"On the rare occasion it may last a while, but it more commonly progresses to active labour within 8 to 12 hours"

"Oh" responded Neville. "Well...fuck"

"My sentiments exactly Mr Longbottom"

Once more they were awoken early by howls in the distance , even earlier than before and none complained. Hermione had slept fitfully off and on throughout the night though all in all they'd managed about 6 hours of rest before they were mobile once more. Severus checked Hermione again and cursed when he discovered she'd already reached 3cm.

"That's not much though is it? I mean... 3cm that's what?" Neville held his fingers so far apart with an encouraging smile. "You must have ages to go yet"

"Neville. She'll be ready to push when she reaches about 10cm. She's a third of the way there already" Severus said dryly and Neville's face dropped.

"10cm?! But that's...that's nothing, how are you supposed to push a huge baby out of a 10cm hole that's going to really hur..." He trailed off at the venomous look Severus was giving him and the murderous look from Hermione. In addition to the two 'You're an idiot' looks he was receiving from Hannah and Luna.

"Neville. You are not helping. Please leave before I shove my foot up a hole of yours that's sure as shit not 10cm. "

Thankfully Neville did not have to be told by Hermione twice, and he was also wise enough not to argue when Severus decided he was on Teddy's sheath cleaning duty.

After dressing and padding Teddy's wounds, they made their move once more. They left anything that was not totally essential to try and lighten the load on Teddy, and they began once more.

Hermione moaned in discomfort at the rocking of the cart in motion, until the three of them, under Severus's instructions had spread out a number of sheets and moved items to the side to allow Hermione to lay down and move more freely in the cart.

"Motion is not ideal once labour begins. In an ideal world we would not do this while travelling, but Hermione's body and instincts will know what she needs, so we just need to give her as much room as we can to allow her to find the most comfortable position."

Hours passed as they all sat on edge , and Hermione's discomfort only grew and grew. Usually when it reached the afternoon Teddy would become restless, knowing that it was a time that they would usually stop and the past few days Severus had needed to encourage him on gently , though it seems Teddy himself was able to sense what was going on with the woman behind him , as he continued his pace well into the evening despite the sweat that slicked his skin and the foam that dripped from his mouth.

He was shaking slightly when they finally pulled up for the night and though they would usually have to hold him back from his food for the first hour, before it was safe to feed him, this time Teddy slept where they stood , only awakening when Severus brought his food . After finishing his meal, the horse actually made his way to Hermione's side and laid down to sleep for the first time since they'd been on the road as Teddy had always before slept standing when since they began travelling.

With his head so close to Hermione's lap , she was able to stroke the loyal beast's face and mane and Severus was remained of old paintings of Unicorns with their heads laid trustingly in the laps of fair maidens.

They had barely rested for 5 hours before the howls rang in the distance, from the valley they were ensconced in it was hard to pinpoint exactly where they were coming from.

Severus swore emphatically, as without encouragement Teddy found his own footing at the sound of the screamers in the distance.

"They always seem to find us." Neville spoke forlornly , his breath winded as he attempted to make his way to the cart alone , aided only by the crutch Severus had fashioned him as the girls were quickly filling the cart.

"We'd noticed" Severus spoke dryly as he helped Hermione get back into the cart and quickly moved to hitching up Teddy with an apologetic pat of affection.

"Did they not hunt you like this before? Is it because there's more of us now?" Neville asked with a grimace as he settled into the cart.

"They did not. They would hunt us if they came upon us, but we were not actively followed as you are" The dour man added with a sideways look to Hermione, who barely perceptively shook her head in the negative.

As the screams in the valley became closer, Severus laid his hand upon Teddy's flank healing him and lending him as much if his strength as he could afford to, and offer wandlessly.

"Aren't you worried that will attract them?" Hannah asked worriedly and Hermione shot her an incredulous look, through a pained grimace.

"They already know we're here Hannah, they've been following us for days. Right now the only thing we can do is hope to outpace them, and Teddy is our only hope of doing that, and we ask enough of him already, I won't ask him to pull all of us while his skin is rubbed raw."

Chastened Hannah sat back as Severus set Teddy into motion, the horse naturally starting off with a fast pace as it seemed he was just as keen to put as much space between them and the screamers as they could, the bite scar an ever present memory on the horse's flank.

oOo

Each time they tried to drop the pace , the screaming an howling echoed in the distance. Severus had briefly debated stopping and taking the screamer out so that theyy could carry on their journey unmolested but when they had reached some open rolling hills, the sight in the distance had dissuaded him of that notion. There were at least three screamers now, running at full pace in their attempt to gain on the carriage.

The trouble began when they reached the towns. They were mere hours away from the docks now, if they kept the pace they would make it before nightfall that day. But twice they had come within a dangerous distance of the screamers when they'd had to divert from their planned route and double back on themselves because of large herds of the immune that dwelled within the towns.

The immune were mindless of course, slow and were vastly outpaced by Teddy's trotting speed, but what they lacked in speed and endurance, the immune made up for in sheer numbers, what little instincts in them remained meant they always gathered and moved in large groups, anything from dozens to hundreds. To be circled by a herd in the town would be certain death , they would be overwhelmed in minutes with no escape route and though each time they had to quickly change direction to avoid the herds, the immune were quickly outpaced, but turning back on their tracks was eating up the distance they had placed between them and the screamers , until they were getting dangerously close , until at one point they were left within a few hundred yards of the cart.

Sweat and blood poured from Teddy's flanks, as drool and foam dripped from his mouth, his breathing was loud and labored but still the horse soldiered on, he did not stop, did not slow, did not falter until eventually when the screamers became so close that they were able to determine what they were wearing, and the colour of what remained of their hair , Severus had decided that enough was enough.

"Hermione?" He questioned, and he met the sweat soaked and grimacing visage of his wife struggling in the back of the cart. After a moment's pause where a heavy, but unspoken conversation was shared between them she nodded.

"It's time." She whispered to the three in the back with her, before groaning at a contraction that tore through her small frame.

"Time?" Neville questioned. "Time for what?" The look on his face was pure confusion and no small amount of anxiety. Luna looked sombre, but Hannah was just as anxious as Neville, if not more so.

"It's time Mr Longbottom...for you to hand over the wand you've had with you this entire time."