Title: White Flag

Chapter Title: Ploy

Disclaimer: Everything you recognized belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling

Summery: She won't wave a white flag in his face. She won't surrender to how she should logically feel. She's in love and always will be in love with him. HGSS

Rated: M for some choice words and situations

Author's Note: Sorry this one it so short. I'm finding it harder to write from Snape than it is to write for Hermione. Reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!

The light from the rising sun streams through the windows opposite of where he lays and his eyes flicker open. He knows immediately where he is, for at Hogwarts his dungeon bedroom receives no sunlight. The crisp air fills the room and nips at his toes whispering a fact he figured out long before his eyes opened. He's at Abigail's house…naked.

This is nothing new to him because he has found himself visiting her more and more. Abigail Cantrail doesn't remind him of…his wife. She has straight blond hair and bright blue eyes. She hates to read and is quite dumb, a stark contrast to his own brilliant wife. But she is available when he needs her and that is all that he cares about. He sits up and sighs as he runs his hand through his limp, black hair.

"Are you leaving Severus?" Abigail calls from her fetal position besides him. He doesn't answer with words but grunts and grabs his wand from besides the bed. With a simple incantation his clothes pounce on him and he heads towards her fireplace. Judging by the position of the sun he's already missed breakfast but if he hurries his first class will be arriving right as he does. Perfect. Now he won't have to deal with Albus or another professor. They all claim to be looking out in his best interest but what happened Hermione and him concerns only them and maybe their daughter. He still can't believe her ever let her talk him into impregnating her. At forty-one his almost twice her age. He's wife is twenty-two. What was he thinking?

It certainty wasn't sex. Hermione was very forceful about her decision to remain a virgin until she was married. And that rules out the possibility of her being pregnant. All he knows is that when he's with her he feels like his on top of the world. Ironic how a bushy-haired know-it-all has…had that affect on him. He always knew that this wouldn't work.

Only, she refuses to admit it. He had expected to be served with divorce papers within a week of leaving her. He understood that it was quite common in the Muggle world and although they were frowned upon by the Ministry, leaving a pregnant wife could cause some ministers to waver with their positions on the topic. But she has refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he has hurt her and is now free of her. A part of him expected it. It is so Hermione like.

Sometimes he wonders how his child is doing. Already his daughter is stuck in between and the baby has yet to be born yet. Of course, he has no way of knowing that but he's sure Dumbledore and McGonagall would inform him such an event. He doesn't doubt that Hermione would make a great mother but she tends to favor…unusual names. The last time he had spoken to her about baby names, about three months ago, she spoke of wanting to name their daughter Hazel or Kendaleigha. He isn't even sure how to pronounce Kendaleigha. A fight had occurred. A fight always occurred. Screaming was something they did best and they practiced a lot. A marriage between two stubborn people would always insure fighting. And at times that fighting would become too much. He would leave the house before he did something he would later regret.

The slamming of books and laughter broke his trance and he gazed around the room. He is safely back at Hogwarts and is standing in the fireplace. With a traditional scowl, he steps out and heads towards the door to his classroom. Thinking about Hermione could wait. He has first years to teach.

The only sound that can be heard is the etching of quail pens against parchment paper. His seventh years are busy writing their potion reports and he sits at his desk 'supervising'. This is his final class of the day and he is yearning to escape with a bottle of Firewhiskey before dinner. He reaches out and grabs other stack of essays written by first year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws. But instead feels the hard peck of an owl's beck upon his hand. He draws it back quickly before blood can be drawn and peers at the animal. He recognizes it immediately as Woodworm, the head messenger owl at Snape Manor. He picks up the message from beside the bird and reads the handwriting on the front.

Professor Severus Snape

Potion Classroom

Dungeons

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Unable to conclude who it is, he gingerly breaks the seal.

Severus,

Hermione is in labor. Come quickly. No need to owl back.

Your mother-in-law,

Jane Granger

He drops the letter onto his desk and contemplates the true meaning. Hermione could be in labor or it could be a desperate ploy to get him to come back to the manor. Unsure of what to think of the situation he returns his attention back to his students. If she truly is in labor it isn't going to happen very quickly and his arrival can wait until his class is over. And if it is a ploy to get him to come back to her, he is saving himself from having to hurt her once more. He glances at the clock above the doors to his classroom.

"You have three more minutes. Late papers will not be accepted and unfinished papers will not be tolerated." The etching becomes faster as the students scramble to finish on time and he gets a slight amusement out of it. He glances at the letter once more before rising from his chair.

Is it a desperate play to get him to come back or is the impending arrival of his daughter actually upon them?