighed before replying. "Minerva, you are with child."

She felt as if she had just fallen from a balcony onto the hard ground. Now quite pale, she could only stare, wide-eyed. "What? No, no, no, that's impossible. I haven't-," Minerva protested, shaking her head. "I refuse to believe it. Poppy, that is impossible! And I'm not-"

Poppy placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "First of all, people such as ourselves have a longer span of time to have children then muggles. Secondly, I tested for this three times. All three tests have the same results and not all three of them would lie like that. Let me tell you what was spilled on you." She set the book on her lap and pointed to the potion. "This is a fertility potion that is activated by skin contact. While you were covered in the potion, someone must have touched your hand or your face."

Minerva stood and began pacing. After walking the length of the room twice, she returned to the medwitch. "What am I to do? It surely would not do for the students to see an unmarried teacher- How could I explain it?"

"Do you intend to keep the child?" Poppy asked logically.

Minerva closed her eyes to think clearly. I don't know if I can do this. Can I really raise this child on my own? Ironic, I thought that after I became a teacher, I'd never have a chance at being a mother. Perhaps this accident is actually a second chance, she rationalized. When Minerva opened her eyes, Poppy noticed that tears had begun to form, but her green eyes also held a look of determination.

"Yes, I intend to keep the child. As of right now, because I choose to be this child's mother and raise him or her, the child is no longer an accident, but my conscious decision. Tell me what I can do to see that everything is alright," she requested. Poppy smiled at Minerva's resolution.

"I want to see you at least every other week, if not every week. I'll give you a list of vitamins and other foods you should eat. Lastly, your robes will hide you for a few more months, but you should find a potion that, when ingested, produces a different image of you when the school term begins again," she recommended.

Minerva nodded and then stood closer to the medwitch. "You are to tell no one of this, absolutely no one," she whispered.

Poppy raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I can let you be the one to tell whomever you choose. However, I am interested in what you intend to tell the worried man outside who thinks you're dying."