By the time Severus was five and a half months gone, the thrall of the gossip had lost its power. He thought it a little unfair that the curious stares and muffled giggles should die down just as he was about to relinquish the majority of his classes to Hermione.

He was already as large as he had been when Mirari was born and twice as uncomfortable. The morning sickness had finally waned three weeks ago and now he had the embarrassing prospect of needing help to stand, sit, lie down and bathe for another three and half months. It was interminable; it felt like it would never end.

Remus was wonderful. He never grumbled about having to help him and took over much of Mirari's care. He got her dressed, made her eat her meals, took her to nursery and collected her, played with her. In fact all that was left was to Severus was reading her stories, snuggling with her in front of the fire and brushing her hair. His attentive husband even found the time and energy to massage the parts of him that seemed to constantly ache.

Remus actually felt thoroughly enlivened by the new demands placed on him by his family. He had never felt more needed and enjoyed being able to make daily life work easily for them. He had more respect for Severus now that he was taking care of Mirari more and realised how much patience the man must have hidden. He rarely heard his husband raise his voice to their daughter but it was all he could do to keep his temper in check sometimes and it wasn't as if he was an easily angered man. He worried about Severus, who was finding the pregnancy difficult and became immensely bad tempered at times. Remus held his tongue and tried to make sure that he was as comfortable as possible at all times. They had both taken the potion and neither of them had researched it properly but he was the one who had "knocked him up". It had been a joint decision but he felt guilty about what his mate was going through, simply for the fact that he himself did not have to go through it.

Severus had fallen asleep in the armchair by the fire. He had been reading to Mirari whom he assumed Remus had moved to bed, since she was no longer here. Looking at the clock he saw that it was nearly nine o clock, his husband would be patrolling the corridors in his stead watching for those who ignored curfew.

He threw the blanket off his knees and tried to hoist himself out of the chair; he needed the toilet and couldn't wait until the other man returned. After the third unsuccessful attempt, he tried twisting a little to manoeuvre up; he felt the stabbing pain of ripped muscle and collapsed back into the chair. He would just have to wet himself. Oh Merlin, this wouldn't do, it was so unfair.

A gentle knock at the door bathed him in relief, he didn't care who it was as long as they helped him.

"Come in."

Albus cheery smile floated in like a Cheshire cat, Severus tried desperately to ignore his friend's new robes. Were they made from curtains?

"Good evening Severus. I wondered if you would be up for a little company this evening."

"Albus, if you can get me out of this blasted chair, I swear I will listen to you talk all evening if you want."

The old man chuckled, leaning down to help lift him up and give him something to lean on. Severus tried not to waddle as he headed towards the bathroom.

"I just need to ... um ..." He stopped talking.

Albus quietly peeked into Mirari's bedroom for a glimpse of his darling God-daughter before settling himself into the other fireside chair. He carefully set up a chess game as he waited, hoping that it would make his friend feel a little more normal. Severus looked much less aggrieved when he returned to join him.

"Sorry, I seem to be incapable of independent movement at the moment."

Albus smiled warmly, "It's quite alright. I'll ask Filius if he knows any charms that might be useful. Shall we?" He gestured to the chess board; Severus made his first move and called a house elf to sort out some drinks. The pain in his side returned and he closed his eyes to concentrate of dulling the pain.

"How are you coping?"

"With my usual poor grace. I feel rather useless to be honest."

"You are not at all useless and you certainly shouldn't feel that way." He placed a hand on his friend's distended stomach, smiling as he felt the soft kicks from inside, "This is the most important thing that anyone can do Severus; there would be no world without new life. You are growing life inside you, do you realise how special and important that is?"

Severus smiled and placed his hand alongside his friend's. The house elf returned with their drinks and Albus used the distraction to cast a surreptitious healing spell. Severus relaxed a little; he noticed the warmth of the spell beginning to work but refrained from mentioning it.

"When I feel them moving inside me it... I feel an uninhibited joy that I once thought that I would never feel again. Sometimes I still wonder if I deserve it..."

"You deserve it more than any of us."

"I don't think about it that much anymore. My life has changed so much; things that used to consume me seem so pointless ..."

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I just wish it wasn't so damn painful."

"Severus, I know that you have reduced you classes but I wanted to ask whether it was enough. Are you up to teaching? Your position here is secure and you will remain Head of Slytherin but I want to be sure that you are not doing anything which could put extra stress on you. We are nearing the point where Poppy said that you would need to stop work and ..."

"I am alright for the moment. I am only taking the OWL and NEWT level classes and Hermione is sitting in on all of them. It serves a dual purpose, she gets to observe how the classes are run so that she will be able to take over in a few weeks time and I don't have to get up to check the potions. If the students had to see me trying to stand up, then I would probably quit immediately but I can cope for a few more weeks."

Albus nodded as he contemplated his next move. He would be happier if Severus would just hand over the lessons to Hermione now, but he would not interfere.

By the time Remus returned Albus was getting well and truly trounced and would have liked to try and salvage the game but Severus was obviously tired. He made no objection when the DADA Professor politely ushered him to the door so that he could help his husband to bed.

Severus was fast asleep when Remus joined him in bed. He smiled at the scene before him; Severus was asleep on his side, one knee raised with pillows to make sleeping more comfortable. His hair, so soft and light ("damn blasted Lockhart fluffiness")from the pregnancy hormones, was fanned across the pillow. It had grown a lot during the pregnancy and was now well past his shoulders; Remus was glad that he hadn't cut it. Remus knew that his husband was more what women would consider dark and handsome, but he wasn't a woman. He could tell which women were aesthetically more beautiful than others, but he didn't "feel" their beauty. When he looked at Severus he felt it. It wasn't just because he loved him; he was truly beautiful to the werewolf. As Remus watched his love sleeping, filled and swelled with their children, he felt as though his heart could burst from all the joy that poured through him. Silently he slid under the covers and wrapped an arm protectively around his husband's belly. He buried his nose in his soft potion-spiced hair and sighed a deep contentment, planting one soft kiss on the long neck before nuzzling in to sleep.