Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OCs (Katherine, Septimus, Serenity, Helena, Christoph, Elisa, Henry, Nick and any name you don't recognize and isn't from the HP universe) are entirely my own.
R.I.P. Alan Rickman
(1946-2016)
We'll love you 'always.'
Chapter 40: "Something Unexpected"
In the final days of their journey in Peru, Severus felt as though he had saw more of the world that he had ever before. They had harvested more than enough Angel's Trumpet to be able to experiment on them for well over the next two months, and had also managed to harvest several other rare ingredients from within the jungle's domain.
The last morning of their trip, Severus and Katherine had apparated into Tarapoto where they were met by a local Auror, who had requested to show them the city. The muggle part of the city was filled with locals, quietly baking in the heat of the summer sun. They would go about their business peacefully, with many buzzing about on what the Auror had called 'motorbikes.' There seemed to be very little tourists here; as none of the local shops seemed to overly promote new arrivals.
The buildings were made of bare brick walls with tin roofs, while some were painted in bright colors. Some roads were paved, while others were nothing but dirt and dust.
But near the center of the city, the group came to a stop in front of a boarded up storefront; one half the size of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. After a few precisely placed taps of the Auror's wand, the door disappeared, and opened up to a brightly sunlit alley.
"Welcome my friends," the Auror said, with the help of a translation spell. "To Callejón Escondido."
Witches and wizards were bustling everywhere; brightly colored shops were brimming with unique and fresh ingredients for both consumption and brewing alike. They happily explored the local apothecary, eyeing over the regional supplies and brews. Severus enjoyed browsing the large bookstore as well, finding extremely old tomes at a reasonable price, but unfortunately all would need to be translated to English.
Katherine, on the other hand, dragged him into the Quidditch store, and began to pursue through the multitudes of Peruvian National Quidditch Team jerseys for Septimus. They later dined on the local exotic foods and finished with a trip to the chocolate shop, mostly for presents for the children.
It had been a wonderful three days in Peru, but unfortunately they had to get back to reality..and the cold sooner than they wanted.
"Achooo..."
"Merlin sakes Katherine," Severus frowned, looking up from his book. They had been back from the jungles for nearly a month, and the moment they returned, Katherine had caught a cold. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine, Sev," Katherine said in a hoarse voice, as she summoned the box of tissue to her. The first week of February had brought a blizzard to the area, and the two of them, along with Serenity, had hunkered down in the study for the day.
"Achoo!" Katherine sneezed again, but this time it was quite a bit louder and, dare Severus say, phlegm filled.
"That is it," Severus grumbled, as he stood from the desk chair and made his way towards the floo. " am flooing Elisa."
"I said I'm fine," Katherine sniffed before quickly covering her nose and mouth, preparing for another sneeze. Severus stopped in front of her; his black eyes scanning his wife thoroughly. Her ice blue eyes were bloodshot; her cheeks sunken a bit, and there were dark circles forming under her eyes.
"I really have to disagree with you Katherine," Severus stated, as he placed a pale hand on her forehead. "Besides, you are burning up."
"Sev, stop..."
"You are sick Katherine," he scoffed, as he removed his wand and send a message with his patronus to Elisa. "Elisa better get here quickly; this has been going on far too long for my liking."
"I am not sick...I just have a small cold."
"Bloody hell Katherine," Severus snarled, as he picked up Serenity from her spot on the floor. "By the looks of you, I would say you have the start of wizard's flu. Get in bed while I put Serenity down for her nap."
Severus left her no time to reply, as he swept from the room with their toddler in his arms. Katherine grumbled under her breath, but rose to her feet all the same. But a sudden sneeze stopped her in her tracks. Her head began to pound and she swayed dangerously on her feet. Katherine reached over and grasped the armrest of the chair, as a bout of dizziness overtook her. Her breath came out in ragged pants, as the feeling of cold sweat settled in.
"Katherine," Severus said, as he appeared back in the doorway. "What are you doing? I thought I told you..."
"I think I'm going to be sick," Katherine muttered, as she all but sprinted past the wizard and towards the master bathroom. He followed quickly behind her, only find the paled woman already gripping the rim of the toilet. Severus sighed softly, as he heard her loose of what little breakfast she had eaten that morning.
Slowly, he approached her, and gently brushed back her hair, before kneeling next to her. Severus gently rubbed her back as her body trembled. Once the retching ceased, he gently hooked his arms around her and helped Katherine to her feet. Silently, he helped to clean her up before ushering her to the bed. With a quick flick of his wand, Severus sent a second patronus to the Healer, urging the request to get here soon.
"Are you feeling any better?" Severus asked after a few moments of silence. Katherine laid on her side; a hand rested on her forehead, while her body curled in on itself. Her eyes were closed, and all she gave Severus to go by was a shake of her head. But as Severus made to leave to floo Elisa, a pale hand shot out and grabbed the sleeve of his charcoal gray shirt.
"Stay…please," Katherine whispered; her eyes still closed. With a faint sigh, Severus moved towards his side of the bed. Silently he removed his shoes and belt, before placing himself beside his wife. Katherine rolled to her opposite side, and snuggled herself into his arms.
"If I get sick…"
"Then you can always take Pepper-up potion," Katherine finished for him, before she began dozing off. Ten minutes had past, before Severus heard the roar of the floo from the sitting room.
"Hello?" Elisa's voice echoed softly through the house. "Severus?"
"In the bedroom," he called as quietly as he could, so as to not wake Katherine. Elisa bustled into the room moments later, and Severus saw the look of confusion on her face, wash away to one of concern.
"What seems to be the problem?" she asked, as she gently sat down on Katherine's side of the bed.
"She's been running a slight fever…along with a runny nose," Severus sighed heavily. "I believe she has the beginning of wizard's flu." Without further thought, Elisa removed her wand from her sleeve, and began running it the length of Katherine's person. Murmuring under her breath as she performed several spells, Severus watched the witch's face with rapid attention.
Suddenly the Healer s wand stilled, and her raised arm dropped back to her side. Her face held an express that Severus would consider one mix with relief and still a bit of concern.
"Has she been vomiting?" Elisa asked, looking the dark haired wizard in the eye.
"Just a few minutes before you arrived," Severus stated. "Why? What did you find?"
"Well…" Elisa started, as she reached out and laid a hand on Severus' exposed arm. "I can say that she definitely does not have the start of wizard's flu."
" Then what is it?"
"She does have a slight head cold," Elisa said, before grin grew on her face. "But she's becoming sick because she's pregnant."
"Pregnant?" Severus breathed, his eyes widening slightly. "Are you sure?"
"100%" Elisa smiled, as she patted his arm. "Four weeks by the looks of it."
"Merlin," Severus breathed again, as he closed his eyes slightly to rack his brain. Four weeks ago…it had been his birthday. But which time in those three days had she conceived, they would probably never quite know.
"Is everything alright with it?" Severus asked, voicing his concern.
"The baby's quite well," Elisa confirmed, as she gently rose from the bed. "Should I wait for her to wake, or would you like to tell her yourself?"
Severus swallowed heavily, looking down as his slumbering wife. "I will inform her when she wakes."
It would be several more hours before Katherine awoke from her deep sleep. Severus, in the meantime, had managed to detangle himself from his wife's grasp, in order to continue about his day. In the time she slept, Severus had not only tended to their, now 14 month old, daughter, but had also prepared dinner for the three of them.
The skies had grown dark by the time she woke; the smell of roasted chicken wafted through the house. Blurry eyed, Katherine rose gently from the bed, and slowly made her way towards the sitting room, where she could faintly hear Severus' baritone voice talking softly.
"The charlatan stowed the treasure safely in his own house and returned to the palace grounds," Severus spoke. "He didn't not know that he was being watched by an old woman who lived in a hovel on the edge of the grounds."
Katherine peeked into the room, smiling softly at the sight before her. Severus sat, in what had become his chair, with Serenity in his lap. His long legs, dawned in his black pajama pants, stretched out in front of him. Their little black haired girl, sat snuggled against his chest; her ice blue eyes focusing on the book that Severus held in his hands.
The fireplace crackled and popped; emitting a warm orange glow throughout the room. Neither man nor child sensed Katherine's presence, as she lend against the doorframe. Severus merely continued to read softly to the lass.
"Her name was Babbitty, and she was the washerwoman who kept the palace linens soft, fragrant and white. Peeping from behind her drying sheets, Babbitty saw the charlatan snap two twigs from one of the King's trees, and disappear into the palace."
Katherine watched, as Serenity's focus left the book and her eyes met the similar ones of her mother. Half way through Severus' next sentence, Serenity's little hand shot out towards her.
"Mama," her little voice echoed through the room. Severus halted in his reading and glanced up at the bedroom door.
"Babbitty Rabbity, Sev?" Katherine smirked lightly at her husband. Severus shrugged and adjusted both the book and squirming toddler in his arm.
"She seems to enjoy it," Severus said, as he eyed his wife over. "Are you feeling better?"
"Hmm...much," she replied, as she moved towards the two, and sat on the edge of the couch nearest to them. "Elisa must have been here, as my nose is no longer plugged and the fever is gone. I feel good as new."
"Right now anyway," Severus muttered, as he wandlessly summoned one of Serenity's coloring books and crayons to him.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Katherine asked, glaring at him, as he set Serenity on her playmat to color.
"Katherine," Severus said softly, as he turned to look at her. "When Elisa was here earlier, she ran several diagnostic spells on you."
"And?"
"And," he paused. "She did confirm you had a slight head cold, which she treated. But there was something else...something unexpected."
"What is it Sev?" Katherine asked, her blue eyes growing wide with worry. "What's wrong with me?"
He sighed heavily, before rising from his chair and taking a seat beside his wife. He studied her face; the porcelain skin laminating an faint orange glow from the fire's flame. Her golden hair still a bit messed from her sleep and her lips parted slightly.
"Katherine," Severus said softly, as he brushed a stray lock away from her face. "You're pregnant."
"Preg...pregnant?"
"Four weeks, according to Elisa," Severus confirmed, as he gently took her hands in his. They sat for some moments in silently, as Katherine seemed to be measuring the words that he had just said. "Katherine?"
"Your birthday..."
"Apparently," Severus snorted lightly. "As for which time, I do not think we can ever confirm exactly."
"And my vomiting today...morning sickness already?"
"Yes," Severus confirmed again. "Elisa said she wasn't surprised by it considering the cold you had. She said that between the cold and your magic that morning sickness can sometimes start early."
"Well this is rather..." but Katherine paused again, blinking rapidly.
"Fast?" Severus said, as he brushed his thumbs across her knuckles. "I honestly didn't expect it to happen this soon."
"Actually I was going to say wonderful," Katherine replied, with a smile growing on her face. "We're going to have another baby!"
"Indeed we are," Severus chuckled; he was quietly relieved that Katherine was indeed happy about having another child. He quickly pulled her into a kiss and wrapped his arms around her.
"Did Elisa give you a due date?" Katherine asked, as they broke the kiss.
"The fifth of October," Severus said, as he rested his forehead against hers. "You know what else this means, do you not?"
"Hmm..." Katherine hummed, as she placed a kiss on Severus' hooked nose. "I believe that it would us telling David that he'll be a Potion Master short for the next nine months."
a/n: So there we have it...another baby on the way!
But as I sit here finishing this chapter up, I cannot help but have a heavy heart as I do so. It has been a long week for us fans...with the passing of our beloved Alan Rickman.
At the age of 5, I first heard this magnificent voice in 'Die Hard.' Yes, you read that correctly...I was five when I first saw 'Die Hard.' I had been sick that weekend, and my dad was home alone with me on a Saturday night, as my mom visited with a friend. Dad had gone down to the library and rented 'Back to the Future' for me, and 'Die Hard' for himself (in which he told me that I couldn't watch it). As I went to bed that night, I waited, knowing my dad never stayed awake ten minutes or so into a movie that late at night, before carefully sneaking back downstairs to the kitchen. I managed to watch the entire movie with dad waking and before mom came home.
Fast forward eight years, and thanks to my dad, once again, I got to hear that voice once more. 'Galaxy Quest' had just hit the theaters, and the two of us went to see it.
In the twenty-five years in which I have seen his films, like many, I fell in love with the characters he played.
From the soft, spoken Colonel Brandon of Sense and Sensibility...to the sophisticated, yet deadly Hans Gruber of Die Hard.
From the arrogant Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves...to the 'Voice of God,' Metraton, in Dogma.
And of course, to the sarcastic yet loyal Severus Snape of Harry Potter...and so many more.
There wasn't a movie that I didn't love him in.
And yet, it wasn't just the characters that I fell in love with.
I greatly admired Alan for his kindness, generosity and wit. It's something that many people lack in the world.
When I received the text early that morning informing me of his passing, I knew that a part of my childhood, and even my adulthood, was now gone forever. Cancer has taken so many wonderful people from us...family, friends and even those we admire most.
While he may have left us physically, Alan will live forever in the hearts of his fans and admirers.
My prayers not only go out to his wife, siblings and family; but his colleagues and close friends during this difficult time.
Rest in Peace Alan Rickman...
You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten...
You will always be in our hearts...
Thank you to all of you who have continued to follow this story. It means so much to me :)
A special thanks to Savysnape7, Missyick, Mira Severus Sirius Black-Snape, xxyangxx2006 and HarukaJKGG for your wonderful reviews.
