A/N: I am so sorry for the delay in this story. I did get my computer when I said I would, but writer's block is not fun. I sat down to write hundreds of times this summer, but I could only get a sentence out at a time on any of my current stories. I am determined to get one of my stories completely done by the end of 2016. I have said this before, but I really don't want my stories to be ongoing for more than 5 years. This is ridiculous. It shouldn't take an author more than 2 years to completely finish a story. I WILL get this done.

Marry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it!!

Please enjoy this new chapter.

I have one more chapter done, so I will post that in a few days or so.

Chapter 20

On Friday, October 11th at the end of the day, Severus and Hermione began their weekend of exploring their new intimacy. It was done in this way because they had agreed not to have sex again until they had the extra time with no homework or anything else to do to really get to know the other person, which turned out to be a very good thing. Hermione had been feeling sick almost every morning for the last 3 mornings and Severus was really trying to figure out how to tell her what he and the nurse suspect. Luckily she hadn't been vomiting, but this changed and was made a little easier the next morning.

When Hermione woke up, she and Severus were entwined and naked after their night of exploration. She really wanted to lean over and plant a kiss on Severus' neck and then on his lips, but for some reason she had become shy about what they were doing the night before. She lay there thinking about the coming day and what they could do for the rest of the day, but her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden feeling of nausea causing her to bolt up out of her comfy spot and rush into the bathroom not even paying attention to the fact that she was naked. She dropped to the floor in front of the toilet and proceeded to empty her already empty stomach.

Severus woke to the sound of Hermione getting sick in the bathroom. 'So the nausea finally hit. I wonder how much longer it will take for her to figure out why she is getting sick and her body is changing.' Severus thought before rising from their bed, not caring that he was nude. Entering the bathroom, he walked over to his soul mate and reached around to gather her hair in his hands in order to hold it out of the way. It took her several minutes after he got there to stop puking but she finally managed. Cleaning off her face with the wet rag Severus had conjured for her, she turned to him and smiled a small smile to show that she was better.

"I guess I'm getting sick again. Great timing for that, huh?" She said, obviously not thinking it could be anything else.

"I don't think that is what is going on. We need to take you to the nurse to get you checked out." Severus said, as Hermione brushed by him to get back into their room.

"I don't need to go to the nurse. I am just fine and I am sure someone else needs her more than I do at the moment. I'm sure it's just a bug and it will go away in no time." She moved to stand at the end of the bed as she said this and then was stopped when Severus grabbed her arm.

"I am going to insist that we both go to the Hospital wing now. After we get dressed, that is." Severus said with a smirk in Hermione's direction. Hermione looked down in surprise and gasped, pulling her arm away from Severus. She lunged toward the bed to grab one of the bed covers to wrap around her in the style of a toga. "There is no reason for that. I have seen everything and plus you are going to make me kiss you again. I can feel your embarrassment." Severus stated, walking over to his closet and taking out clothes for the day. He also reached over and pulled out clothes for her, handing them to her on his way to the bathroom for his morning shower. She quickly dressed while he was in the shower and then just sat on the bed listening to the sound of water falling. She sat on the bed to think about all that she had learned about Severus Snape these last three and a half weeks. Nothing pointed toward him being a caring or concerned type of person even though she knew he could be when he really wanted to.

'Why would he insist I go to the hospital wing? I know that I have been sick lately, but there hasn't been anything to indicate it is anything more than just a cold or the flu bug that is usually going around about now. Oh, well, I guess I can go and make him feel better. At least she might have a way to help me get rid of this nausea and sickness or even to get over the bug faster. That would be well worth the time that I am using to go up there.' She finally talked herself into going up to the hospital wing when he came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready to go with her.

"I hope you're ready to go see the nurse, because you are going even if I have to carry you up there myself, kicking and screaming. I would prefer not to have to do this, but…" Severus was interrupted by Hermione waving her hand at him in a dismissive gesture.

"Let's go. I don't mind going, but this is only to help you realize that there isn't anything wrong with me. The faster you realize this, the faster we can move on and do something else without you worrying about me anymore." Hermione said, turning toward the door and opening it, Severus followed closely behind. Walking out of their common room portrait, they encountered no one. They were sure that most of the other students were still asleep or still in their dorms. This was just fine with Hermione and Severus as they wanted the weekend to be just the two of them, if at all possible. Severus had a feeling that today was going to begin a very interesting year. They continued walking toward the hospital wing and in that time, Hermione took a moment to think about somethings that had been on her mind for about a week.

'Why are my boobs hurting so much? That morning that I thought my period was starting was a false alarm, so maybe that's what it is, but so far no sign of it. Oh well, it's not like I haven't gone a month here and there with no period. I guess this new situation has stressed me out enough to cause this to happen. Maybe that's why I am getting sick, too.' She concluded, not even thinking that it could be the OTHER reason instead. It only took them 6 minutes to make it to the Hospital Wing and, walking through the doors, they saw that there was one bed occupied. Neither of them wanted to disturb the patient, so without speaking, Hermione went over to the far corner bed to sit while Severus walked to the Nurses office door and knocked lightly. The nurse must have answered, because Severus opened the door and walked inside closing it again behind him. Hermione waited patiently while he explained everything that had been happening to her. Or at least that is what she thought he was doing.

Severus POV

"Poppy, Good morning." Severus said closing the door to the office behind him.

"Good Morning to you. What can I help you with today?" Pomphry responded, turning to look at him as he began to speak.

"Well, Hermione is now experiencing morning sickness, so we came to have you check her out. After you examine her, I don't want you to tell her what's going on or she could blame you for keeping it secret. Just let me know the results without cluing her in on it and leave and I will do that part. When she has settled down, I will come and get you again to go over things that she and I need to know." He explained.

"Of course. Do you know if she suspects that she could be pregnant?" the Nurse asked, standing.

"Not that I have been able to see. She seems to think that she has just come down with a normal bug and that it will go away soon enough." Severus replied and turned around to open the door again to lead the Nurse out to the bed that Hermione had chosen. Hermione had laid down to wait, but when she saw the two come out of the office she sat back up.

"Good Morning, Dear. I hear that you aren't feeling too well." Pomphry said with a small smile, while pulling her wand out of her sleeve.

"Good Morning. No, I haven't been feeling quite right for the last week or so that this morning I threw up, so Severus insisted that I come to make sure that nothing it too seriously wrong with me. I think that he is just being overly protective. I figure you can do your tests and help him feel sure that I am just fine." Hermione responded with a laugh and a shake of her head.

"Alright, dear. I need you to lean back and tell me what's been wrong for this last week." The Nurse said and watched as Hermione did as she was told. Waving her wand in the hand movement of her normal diagnoses spell, she listened as Hermione told her about the nausea, vomit of this morning, and all the aches and pains that she felt.

"When was your last period, dear?" Pomphry ask.

"Ummm… 6 weeks ago. I think. But missing a period isn't unusual for me as I tend to get stressed during school time." She answered, obviously not thinking anything of it.

Pomphry did her last test, which was the pregnancy test. Luckily, Hermione didn't recognize it, but Severus did. When it turned green, he glanced at Poppy as he saw her turn to him and nod. Letting go of the spell, she turned away as she said, "One moment, dear. I will be right back." Severus waited for her to close her office door before he turned to the closest chair, sitting down as Hermione sat up on the bed.

"See? Nothing is wrong or she would have said something." Hermione said, with a bright smile. He hated to see that smile go away, but he had to tell her.

"Actually, I need to explain something to you before she comes back. I'm sorry, but I have been keeping a secret from you about when you fell on that glass orb. She did her tests and found something that shocked us both. I didn't want you to know, because I thought it would cause too much trouble to know and it wasn't able to be confirmed until today." He began to explain.

"What? What happened?" She asked and then felt that she had to lay down again, this time she propped herself up on several of the pillows so that she could look at him as he spoke.

"Well, Poppy did all of her normal spells and something didn't seem quite right to her, so she did a pregnancy test after asking me if there was a chance of it. I didn't know for sure because of the way we had woken up that morning, so I told her that. The test that she took was inconclusive, so I asked her NOT to tell you that there could be a possibility of you being pregnant. I didn't want you to stress out anymore then you already were at that time, so she agreed to keep it a secret until such time as we could confirm or disprove her theory." He said and then waited for her to respond, but her only indication that she had heard him was the slow shake of her head. "Now, I know this probably isn't how you thought this would happen, but she just confirmed that you are indeed, pregnant. I want you to know that no matter what you decide is best for you and this baby, I will support you. I never thought that I would have any kids, let alone a soul mate, yet here I am with both at the moment. Please, take your time in making this decision. If you need any help, just talk to me." Severus concluded before leaning back in his chair and watching Hermione as she processed the new information.

Please Review!

Questions I leave you with:

How will Hermione react to this news?

Does Dumbledore know about this new development?

Why hadn't he been able to talk to the couple?

What news of the baby will Poppy impart to the couple?