A/N: Thanks to everyone for their reviews. Sorry for makin' ya'll cry. Anyway, keep reading; I love hearing what you think. Also, if you have questions, please send them to me so I can answer them. Most, if not all, will be answered in due time, assuming you remind me once in awhile because I forget sometimes. And I may just have something up my sleeve for the progression of this fic . . . Please review!

David and Angelina Granger could only watch as Severus Snape fell apart with just two words. Their fears had come to pass at the same time. They moved closer together and hugged tightly. No words were exchanged between any of the three until the mediwitch returned several minutes later.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Professor Snape, Hermione's just waking up. If you'll follow me, you can see her. However, I'm afraid you'll have to keep the visit short as she's been through a lot of trauma from the fall . . ." She trailed out, stopping herself from saying the one thing no one wanted to actually hear. The Grangers rose and started following the witch. Severus collected himself before catching up with them.

"I," he began softly, not quite able to get his voice to work at first. He cleared his throat and continued, "I'd like to know if you've told my wife about the child." The witch shook her head no. A look passed between the family members. "David, Angelina, I'll tell her. She is my wife, and it was my child she wa-was carrying." They all noticed the hitch in his voice, but said nothing of it. This was an emotional time for all of them, and they knew that the 'emotionless bat' did in fact have feelings despite what the student body thought.

David and Angelina were shown into the room and Hermione smiled weekly to them. She noticed Severus had not come in with them and wondered briefly at it, but pushed the thought aside to concentrate on what her mother was saying.

" . . . glad you're going to be all right. If there's anything you need . . ."

"No, nothing," she responded hoarsely. He father took her hand in his and stroked the back of it lightly with his thumb in a comforting gesture. Hermione gripped his hand tighter. She was truly glad to see her parents at the moment. She wondered if perhaps she had come to understand their concerns more since her marriage. She smiled again at her mother to try and reassure her that things were going to be okay, but ever since she woke, Hermione knew something was wrong.

David and Angelina stayed only for several more minutes when the mediwitch returned to check on Hermione's condition again. They said their goodbyes and told their daughter they would return the next day. Once the mediwitch left, Severus tentatively entered.

His mind had been in constant overdrive since he first heard of his child's demise. He was flooded with guilt, worry, pain, and love among a myriad of other thoughts. He had known he loved her for only a short time. He thought perhaps it had been longer but that he feared admitting it to himself; however, he knew she had become a part of him in a way no one else ever had before. Despite all that, there was the guilt from the reason behind the marriage. The two emotions were fighting each other, and it was with that he stepped into Hermione's room.

She knew upon his entrance that something was indeed wrong. Her mind, of course, took her to the worst. She stopped it before it got too far for the time being. He would know, and he would tell her. He had that look that meant he had something important to say. "Severus," she said simply.

"Hermione," he responded as he pulled up a chair and sat next her bed. He took her hand in his much like her father had not long ago. "I'm afraid I have some, uh, bad news for you. Well, for us really."

This was the clincher. He had not even told her and she knew. Her head began to swim and tears sprung to her eyes. Severus was not looking at her, but rather their joined hands. When he looked up, she could see every emotion written in his face as they passed through him. She knew she was beginning to feel what he was feeling.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. When you, when Parkinson pushed you down the stairs, it, um, well, I'm sorry." He was having trouble coming to grips with the facts himself. If he could just say it, it would be out. Then he could rightly grieve, or at least he thought he could. "Our child was killed in the incident, Hermione." He said it quietly and plainly, and he stared at the wall across from him, taking in what he just said. Her eyes were on him and he could feel the sobs from both their bodies now. Their child was dead, and quite possibly the marriage he now knew was more important to him than anything else ever had been in his life.

Neither said another word to the other before the mediwitch returned to tell Severus he needed to leave for the night. He did not want to go, but was convinced that it would be for the best. Hermione did not protest. He looked at her sadly and said, "Good night, Hermione. I shall return first thing in the morning. We'll discuss things then." She nodded and he left. Hermione's parents were waiting for him, and he accepted their invitation to spend the night at their home.

: P

Severus knew he would get no sleep, but he tried nonetheless. After several hours of tossing and turning, he wandered down the stairs to the Grangers' kitchen where he paced the length of it. He took the liberty of brewing himself some tea in an attempt to calm his nerves, as the pacing was no help. "Bloody useless," he said to himself, but was surprised when a female voice answered.

"I doubt that, Severus. From what Hermione's told us, you've been a lot of help."

A small smile crept to his lips. He turned to Angelina and replied, "I was actually referring to the supposed soothing effects of this tea." He motioned to her to sit and asked, "Would you care to join me?"

She nodded. He went about making the tea knowing just how she liked it having been put to work by his wife several times before during their visits. Once he poured himself another cup, he sat opposite her at the table. Neither spoke for several minutes before Angelina said, "It's not your fault, you know. She won't blame you for it."

He looked at the black liquid in his cup and responded, "I know. But it doesn't stop me from blaming myself." He looked up sadly. "It's all so foreign to me yet. And as afraid of the prospect of fatherhood as I've been, the thought delighted me. During my days as a spy, I never thought that after it all I would be married with a child on the way. I never thought I'd live that long." He paused, took a drink, and continued, "But now that I've been blessed with the presence of Hermione as my wife, I can't imagine life any other way."

Angelina reached across the table and took his hand in hers as a comforting gesture. He smiled a little awkwardly at the touch because it was slightly foreign to him as yet. Only Hermione and Minerva McGonagall ever considered touching him in such an affectionate way. Also, it struck him as slightly unnerving that the woman across from him was, at most, 10 years his senior and he was married to her daughter. On the other hand, it made it easier for him to confide in her. She was, by all accounts, his equal, something he was not entirely used to. As nice as it was to have Minerva and Albus for confidants, they really could not relate to Severus as well as he would have liked. They were part of an older way of thinking, an older way of doing things.

"You love her, don't you?" Angelina was looking him right in the eye and giving him a knowing smile.

"I, I do love, Hermione." He felt obligated to answer although he knew he did not have to do so.

"But you haven't told her." She gave him a knowing look.

He glanced down guiltily. 'Now I know where her daughter gets her perception from. Nothing escapes either of them,' he thought to himself before answering with a simple, "No."

"You should. Now's the time she really needs to hear it."

He stood up and moved to the chair next to Angelina. "I know," he finally answered. She looked at him curiously as he continued. "There's, ah, something you should know."

"I know, Severus. When you got married, you didn't love her the same way you do now."

"How . . ."

"I'm a woman and a mother, Severus. I notice these things. However, you definitely had the potential for it. There was a spark when you two kissed. Maybe not literally for all to see, but the fact you lingered on it made me wonder a little," she chuckled lightly.

It amused Severus that, in the midst of his and Hermione's tragedy, he was having a light-hearted moment speaking to her mother about love. He smiled at the memory of that kiss. He had enjoyed it, if he were completely honest, and hoped there would be more to come. To his sheer and utter surprise, Hermione had not rejected him at all and there were more lingering kisses shared between them, as well as the occasional passionate one. He slowly regained his dour look though, as he remembered what he was really going to tell Angelina.

"There's actually something else I feel the need to tell you. I know Hermione and I agreed not to tell anyone other than was absolutely necessary, but I feel like you should have known from the beginning of this whole affair." She was looking at him with a mix of emotions he could not quite read, but he did know she looked about ready for him to give her some bad news. Taking a deep breath he said, "Regarding the child, Hermione was actually pregnant before the engagement and the wedding." He stopped briefly to gauge her reaction. She did not look ready to kill him yet, but once again, her emotions were undecipherable. He continued, "It's quite a story really. Um, I'll have to go back to the night Harry defeated Voldemort. It turns out that, uh, Lucius Malfoy caught up to Hermione and myself when we were returning to Hogwarts. I was . . . not thinking straight, and having forgotten the use my wand, I proceeded to attempt to beat him to a bloody pulp." Why did he suddenly feel so nervous? He knew he had no reason to, but his nerves were kicking in nonetheless. "Anyway, after a time, I thought he was unconscious, but he wasn't, and he managed to, uh, to curse Hermione and myself." Severus realized how unlike himself he was sounding lately, but he figured that trauma could do that to a person. Angelina said nothing to him and let him continue. "It, um, caused your daughter and myself to become very, uh, lustful I guess is the way to put it. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you talk to, we were together at the time so we did not rape anyone, but rather sated our . . . desires together." Angelina looked worriedly at him at the mention of rape, but masked her features again, so he moved on with the truth. "The next morning we awoke not knowing what had transpired the evening before, which is one of the side effects of the spell. I promised Hermione, that whatever happened, if she needed my help in any way, I would be there for her. As it turns out, she was, in fact, pregnant from the encounter." Angelina's initial shock seemed to have passed, and Severus gained a bit more confidence. "It was her idea that we wed, and I, having promised to do what I could, agreed to the arrangement." He stopped.

She was staring at the wall taking it all in. Some time passed and Angelina asked quietly, "Who else knows this?"

"Albus was told of course, as well as Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. Harry knows courtesy of a rather unfortunate outburst on my part after having left you and David the evening we informed you of the engagement. The only other person who is aware that I know of is Draco Malfoy who was becoming a liability in what he did not know, so it was decided he was better knowing the truth." He looked down at his now cold tea and rose to dump it down the drain. He turned back to face Angelina. "I'm sorry you weren't told any of this before, but Hermione insisted it was better you not know at the time. I could only go along with her decision."

Angelina turned to face him finally. "She's right. Her father must not know this. He would, well, God knows what he would do. I do, however, thank you for telling me Severus. Were I in your position, I rather think I'd have done the same. What you've done is honorable; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You've also kept my daughter as safe as you could." He flinched at those words, but she continued. "None of this is your fault, Severus. I do not hold you responsible. And as I've come to find with you, you follow what you think is right despite what the rest of the world says. In that, you are well matched with Hermione."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you. David and I have always hoped she would find someone who challenges her. You may be older than her, but her maturity certainly covers that gap, don't you think?"

"That it does." He glanced out the kitchen window and noticed that dawn was quickly approaching. Realizing the discussion had reached a satisfactory conclusion he said, "Perhaps we should try to get some sleep. I don't know that it will come, but it would be better to have tried than not."

"Very true, Severus." Angelina rose from the table and started to leave. Having a thought, she stopped and said, "By the way, if she were to know that you're doing this for all the right reasons now, you won't have to continue to live under the lie that you got married when you did because you didn't want to waste a minute of the time you had together."

"Why's that?" he asked a bit perplexed at the statement.

"Because it will be the truth." She gave him another knowing smile and excused herself back to bed, leaving him to consider that briefly before doing the same himself. Now all he had to do was convince Hermione that he still needed her even though they had gotten married because of the child in the first place.

End Chapter 20