Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!

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As the sun set over Hogsmeade, Severus, Harriet, and Hermione all looked at each other with frowns.

"...Come in, Hermione." Harriet warily called out to her friend.

Hermione threw Severus a sideways glance as she walked up the steps to Harriet's cottage and joined the expectant omega inside her home.

Severus followed after his former students and closed the door behind himself, safely enclosing them within Harriet's humble dwelling.

"Harriet….." Hermione whispered as she scanned Mother Hen's face.

Harriet thought that her best friend was searching for an answer until Hermione threw her arms around Harriet in a tight hug while she exclaimed, "It's so good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too." Harriet replied with a smile as she returned her friend's embrace.

"Look how much you've grown!" Hermione gasped as she pulled back and gently laid a hand on the top of Harriet's prominent belly.

Severus stood by the door and sat aside the parcels he held as he watched the two women greet each other.

It was fortunate that it was Hermione who dared to embrace Harriet and pet her womb.

Although Severus and Harriet weren't yet mates, if another alpha tried to so much as touch her or the swell of her belly……

"Not terribly long now." Harriet replied to Hermione with a tired but proud smile as she laid a hand on her side.

Hermione smiled back but her grin faded once their fond greetings were out of the way and she stood in an awkward silence with Harriet and……...Severus Snape.

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When Harriet paled from an unexpected wave of anxiety and apprehension, Severus rushed over and quickly escorted her to a chair at the table.

Hermione worriedly sat down next to her friend while Severus waved his wand and prepared some dinner for the three of them.

While Severus worked in the kitchen and eavesdropped, Harriet told Hermione everything.

Well, mostly everything.

Harriet intended to discuss what had happened physically between her and Father Raven with Hermione during a time when the two women were alone.

While Harriet spoke, Hermione sat and listened with her brown eyes glistening as she focused intently.

A look of shock and disbelief was on Hermione's face as she glanced from Harriet to Severus as Harriet concluded her informative speech.

"...And anyway, that's where we are now." Harriet ended her explanation with a shrug.

Once the meal was ready, Severus served the three of them and wordlessly sat down at the head of the table, across from Harriet and Hermione.

"Well…...Congratulations then, Headmaster." Hermione stiffly nodded at Severus.

"Thank you…...Miss Granger, but the child hasn't arrived yet." Severus quipped as he began to eat his food.

"Harriet, I made it back in plenty of time." Hermione said, changing the subject as her gaze moved back towards her friend, "Have you talked with the midwife about-"

"I haven't even seen the midwife since she consigned me to the specialist." Harriet replied, "I expect I'll have little say in the matter, but thanks anyway, Hermione. I still may have you there, if they allow it."

"Of course." Hermione replied to Harriet, "All you have to do is send for me."

Severus stared at the two women as he listened closely to their chat, logging it in his mind to reference later.

It was a very uncomfortable evening.

The conversation gradually drifted onto other, more general topics such as how things were at Hogwarts and the details of Hermione's recent trip, but the tension in the room remained.

After Hermione left Harriet's cottage, dazed by an evening of good food but unintended company, she shook her head to herself as she walked a short ways down the street and apparated back to her own home.

Hermione had imagined many different possibilities that may result from Harriet replying to Father Raven's letter, but she had never, not in her wildest dreams or nightmares, imagined that Father Raven would be Severus Snape.

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After Hermione went home, Harriet settled on the sofa in front of her living room's crackling fireplace while Severus retrieved the treasures from his shopping trip.

"What's all this?" Harriet asked with a smile as Severus brought the packages over.

When he failed to answer, Harriet added, "I wondered why you were so late today."

"I completed a few errands." Severus replied in his low drawl as Harriet opened the bags and boxes one by one, admiring the assortment of toys, clothes, and books with a gentle smile.

Severus watched her closely, gauging her reaction to each item as he spoke in a voice that was hardly more than a whisper, "I purchased a few things for fledgling while I was out."

Severus's eyes narrowed in worry when Harriet gasped suddenly and laid her hands on the side of her belly after she placed a plush Pygmy Puff back in its wrappings.

Severus was at her side, kneeling in front of her in an instant.

"What is it?" He asked quickly as his dark eyes scanned over Harriet, "What's the matter?"

Harriet gasped again but she smiled at Severus while she spoke, "...I…...I think fledgling likes the Pygmy puff."

Severus kept his stare fixed on Harriet as he reached out and splayed his hands over what they could cover of her rounded womb.

The torrent of motion that came from within caused him to look down at the swell with narrowed eyes.

"Calm yourself." Severus commanded his unborn son or daughter as he spoke to Harriet's abdomen in his smooth voice.

Harriet blinked in surprise when she felt the violent fluttering inside her decrease down to gentle ripples.

"What were you and Granger discussing earlier?" Severus asked abruptly as he glanced back up at Harriet but kept his hands protectively on her belly.

"Oh, nothing." Harriet shrugged.

"I'm no fool, Potter. I heard the conversation as clearly as I hear you and I speaking at this exact moment." Severus pressed.

Harriet looked at Severus and he stared back at her scrutinizingly, until she cleared her throat and glanced down, placing her hands over his.

"When I…...When fledgling was conceived, Hermione was the first person I told." Harriet slowly revealed.

Severus slowly took his hands off of Harriet's belly and moved to sit beside her on the sofa.

"I had all of these ideas about how things were going to go and what I wanted for the birth, but plans change…..." Harriet replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Severus frowned at Harriet as she looked over at him and said with a wry smile, "I didn't intend on having an alpha around. I thought I'd never know the father's identity."

"...Do you feel you made a mistake? Discovering who sired the child within you?" Severus asked after a long moment of hesitation.

"No," Harriet replied honestly, "I don't."

Severus was silent for a moment as he paused to ponder the gladness that Harriet's statement brought him.

"The birth will need to be discussed soon with the specialist." Severus remarked as he and Harriet stared into the fireplace, "I'll advocate as best I can to have your wishes, whatever they may be, honored…….as long as they pose no risk to fledgling."

Harriet smiled at the uncharacteristic gentleness in Severus's voice as she looked over at him and nodded, "Thank you."

"Although……" Severus mused.

Harriet frowned.

…….Although what?

"I would greatly appreciate it if you'll allow me to stay nearby. I would very much like to meet my fledgling soon after he or she enters the world." Severus requested.

"I was actually hoping that maybe you'd…...be there with me?" Harriet asked sheepishly, fearing that she had overestimated just how "nearby" Severus wanted to be when the time came.

It would be a comfort indeed to Mother Hen, if Father Raven was there with her when it was time for fledgling to hatch.

Severus's head snapped towards Harriet before he threw her an incredulous scowl.

"...You'll…..permit me to be with you when you give birth?" Father Raven asked Mother Hen with a disbelieving frown.

"If you'd like to be, yes. Hermione agreed to be present months ago, but if fledgling's father is interested in watching them hatch, I won't refuse." Harriet replied with a hopeful pout.

Severus looked as solemn and serious as if he were taking an oath while he declared, "I'll aid you both in any way possible."

Harriet looked over at Severus with a wry smile.

In the cozy glow of the fireplace, Severus nearly forgot the jeweler's package as Harriet's plump lips hypnotized him.

He started when he remembered himself and reached into the bag that held the small box.

Once he grasped the object, he pulled it out and handed it to Harriet.

"Another gift for fledgling?" Harriet asked with a soft smile.

"No," Severus replied, "That is for you."

Harriet unwrapped the package and pulled out the long, gold necklace.

She blinked at it curiously while Severus gently tapped the orb-shaped pendant that hung on the glittering chain.

Harriet grinned in wonder as she listened to the calming chime that issued from within the gold sphere.

"This is a harmony ball. When the pendant moves, it makes a pleasant sound. The shopkeeper informed me that these are popular with expectant mothers. If you wear it frequently, he assured me that fledgling will be able to recognize the soothing noise once he or she joins us." Severus explained.

Harriet looked at Severus with a smile of genuine delight.

The chain was so long that she didn't even need to unclasp it as she draped the trinket around her neck.

The harmony ball hung just over her belly, directly between her breasts, and in the light cast from the licking flames of the fire, Severus thought the necklace was quite striking as it highlighted Harriet's green eyes.

"I'll wear it every day." Mother Hen promised with a grateful nod.

"See that you do." Father Raven quipped.

Harriet let herself be hopeful about the intentions behind Severus's gift.

The harmony ball itself may have benefitted the baby she carried, but it was far from needed.

Fledgling could have done without, Harriet could have done without, and it certainly didn't have to be made of pure gold.

Usually, when an alpha bought expensive jewelry for an omega, that was a courting invitation.

If an omega accepted the gift, then that laid the gentle, formal beginnings of a relationship.

The room fell silent except for the comforting crackle from the fireplace and in the quiet, Harriet and Severus locked gazes.

Harriet looked into Severus's onyx eyes and he stared back at her pleasant smile.

It was difficult to say who moved towards who first, but as they rushed together, their lips met while Harriet placed her hands on Severus's chest and he cupped her face.

The harmony ball around Harriet's neck chimed quietly while she and Severus made love there on the sofa, both of their bodies dripping with the sweat from their exertion.

Once they were finished and Harriet slipped off of Severus with a muffled little sigh, he scooped her into his strong arms and carried her up to bed as she leaned her head against his chest and closed her tired eyes.

It was touching to watch the tenderness that Father Raven used as he tucked Mother Hen into her nest a few moments later.

It was more touching still to see the way that Severus curled around Harriet, protectively cradling her and her belly close as he closed his eyes and sought out a dreamless sleep.