Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
The week that followed seemed stifled by the anxious tension that lingered in the Snapes' cottage.
Harriet and Draco had established their permanent residence at his childhood home, but Harriet felt more comfortable in hers.
The young couple cuddled in the nest she had built in her room while they waited for their baby to enter the world.
Severus and Lily did the same for the majority of that week, while Eileen looked after the boys with Gwendolyn's spirit helping in any way that she could.
Lucius and Narcissa usually came by once a day to inquire about the mothers' health and to see if the babies had arrived yet.
Harriet's brothers remained blissfully naive about the events that would soon occur in their household.
However, as Harriet lingered in her nest one morning, Draco's nervous anticipation increased.
"Harriet……" He asked his wife gently as she rolled onto her side with an irritable sigh, "...Are you having any pain, love? Shall I call the midwife?"
"Draco, I constantly have pain now." Harriet huffed as she turned her head to look at her mate, "My back aches, my body aches, my head aches…….Your son or daughter keeps me awake all night, every night…..Their movements aren't much fun at this stage, I can tell you that."
Draco frowned as Harriet pulled herself to sit up and placed a hand to her temple as she let out a deep, frustrated growl.
"Harriet, darling," Draco coaxed in a voice that sounded uncharacteristically gentle as he reached out and cautiously placed a hand on Harriet's shoulder, "...What can I do to ease your suffering?"
"You can reach up inside me and pull this child out." Harriet snapped while she looked up and placed her hand on the side of her belly as another torrent of motion landed under her palm.
Draco's face paled in horror, but Harriet scowled at him as she glanced over and noticed his expression.
She frowned as she eased his mind, "I'm not in labour, Draco, I'm just annoyed."
"Oh…." He nodded.
"There is something I would like to do, though." Harriet grunted as she struggled to move in her nest.
"What's that? Don't stress yourself! Here, let me help you!...Let me help you." Draco urged his pregnant mate as he swiftly rose and aided Harriet while she stood to her feet.
"I'd really love to lie down with Mum again." Harriet confessed as she blew out a breath once she had successfully gotten up.
Draco watched the colour drain from his mate's face as she cradled her belly and closed her eyes.
"...Harriet, my love?" Draco asked worriedly as he laid his hands over hers, "...Are you positive you don't want me to send for the midwife?"
"Please, Draco…." Harriet begged as she placed one of her palms supportively on her lower back, "I really want to be with Mum."
—————————————————————
Already experienced with the process of labour and delivery, Severus didn't even bother asking Lily that morning if she needed the midwife to come or not.
He had smelled the sweetness of his mate's scent that signaled their baby's arrival would be imminent as soon as he had woken.
Lily cuddled against him while he held her tightly in one arm and cast a summoning charm with his wand gripped in his free hand.
A low groan escaped her lips as she closed her eyes.
"Don't worry, my love." Severus purred to his mate as she writhed once the painful spasm ended at last, "The midwife will be here soon."
"I'm alright, Sev……" Lily panted as she swallowed dryly, "There's still a bit of time, don't worry…."
Severus started when a sudden knock fell on their door.
He furrowed his brow as his muddled brain wondered who that could be?
Down the hallway, he could hear Eileen as she helped the boys ready for the day.
Severus covered Lily up with a blanket as he hesitantly called out, "...Come in."
He hadn't remembered the midwife arriving that quickly the last time Lily had given birth.
Severus's eyes widened as the door opened.
Draco stood there next to Harriet, who wore a tense expression generated by the uncomfortable sensations of early labour that she failed to recognize as a first time mother.
"Sorry for the interruption, Mr. and Mrs. Snape." Draco began, "...but she's asked to lie beside her Mum."
Lily turned and looked.
It was as if she ignored her own pain as she opened her arms to Harriet and cried, "Oh, sweetheart!"
"Mum….." Harriet breathed as Draco helped her into the room before he lowered her into her mother's nest, next to Lily.
Draco frowned while he watched the two suffering omegas cuddle together.
"Do you think we should call-" He started to ask as he turned towards Severus.
He acted too slowly.
By the time he glanced over his shoulder, he noticed that Severus had already begun casting another summoning charm to send for a second midwife.
—————————————————————
The two midwives that journeyed to the Snapes' cottage that day encountered a unique, yet touching situation.
Harriet and Lily refused to part from one another as their labours progressed.
The magical healthcare workers tended their patients during the passing hours and took great care to keep both women modestly covered.
Lily had spent her previous labours naked, but the urge to be near her daughter while she battled through her own monumental task overwhelmed her desire for that simple comfort.
Severus knew exactly what to do and what to say to aid his mate.
He knew how to rub Lily's back.
He knew he needed to look into her eyes while he spoke calm, soothing words of encouragement to her during the most difficult moments of her great effort.
Draco had no idea how to support Harriet, but as he watched Severus, he quickly learned and tried to imitate the same techniques he watched his father-in-law use while his beloved became acquainted with the first of a mother's battles.
The day passed in peaceful horror as the births grew nearer.
Harriet and Lily's cries increased as their pain strengthened.
Eventually, mother and daughter lay side by side and held one another's hands while their midwives crouched between their knees.
Severus stared down into Lily's face with a serious scowl of sympathetic concern on his own.
He had witnessed Lily give birth four times before.
Regardless, it still wounded his heart to see his wife in agony.
Severus lovingly held her hand in one of his and cradled her thigh in his other.
Draco had followed his former professor's example and had assumed the same position next to Harriet.
"One more push!" The midwives cried in near perfect unison.
Harriet and Lily tightened their grips on each other and their husbands.
"You're doing so well, my love…." Severus whispered to Lily in his decadent, low drawl, "It's nearly over now, bear down once more and we'll hold our new pup."
Severus stiffened himself to let Lily brace against him as she curled forward with a groan, "NNNNGGGHH!"
Harriet panted as she stared up at the ceiling, but Draco glanced over at her parents once he heard a newborn's wail ring out.
"WWWWWAAAA!"
"WWWWWAAA!"
Lily sighed in relief as Harriet whimpered while she felt her belly tighten again.
The midwife handed Lily her new baby amid happy gasps and whispers.
Harriet tried to hold onto consciousness.
She felt her body contort involuntarily in one last effort to expel the life within her.
Draco's handsome face hovered in front of her as her vision blurred.
Harriet watched the worry manifest in his expression.
Her eyelids grew heavy.
"Harriet!" She heard him shout, "HARRIET!"
Lily gasped as Severus looked over worriedly at his daughter.
Harriet didn't know what happened next as she faded into a deep sleep.
Somewhere, she thought that she heard two infants crying instead of one.
—————————————————————-
Harriet blinked her eyes open again to discover that night had already fallen.
She groaned at the heavy soreness that had spread throughout her body.
Harriet noticed that the sweat-slicked sheets had been removed from underneath her, although she recognized that she laid on the same bed she had laboured.
She had been cleaned and dried, along with the sheets and the room itself.
Harriet heard the mumblings of the midwives before her mother's voice called out, "Sweetheart?...Sweetheart, can you hear us?"
Harriet blinked her fluttering eyes open and peered around to see that Lily lay beside her.
Draco and Severus frowned, but things were different then.
Lily held her newborn at her breast.
Draco cradled a small bundle in his arms.
"Oh….." Harriet breathed as she gazed at her new sibling.
"Your little sister!" Lily proudly announced to her eldest daughter. Severus lifted his chin as Lily spoke the baby's name they had chosen during Harriet's nap, "Abagail Rose."
"She's beautiful, Mum." Harriet said with a tired smile, "That's a lovely name!"
In the haze of what had happened, she had nearly forgotten that she had birthed her own baby, but Draco quickly reminded her as he stepped forward and handed the bundle to his wife.
Severus watched carefully to make sure that his eager son-in-law didn't make a wrong move and handle his grandchild incorrectly.
"Our son." Draco nodded at Harriet.
Everyone watched as Harriet pulled the blankets around the bundle aside and gasped as she gazed down at her little boy for the first time.
The chubby baby had tufts of bright, blonde hair exactly like his father's, but he had clearly inherited traits from Severus.
He blinked his large, dark eyes up at his mother as tears gathered in her own while her baby let out a gentle coo.
"Our first grandchild." Severus nodded proudly as he stayed by Lily's side while he watched the scene closely. His dark gaze flickered between both of the recovering omegas as he praised them, "You both did extraordinarily well today."
"Thanks, Dad." Harriet breathed while she kept her eyes focused on her baby.
Lily beamed as she looked over at her daughter and asked, "Have you two thought of a name yet, sweetheart?"
Harriet blinked at Draco and he blinked back.
Severus resisted the urge to sigh in disapproval at how frighteningly unprepared the young couple seemed.
During each of her pregnancies, he and Lily had chosen names for both sexes months in advance.
How could his daughter and her husband have been so lackadaisical?
"Perhaps a family name would suit him." Draco suggested.
"After our fathers?" Harriet asked.
In her arms, the baby boy whimpered.
It gave Severus and Lily hope to watch Harriet instinctively respond to her baby's needful sound.
She tenderly covered her newborn up and swaddled the blankets around him to help him feel secure.
"Lucius Severus?" Draco asked Harriet.
"Actually, I'd prefer Severus Lucius." Harriet quipped.
A wide smile spread across Lily's face but Severus smirked.
He wasn't sure how much more joy he could withstand.
There weren't many alphas who could brag that they had received a beautiful new daughter, their first grandchild, and their next generation namesake all in the same day.
Later, after the midwives had erected an enchanted curtain of privacy to instruct Harriet on how to nurse her baby, Severus placed a gentle kiss on Lily's forehead.
"She's lovely, my darling." He whispered to his wife.
"Abigail or Harriet?" Lily asked with a laugh.
"Both." Severus remarked, "...Although, I would expect no differently since you mothered them."
Lily's cheeks glowed with the radiance of pure happiness as Severus indulged himself and pressed a loving kiss to her lips.
It had been one of the most stressful days the Snape family had ever endured, but also one of the best.