6.

Oh. . .congratulations.

Ginny knew that what she had done had been incredibly wicked. And the look he had the next time she saw him was somewhere between murderous and erotic. She was beginning to notice more and more that he was erotic, in a dangerous dark and snarky way. And she had to admit that when she had kissed him, it had been dynamite. She could just imagine how lovely it would be to have him kiss her in return.

He wasn't too far off. She had given him little bonus points so far for small things that he had done, such as asking around to find out what her favorite color was. She found out that he had asked Hermione, which Ginny considered to be a thoughtful gesture on his behalf.

Of course. . .he wasn't always winning points.

That morning when she had woken up; she had looked out of her window to see a thousand purple stuffed animals on her lawn.

" Ooh. . .what a pathetic way of trying to get more free kisses! " she had laughed, as she carried them all inside. She had to clean her entire house to have room for the bears, and cats and snakes and little fuzzy monster things; all purple.

And then she had turned on her bathtub yesterday, and her bath had been filled with chocolate drops. . .hundreds of pieces of delectable looking tidbits that she didn't dare eat for fear that whatever he had been practicing with her twin brother's might have given him ideas.

" Did you like your gifts? " he asked her at a meeting.

" Yes. . .but you shouldn't have done that! Really, I would have been just as happy with one."

" And the chocolates?" he had asked.

" You shouldn't have done that either. . .I never eat anything that I don't make for myself."

" That means that you are a snob."

" Perhaps, but not an enchanted snob." she laughed, and kissed his cheek, leaving crimson lip print there on his cheekbone.

They were interrupted by an over exaggerated fit of coughing from Remus. When he had their attention, he gave them a toothy smile.

"Are you finished?" he inquired.

A few snickers came from various locations around the table.

" Of course." said Ginny, pinching Snape's knee as soon as she saw that he was about to produce a typically snarky Snapism. He glowered at her in return, only to see her mouth the words " be nice" to him, before returning her attention to Remus, who was now standing.

Seeing that he was prepared to make some sort of an announcement, Snape gave a huff of exasperation and slid down sulkily in his seat.

" Now that all of the most important business of the day has been discussed, I have an announcement to make, and figure that the best place to announce it is here, amongst our friends and colleagues. " Remus was practically glowing, in a way that made Snape very wary of what was to come.

" Everyone, . . ., Hermione and I are going to be parents!"

A contagious smile swept around the table, morphing into a grin as it traveled. It was followed by a wave of exclamations and cheers; random words to a congratulatory effect. There was some clapping, and one of the loudest and most enthusiastic clappers was Ginny, who glanced over at Snape, still moodily sunken in his chair. She raised an expectant brow, waiting for him to say something.

Oh, congratulations. . .he thought, drily.

Well, he wasn't going to pump Lupin's hand, thump him on the back and congratulate him with the same fervor that the Weasley males were displaying. However, just to prove to Ginny that he had an ounce of decency, he rose to his feet, tossing his head sideways in a trademark manner, dislodging a stray strand of errant raven hair that had fallen across his eyes.

Hermione, beaming like a lighthouse, was now cradled against Lupin's side, as the well wishers all patted her arm. She was trying to answer a bombardment of questions from the women and Harry. Snape stopped in front of the couple and waited to be noticed.

When Lupin acknowledged him with a slight nod, Snape gave a tight smile, and shook Lupin's hand, briefly but firmly, muttering a few words that Ginny could not hear over the noise. They must have been amusing enough, because Lupin laughed and thumped Snape on the back, nearly barreling him into Hermione, to whom he was attempting to delicately congratulate as well.

With that done, he managed to slip back towards the back, and escape out of the side door into the garden, where he could draw a deep breath and relax for a second. That had been about one of the most distasteful things he had done since he had saved Harry Potter from Quirrel's spell during a quidditch match during Harry's first year.

Looking up at the stars, he tried to hate Ginny Weasley. He tried again to convince himself it was all an enchantment and that he should just walk away. But the stars were glittering and they reminded him of the sparkles in her eyes when she looked at him. . .little dancing stars of merriment. He felt a great hollow loneliness in his chest; something that might be filled if he could just somehow. . .

He jumped when he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. He looked back to see her, smiling gently at him. . .no teasing in her expression. In fact she looked a bit wistful.

" It is a beautiful night. " she said.

" It is.'' he agreed, not shrugging away from her simple touch.

" Well, aren't they lucky?" she leaned her head against his shoulder now and he stopped breathing. Inside came the sounds of laughter as the meeting dissolved into a sort of party. Good news was seldom heard anymore, and a new life was a solemn yet wondrous experience.

" Yes. . ." he proceeded cautiously. ' And I could almost have thought back there, that you envied Hermione, just a little bit."

Ginny was silent a moment.

" I can envy her many things. She is brilliant, she has love. . .she will have a baby, and. . ."

" And what?"

" And she. . .well, she had your heart, didn't she?"

" What?"

" You were sweet on her. "

" I wasn't "

" Yes you were. . ." Ginny said firmly. " while you and she were working on the invisibilty potion project."

" That was a respect for intellect."

" I can't compare in that department." Ginny murmured.

" I believe you do. . .and also. . .it was just that she was. . .nice. And you exceed her in that department."

" I do?"

" Sometimes. When you can keeping that nasty temper of yours in check." he teased.

Ginny hit his arm playfully.

" So you haven't anything to envy Hermione. I'll give you everything that she has, and more. .. " he tuned and caught her hand, staring down at her. He could just tell in the dim light that her eyes were slightly shiny.

" Everything?" she asked.

" Yes. "

" Babies?"

" Hundreds of them if you want!"

" Well. . .one or two to begin with!" Ginny laughed.

" Anything you want."

" Severus?"

" Would you do one thing for me if I asked? One big thing?"

" As long as it doesn't involve killing myself. . .yes."

" How did you guess? No, I'm kidding! No I was wondering if you would build me a house?"

" Build you a house!" he exclaimed.

" Yes. . .my own little cottage somewhere. . .where it is doesn't matter, just so long as it's my own."

" You could have my house." he said.

" I know. .. but I want a small comfortable house of my own. It means a lot to me. I have always had to share everything. . .I just want something of my own."

" It is done. Anything you want, just tell me what you want it to look like."

" Just one more thing. . ." she asked, putting her arms around his neck.

" Hmmm...? " he asked, trying to ignore the front of her as it touched the front of him.

" Build it without using any magic?"