A/N - Thankyou sooo much for all your continued support and feedback. I am very interested in archiving elsewhere. Thankyou to those of you who have sent information, and if there are other sites I could post, PLEASE don't hesitate to leave me a review with the details. You're all fantastic. I remember a few of you from the last time I posted this...and I am filled with warm fuzzies to know that you've come back! And there are always more warm fuzzies when new people review, too! I love you all!
"Harry…" Severus coaxed, moving to the bottom of the bed, "Harry, I'm going to help you through this…."
The younger man shook his head adamantly. "No!" He protested, wincing in pain as he leapt to sit further upright. "You can't…"
Despite the situation, Snape raised his eyebrow. "Potter, I suggest you stop telling me what it is I can and can't do, and allow me to help. That is, of course, unless you plan on dying in childbirth and taking your baby with you."
Alright, so perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say.
Judging by the way Harry had paled at his words, Severus didn't doubt it for a second.
Softening ever so slowly, he sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry. I know this is hard for you…" The younger man refused to meet his gaze, "And perhaps quite discomforting…but I'm all you have right now." He paused, "And I intend on seeing that you both survive this."
The man in the bed merely nodded, allowing Severus to strip away his trousers and boxers with magic, then place a clean sheet over him. He followed the instructions to sit up further, legs spread apart, and breathe like the women on all those muggle movies did. He barely registered the information he was getting from the older man. He was, instead, concentrating on the pain and humiliation of the scenario.
Severus, meanwhile, was gently explaining to Harry what was happening to his body. Admittedly, Snape was also explaining it for his own benefit. It had been about 20 years since he had studied wizarding medicine and biology. He was giving his own mind a refresher course in order to carry out his task. He glanced up at the young man, to calmly clarify that all the blood was natural for a male-birth. It was an effect of the formation of the temporary birth canal. Steadying himself, as he had never actually delivered a child before –not from a woman, and definitely not another man-, Severus moved back into a suitable position and informed Harry that the formation and dilation were almost complete.
He swallowed; this was not going to be easy for the saviour of the wizarding world. In fact, while using concealment charms did not harm the father or child, they were proven to make the actual labour much more difficult and painful than in a 'normal', (or 'non-tampered with') male pregnancy. Although, if Harry had read the books, something that he had already admitted to, he would have understood and accepted this already.
The next few hours passed excruciatingly slowly for the two men, with Harry screaming and crying for the most part, gripping onto the bedspread and pillows as every contraction hit, while Severus attempted to maintain his calm, stoic resolve, reassure the young man that he was doing fine, and also deliver the child itself.
Needless to say, once the gruelling process was over, and the shrill scream of the infant pierced the air, it was impossible to determine which man was the most relieved. Severus waited for Harry to pass the after-birth through his system before tending to the wailing child. A tiny smile flitted across his lips as he watched the sticky, blotchy, squirming red creature toss its arms around wildly, pumping its chubby legs.
He summoned a washcloth and small basin to them, carefully cleansing the baby of all the gunk and blood it had been cloaked in, before casting a light charm to be sure that its respiratory tract was clear, as well as an overall health report. Once satisfied that the child was clean and healthy, he wrapped it in the nearest warm material to him, not really caring that it was the jumper he had discarded during the birth.
Obsidian eyes glanced over to the exhausted man on the bed. "Congratulations, Mr Potter." He said softly, "She's quite intelligent. Already worked out how to use her lungs properly."
A pained expression flickered across Harry's face as Snape neared him, cradling the baby gently. "Stop." He demanded, turning his face away. "I don't….I can't look at it."
Severus arched an eyebrow, looking down at the still rather pink, squirming, screaming girl in his arms. "Honestly, Potter, All babies are this ugly when they are born-" He deadpanned, "I have been assured that they get 'cuter'," He rolled his eyes, "Although I am not yet certain as to whether that is just an old wives tale or-"
"Professor Snape," Harry snapped, knowing exactly what Severus was attempting to do. "Stop it. I don't want to see it."
"Her, Potter." Severus corrected him; having realised that his tactics to divert the other's attention with gentle humour had just been thwarted. "Your daughter, in fact." He moved closer, the still crying child extended.
The baby's father moved away, shaking his head. "I can't….I'll see him. Whenever I look at her… It'll always be him."
Sighing, the potions professor looked down again at the bundle in his arms. She had a tuft of dark hair sprouting at the top of her head. No clues there, then. And, unless she was going to un-scrunch her face sometime soon, the hair was all he had to go by.
That was it. He had to ask. "Who?"
Harry shook his head as silent tears spilt down his cheeks. Severus pulled back, the mini-Potter still squirming and screaming in his arms. Deciding that Harry might be more co-operative after some time alone, hopefully sleeping, he turned and made his way to the kitchens. The first order of business was to prepare some baby formula and shut the baby up.
He transfigured a cushion into a bassinet, cautiously placing the newborn into it. Then he set about gathering ingredients and mixing them together to create a sufficient bottle. Yet another thing he had learnt over 20 years previously. Once the temperature was satisfactory, he transfigured a cup into a baby's bottle. Proceeding to lift the baby back up, he settled her in the crook of his left arm and offered her the food with his right.
She was, naturally, quite fussy. No matter what he tried, Severus Snape could not get Potter's spawn to drink. He was close to telling her that she could starve for all he cared, then realised that a- she would not understand him and b- it wasn't entirely true. Pressing the teat against her tiny lips again, Snape cursed his internal monologue, then cursed the brat for being so stubborn, then cursed himself for his stupidity again.
Sighing a long-suffering sigh, Severus started muttering at the baby in an attempt to calm her nerves for even a fraction of a second, just long enough to get her to latch onto the bottle he was waggling at her. Of course, he wasn't speaking 'baby-talk' or any such drabble, rather telling her all about potions and running through a similar lecture to the one he patented for all the first years at Hogwarts.
After a few minutes, his plan started to work. Her wails became cries, which then became muffled sobs, and then whimpers. She looked up at him, blinking a few times, in an attempt to focus on the source of the voice. Another small smile graced Severus' lips as he placed the teat at her lips, taking advantage of the silence. To his relief, she suckled at it instantly, obviously famished after all that bloody screaming.
He tilted his head to the side, just observing her as she drank, her tiny little fists kneading into his chest. She had light blue eyes, but then, blue eyes were a common occurrence with newborn children, and they would most likely change colour as the months wore on.
Not that he would be able to observe her as she grew.
Wait, why was he thinking such thoughts? This was not his child. And Potter? He let out a snort of derision. He preferred not to go there.
The tiny, wet popping sound of the child letting go of the teat brought Severus out from his reverie, and he looked down to see that the baby had drained the entire contents of the bottle. Shaking his head in weak amusement, he raised her now drowsy form to his shoulder and patted her back, burping her to prevent heartburn, indigestion and all other similar ailments that might harm her.
His efforts were soon rewarded when she threw up on his shoulder, before succumbing to slumber.
Well that was just perfect, Severus thought to himself sarcastically, placing the baby back into her basinet and ripping his shirt off. He calmly accio'd a new one, as well as an old set of dress robes. Then he set to work, magically cutting the robes into strips of fabric and transfiguring numerous items of clothing for the baby out of them. He made sure to create a fair amount of nappies, although internally planned on purchasing the disposable muggle variety at the first chance he had.
Once completed, he pulled the baby out of the basinet –and his jumper- gently, careful not to wake her. He dressed her as quickly and cautiously as possible, making sure she was warm enough in the baby-suit he had placed her in, before putting her back in the temporary basinet.
The potions master yawned, before glancing up at the clock. No wonder he was exhausted; it was well into the early hours of the morning. Another yawn escaped his lips as he reached for the bassinet and made his way towards his bedroom. Once there, he set the baby aside, and dropped onto his bed, savouring the softness of the mattress and pillows.
He was asleep within the span of a few minutes.
-?-
The sound of whimpering intruded into Severus' dreams, ushering him into the realm of the living. He opened his eyes tiredly, trying to work out exactly what that noise was and where it was coming from. It sounded remarkably like a baby's cries, but that was rather impossible considering that there was no baby in his life, and especially not in his family home…
Then the recollection of the events of the previous day came crashing down on him, causing the man to leap from his bed and head towards the bassinet. There she was, Potter's child, arms flailing about and pink face screwed up as her screams escalated. He picked her up, immediately registering that she required a change and probably needed to be fed again.
He glanced at the clock as he carried the infant back to the kitchen area, where he had left all the supplies. He'd barely had 2 hours sleep and now the sun was starting to peer over the horizon, illuminating the manor in an ethereal glow of sorts.
Setting the formula over the stove to warm, Severus took the baby into the general living room, refusing on grounds of hygiene to change her nappy near the kitchen, let alone on the kitchen table. He gently sat down on the floor, spreading an old sheet he had grabbed on his way downstairs out in front of him. Placing the squealing infant down on it, he proceeded to remove the soiled item from her, then struggled to clean and dress her again. He disposed of the dirty nappy, his resolve to purchase muggle disposables strengthening further.
Sighing once the task was finally complete, Snape stood up, the now clean and dry baby cradled against his chest once more. He strode back to the kitchen, tested the temperature of the formula, and offered it to her, praying that she'd take it without a fuss this time.
Judging by her fitful wails, he doubted there was any chance of that.
At least, he thought to himself as he fell back into the same tactics as the previous night, by the end of this entire ordeal, Potter's child would know more about potions than Potter himself.
-?-
Harry opened his eyes groggily as the sunlight hit his face. After a moment or two of not feeling the baby pressing against his bladder, or kicking it, he started to panic. Then the memory of the night before invaded his senses and he closed his eyes, willing everything to have just been a nightmare, hoping against hope that when he opened them again he'd be in his bed, at Hogwarts, completing his sixth year.
Unsurprisingly, when he did open his eyes, this was not the case.
Instead, he was lying on a bed in Snape's home, the sheets and his lower body stained with his own blood. He forced himself to get up, padded over to the bathroom and prepared himself a steaming hot shower, wincing in pain every so often. After months of carrying a baby inside him, it felt strange to be suddenly barren, and his temporary birth canal was closing itself again, which was the source of most of the pain.
Once cleaned and dressed, he opened the bathroom door, only to come face to face with the potions master.
"Harry," The man greeted in a tone of voice that was serious and yet compassionate. "I believe we need to talk."
A/N - Roses are red, violets are blue, I'll think you're sweet if you leave a review! -- (sorry...it was lame, I know...)