Spent, and tired Severus went to pull away from Hermione and dispose of the condom, only to freeze. Hermione instantly noticed the action and sat up as she spoke. "Severus?" Hermione questioned and his wide eyes met hers. She must have seen the panic there, because she questioned him urgently once more."Severus what's wrong?" He swallowed carefully before meeting her gaze and answering her. "The condom broke".

"Broke?! What do you mean you broke it?" The panic was clear in her voice.

"I didn't! I mean...i-it just broke" He stuttered, still looking aghast at the item in his hand.

Her shrill voice cut through him "Broke Severus? Broke how?"

"It split" He met her eyes, and she could see he was also panicking.

She bit her lip "Split during or split after?"

"I don't know Woman!" He snapped

"Then check!" She growled back.

"How am I supposed to check?" He snarled.

"Well is there...you know...anything in it?"

His anger deflated then to resignation "...no, no not really"

"Oh...oh no" She deflated too as they both stared at the forsaken piece of latex.

She was the first one to snap out of the shock, and she could already see from the mildly hurt expression on his face, the thoughts that were probably circling around his head.

"It's not you" She whispered as she cupped his face with her hands. "It is though wasn't it?" He whispered. "I meant, it's not because it's you Severus. If circumstances weren't what they were, I think we'd maybe have done away with these things already, it's just the..."

"Circumstances" He finished for her. "Right"

He disposed of the ruined latex, and settled back into the bed beside her, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest.

"Is there...anything I can take? Plants or..." She trailed off as he was shaking his head.

"Nothing that I can accurately dose without a lab and equipment, too little would do nothing and too much could kill you, and I'm not about to push you down the stairs either or go looking for coathangers" She smacked his chest for his cheek at the last part.

"What do we do Severus?"

"Well...if you aren't, then in the future we shall have to be more careful, avoid certain acts at certain times perhaps, and I shall have to...restrain myself, when I am near completion, and divert my attentions elsewhere." She snorted then spoke wryly. "Severus, only you could have put 'I'm going to have to pull out and cum on you' as politely as that" He chuckled a little and they were silent for a while.

"And if I am?" She asked in a small voice.

"If you are, then you are, and we shall be happy about it and take it as the blessing it is meant to be"

He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer to him.

"It would be nice for Sam to have another child to play with" She conceded.

He hmm-d as he pressed another kiss on her head.

"It also means we need to keep up the pace, and try to reach Eigg as soon as possible."

oOo

They moved out the next day, and upped the pace. They got up earlier and stayed up later, adding a few more hours and a few more miles to their day. The lake district was vast and difficult to traverse, but in the end it took them two weeks to do it. They were surprised and relieved when they found of all things, a 'Glamping" site. The yurt tents, though offering little defence, provided much needed warmth and shelter for a couple of days while they caught their breath and conserved their energy through a terrible storm. There was a wood burning fire inside them, and they felt true warmth for the first time in so long that they could've wept for it, and stayed purely for that reason. But the yurts as comfortable as they were, at the end of the day were large tents, holding no defences and only one door in and out. A shuffling immune, attempting to claw through one made that painfully obvious, and so with reluctance they mourned the loss of the warmth and carried on their journey. They were more or less on schedule when they broke free of the lakes, though wished they had been able to do it a bit quicker.

Thankfully, Carlisle which they had been dreading passing through, was not too bad. They passed very few immune and the ones they did pass were well rotted, and slow, having not fed in a while. They killed a couple, but most were easily avoided.

They also managed to procure more food than they had expected. Without the presence of farmers, and with few natural predators able to take down an adult, the amount of sheep on the moors had boomed. Hermione actually managed to take down a sheep or two on their way through some of the moors north of Carlisle. They relished the meat, and saved the sheepskins, to line their sleeping bags.

Around 5 weeks after the 'incident' , as they came to call it, it became quite apparent that she was.

The plus side was at least that they could resume their usual nightly activities, and Severus for one welcomed the feeling of being with her without the latex barrier between them. She'd been a virgin, and Severus knew he was clean as far as diseases were concerned. She was already pregnant, so what was the worse that could happen?

And it was that bombshell, that warranted the next step on their journey. It was risky, true, but when they saw the sign they couldn't help it. They so desperately wanted to do something, that was something akin to 'normal' that for the sake of their sanity, they were willing to risk it.

She'd looked to him, and he'd smirked back to her. "What do you think?"

Her grin was wide as she replied. "Well I am running off with a man twice my age, and I'm going to have his baby"

They smirked and held hands, as they turned to follow the beaten road to the west, slapping the sign as they went past.

"5 Miles to Gretna Green"