A/N: I could tell you that I am sorry for not posting in a long while, but I seem to do that a lot so I won't. I have been doing my internship for school, so I have been super busy. Add that to the fact that I was in the middle of a flood alert in my area and it has taken me this long to write and update the story due to no internet access. I live on a farm and most of the land that I could see is now under water. Our animals are safe and we live on a pretty big hill, so we are safe as well. A lot of people in our area were evacuated or rescued from their roof tops, so I am thinking that we are very lucky. It continued to rain for several more hours after we lost internet, which made it even worse.
Sorry for all the information, but I just thought you should know what is happening on this end.
There is more info at the bottom.
For all American's reading this; Happy 4th!
Enjoy!
Chapter 22
Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, closing a large red book as they entered the room. They stopped only two feet from the door and waited for the headmaster to motion them to one of the chairs.
"Good Morning, Severus, Miss. Granger. What can I do to help you this lovely morning?" Albus said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. Hermione and Severus walked forward and settled into the chairs before explaining.
"Well, Albus, we actually have some news for you, but it can't be shared with anyone that doesn't need to know for the time being." Severus began, then he waited for his former boss to nod before he turned to Hermione with a nod of his own. Hermione took a deep breath.
"We went to the hospital wing this morning because I haven't been feeling very well. Severus kept insisting that it was necessary, but I didn't want to because I thought it was just the flu. So anyway, we went and found out that I am…. Umm… I am pregnant." Hermione finally got out and then went silent, watching for a reaction. She only had to wait a total of 10 seconds as the headmaster's face went from inquisitive to surprised and finally settling on excited.
"That's wonderful news! Congratulations!" Dumbledore exclaimed loudly, throwing his hands up and grinning widely. "How did this come to be? I mean, I was sure that you two would try to kill each other before trying to get along and yet here we are not even a month from the beginning of this bond's discovery with this exciting news." He asked, putting his hands down onto the desk with his fingers laced.
"Well, you should know about the possibility of this. You told me that this bond we have is supposed to make it so that we can't fight. We noticed early on that certain emotions made us kiss such as embarrassment and frustration. On the first night we were together, we..." He paused to glance at Hermione to confirm his suspicions, "woke up feeling odd." Hermione looked surprised, but then nodded in agreement. "And after that we woke up in a very… awkward… situation one morning not long after. We are thinking it happened on one of those early days as she is only 3 weeks along. Is there anything that we need to do before the baby gets here when it comes to classes? Have you found out anything else about this bond?" Severus finished leaning forward in his seat hoping to hear some good news.
"I have found out some more about the bond, but it isn't anything major that you wouldn't have figured out later anyway. As you already know, the bond is meant to bring together two individuals, who are each very powerful on their own, usually enemies, for the sole purpose of bringing into the world a more powerful witch or wizard so that the lines of magic become stronger." He glances between the two in front of him as he explained, "All the past couples have been muggle-born or half-blood mixes, so I have taken that to mean that the purebloods aren't powerful enough to be selected. As we all know, magic came about from muggles originally, so it makes sense that that bond only happens to the original source or close to it. This makes me believe that this bond is only activated when magic in the world is at its weakest. One of the couples whom this bond happened to were the parents of Merlin, which just proves that my assumptions are at least partially correct in the development of the child that you now have growing inside you, Miss. Granger. I suspect that as you get further and further along in your pregnancy, you will get more and more powerful. This will be temporary, as the child will take it with him or her when they are born." He paused to assess both of their reactions. Neither interrupted him as they waited for him to finish. "We will need to keep a watch on you to make sure nothing bad happens, such as accidental emotional magic. We don't want you to be turning your friend into toads, now do we?" He said, trying to get a smile, which he accomplished. Hermione smiled in amusement before looking to Severus to see his reaction to this news.
"So what about our classes? Especially potions. There are some majorly dangerous ingredients and fumes that could hurt her and the baby. I don't want many people aware of our newest development, but the teachers might need to be told as soon as possible so that they can keep an eye out for trouble." Severus insisted, seeming to absorb the information without reaction. Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes, the teachers are just about to have a meeting, so if you want to follow me, we can get this off your mind sooner rather than later. I understand that you are worried about too many people knowing, so can I assume that you won't be telling your friends?" He waited for them both to nod, "Okay, good." He stood up and motioned for them to do so as well, then led them to the entrance and down the stairs to the griffin guarding the door. Closing it up, he turned and headed towards the teacher's lounge, which was on the 3rd floor. They were silent as they walked up the stairs and down the hallway. Dumbledore pushed open the door and allowed them to proceed him into the room.
"Hello, miss. Granger, Severus." McGonagall said and then looked to Dumbledore in questions, obviously wondering why two students were present at this teacher meeting. Dumbledore closed the door and look around to make sure everyone was present. McGonagall sat on Dumbledore's right, while professor Flitwick sat on his left. Next to the charms professor sat professor Sinestra, then madam Pomfrey, and finally the new potions professor; Walter Mines. He had been hired with the understanding that Severus would take up the post after Hermione graduated from school at the end of the year. He wasn't the best at the job, but he was good enough to get the job done. Next to McGonagall sat madam Sprout, madam Hooch, and professor Lupin, who had been rehired for the DADA post at the request of several parents. The only professor missing was Professor Trelawney, which wasn't unusual as she hated leaving her tower for any reason, but that was alright as this wouldn't pertain to her in anyway as her class didn't have any dangerous aspects to it. He finally sat down after conjuring two extra chairs and seating them to either side of him slightly behind his own chair.
"Hello, Professors. I hope things are going alright with all of you. As you can see, we have a slight addition to our meeting and I was hoping we could get their puzzle figured out before we proceeded with our usual meeting. Is this alright with everyone?" Albus asked looking at each teacher. After they all agreed, the headmaster waved a hand to Hermione to proceed.
"Ummm… Okay. Well… I don't know where to start really." She stuttered looking over to Severus for help, but he just nodded at her in encouragement. She shook her head and tried again. "As you all know, Severus and I are newly bonded. What you don't know is that it is called the Enemy Bond. This is something we had never heard of before, but Dumbledore has found that is used for one main purpose; to help the wizarding world when it is at its weakest. To do that, the pair is required to at least get along as well as to… ummm… make a baby. Which is what has happened. I am pregnant." She fell silent as the professors erupted into several different reactions. Madam Pomfrey already knew, so she remained silent and calm, but Sinestra seemed to be bouncing in her seat with a big grin on her face as did madam Sprout. Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch were obviously not happy about this news as they were yelling something Hermione couldn't quite make out, but she could tell by their faces that they weren't happy. Several of the professors that Hermione didn't know were sitting silently back, as this information wouldn't affect them or their classes as Hermione wasn't in any of them. Professor Mines seemed more confused than anything, but Hermione didn't know what she could have said that would confuse anyone. It was pretty straight forward in her opinion. Hermione, Severus, and Albus waited a moment for the teachers to settle down, but when they didn't, Albus stood up and shouted for them to quiet down. This seemed to shock them into silence so Albus sat back down and waved to Severus to continue.
"Now, I understand why Sinestra and Sprout are so excited, but why are you two angry, Minerva, Yolanda?" He asked, having seen the women's reactions as well.
"This is just not acceptable. Miss Granger is a very intelligent young woman, but now she won't be able to use that to its fullest because she is going to have a baby on her hip. She should have the chance to go on to get an apprenticeship and later her mastery." Minerva finished with a huff and dropped her previously flailing hands onto the table in exasperation. Severus looked over to Hermione and then leaned back as he saw that she was going to answer this.
"Professor, do you really think that I wouldn't be able to raise my baby as well as finish whatever I put my mind to? Plus, I think that you are forgetting something; this baby's father is one of your former colleagues and my former professor. Do you think that he would be so incapable of caring for the baby in my stead while I study or do homework? I respect you so much, but obviously, you don't really think well of me if you believe that I would give up everything that I have worked for up to now just because my destiny is now known to me. Is Severus now below you because he is a student again? Is this why you are angry as well, Madam Hooch?" She asked, knowing that she was correct in her assumptions. The quidditch professor nodded sheepishly having realized that she was wrong about her assumptions. McGonagall seemed stunned at the thought that her favorite student thought that she didn't respect her or think that she could do this easily. It took her a moment to respond, but when she did it was to nod and smile before replying.
"You are correct. I apologize for not thinking this through a little more. I know you can do anything if you put your mind to it. And the fact that the father of your child is Severus is also something I didn't consider. He will be a wonderful father, despite what most of the students here will think when you are showing or when you tell them. So, what is your plan?" She finished tilting her head to one side in question.
"We will get to that in a moment. First, Professor Mines, what are you confused about?" Hermione asked, directing her attention to the new potions professor. Mines looked first to Hermione then to Severus before answering.
"Well, I understand that you two are bond mates and that you are going to have a baby; Congrats on that, by the way. What is confusing to me is how did this come about so fast? From what I understand, everyone hated this man when he was a professor, you included. Did that hate just go away when he became a teenager again? How did you get past all the years of his attitude towards you and your fellow peers?" He asked, clearly not knowing about the finer things in the bond. Severus looked over at Hermione with a smirk. She cleared her throat.
"Alright. You are correct in your statement that I disliked this man, but I never hated him. I respected him for the way he taught in a harsher manor then the other professors because it made me a better potion maker. I would have never become as good a potions student if it hadn't been for him. When he became a teenager again, I didn't know what would happen, but so far, we have been getting to know each other better and I have found that he isn't the person we all thought he was. This bond is helping us to get to know each other a lot better and in doing so, we can't become frustrated, embarrassed, or a few other emotions, so that makes it a lot easier to talk about things. If we do feel one of those emotions, the bond… initiates a different emotion, so that we can continue getting to know the other." Hermione had to pause here because she could feel her face turning red. She saw Severus put his hands on his head out of the corner of her eye, so she took a moment to breathe and allow her embarrassment to run out of her. When she felt better, she looked over at Severus to make sure he was okay. He had dropped his hand and, when he saw her look over at him, he nodded that he was better.
"Sorry about that. To continue, we haven't really gotten past our past relationship, but we have basically added to it to make it something else. At first, I wasn't sure how this was going to work, but now that we know more about this bond and its dynamics, I really do think that we can work this out to be a great thing. Most of my friends aren't too happy about this new bond thing, but a few of them are super happy for me. Does that help you understand this a little more?" Hermione finished, looking back to Professor Mines, who nodded and sat back in his chair.
"Now that we have gotten that out of the way, there is a reason that these two needed to inform you all of this change. As Miss Granger must now think about her baby's health when it comes to her class participation, we wanted to talk with you about how she can do her class work and still be safe. For example, how will she be able to make potions in class with all the fumes that could cause her to lose the baby? Or in Transfiguration, what about poorly aimed spells? Same with charms. These are the things we all need to think on so that this brilliant young woman can continue on her path to the amazing future ahead of her." Albus finally finished, then allowed the professors a moment to think about what he had said. In that moment, he glanced first at Hermione and then over to Severus, who had a small smirk on his face as he watched his former colleagues think about the request.
"I have one question before we get into these talks. Miss Granger, will you be informing your friends about this new development? And Mr. Malfoy for you, Severus?" Madam Sprout asked with a large grin still on her face.
"No, we will not be telling anyone about the baby until Hermione is showing. We want a little time to get used to the idea as well as to formulate a better plan. One such thing in the plan will be how to inform them of this news as gently as possible. As for Mr. Malfoy, he will probably already know as soon as next month. Neither of us will tell him, but he is so observant that I would be surprised if he did not figure it out within the next 2 weeks. Unfortunately, his father instilled nosiness into him as well as observation skills." Severus informed them. Many of the professors nodded before Minerva began the planning for a safer classroom for Hermione to work in.
A/N: Here you are! I could have made it much longer, but I wanted to stop before I made it too long. I am going through all my current stories to edit them and then I will be working to finish them. As for real life, things have been crazy for the last little while as my mom who was 46 at the time got pregnant and on December 21st of 2016, when she was 47, she had a premature baby boy. He was 3 weeks early, but he weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces. They thought that he would have to be sent to the nearest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but his lungs were perfectly developed, so we were so happy. As I live with my mother until I finish my Bachelor's degree, I am his caregiver while mom works and sleeps, which is most of the time because she works at night and sleeps from 1 pm until almost time to leave at 8:30 pm. He is now 6 months old and pretty much sleeping through the night, so I have a lot more time to work on these stories. That is, when my procrastination doesn't get the better of me. LOL. I am really trying to not let that bother me or writers block to catch up with me either.
I was hoping that this story would only be 20 chapters, but the way it is going it will end up being close to 50.
Questions to leave you with:
Will the potion affect Hermione's baby?
How will the professors keep Hermione and her baby safe in their classrooms?
Will anyone notice that Hermione is prego before they are officially told?
Who will be coming in the next chapter to cause a little trouble for the couple?
Edited: 8/22/2019
