A/N: Hello, hope you didn't miss me too much :P I did mean to write all of you a response because I should sometime and I want to reply especially to a couple of people, but I couldn't be bothered and I didn't have time and I can't remember what I was going to say next…. Luckily for you

Across The Road From Hope

Ron sat on his bed, his head in his hands, cursing under his breath. He could feel his face burning. How could Hermione; model student, so sensible; how could she have got herself pregnant? Surely she knew about contraception? She was only seventeen; he'd thought she cared too much about school to put her education into jeopardy. He had to persuade her to do something with it; have it adopted? All those hormones, he thought, they've attacked her common sense; she doesn't know what's right for her at the moment. But in his eyes, keeping the baby was just wrong.

Snape didn't strike him as being someone who would stick by his partners; he couldn't imagine him in a long term relationship. For all Hermione's swoons about him, he doubted that he would stay with her when he would have to start changing nappies, be woken up by screams and feed the thing every hour of the day. He could never imagine Snape as a family man; he just wanted a girl to play with and to leave broken-hearted when he'd worn her out. Ron had warned her, but she hadn't listened; too blind with her infatuation. Ron howled with anger, stifled as he threw his head onto his pillow.

He'd tried to accept it, he really had, but he couldn't just sit there and watch whilst his best friend's life was being torn apart. It had already happened to Harry; he couldn't let it happen to Hermione. He wished Harry was there now; Harry always knew what to do, always some great idea that would save the day, but Harry still had another two weeks at Privet Drive to endure. Ron changed into his pyjamas and climbed into bed, eventually falling asleep. Several hours later he was woken by screams from upstairs.

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A tall slim young woman sat in an armchair beside an empty grate, the flames had long since died, leaving only soft grey ashes. She flinched when she heard the screams but then only tucked her long auburn hair behind her ears and smiled to herself, her bright onyx-black eyes glittering in the dim light. She arranged her robes and lent back in the chair, sighing deeply, fiddling with the amber pendant that hung from her necklace. She had everything just the way she wanted it. She rose and Disapparated with a sharp crack.

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Hermione gasped again, images blurring across her face. She could feel Severus's hand clasping hers and could vaguely see a black blur where he was standing. She lay back again onto the bed, pain shooting all over her body. She could hear another voice, she couldn't make out any words but she could feel Severus's grip tightening, as if he didn't want to let her go.

A hand reached over her, pressing down on her belly, sending another bolt of pain around her body. She screamed. She heard someone speak in a commanding tone and she began to feel drowsy, she felt as if she was being diluted, she felt weak and frail. And then she couldn't feel anything anymore.

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Snape stood outside the Healing Room, peering in through the small circular window. A junior Healer gently pulled his arm, he turned around irritably.

"What?" he scowled.

"Sir, could you please wait in the families' room, this is going to be a long and complicated Healing. You'll be better away from it." She pointed to a room at the end of the corridor.

"No! I'm staying here, I promised her I wouldn't leave her,"

"I doubt she heard you Sir. Now I really must insist…"

"What?" he spat at her, "just because she wasn't awake to hear it didn't mean she couldn't. I have to stay here! I want to be there for her!"

"I know Sir, but it's really for the best, someone will come and tell you as soon as anything happens." She forcefully led him away; he was still staring into the Healing Room.

He sat down in the chair nearest the door. It was a horrible leather chair, the colour of mud, on one side the cover had almost completely ripped off, and there was a large stain down the back. He didn't want to think what the stain was. He looked around himself, found an arid patch of wall and stared at it detachedly for hours. He was snapped out of his trance when Healer Natorum the Maternity Unit's Senior Healer, opened the door.

"Professor Snape? We have completed the procedure." The Healer looked at him nervously, obviously hiding something.

"And?"

"And there have been some complications; we were prepared for that of course, with the induction being at only thirty-two weeks." The healer began to wring his hands.

"What complications?" barked Snape,

"Ms Granger is very weak; she has lost a lot of blood. The next few hours will be critical. Your child was only 3lbs in weight, this is very, very small and we fear that there may be congenital malformation which sometimes occurs in premature births. It is currently on a Life-Supporting Device, but there is only so much magic can do. We shall have to see what happens, but I must warn you there is only a small chance of survival in this case. If there proves to be large defects then you may have to make some decisions." He put a hand on Snape's shoulder, "I am sorry."

Snape looked at the floor; he could cause the death of two people he loved in the next few days. If he'd never been involved with Hermione she would not be lying helpless in a hospital ward with their critically ill child. He fought backed the tears and looked the Healer in the eye. "Whilst they are alive I still have hope. May I see them?"

"I suppose, in the circumstances. But please do not be too alarmed."

The Healer opened the door in front of him; a sign above it read Critical Patients. Snape entered and anything he was about to say was immediately hindered. The Healer left him alone. Hope left him and despair filled his heart.

A/N: Controversial chapter I guess. Be assured that I have done my research 8-) Is this a little too forward for chapter 3? I mean I just see this as a continuation of Here Forevermore, but maybe a little too much action at the beginning is my downfall yet again…