As she sat there, brain seemingly frozen, Hermione instinctually clasped her hands over her stomach. She was pregnant. With Severus's child. The next shocking and terrible realization came over her like a wave, washing over her entire mind. He had no idea, he would never know and she would have to raise this baby on her own. Tears slowly slipped out of her eyes and down her cheeks.
Harry and Ron slowly approached their sobbing friend. "'Mione?" Harry whispered, afraid she would break at any second.
She peered up at them with her tear-stained face. "Boys, you may want to sit down," she sniffed. What she had to say, she knew they would not take well.
Shooting a nervous glance between each other, Harry and Ron took a seat on the bed next to Hermione's. From the shock and despair that were evident on her face, there was no good news. "Well I...um...I am uh..." she could not force the words out. "pregnant." she finally whispered it, her voice so hushed they were certain they had not heard her correctly. One look at her face though, and her boys knew what she had said.
"Hermione? Is it...his?" Ron's voice cracked as he found the use of his voice.
Tears welling up again, she nodded silently. Harry and Ron enveloped her, whispering comforting words in her ears. She desperately clung to her best friends, holding on to what was now the one constant in her life. Over her head, the young men looked at each other. This was an unexpected...event, and for Hermione to have to deal with it alone would be too much for her to bear. Silently they agreed to help her out as much as they could.
A few minutes later, the small group was graced with the presence of Albus Dumbledore, checking on Hermione after she had fainted in his office. Greeted by the sight of a sobbing young woman being embraced bravely by her two best friends, he could tell that the situation was not at all pleasant.
"Miss Granger?" he inquired gently, catching a glimpse of her red and swollen eyes.
"Oh it's so horrible!" she wailed. "I'm pregnant! With that utter bastard's baby!" and she proceeded to bury her face in Harry's cloak again.
The shock was evident on the headmaster's withered face. His sapphire eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. "Miss Granger...I suppose I should congratulate you, but somehow..." he trailed off, not knowing how to deal with this awkward situation.
Not looking up, she waved him away and continued to cry. Ron shot the old man a helpless look, pleading with his eyes for some help, all the while patting her back. Albus sighed. He knew Severus deserved to know about this, and he knew that Hermione deserved that too. He had been conversing with Severus since the week after his "disappearance". Albus knew that his almost-son was in Greece, doing more soul-
searching in three months than most would do in their entire lives.
Upon leaving the three young people in the Hospital Wing, Albus sat at his large desk and prepared his letter.
Dear Severus,
It seems that some...problems have arisen.
No. That would not work at all. For the first time in his one hundred and twenty years, Albus wished that he had been a Slytherin, so he could have some cunning and stealthy way to explain the pregnancy, without having to say it straight out.
You need to come back now.
Same issue.
Something has occurred, and while I doubt "something" will be pleasing for you to hear it is pertinent that you return to Hogwarts immediately. You are the only man and wizard who can reconcile this situation. Do not force me to come and find you myself Severus, because due to the severity of this I will.
Perhaps he did not need to be a Slytherin after all, he decided as he sat back contentedly, re-reading his letter. The brutal Gryffindor tactics and threats would hopefully have Severus back at Hogwarts within the week. He attached the letter to Fawkes, sent the phoenix on his way and waited for the events to unfold.
Laying in a cheap Muggle motel in Athens, Severus was dreaming of her again. They were in bed together, mouths and hands knowing no heed and suddenly she was tapping on his glass skin. Tapping? Glass skin? He pulled himself out of that blissful world and back – painfully – into reality. An owl was tapping at the tiny, cell-like window of his minute room. Upon staggering out of his bed, he realized that it was not an owl at his window, it was a phoenix. Specifically Fawkes, the headmaster's pet.
The notion that it was rather odd to have two letters from Albus in the same week played in the back of his mind as Severus untied the parchment from the majestic bird's leg, before sending it on its way again.
Reading the letter, Severus tried to decipher Albus's cryptic message. His first instinct led him to think dark magic, but with the recent fall of Voldemort, no ex-Death Eater dared to lift a wand. He sighed deeply in exasperation, as desperately as he wanted to toss the letter out the window he knew his curiosity would get the best of him. Throwing what few robs and Muggle garments he had into a bag Severus checked out of the dingy motel.
Within minutes he had Apparated to Hogwarts and he had entered Albus's office. The old man was seated behind his desk, arms folded serenely, and Severus knew that his boss had indeed been waiting for him. Raising one eyebrow and applying his trademark sneer, he coldly demanded. "What do you want?"
Albus looked up sadly. "Severus my boy, it is not my place to disclose the information that you seek. If you could head up to the Hospital Wing..."
Grunting and rolling his eyes Severus turned on his heel, robes flapping dramatically behind him. He was not deaf to the whispers that followed him as he stalked down the halls towards the Hospital Wing.
Upon entering, he remarked that nothing was abnormal. A few students were lying or sitting on one of the many beds, and Poppy was scurrying around. She looked up at him and wordlessly pointed to a curtained off section near the back. Severus continued down to the white fabric and he heard small whimpers that sounded oddly familiar.
Pulling back the curtain, he gasped at the sight. Hermione was lying face down on a bed, sobbing into the white sheets. When she heard the sharp intake of breath above her, she lifted her head, and he watched her eyes widen in shock and horror. But without speaking to him she resumed her wailing into a pillow.
"Hermione?" he questioned gently, seating himself on the only other bed in the "private" area.
Pulling herself up from the pillow again, she gave him her meanest stare...well as mean as one can look with a swollen, red nose and matching eyes. "You inconsiderate, evil, self-righteous pitiful excuse for a human being. This is all your fault. Why don't you just get away now? You've done enough damage as is." She spat those words as though she was trying to stab him through the heart with each syllable.
He was becoming infuriated. What was this sick little game she and Albus were playing at. "What in Merlin's name did I do?"
"You got me pregnant!" she screamed shrilly at the top of her lungs.
The expression on Severus's face was nearly comical. He had the perfect image of utter shock down to a T. His face went from red to purple and drained all the way back to a sickly white while his eyebrows skyrocketed towards his hairline and his jaw plummeted for his shoes. A strangled noise escaped his throat.
Finally, after nearly two minutes of being frozen he shook his head hard and muttered, "I believe I misheard you."
The stony silence that was her reply told him he had not misheard in the least. He inhaled deeply, letting the realization and the gravity of her accusation inhabit his entire being. She was pregnant, with his child. He was an honourable man in this respect, as he had been brought up to do the right thing, make the sacrifice. Then again, Hermione was not a typical woman in the least. He was not the kind his parents would want to meet, she was an ex-student, they were technically broken up...the list went on and on.
Regaining some composure, Hermione sat on the bed, waiting for him to say something, anything at all.
Finally, he let out a deep, mournful sigh and stared straight into her red-rimmed eyes. "What are we going to do now?" he asked.
Glad you all liked this situation.
