Chapter 9: Demands

Blinking a few times in surprise, Harry's expression softened and he looked at Severus with a slight smile. Now he understood what this was all about. Harry suppressed a sigh as he looked the other man straight in the eye. Harry could not allow Snape to take the blame for his pregnancy, as a means to protect him from viscous gossip.

"I know what you are trying to do, Severus. I understand all too well. Please, just don't do it. You have tried to protect me from the moment I first set foot on Hogwarts grounds. You have watched over me, trained me, saved my life more times I could start to count, and I owe you." The young wizard raised his hand to silence the other man, who wanted to interrupt him. He did not realize how broken he looked to Snape, how incredibly young.

"Severus, I can't let you do this. You know you should not do it. You can not protect me by claiming paternity of my child. I know you probably think it's necessary to shield me from harm, but this time things are different. My life is not in danger, nor is the life of my daughter." Harry heard a sharp intake of breath from the older wizard "If you go out and tell everyone this is your child, though it is not true, things will end up even worse. I have already decided not to search for the other father and raise my child alone."

Shifting slightly to ease the stinging pain located near his ribcage he once again hindered Severus from speaking. "No, wait!" He uttered hastily. "Please let me finish this, it is already difficult enough."

"But..."

" No, Severus, please!" Harry pleaded. "I need to say this. It was your reaction to the news I feared the most. Your anger, or worse your disgust for what I have done." The man beside his bed closed his eyes as if in pain, and Harry watched him carefully. "Sev, I know you have the best intentions, but come on, you actually do not even like children that much. I also know that you care for me, maybe enough that we once could have had more, but that is not important any more. All that matters for me now is my daughter, nothing else. I do not need your charity nor your pity. I will certainly not allow you to tumble head over heels into a great mistake. A simple spell could prove that you are not Ebony's father and, though I have decided against the use of any of these spells, someday someone would find out. Believe me, it would be worse if the truth would be discovered then . As it is now, the rumors will die down eventually and everyone will accept the facts." He hesitated and smiled at his former Professor softly murmuring "Thank you for caring."

Professor Severus Snape was stunned. This was not exactly happening as he had thought it would. Harry actually thought he would pretend to be the father of this child to protect him from gossip? Well, the idea was maybe not so far from the truth at all. If it had not been his child, maybe... Shaking his head slightly and allowing himself a little grin, Snape asked "Are you done now? Am I allowed to set things straight for you? Because if I were you, I would not be so sure that this particular spell would not identify me as the father of Ebony . Nice name by the way."

The Potions Master found the whole situation suddenly rather amusing. He had come to Harry to apologize for what he had done; to offer his help and to let him know he would not let him down, that he would accept his responsibilities. He had expected anger, yelling, maybe even tears – considering the fact Harry was pregnant – but he had definitely not expected to be turned down after the first sentence.

"What do you mean I should not be so sure the spell would not identify you as the father of my daughter?" Harry asked, eyeing Snape suspiciously.

Severus saw fear on his face now, together with anger and something he could not name. Maybe denial.

"It means exactly what I told you earlier, Harry. This is by no means a noble act of 'self-sacrifice' or anything equally stupid. It is the plain truth. I was the one who slept with you that night in the guestroom. I was the one who impregnated you. I am sorry that I took advantage of you, but I honestly did not know you were not in control of your senses. Hindsight being what it is, I now realize that you did not know I was staying in that room for the night, even though I had told during the party that I was. I also realized that you did not remember what happened that night, so you would not have known who the father of your – our – daughter is."

"Stop it!" Harry yelled, pressing his hands to his ears, his eyes wide with panic. "I don't want to hear it. You are lying!" The young man knew he was acting childish but he could not help it. He had come to terms with the fact that some party guest had slept with him. He had accepted the fact that he had lost Severus because of this pregnancy. He had been prepared to be a single father. He had feared Severus' reaction to the news, but this was too much. Had the man he loved actually told him, he had been the one he had slept with? And if it were true, what would he do? Considering what Hermione had told him, there was a possibility that Snape could claim the child as his heir, even though she was female.

Harry remembered that it had been one of the first things they had looked up; Wizarding laws regarding male pregnancies. It seemed that the laws were very old and very difficult. As Hermione had told him in the beginning, wizards could only be impregnated by other wizards whose magical abilities matched their own or were even stronger. If the couple having a child were married, the question of which parent would be able to claim the first child as his heir was always set forth in the marriage contract. The question of custody between wizards who were neither married or bonded was a bit more prickly. Historically, either the more magically powerful wizard was given custody, and in case of equal power, the wizard with the purest blood line was allowed to claim the first born child as his heir. If the first born child was a girl, the wizard with first claim was not obligated to name the child as his heir - it was basically his call if he chose to claim the child or not.

Hermione had been livid, when she had looked up the laws with regard to custody. "This is unbelievable!" She had shouted. "These laws are archaic and discriminating! I can't believe it has not been changed at all for more than 500 years!" Harry had tried to calm her down by telling her that the other father would most possibly not want to claim this child, especially considering how it had been conceived. The fact that that Poppy later had told him he was expecting a girl had further calmed all of their nerves.

Now his worries were back full force. Severus seemed not to mind at all hat this child was 'only' a girl. What would he do? Would he accept shared custody? Would he attempt to claim her as his heir? Would he try to take Ebony away from him? She is MY daughter, Harry thought angrily, not realizing how irrational he was. The 'real' Snape, the person Harry had had a chance to get to know better, had never been one to care much for bloodlines or heritage. Unfortunately, right now, the young wizard did not remember any of this.

Raising his chin in a challenging way, he demanded "Prove it!" knowing full well that it was too early in his pregnancy to perform the paternity test. "I do remember some things that happened that night. Prove to me that you were really there, and do not only tell me things Dumbledore or Poppy gave away!"

Smiling inwardly at Harry's strange behavior, Snape commanded "Close your eyes and do not open them until I tell you to do so."

"What...?" Harry asked, but was cut off by the older wizard.

"Just do as I told you and I will prove I was there that night. You know you can trust me, so please Harry, close your eyes. "

Harry obeyed and a second later he felt warm breath brush over his skin as Severus whispered into his ear with a silken voice, "I found you lying in my bed, sleeping and wearing only black silk boxers. When I touched your shoulder and tried to wake you, you grabbed my hand and told me you wanted 'more'. You pulled me down for a kiss..."

The dark voice of the other wizard was dying away and then Harry felt warm lips cover his own, trembling ones. After a moment of panic, Harry relaxed. It felt wonderful, but ended much too soon.

"I suspected that it was all just a joke, so I decided to ask you." Snape continued and suddenly a hand touched his right cheek, the thumb caressing his skin. Harry gasped as a memory came to life, showing him what was to follow.

"Harry, look at me. What kind of game are you playing?"

Feeling as though he was being transported into the past, the young man slowly opened his eyes and answered, "No game!" just as he had done it the night of the party. Looking like someone who had been hypnotized, Harry kept staring at Severus' face, focused only on him, totally unaware of anything going on around him.

Never breaking eye contact, Snape spoke up again. "So you are sure? This is really what you want? I am what you want?" He continued reciting the words he had used that night.

As expected, Harry answered "Yes, I am sure. You are all I ever wanted."

Before Harry could lean up to him and complete the kiss that had followed this little conversation on that bight, Severus pulled away. Grinning broadly he continued, "That was all I needed to hear from you. So you remember. Now you will agree with me that I am indeed the other father of our daughter, or do you need any more proof ?"

Staring at the person in front of him with wide eyes, all Harry could manage to say was "It was you!"

"I think I told you so." Snape stated dryly. It hurt him that Harry looked so shockedand so scared. Would he rather be pregnant from a total stranger? He thought. We actually could have had something special if this conversation in the infirmary had gone differently. Maybe if I had not felt so guilty about taking advantage of him and if he had not pushed me away by being so distant ... calling me 'Professor Snape' over and over again ... but then again, Harry had believed he was pregnant from a stranger, after a night he could barely remember none the less. Certainly it would be a natural reaction not wanting to get closer to me, not wanting to get his hopes up that we might have a chance together. That thought gave the Potions Master hope and he changed what he had planned to say.

Originally he had planned to offer Harry his help and support, discussing with him the possibility of sharing custody. He would have left the decision about pursuing a relationship up to Harry. Now, after all he had heard and seen, he was sure, he could make this work. This child will not stand between us, it will bring us closer together. Severus mused. He did not recognize the panic that appeared in Harry's eyes.

The young wizard shuddered. Had he misjudged Severus? The man had done nothing to try and bridge the distance Harry had intentionally put between them when he discovered he was pregnant. He seemed to have accepted it and had treated Harry in the same distant manner. Now that Severus was sure that the younger man was carrying his child, he was acting as though there had been no distance between them at all. Harry was suddenly suspicious of the man's motives, and could have slapped himself for telling Snape he was all he ever wanted - even if it was the truth. It gave the other man too much power over him.

If it weren't for the pregnancy hormones currently raging in his body, Harry might have realized that he was unusually suspicious of Snape. As things were, the stress of hiding his pregnancy and the weeks of estrangement from Severus had made him unusually protective of his child as well as his heart. The Potion Masters sudden claim of paternity only added fuel to Harry's protective instincts and for the first time in a very long while, Harry was actually a little scared of the man.

Severus, completely unaware of Harry's current state of mind, was happy. He had a feeling that this could be worked out. It would be perfect. Looking lovingly at the pale figure in the infirmary bed, he announced "Harry, first I was rather shocked to hear you were pregnant, but now I think it is a wonderful thing. I am actually looking forward to being a father. You will see, everything will turn out just fine. Together we will manage everything that comes our way. We were a good team in the past and we will be good parents as well. "

The younger wizard stared at Snape in pure disbelief. Severus' words seemed to confirm that his fears had were justified. The man was taking over his life, his child and was already making plans for him. "Severus, I don't think..." he started but was interrupted by the older wizard.

The Potions Master thought it was just Harry's insecurity speaking and so he announced "Harry don't be silly. Of course this will work out fine. We will be much stronger together and at the same time we do what is best for our child." Slightly ironic and with a little smile that was totally lost on Harry he continued "I insist you bond with me."