Chapter 26:

Meanwhile, Severus was now carefully watching Kiki. She had just entered into her ninth month and with the sudden arrival of the twins, the birth seemed very real to the father-to-be. Kiki had a love-hate relationship with his sudden coddling. She loved being near him but hated that he watched her every moment. "Severus, I'll be fine…I'm not such a high risk and I don't have a jerk to set me off," she joked. "I don't think Narcissa will be stopping by soon."

Severus grunted and held her tighter as they lay in bed. "Come on, Sev, I know you care," she softened her tone. "But I'm fine. Honestly. If I wasn't, you'd be the first to know. I promise." He pressed her closer as he started to fall asleep. Kiki rolled her eyes and soon drifted to sleep herself.

The morning of April 10th dawned brightly and too early for Severus, who had a first period class of first years. He dragged himself out of bed and looked over Kiki, still curled up in sleep next the warmth he had provided. He smiled and went to get changed before fetching himself a cup of coffee. He had the feeling he was going to need it. He sat in the kitchen, sipping the caffeinated beverage when he heard his name being called from the bedroom. "Severus, I need your help…NOW!"

The students of Hogwarts were used to the fact that neither their Defense Against the Dark Arts professors nor their Potions professor hardly came to breakfast anymore. They understood that they all had other things on their minds. But it surprised the first years when they walked into their potions classroom and read the note their teacher had written on the blackboards. "Class is cancelled. Essays on uses of mandrake root due next week."

They returned to their common rooms, whispering about how Snape never cancelled a class—even when he was sick or lying injured into the hospital wing. Something serious must have happened, they reasoned out, for him to do something totally uncharacteristic. Their concern soon reached Professor Lupin, who met the class in the hallway. Concerned, the first place he decided to go (after telling Harmony what was going on) was to the hospital wing.

Immediately, he could sense the wards Poppy had set up for Harmony were back up, but they allowed him through. He knocked on the hospital door and Poppy opened the door. Without even waiting for Remus to answer, she hurriedly snapped, "Yes, yes, she's in labor. And she's going quick. So, go tell everyone while I tend her!" With that, the door was shut again.

It was so painful. "I am never going to do this again," Kiki muttered through clenched teeth. "You are never going to touch me again." Severus looked taken aback by this announcement, but Poppy soon calmed him down.

"Oh, every woman in labor has said that. Harmony said it to Remus, who just laughed it off," she said, wiping Kiki's forehead. "Remus was actually the one at the door. I told him he could tell who ever he needed to."

"As long as he doesn't tell Sirius, I'll be happy," Kiki replied, a little calmer now that the pain had subsided—for the moment.

But at that moment, the doors flew upon. "Speak of the devil," she muttered. Before Sirius could say anything, a pillow was hurdled at him and Poppy ushered the man out after receiving a paten Severus Snape death glare.

Harmony was allowed in after it was certain that Sirius wouldn't try to get back in. "Sorry," she told her friend. "Remus wouldn't believe me when I told him you didn't want Sirius to know until after you had given birth."

"That's okay," Kiki wheezed, since Harmony had apologized during one of her contractions. "Merlin, did it hurt this much when you gave birth?"

"Oh, yeah. But I tried to keep it in perspective."

"WHAT?"

"I went fast. You're going quickly. Lily lingered in this pain for eleven and a half hours, Kiks, ELEVEN AND A HALF! I could barely make it two and a half."

"I can't even make it an hour," Kiki groaned. Another contraction soon started and Poppy hurried over. "Sam better appreciate all of this."

"I'm sure she will," Poppy said. "Now, Harmony dear, I need you to leave."

"Understood. Don't worry, it's worth it all in the end, Kiki," Harmony said, squeezing her friend's hand.

"I hope so!" Kiki called out.

A few minutes later, Harmony was the only one allowed back into the room. "What, she wasn't ready?" the woman asked, following the nurse.

"No, I was ready for Sam. I wasn't ready for everybody else," Kiki answered, causing Harmony to push past Poppy and rush to her friend's bedside. Severus sat on the other side, a dazed look on his face as he watched the tiny pink bundle in Kiki's arms. Inside the mountain of blankets was a little girl with a mop of black hair and beautiful black eyes. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Hey, I'm still a proud new mother, so not as beautiful as my Lily and Jamie."

"Hmm, I don't know. I think my Samantha can top them."

"Well, we're just going to have to settle this, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are." Kiki laughed and kissed her daughter's forehead. "About time you came," she cooed to Sam.

"Can I let my husband in?" Harmony asked.

"No," Severus said, finally moving. "He's holding Sirius back."

"Okay. How about Bianca?"

"Oh, of course!"

Within a few minutes, Bianca was standing by the bedside cooing over little Samantha. "Okay, between Sam, Jamie and Lily, I want a baby!" she said, holding out her arms for Samantha.

Severus gently swatted her arms down. "I haven't even held her yet, and I'm her father," he explained. Without another word, Kiki placed Sam in his arms and the little girl began to gurgle. "Is that good?" Severus asked, alarmed.

Harmony laughed; Severus' inexperience reminded her so much of her husband the first week of the twins' lives. "Yes, Severus, it's a very good sign," she replied, before turning towards Bianca. "And you can always have a baby with Sirius."

"Before we're married? I think not! My mother, as much as she would love to have a grandchild from me, would skin me alive and my father—well, let's say we wouldn't be able to find Sirius' body. Ever."

Kiki looked at Bianca weirdly. "Are you saying there's a problem with having a child out of wedlock? Because last I checked, Severus and I aren't married, are we?"

"Not yet, honey," Severus replied, still rocking a smiling Sam.

"See?"

Bianca was suddenly flustered. "No, I didn't—that's to say I—I meant that—that—it's looked down upon in my family. I have no problem with your situation…"

Harmony placed a hand on her friend's arms. "Don't worry, Bianca, Kiki's not rational right now."

"I am so!"

"I was sorta the same way after the pregnancy. You can ask Remus—if he thought some of my emotional roller coasters during the nine months were doozies, nothing prepared him for when the estrogen levels were coming down afterwards," she explained. "Kiki'll be alright in a few minutes."

"What were we talking about?" Kiki asked, shifting in the bed. "Oh, yes, Bink, why would you want to have a child with Sirius?"

Bianca smiled and they continued with their conversation.

Shortly after everyone was allowed in to admire the newest Snape, Grace Wright finally made it to Hogwarts. Everyone could tell who she was since she bore a good resemblance to Kiki, just an older version. She had streaks of grey in her hair where her daughter would most likely have different colors. She marched through the foyer and nearly ran down Mr. Filch, who was in the determined witch's way. She continued walking, ignoring the looks she was receiving from all the students. Eventually, she found her way to the hospital wing, running into Harry and friends as they left from visiting Kiki.

They watched as Mrs. Wright stormed right through the wards and into the hospital wing. "Was that Kiki's mother?" Ron asked, astounded.

"I guess so," Harry and Ginny said together.

"Merlin. Ginny, she's worse than our mother!"

"What was that Ronald Weasley?"

"Nothing, Mum," Ron said, incredibly pale.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go back to the common room before Ron inserts his foot deeper into his mouth." With that, the six students left.

"And don't even think of having sexual relations for a good six weeks," Madam Pomfrey told the young parents. Kiki and Severus were incredibly bored with the lecture considering they were both in the room when the Lupins received theirs. Kiki held a sleeping Sam, who fell asleep shortly after Kiki nursed her for the first time. Severus was half-sitting, half-lying on her bed, an arm around his fiancé while gazing at his sleeping infant daughter. The nurse was about to launch into another whole tirade about how they were to keep themselves healthy while adjusting to the baby (also something they had already heard with the Lupins) when the hospital door banged open.

"I am so sorry it took me this long to get here but the floo system was down. Honestly, I think I should write a letter and complain. I was just trying to get to my daughter's side after she had given birth. At least you didn't have to attempt to get to St. Mungo's while in labor. Then, I would give the Ministry a piece of my mind," Mrs. Wright ranted, taking off her cloak and throwing it over a nearby chair.

"Hi, Mum. Glad to see you, too," Kiki said, sarcastic wit still intact. Madame Pomfrey made a disapproving sound as she went to close the door and leave the proud grandmother alone with the small family.

Mrs. Wright swooped down and hugged her daughter tightly. Luckily, thinking ahead, Kiki had handed baby Sam to Severus to hold. "Well, you look fine. A little tired, but you should be," the new grandmother said, looking over her daughter. She then turned to her future son-in-law. "Severus," she said, hugging him. Kiki gasped; this was the first time—ever—that her mother had hugged the man. Mrs. Wright was always civil to him and treated him well, but Kiki always thought that Severus' misguided past got in the way of her loving him like a son. Maybe now that was going to change.

Mrs. Wright let go of Severus and straightened out her robes. "Now," she said, "where's my granddaughter?" Kiki smiled and held up the small child, who had been given back to her mother once Grace had let go of her. Mrs. Wright scooped up the little girl, who wasn't wrapped in the usual pink blankets but in her father's smaller emblem blanket. Sam blinked a few times and opened her eyes to reveal her black irises that held a tint of gold. "Aren't you the sweetest thing ever?" she cooed. "I'm your grandmother and it's my job to spoil you rotten since I'm your only grandparent."

"Biological grandparent, that is," Severus whispered into Kiki's ear. She smiled, knowing that the Dumbledores and Weasleys would step in where Kiki's father would've been as well as Severus' parents. Well, actually, Severus' parents wouldn't have been involved at all considering the type of childhood he had led. They did regret the fact that Richard Wright wasn't there to see his granddaughter, but that was one less person to spoil her. Kiki knew that Sam's father was going to do well enough of that on his own. "Am not," Severus said.

Kiki shot him a look and whacked him with her pillow. "That's for using legimens on your own fiancée right after she had given birth," she scolded. Mrs. Wright was staring at them weirdly, never really having seen her daughter's natural interactions with the man. Usually, they both put on some show for the woman, but Tommy and Jenn had done the same thing until they were married. Now, she didn't know what to think of this relationship. Or maybe this was a one time thing?

"Oh, don't worry. That's how they always are. It's a Gryffindor-Slytherin thing. But, they love each other," Albus Dumbledore said from the doorway. He walked in and tickled the little girl, who smiled. "Anyway, Grace, I wanted to show you where your room is," he said.

"Oh, just give me the directions. I'll find it later," Grace said, distractedly while making faces she considered "cutesy" but were really just funny to look at. No wonder Sam was smiling. "I need more time with this little one."

That left Albus trying to figure out a way for the extremely proud grandmother to leave so that her daughter could get some much needed and well-deserved sleep. He was going to send Grace to her room and then have Dobby fix up one of the hospital beds for Severus to sleep in for the next few nights. "Grace, I think you should go and get settled in. You'll see Samantha in the morning. Right now, I think both Kiki and Severus are running on empty."

"Yes, Mum, I'm about ready to crash," Kiki piped up. "After all, I did give birth today." Grace looked up at her daughter and then down at her granddaughter, torn between her two options. Finally she decided and handed Samantha back to her father. "Goodnight, Mum," Kiki said, hugging her mother. Grace turned and waited for Severus to place his little girl in her bassinette before hugging him. Without another word, she followed Albus out of the hospital wing.

Severus plopped down on a nearby bed. "I thought she was going to stand there all night making those faces at Sam," he said, head in his hands.

"Merlin, I hope she didn't make those faces when Tommy, Jake and I were little. But if she did, that would explain a lot about me and my siblings," Kiki said, stretching and yawning. "Well, Albus was right about me wanting to crash. I think I should before Sam wakes up to be fed. G'night, Severus."

"Night, Kiki," he said, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead. She sighed and rolled over, instantly asleep. He smiled and placed a gentle kiss on Sam's forehead as well before turning to leave. Dumbledore stopped him, scaring him at the same time. When had he come back in here? Without a word, the headmaster pointed to a nearby bed that was now done up for Severus' use. "Thank you, Albus," the potions master replied, hugging his pseudo-father. Within minutes, Albus was gone and Severus was sound asleep in bed.

A/N: Another week, another update! I'm happy to say I survived Add/Drop even though I was closed out of one class I wanted, I got the backup. I'm on my last two weeks of classes before finals, did my Drama final scene today (only flubbing lines once!), and should really be writing my final Jazz paper. Oh well. I had my cousin's wedding over the weekend and it was lovely. Also, I'm sad to say that these two chapters were pretty much the first climax (yes, I have two climaxes. Weird, huh?) Meaning the story is almost over. Sigh. Anyway, thanks to all my lovely reviewers!

Sarahamanda: I think this answers your question. Thanks for reviewing!

SarahtheBardess: I'm glad you loved the Valentine's Day chapter. And where do I come up with some of this stuff? Late at night—I'm an insomniac. I know—Ron needs to propose to Hermione in canon! Now you know who was threatened by the dark lurking shadow. And deatheaters are idiots. The only one who would suspect Severus as the traitor is Lucius and he's in Canada!

Brielle Lupin: Whoo! More updates!

yeah whatever: Your mother doesn't like Harry Potter! Even my mother does! I pretty much finished the 5th book and she was already yanking it out of my hand!

Well, that's about it for now I think. Anyway, keep reviewing. And if you want to see your name with these lovely peoples or need anything cleared up in my story that they haven't touched upon, feel free to leave me a nice review. Mac