Disclaimer: I do not own or ever will, the rights and such to the Potter Universe. Please don't sue me, I'm poor. And thank you to xXSakkaiXx for my 3rd review... sorry if the SJ character seemed that obvious...she'll be important later

Chapter 4:happy Halloween

Halloween came quickly for Hermione who was now almost four months pregnant and more comfortable with her body. She had learned to successfully brew her own hormone and vitamin potion to make sure her little son or daughter grew and developed as it should.

Ron had taken the news of the new addition very well and had in fact seemed more determined to recover from his paralysis than ever. Harry and Susan were also extremely supportive, though Harry seemed worried that she would become quite lonely. He feared that she would be alone for the birth and that made him ask Ron to move in with Hermione for the remainder of her pregnancy and longer if need be.

Sallie had started that Wednesday and had continued working nicely with she and Ron. Hermione had discovered that Sallie was quite talkative if she was on the right subject. She had also noticed that Sallie never went anywhere on her way home or to work. She always walked the same way, her head down her feet trotting at the cobblestone road as if it was her last mile. Hermione had reached out to the girl, but knew that sometimes only time could heal certain wounds and Hermione was afraid of learning what could cause the young woman to be so distraught.

"Sallie, could you grab that last box of the new editions, I would hate to not have this done early enough to enjoy the party." Sallie walked slowly towards the counter and grabbed the last box of the new editions of Hogwarts; A History and walked with them to Hermione. It wasn't often that Sallie seemed upset, but that entire day she had seemed a little down as if something out of the ordinary had sparked her sadness.

"Thanks, dear."

"You're welcome. Do you mind if I stop by my house first before I come to the party? I need to grab some things." Hermione nodded in response and stepped off of the ladder.

"Well, that's all. I'll see you a little later, Sallie. Please do come, we would really enjoy having you." Hermione took the young woman's hand in hers and smiled at her, knowing that she needed interaction with more than her family.

"I'll be there, I promise." Hermione watched as Sallie walked out the door, her dark hair tied tightly in a bun.

"Let's go Ron, Harry's probably destroyed the place by now." Ron and Hermione walked out the door and headed towards her house where Ron had taken residence in the third bedroom. Harry was pleased with his idea of Ron moving in with Hermione as she never walked to or from work alone.

"Did you invite the neighbours?" Ron asked looking towards Severus Snape's house.

"Of course." Hermione smiled and unlocked the back door to her house.

"I need a shower, quickly, before I rot. Be back down in a sec." Hermione jogged up the stairs and laid out her emerald dress that she wouldn't be able to wear in another month and turned the water in her shower on a mild warm. The water felt nice on her skin as the relaxed into the stream. It seemed as though she hadn't showered in years, yet she knew she had showered just that morning.

Before putting on the dress, she sprayed a bit of perfume on her neck, stomach, in the crease of her legs and on her wrists.

"Hermione, Lupin and Tonks are here." She heard Harry call from the bottom of the stairs. She put on her flat shoes and walked slowly down the stairs towards her den and prepared herself to see the man she had once crushed on in her third year.

"You look lovely, Hermione." Remus Lupin, former DADA professor stated as she entered the room.

"You're just flattering a soon to be overweight, pregnant and very hormonal woman." She laughed as she spoke knowing that all of the women in the room aside from Tonks and Ginny had experienced pregnancy.

"Did you find the saucers, Harry?" Hermione asked snaking an arm around his shoulder.

"Yes, they were right on the shelf that said, 'saucers'. I also put out the candles you wanted and the fresh linens." Hermione kissed his cheek lightly and walked over towards Ginny Weasley and her new beau, who Hermione didn't quite recognize.

"How is Henry taking the news about the little one, Hermione?" Ginny asked after she took her drink from Dean's hand.

"Quite good. He always wanted a brother or sister, but thought he might never have one. When Valerie died, he was sure he would be alone with his Dad forever and then I came into the picture and then he had high hopes. When Wallace died, Henry tried to make a lot of friends because he knew he would never have a sibling. But now, well, he writes me every week asking how everything is going and when he will be able to learn about the sex. I keep telling him he won't know until the baby is born." Ginny laughed and looked off towards Ron who was quietly sitting with Tonks talking about quidditch. Before Hermione could greet Susan properly, there was a knock at the door.

"Hold on, let me get that, it must be Neville." Hermione walked quickly, well as quickly as she could, to the door. To her surprise, it was Severus Snape.

"Good evening, Madame." He said, entering the room. "Good evening, Master Snape and Atticus." Hermione waved at the little boy trying to hide at his uncle's legs.

"Atticus don't be rude, say hello to Madame Stuart."

"Happy Halloween, Hermione." Atticus said, holding his hand out to give her the picture he had drawn. It was a large train with a bright green engine that looked more like a stapler with steam than a train, but she would never say that to him.

"How lovely, Atticus." Hermione went to her kitchen to hang the picture on her refrigerator and then returned to the den where Severus and Atticus were meeting and greeting, that is to say Atticus was talking and Severus was stalking around the room as he always did.

"Fred and George should be by soon. Colin and Dennis are working late for them tonight. Quite a busy night, Halloween." Hermione laughed thinking back to her fifth year and their many inventions.

"Atticus, would you like to stir the pumpkin juice for me?" He smiled, but looked to hisUncle first.

"You may." With that Atticus walked swiftly towards Hermione, his dark hair flopping a bit like Harry's on his head.

"Where is your little brother tonight?" Hermione asked.

"I don't have a little brother." He replied.

"Isn't Harrison your little brother?" Hermione asked as Atticus stirred the pumpkin juice.

"No, he is my nephew." She giggled and watched his face, so stern and severe exactly like his uncles.

"He is coming with his mother." Atticus added. With that, Hermione heard a knock at the door and went to greet her new partygoers.

"Sallie, I am so glad you could make it." Hermione held the door open for the young woman and almost closed it when she saw a little boy staring back at her, blue eyes full of excitement.

"This is my son, Harrison." Sallie said, picking the little boy up and brushing his blonde hair from his face. He looked nothing like Sallie, but was beautiful nonetheless.

"Well, hello Harrison. I am Hermione and we have lots of goodies just for you." Hermione took the small boy from Sallie's arms and walked with him towards the kitchen where Atticus was still faithfully stirring the pumpkin juice.

"Hey there, Harrison." Atticus said, releasing the ladle from his hand and stepping down from the stool.

"Thank you, Atticus, there are some hats and crackers on the mantle, will you hand them out for me?" Hermione pointed towards the mantle and watched as Atticus walked towards them.

"Sallie, he's just beautiful, why didn't you tell me you had a son?"

"I was asked not to." Sallie replied, her eyes darting towards the den.

"Do you live with Severus Snape?"

"He is my Uncle as well. When our parents died, I mean mine, Michael's and Atticus', we moved in with him. That was three years ago. I was seven months pregnant with Harrison and Uncle didn't know until they died. He was very hurt that I never told him, but then he understood once the truth was revealed." Hermione handed Harrison a cracker and watched as he pulled the end and two very large balloons exploded from the other end.

"Yes, well those were tough times I am sure."

"His father died with my parents at Hogwarts." Hermione thought about this with much intensity. She wondered if she could discover his father without Sallie having to actually say the words.

"Were you to be married?" "

We were married, we just never told anyone. For privacy, we chose a last name of the place where we were married." Hermione wiped the bit of dust off Harrison's mouth and set him down on the floor so he could walk about.

"We should get to the party before your Uncle hunts me down and wonders what I've done with you two." With a half-smile, Sallie followed Hermione out into the den and waited for her Uncle to show his anger as she wasn't supposed to be present at the party that night.

"Where did you get that dress, hermione, it's colour is so unique?" Tonks asked as Hermione brought out the rest of the food.

"In Egypt last summer. Some little store in Cairo....I can't remember the name now, but my tag is just upstairs. I figured I better wear it now while I still can." Hermione brushed her hair from her shoulders and patted Ron's arm as the friends she had acquired over the years talked of their lives. She wondered how many of them realized that they hadn't really been together for almost two years.

It was her first holiday without Wallace and aside from her hormones raging, she felt okay. About and hour or so later, though, she was feeling tired and walked out onto her terrace where she heard a light bickering from around her hedges (she still hadn't gotten around to trimming them).

"I asked you not to bring him here, Sarah, many people do not know that he exists."

"He is my son, Uncle, and these people do not care whose child he is or whether his father might have been a follower of the Dark Lord. Hermione is so caring and honest and I couldn't lie to her any longer."

"You shouldn't have brought him, Sarah. These people are accepting, yes, but they still don't know he is Malfoy's heir and that alone can clear even the most polite room."

"Not everyone is like you, Uncle. He is my child, I love him and if you don't want us in your home anymore, we will find another residence.They have accepted you, wny wouldn't they accept Harrison?" With that, Hermione watched Sallie hold a sleeping Harrison in her arms and walk back into the den, her yes red with regret.

"She has your determination, you know." Hermione said, walking behind her former professor, wondering is she should have spoken at all.

"Yes, unfortunately."

"She is quite welcome in my home, as always, Sir. As well as her son. Draco and I were never the greatest mates, but we understood our places in the order and even though many don't understand his sacrifice, I do." She looked up to him, her eyes searching for some emotion aside from his usual sarcasm and denial.

"Yes, well, that is exactly right, these people here don't know that he chose a separate path from his father. They only remember the boy he was and not the man he became." Severus stood, his arms folded across his chest and waited for more ramblings on Hermione's relationship with the younger Malfoy. Instead, he received silence.

She walked closer to the ledge and looked out over the small pond. That was the main reason she had wanted this particular house. She loved the pond and wanted Henry to have that piece of home as their house in the Caithness had a small pond as well. As she stood there, her arms felt chill. She was alone on Halloween, one of her favourite holidays. Obviously and literally she wasn't alone, but in her heart she had never been more alone.

"You will catch a cold, Madame Stuart, if you remain in this weather for much longer." Severus said, watching her tremble in the moonlight. He hadn't been to her bookstore since he had bought his nephews books. It was odd trying to think of her as an adult because he could normally only think of her as the frizzy-haired, buck-toothed, know-it-all from his days as a professor.

"You can't catch a cold from being in the cold, Professor. Sorry, you don't like being called that, old habit." She bit her lip and felt a strong need to walk directly to the pub and buy a large order of fish and chips.

"You still shouldn't be in this weather, the dampness will destroy your hair style."He said in a voice she recognized so very well. She snorted at his comment and thought of her unruly main.

"Yes, well, I doubt anything can manage to make it worse." She turned to him and noted that he was wearing dark trousers and a light mahogany shirt. She walked slowly past him and smelled the familiar scent of lavender and cedar.

"I hope you have a good evening, Sir, as your young nephew seems to have made two new friends of Messrs Fred and George Weasley." Hermione passed him and felt a small jump from the little person in her tummy. She stopped suddenly and waited for it to happen again. Severus followed her in, wondering she if was all right.

"Hermione, did you see the little muggles that were at the door. They were dressed in little costumes pretending to be wizards and ghosts." Ginny said, closing the door and searching Hermione's face for a sign of the emotion that was written all over her body.

"No I didn't see them, sorry." Hermione turned from Ginny and walked towards her steps to the top floor. Hermione waved off Ron's attempts to ask her why she was looking as though something had happened. She ran quietly up the steps and into her bathroom. As though she had no legs to carry her one step further, she collapsed on the floor if the bathroom and wept. It was as though she hadn't cried for Wallace's death the first time. Somehow in her mind, she hadn't thought completely about the absence of him in every aspect of her life. At night when she lay in her bed, she thought about his absent body; The lump of man that kept her warm on the coldest nights and comforted when she continued her nightmares.

It was as though she had just remembered that he was gone; that she would never kiss the lips of the man that had understood it all. All of her idiosyncrasies and compulsions. He understood her need to always please people and to be the best in everything. And he was gone...

"Hermione, is everything alright?" She heard Ginny call from her bedroom.

"The baby kicked while I was on the terrace." Hermione replied wiping her eyes on a dull and stained handkerchief with Wallace's initials on the hem.

"Why are you crying then?" Ginny asked, having never been pregnant herself, yet feeling as though it should be a happy time when a baby responds to it's environment.

"I was overwhelmed." Hermione replied.

"Because Wallace won't ever know the baby." Ginny stated, helping Hermione clean her face.

"It's not as though I haven't thought of it before. I told myself when I first found out that he or she would never know their father. I mean, I told myself that a hundred times, and downstairs I finally heard it for the first time." Ginny hugged her tightly and rubbed her back in circles, trying to understand what it must feel like to be pregnant and alone.

"Your child will know it's father, hermione, and you will be able to explain it all. Henry will be a wonderful big brother and the extended family of this child will be more supportive than any other family I can imagine." Hermione laughed a bit thinking of her adolescence and how the Weasley family had practically adopted her.

"Thank you Ginny. Sometimes I just can't stop crying when I think about him. Sometimes I wish I could find out something completely horrible about him and then hate him forever, but then I remember he was perfect in every way."

"You will find someone again, Hermione, and they will be perfectly equal in your eyes." Hermione wiped her eyes one last time and straightened her hair out against her neck.

"Thank you, Ginny, even if it isn't true." Hermione and Ginny walked back down the stairs. Hermione felt like slightly uncomfortable knowing she had ignored half of her guests for more than three quarters of the party. It wasn't as though most of them would think she was trying to be rude on purpose, she just knew someone would comment on her leaving so abruptly.

"We found the rest of the crackers, Ron." Ginny said as they descended from the stairs, Hermoine silently thanked Ginny for her quick thinking and they continued serving.

"How is Henry doing with quidditch?" Tonks asked Hermione as she refilled her drink.

"He seems to like it quite a bit, but sometimes I think he just plays because his father did.He has been practicing a lot, so I hope he makes the team this year."

"Wallace played quidditch?" Ron asked, looking sceptically towards Hermione.

"He played with his cousins for a minor team. I simply meant that Wallace was successful with quidditch and I believe Henry feels he must be as well."

"Why didn't Wallace go to Hogwarts? I mean his family lived about thirty or so miles from the school." Tonks asked.

"I believe his father wanted to teach him himself. His sisters went to Beauxbatons." Tonks chuckled and then walked back to Remus Lupin by the front windows. Hermione noticed that Remus seemed a little down as well. The night seemed to be successful as the patrons of her party all mingled as though they regularly ran in the same circles socially. She even noted that Severus Snape had commented on the niceness of meeting with former colleagues, even if Remus and Tonks were the only ones.

As people began to head home, as there was a full day of work ahead for most of them, she politely bid them goodnight, even though she honestly craved her solitude from them.

"Goodnight, Hermione, see you in the morning." Sallie said as she and Harrison left the landing.

"Yes, and be careful, it's supposed to storm tonight." Hermione said as they walked a little up the road. She knew Severus and Atticus would be leaving soon as well, so she left the door open a bit. The light breeze was comforting. It was times as these that she wished she still had her mother's old hammock. It was perfect during stormy weather.

"Goodnight, Hermione. I hope I can see the bookstore again soon." Atticus Snape said as he walked past her to the sidewalk.

"Good evening, Madame Stuart, thank you for the invitation." Hermione extended her hand in acceptance of his handshake, but blushed slightly as he bent and kissed it.

"Thank you, Sir."

"You may call me Severus, Madame Stuart, as we are no longer student and professor. You make me feel old and settled when you continuously call me sir." She slowly retreated her hand and smelled the lovely smell of cedar ,a smell she'd recognized on him since her first year at Hogwarts.

"Yes, then, Severus, thank you for coming, it was nice to talk with you."The sound of his name over her lips felt extremely foreign. She maintained her blush, thinking of anyone else who could have seen him kiss her hand as if she was a queen.

"Well, yes, thank you." He turned from her and walked towards his own home but a few strides from hers.

"Your dress is lovely." She thought she heard him whisper, but removed the thought from her mind and closed the door. Ron and Harry were putting the dishes away as she entered the kitchen. Somehow, the depression that she had felt that evening was dissipating into the fondness of the thoughts of Wallace and everything that had made their life together obsolete.

"Were you upset earlier, Hermione?" Harry asked, his green eyes searching her almond eyes for answers to his concerns.

"Yes, I was. I felt the baby kick and it made me think of Wallace and his death."

"Why didn't you say something to us, Hermione? That is why we are here, to make sure everything is going smoothly with the baby and you." Harry continued to stare into her eyes, pleading with her not to let him down.

"It's just that so much has changed since his death. I remember the night before he died knowing that next day something was going to be different. I held him so tight that night and pleaded with him not to go to work. I was so weak that morning. I should've known then I was pregnant, but I wasn't looking for the signs and Wallace was so irritable. He asked me not to keep him from work that morning as he knew it was an important day. I just wanted him to stay home." Hermione paused and her arms fell to her sides in protest of her emotions.

"He didn't even kiss me goodbye. He waved
from the street corner as if I was neighbour and not his wife. When he called at lunchtime and said he wouldn't be home, I was sure he was still angry with me for trying to get him to stay home. Around four o'clock, I received the largest bunch of lilies I've ever seen. The little card said he loved me and wanted me to have a great evening even if it was without him. I got the call nearly ten minutes later that he had died. I mean, I never got to talk to him or kiss him one last time. I didn't even get to see him before they planted his tree."

Hermione stopped and sat at the table where she and Henry had enjoyed many breakfasts. She missed Henry as well.

"He loved you, Hermione. I know he did." Ron said, floating to her side and lifting his hand to her hair and stroking it softly.

"I know this child will be loved, just not by its' father and that is saddening. It was too much to see Sallie holding Harrison and then to feel my own child awakened in my abdomen." She hugged Ron's neck and then Harry's.

"I would be lost without you two."

"We just want you well, Hermione." Harry poured her a large glass of milk and then walked with her up the stairs to her room.

"I saw Snape kiss your hand, Hermione. I doubt he would've if he had known I was within viewing distance." Hermione's blush returned as they entered her bedroom.

"He was just being polite. It was nice." Harry unzipped her dress and helped her out of it as she turned away from him.

"Susan must really trust you, Harry Potter."

"Yes, well, if I weren't married to Susan..." She turned to him quickly, her under dress hanging on her shoulders. Her hair fell slightly against her face as she sized up the man before her, whom she had always admired for his honesty. Perhaps, though, it wasn't a moment to be that honest, she thought.

"He said your dress was lovely."

"He was drinking tonight. His inhibitions were probably lowered." Hermione said, trying to justify her former professors actions.

"He watched you all night." Harry added, his back turned from Hermione as she put her nightdress on.

"I can't think of him tonight, Harry. Even if I did find certain ideas enjoyable, I am quite uncomfortable thinking of them further." She said bluntly to his comments.

"You did look wonderful tonight, Hermione. I mean, that dress was perfect for you. You could barely tell you were pregnant at all, not that your belly is that large anyway." She eyed her belly in the mirror and noticed it had grown larger, though not significantly.

"Thank you, Harry." She kissed his cheek and went into her bathroom.

"We'll be by this Saturday to get to those bushes." Harry called from the bedroom. Hermione didn't bother to reply, she simply sat on her floor and looked towards her ceiling. It had been a nice night, even if she had broken down into a mess.

She wondered where the new Severus Snape had come from and why he was acting so courteous towards her. He was probably trying to sugar her up so that she would treat Sallie well at work, but then Hermione never knew Severus Snape to be so courteous unless it suited his interests. She vowed not to think of him again and picked herself up from the floor and washed her face one last time before finally getting to bed.