It had been the good part of a year since she had slept with Severus, and as she suspected, she had never seen him again; not even a fleeting pass in Diagon Alley. That upset her slightly because she couldn't get the man off her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, she imagined being beneath him, every time she and Ron were intimate, she was comparing everything Ron didn't do to everything Severus did and Ron wasn't even a close second to Severus in the bedroom and there was only one thing that sat at the back of her mind… sexually; she was deprived.

Hermione had kept her secret just that- a secret- but the guilt of what she had done gnawed daily at her psyche and it was weighing on her heavily but the thing that weighed on her the most was the fact she couldn't get that night with Severus out of her head. It was obvious now that she wasn't being satisfied by Ron and it took just one night with another man for that realisation to hit her, but she loved Ron and with the good, you took the bad, no matter how bad it was. Ron had other qualities that made her love him and those are the ones that should matter, not whether he satisfied her sexually, she thought to herself.

Despite Ron's glaring faults, she truly loved him and that was the reason she slept with Severus. Of course, she would never tell another soul what she had done and if she played her cards right, she could take it to her grave.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Severus held the Daily Prophet at arm's length, trying to process what he had just read. Placing it down on the table softly, he pinched the bridge of his nose while inhaling sharply. After having time to process what he had just read, he looked up and read the article again.

The cogs in his head moved glacially at first and an intelligent man such as himself was so bewildered by what he had read, he needed the aid of his fingers to count. "One, two, three, four, five, six," he began, whispering to himself, "Seven, eight," his voice began quivering and eyes widened, "nine," he finished, letting out a breath he never realised he was holding. It had been nine months since he had slept with Hermione. He shook his head vigorously. No. No, she wouldn't. She couldn't. It would jeopardise the very marriage she was adamant she was committed to, despite sleeping with him.

He read the article once more to ensure his eyes weren't playing a cruel joke on him.

First child for the Weasleys

Ronald and Hermione Weasley welcomed their first child, a baby boy, early yesterday morning. Sources say mother and baby are doing well.
We wish the family well.

Usually, Severus rarely delved into the trashy section of the papers where people of notoriety were splashed across the pages as if they were gods. He had little time for the socialites and quidditch players of the world being thrust to celebrity status just because they were. But today, something in the back of his mind wouldn't leave him alone until he checked it out and now, well, now he wished he never looked.

Logic said it was Ron's son. Of course, what were the odds of him getting pregnant when they only slept together once? She wouldn't have been silly enough to get herself pregnant to him, surely.

Running white hands through stark, inky hair, he tried to settle his nerves. Should he confront her? He would never know if he never asked. Or would he rather be blissfully unaware he had a child in this world? All he knew was there was a child out there that could possibly be his and he needed to know… But, did he want that child in his life?

o-o-o-o-o

Hermione pushed her son gingerly in his pram as she walked down Diagon Alley, Ron close by her side. She'd only been out of hospital for twenty-four hours and felt less human than she had in her entire life, but Ron had insisted that they take their son to visit George and Harry who was hanging out in the store today. Hermione knew nothing ever good became of the three of them hanging out together. The last time it happened she vividly remembered having to watch Harry and Ron play bumper-cars with their brooms at dizzying heights whilst they were highly intoxicated and barking at them to please come down before they broke something-she was mainly worried about their incredibly expensive brooms rather than them- until they eventually and begrudgingly came down.

Of course, Hermione, not wanting to create any animosity between herself and Ron, decided to begrudgingly go along with him. Not yet even having time to process, she was now a mother and how to handle the hormones that were pulsating through her body with every beat of her heart. She was trying not to break down and cry her eyes out because someone looked at her sideways.

"We should get Lincoln his first owl!" Ron exclaimed proudly, skidding to a stop outside of The Magical Menagerie, mouth agape as he took in the sight of the proud owls preening themselves in the shop window.

Hermione bit her tongue and tried to stop herself from reaching out and closing her hands tightly around Ron's neck. "And what do you think a child that is barely a day old will do with an owl, Ronald? Honestly," She exhaled, exasperated.

She loved her husband; she loved her husband; she kept reiterating through her head. She knew he wasn't the brightest wizard of all time, but some ideas he had were so far left she couldn't help but think perhaps he'd taken a few too many quaffles to the head.

Hermione turned away from Ron and back to the pram. A mess of black hair caught her eye and focused on the man standing before her. A large lump caught in her throat and her heart began hammering before her breath caught tightly in her chest. He was looking down at the babe in the pram with a gentle inquisitiveness in his eye before he looked at Hermione and then Ron.

For such a usually stoic man, she noticed a small flicker in his eyes and a clench of his jaw before his features fell neutral again.

"Congratulations," he said curtly, "he looks just like you," he lied to Ron, who was now beaming proudly that the child looked just like him.

Hermione, however, knew his voice was void of sincerity and the throbbing in his temple told her he wanted to say something more but didn't want to upset the apple cart.

Severus eyed the child apprehensively as if expecting him to launch out of the pram and attack him. The small baby looked at him with keen interest, but Severus knew that was just a coincidence because newborn babies couldn't see as far as he was standing. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but in this case, it was also the window to realisation. It was at that moment Severus saw his own eyes staring back at him. The same eyes that stared harshly back at him in the mirror in the mornings. Those were the same eyes that looked harshly upon himself with loathing and hatred although these weren't plagued with torment and guilt nor any hatred, instead, full of innocence and contentment, those were the same eyes he remembered seeing in the mirror nigh on thirty years ago.

The harsh jawline and the nose were also a dead giveaway that the child was Severus's with no shadow of a doubt. Feeling weak in the legs he tried to compose himself in front of the two, but he had questions and wanted answers.

"I'm taking Lincoln to George's shop," Ron announced, breaking the silence. "You go do whatever you need to do and meet me there when you are ready." He took the pram from his wife and began wheeling the baby away without even a second glance.

"We need to talk," Severus leaned down and whispered in her ear with anger tangled in his voice. She tried to hate being near him. The hair raised on the back of her neck and a chill crept down her spine as his warm breath hit the shell of her ear.

She didn't want to talk; she wanted to go after her baby. Rationally, she knew the infant would be fine, but the hormones still heightened from birth told her to go after her child and protect him at every single chance she got.

"Fine," She muttered sourly, following him to the Three Broomsticks and sidled in opposite him in the darkest corner of the establishment, not wanting to draw attention to themselves nor have anyone listening in to their conversation, Severus threw up a quick muffalito spell just in case anyone got to close and listen in.

"First," he began, "you look utterly terrible," he said with deep sincerity, casting a worried glance over her in the dim light.

"First, I just birthed a baby a day ago. My insides feel as if they will become outsides if I even as much as sneeze. I essentially squeezed the equivalent of a watermelon through the eye of a needle. I haven't slept a solid hour since I gave birth. So yes, Severus, I look like shit," she snapped bitterly.

"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" He questioned, brushing off the verbal attack she had unleashed on him. "You know, when you bestow a glamour upon a child under ten years, their biological parents can see their true appearance."

"Of course I knew that!" She exclaimed. "I just didn't plan on running into you," she confessed, with bitterness in her voice.

"Why?" he asked simply, any hint of anger left his body. He truly was intrigued. "Why me?"

A steadying breath was inhaled, and her fingers tapped on the table gently. "It could have been anyone that night. Right place, right time?" She offered. "Ron was getting desperate for a child. We'd been trying for two years prior. He'd got irate towards me, accusing me of failing and saying it was my fault. I suggested maybe it was him and we should run some tests but every time he would shut me down and tell me 'I'm a Weasley, we just have to touch someone, and they are pregnant," she said in a high falsetto mimicking her husband.

"Right. And I cannot see where I come into all of this," Severus said in a monotone voice, watching intently as her fingers rose and fell against the hardened wood of the table.

"Ginny fell pregnant to Harry and Ron felt left out. He and Harry and still attached at the hip and failed to cut the umbilical cord after Hogwarts, so anything Harry does Ron wants in on. That's why they are both on the same quidditch team, the reason we got married so closely together and why we live mere houses apart," she exhaled sadly.

"Sounds like he should have married Potter," Severus interjected.

"You aren't wrong. So, anyway. Ginny had her baby, and Ron was still childless and feeling like he was missing out. I got the feeling he was going to up and leave me if I couldn't produce him a child and he was blaming me every single day so I became desperate and knew I needed to give him a baby or lose him," her voice cracked and quivered as she spoke, wiping at her cheeks she tried to hide the stray tear that had fallen. "He is all I have left, and I feel as if I need to hold on to him as best I can for fear of ending up alone. It's so hard being me. People expect me to be the perfectly unflawed person who doesn't put a toe out of line. I'd just had another fight with Ron when you and I crossed paths. At first, I thought little of it, I was just going to sleep with you and then I realised I could use it to my advantage."

"And that's why you slept with me. You assumed I could give you the one thing he couldn't, a child. In your mind, you had planned to put a glamour on the child and give him the trademark red hair and freckles that curse the Weasley line, not expecting me to ever see him. He's a Snape through and through. The moment I saw his eyes, those dark eyes that can cut to the core without even trying. He's my son, and you were going to deprive me of ever getting to know the child," his tone heavy with accusation.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Please don't tell anyone." Tired eyes pleaded with emotionless ones as she tried to blink back hot tears that were threatening to fall.

"I'm not angry at you. I'm upset that I have got a son and if it wasn't on the off chance, I read the Daily Prophet I've had been none the wiser. I am, however, angry at the fact my flesh and blood is out there moonlighting as a Weasley, that is the worst part of this story. I've never been one to want a child, I will admit that, but now I know I've got one I can't help but feel I should be responsible for the child in some shape or form."

"I don't want or need your money Severus if that is what you are offering."

"You think my aim is to throw money at you for him and never see him? Because if you are, you have the wrong idea."

"I'm too tired to argue with you, Severus. I am sore and my head is all over the place. I can't deal with you right now. Yes, you are the father of our son, and I am sorry I deceived and lied to you, but there isn't much I can do right at this moment. If it means anything to you, I will bring him around to your house on Saturday and hopefully I am in a better frame of mind to talk to you about this ordeal, Ron plays away at matches on Saturday, so it is the best time for me to meet you."

She watched as he rummaged around in his pocket and produced a small vial of potion. Placing it on the table on its side, he nudged it towards her and watched as her fingertips reached out and grazed the warm bottle.

"Drink it. It will help with the lethargy and pain," his tone was sincere.

She narrowed her eyes and watched him intently. Severus Snape was not a man to show empathy or compassion, so why would he be showing it now?

"Despite your sneaky and less than desirable ways, you are still the mother of my child and deserve to be treated well. You just carried another human being around for nine months and then laboured for hours to bring them into the world. The least I can do is show you an ounce of compassion which is more than your husband has for you, apparently." He only nodded his head curtly before slipping out of the pub in the blink of an eye and a flurry of robes.

She slunk low in the seat, trying to get her thoughts in order. Where to from here?

Was it obvious to everyone from the outside that her and Ron's relationship wasn't all roses and unicorns like they wanted everyone to believe? Or was Severus just so observant of everything around him he just knew? She hoped having the baby would mend their relationship, but only time would tell.

A/N: I don't think this story will be too long. It is basically just going to be a relationship forming between the two as she takes their son to his house every Saturday.