The sex of the baby is revealed in this chapter, finally! And also, I just realized: I have just reached 100,000 words in this story! I am oh so happy:D

As Severus began to stir in his bed one morning in late April, he heard slight, quiet movements from somewhere else in the room.

How the hell does she manage to wake before me each and every morning? he wondered to himself as he kept his eyes closed against the light that was invading through the window Hermione had opened. Perhaps it is due only to the fact that I am often exhausted from the previous night's…activities?

As he sat up, Hermione turned from where she was, buttoning her shirt, and looked at him. "Why are you smirking?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him, and Severus realized that somehow, a small smile of sorts had crept onto his face. However, it vanished instantly, the moment that Hermione called it to his attention.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked, a grin beginning to form on her own face.

"Nothing at all," he muttered. After he had swung his legs over the side of the bed, he looked over at her, and saw that she was nearly fully dressed.

"Good morning, Severus," she said pleasantly to him.

"Good morning," he replied, nodding at her, and then he ran his fingers through his hair.

There were several minutes of silence as Severus stood and made his way into the bathroom. Hermione heard the water begin to run, and then, several minutes later, it switched off again. She waited patiently until he emerged, wearing his usual teaching clothes.

"Severus?"

"Yes?" he asked, sitting down on the bed and starting to fasten his boots.

"The students have begun to ask questions about my pregnancy."

"Oh?"

"Yes. For example, if I am or not."

"I see. What exactly are you getting at, Hermione?"

"What should I tell them, should they ask again?"

"Do as you see fit."

"I don't think so."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean…" She sighed, and then continued, "If I do the wrong thing, then I will have upset you. Therefore, I would like for you to tell me what exactly you wish for me to tell them."

"What would you like to tell them?" he asked her.

"I wish to tell them of the truth."

"Then so be it."

"Are you quite certain?"

"Yes."

"That is to say, if my reply to them is simply this: 'I am expecting Professor Snape's child,' then you will not be at all upset?"

At this, he immediately straightened up, turned to her, and looked straight into her eyes. "Hermione, I do not know if you have yet to realize this, but I am not your master. I do not dictate what you may and may not do."

"Yes, of course. I am aware of that, Severus. I simply did not want to make you angry, or uncomfortable, and then be forced to live with your sorry arse for an entire week or so while you get over your childish grudge."

"Ah, the pregnancy hormones appear once again."

"Funny," she muttered, rolling her eyes and returning to preparing for the day. Then, after a long while, she looked up. "Severus?" she said, walking over to him.

"Yes?" he asked as he looked up at her.

She replied, "I love you." Then she leaned up and placed a kiss on his jawbone, smiling at him. At this, she exited the bedroom, leaving Severus behind to stare after her.

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Later that day, they were both sitting in their living room, as usual, though this time, both were attempting to catch up on their seemingly never-ending grading of students' papers, during their one free hour during the day. Quite conveniently, they both had this free class at the same time.

Suddenly, a thought came to Hermione as she was seated on their sofa, and she wondered to herself why it had never occurred to her before just now. Looking up, she saw Severus' head bent down as his hand moved around the paper, madly scribbling remarks in the margins, and even on top of the words themselves.

"Severus?" she asked, looking up at him as she lay down her quill on top of the essay that she was currently grading.

"Yes?" he questioned. However, as always, he did not look up at her from his paper.

"What should we name our baby?"

There was silence for several moments as Severus considered her question. He had known from the beginning that the discussion was to come up sometime, though he had been hoping to put it off as long as possible. Now, he supposed, his time was up.

"I have never given it much thought," he answered slowly.

"Perhaps you should."

He carefully set down the quill that he was using to grade his students' papers and gave her his full attention. Then he asked her, "Have you any names for the child?"

"What about Stephanie, for a girl?" she suggested.

His features did not change at all, as far as Hermione noticed, and so she tried again, "Or we could name her Ruth?"

"Julia might well fit," he said.

"Yes. That does sound quite nice."

"And if it is a boy?"

She paused for a moment, and then replied quietly, "Gregory."

"Very well. I believe that Christopher may also be one to consider."

"Christopher Robin?" she asked, smirking.

However, Severus only furrowed his brow and replied, "I beg your pardon?"

"Never mind," she muttered, shaking her head. "Do you have any other ideas?"

He paused for a moment, thinking, and then replied, "Vanessa."

"That's a lovely name. Of course, if you wanted- and this would be entirely up to you- we could name it- her- if it was a girl...Eileen."

There was silence as he looked up to meet her eyes.

"It really is a very pretty name-" she began, but stopped when she saw him shake his head.

"I think not," he replied. "Forgive me, but I would not prefer to name our daughter after my deceased mother."

"Yes, of course. I just thought that I would-"

"Are there any other names that you are considering, if it is to be a boy?"

"Jonathan. Or Remington, perhaps?"

He nodded. "Perhaps we might consider William?"

"Yes." She paused to glance at the clock, and then turned back to Severus. "We are scheduled to visit Madam Pomfrey again."

"When would that be?"

"Just after classes end today. You can't be late, Severus, understood?"

"Yes, of course." He too glanced up at the clock, and then stood from where he was seated and began to head for his office. "We both have a class beginning in just several minutes."

"Yes. Today, in the Hospital Wing, after classes end, you will be there?"

"Yes, of course," he nodded, and left her through his office.

Shortly thereafter, she Flooed to her classroom and sat at her desk, waiting for the students to arrive. What if another asked about her growing stomach? She had received permission from Severus to tell them the truth, but still... Of course, he was right- she was by no means under his control. She was free to make her own decisions concerning the baby, and she should not feel that she was required to ask Severus for his consent before doing something that she was questioning.

At that moment, she came to her senses and heard muffled voices from outside of her classroom door. Quickly, she stood up and went to let her students into the classroom. They all flooded inside and took their seats, chatting about various subjects, none of which interested Hermione in the least. She waited until the final bell rang for the students to be in class, and then she stood at the front of the room. They fell silent at once.

"Before we begin, I want to make a simple announcement. Throughout all of my classes in the past week or so, many students have asked me if I was expecting a child. For those of you who are curious, the answer is…yes."

Several squeals were heard from around the room, and one hand immediately shot into the air.

"Yes, Allison?" Hermione asked.

"Professor Granger, are you married?" asked the girl curiously.

"I am not."

"Does it have a dad?" one of the boys shouted out.

"Yes."

"Anyone we know?" yelled another boy, smirking.

"Yes, Mr. Roster, you do know him. All of you do, I believe."

One girl tentatively put her hand into the air, and Hermione nodded at her, signaling for her to speak.

Smiling sweetly, the girl said, "Is it a professor here at Hogwarts?"

A small blush creeping momentarily into Hermione's cheeks, she replied, "Yes."

"Who?" Bryan called out.

Grinning, she asked the students teasingly, "Are you quite certain that you wish for me to tell you?"

All of the students, except for the Slytherins of course, nodded vigorously and called out enthusiastically, "Yes!" and "Tell us!"

Grinning yet more widely, Hermione held up her hand for silence, and then replied, "I assume that you are all familiar with Professor Snape?"

Groans of disgust were heard from around the room, and several students chuckled nervously, unsure if Professor Granger was joking or not. Still others, especially the Slytherins, sat still, in a state of complete and utter shock, not daring to believe their ears.

"Snape?" one girl from the center of the room asked, trying to determine if her Professor was kidding them or not.

They had never known her to jest before, but perhaps, just maybe, this time…

"Yes, Ms. Haldate. And that is Professor Snape," Hermione replied, drowning all of their hopes.

"He's the father?" Ms. Haldate asked again.

"Yes, he is."

"I bet the jerk isn't going to help you though, right?" Trey asked.

"Despite what you all may think of him, he is a decent human being. Yes, he is going to help me. In fact, he wants to help me." She paused for several moments of stunned silence among the students, and then, as an afterthought, added, "By the way, if you are quite fond of your limbs, I would advise you not to mention this in any of your Potions classes. Now then, today, we will be reviewing for the exams that you will all be taking in this class two weeks from now."

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"Where is he?" Hermione muttered to herself as she paced back and forth before the door inside the Hospital Wing.

"Forgive me, Hermione, but I don't believe that he is coming," said Poppy, approaching Hermione.

She looked up at the woman and nodded, and then slowly followed her to an empty bed.

"Now then," said Poppy as Hermione climbed onto the bed and lay down, "let us get started, shall we?"

She nodded, and Poppy continued, "We have reached the time where a significant piece of information may be revealed to you."

Hermione furrowed her brow, not quite certain what Madam Pomfrey was speaking of. What 'piece of information'?

Smiling excitedly, Poppy looked up at her and took out her wand. "Would you like to know the sex of your baby?"

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Entering their chambers much later that day, she found Severus removing his teaching robes and throwing them over the back of a chair. However, he looked up abruptly as he heard her enter.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, rushing over to her. "I was just leaving for the infirmary as you entered. An utterly foolish student attending my last class made a fatal mistake with their simple potion, and I was needed to remain there while everything was straightened out."

"That would explain why I saw a student with webbed fingers and his ears literally dragging the floor enter the infirmary just as I was leaving," she muttered, removing her robes and laying them gently over the back of the chair, on top of Severus' robes.

"I apologize for not being present-" he said, but Hermione cut him off: "It's all right, honestly. It's really fine."

He nodded. "Did all go well during your visit to the Hospital Wing?"

"Everything went wonderfully," she replied, snaking her arms around his neck and leaning up to place a kiss on his lips.

"Apparently so," he replied, smirking at her.

"Do you want to know if it's a boy or a girl?" she asked him, the excitement evident in her voice.

"Do you know?"

She nodded excitedly, grinning up at him.

"Then yes, I suppose so," he answered, placing his hands on her waist. As he studied her features, he saw that her eyes were also burning with excitement and her lips could not help but form an incredibly wide grin that stretched across her entire face. Her cheeks were a rosy pink, and he swore that he could hear her heart beating a million times a minute.

Smiling happily, Hermione gazed back up at him and whispered, "According to Madam Pomfrey, the baby that we are having in about five months is..." She paused for suspense, and then: "A girl."

She watched closely for Severus' reaction to the news, and waited to see him become as excited as she was. However, he wasn't. Not that she could see, anyway. He just stood there, with no change of features or body language.

"Aren't you happy?" she asked quietly after several moments of silence, her smile faltering slightly.

"Yes, of course I am. Certainly."

Her hands began to slide down from his neck, until they were simply resting lightly on his shoulders. Again, she studied his face, and saw…nothing. Tilting her head to the side, she looked at him, and then whispered, "You wanted a boy, didn't you?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You would have preferred a boy."

"No."

"Yes. I mean, of course... Every man wants a son, and every woman wants a daughter. That is simply the way it is, I know."

"No. That is not true. I will be eternally happy with a daughter-"

"What you mean is, you will settle for a daughter."

"Why are you questioning me?"

"Why will you not admit it?"

"You are making false accusations toward me."

"You are lying. Even after you specifically asked for a daughter-"

"Excuse me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

Her eyes widening, she uttered quickly, "Never mind. What I mean is... I honestly don't know what I mean," she said, shaking her head. "However, it is clear that you would rather have had a son."

Taking her shoulders gently, he looked down at her, into her eyes. "That is not true. I will care for our child as much if it is a girl, as if it was a boy. I promise you."

"Even this morning, you only wanted to talk of boys' names."

"I gave you suggestions for girls' names, as well."

"I know, but..." She shook her head and then looked back up at him. "Just tell me the truth. Would you be happier with a son, rather than a daughter?"

"No," he answered instantly, though he was not entirely sure if he meant it.

Of course I do, he told himself. How could he not? This was his child, his baby, that he was talking about. He would be happy, regardless of whether it was a son or a daughter. Or would he? Yes. Yes, of course he would. A son would be quite nice, yes, but a daughter... A gorgeous daughter that he could protect, and that would cling to him when she was afraid, and that would ask for the pinkest, most sparkly dress in the store on her birthday.

Yes, a daughter will be quite nice, thought Severus after he had mentally taken a step back and evaluated the situation.

"Is that the truth, Severus?" Hermione asked, looking up at him and searching his eyes.

"Yes, Hermione," he replied, certain of himself. "The sex of the child does not matter to me. It never has. And that is the whole truth."

I am sorry that it took so long to update this time, but I began this chapter over and over again, about four or five different times, before I was satisfied with the beginning. And then I had a short writer's block, and, to top it all off, I had a bunch of schoolwork to do. That is why I took so long to post this chapter.

As I mentioned before, I am no longer on Winter Break, and I am back in school. Therefore, my updates will be less often than they have been for the past two weeks or so. Just to warn you.

Here you go, everyone! The sex of the baby is revealed, finally! Also, the school year at Hogwarts in this story is almost over, as, in the next chapter, it will be the month of May. What will they do over the summer? Go to Severus Snape's house, perhaps? Hmm…

Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed! You keep me writing!

Disclaimer- I do not own anything in this story. J.K. Rowling created it all.

Please review, as always! Even if it is just a word or two to let me know that you read the chapter, it is always greatly appreciated. Also, even if you dislike it, please tell me what you don't like about it and I will try to work on it in the future. Thanks!