A/N: Sorry, guys! I wasn't able to get another chapter done last summer. I won't bore you with excuses. There is just one reason for it; I finished my final class and have earned my bachelor's degree in child and family development! YAY!

Onto the next chapter!

Chapter 26

Hermione and Severus walked down the steps, heading in the direction of the lake. They walked in silence, Hermione needing to go at a slower pace, so Severus naturally did the same. They watched as more snow fell from the sky to settle on the already covered ground. They slowly made their way around the lake and towards Hagrid's Hut, not really intending to visit the giant. Their silent peaceful walk was interrupted by two people talking around the corner. They looked at each other for a moment when they clearly heard Hagrid's booming voice. They couldn't tell who he was talking to at first, but then the two came around the bend in the lake revealing McGonagall and Hagrid. The pair didn't notice Hermione and Severus immediately, but it didn't take long for them to realize they weren't alone anymore. When Hagrid caught sight of Hermione, he smiled widely in greeting.

"'ermione! Tis great ter see ya. Haven' seen ya or yer friends since the end o' las term." He boomed and reached out to give her a hug after he had reached the two. Severus immediately tried to warn him as Hagrid hadn't been told of the developments in their relationship let alone about the babies. He didn't want the half-giant to squeeze her too tightly and harm their children, but as soon as Hagrid pulled her in for the hug with her feet on the ground, Hermione tried to push him away a little without hurting her friend's feelings. This made Hagrid pause and glance down. He had obviously already felt the bump containing the babies.

"Wha's tha?" He asked pulling away to stare at her covered stomach. He looked confused for a moment and glanced at McGonagall in question. The woman only looked confused back at him.

"What's wrong, Hagrid?" She asked, then looked at Hermione. She took a moment to assess the girl she had known since she was 11. She must not have seen what she was looking for.

"What's going on? How are you feeling?" She asked the girl. Hermione looked at Severus not wanting to say anything about the babies, but as Hagrid had felt the bump, she knew it wouldn't stay secret for long. Severus took the decision out of her hands.

"Nothing is going on." He said and then looked at Hagrid when he began to speak.

"'ermione, ye've go' an extra bump since last I 'ugged ya. Wha's goin' on?"

"Oh." Hermione said realizing that he hadn't been told about her pregnancy. "I guess we forgot to inform you about the new development, didn't we? Sorry." She finished with an apologetic look.

"Wha' new developmen'? And who is this?" Hagrid asked gesturing toward Severus, who rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't anybody remember me? Never mind. My name is Severus Snape and Hermione and I are soul mates. The day after her birthday, when she ran into me, I was restored to the age of 17. We have since found out that our bond is an enemy bond which means we have been forced into this to produce the most powerful witch or wizard born in this century. The bond made it, so we couldn't do anything bad to each other or have certain emotions around each other, but we can't be far from each other either until the first year is up. Hermione is currently pregnant with said child." Severus informed Hagrid.

"Yer Professor Snape? I wondere' wha' happen' to ya. So 'yer bon' mates and expectin' a chil'. Tha's nice. Wai'. Since yer birsday, 'ermione? Tha's only been abou' 3 months. Tha' bump I fel' was too big ter be even 7 months." The giant reasoned. Hermione reluctantly nodded.

"You are correct. I am 3 months along, but I am not carrying only one." She said evasively. Minerva look at her favorite student in surprise.

"You are having twins? Why didn't you say anything?" She asked in surprise. Hermione and Severus immediately shook their heads.

"Not twins." Severus said then Hermione finished with, "Quads." This information shook up the normally reserved professor. She began to shake her head at them but stopped suddenly.

"Have you informed Dumbledore of this new development? When did you find out that you were expecting 4 babies instead of just one? How are you going to continue going to your classes?" Minerva shot questions out quickly not allowing either of them to answer. Severus interrupted her before she could ask another.

"We have not informed anyone except Hermione's friends and Draco. Remus already knows as he was the one who told us of the other babies when Hermione was only 3 weeks along. Hermione has asked her friends to help her however they can while she is pregnant and a little after she has had the babies. Is there any way you could help with also? Any suggestions for us?" He asked of both his former coworkers.

Hagrid looked startled at the question, but quickly shook his head. McGonagall tilted her head in thought for a few seconds.

"I would love to help out after the babies come. I don't know of any way to help you until then though. Besides making sure you both keep up with your studies and for you to graduate, Hermione. Is there anything you need right now?" the professor asked. Hermione began to shake her head but stopped when she realized that the professor could help.

"Actually, yes. As we haven't told anyone else about the extra surprises, we still need to tell the other teachers. Would you inform Flitwick, Trelawney, Mines, and my other teachers? We will be heading up to inform Dumbledore in just a few minutes, but I really don't want to have to tell anyone else today." Hermione explained. Minerva immediately nodded.

"Of course. Plus, you shouldn't be walked the stairs that much, so this will help keep the babies healthy. So, don't worry about that and get on up to Albus's office. He should be there right now." She said waving her hand in a shooing motion. Hermione thanked her before saying goodbye to both professors and walking away to finish their short walk. Neither spoke as they made their way around the lake and then back toward the castle to Dumbledore's office. Hermione continued to become more and more anxious the closer they came to the gargoyle guard. Severus eventually reached out to take her hand.

"There is no reason to be nervous about this. You know that he won't judge you or throw us out, so could you explain to me why you are getting nervous? Or at least why your hands are shaking." He asked, stopping her in front of the gargoyle.

"I am anxious, but I don't know why my hands are shaking. I am not nervous. Let's not worry about that right now. Let's just get this over with and then we can go back to our rooms and rest. I am already getting tired. I'm surprised Pomfrey hasn't requested that I stay on bed rest now. I still have 4 months according to her, but I would think sooner. Too bad we can't see the babies, so we won't be able to see what we're having." Hermione changed the subject a little as she turned toward the statue and paused to say the password. They stepped on the rising stairs and waited for it to reach the office door. Hermione took a breath before knocking.

"Enter." they heard Dumbledore call from inside. They opened the door and walked in just as they had several times in the last 3 months. What they weren't expecting was Dumbledore to be standing near his pensive, obviously having just coming out of it. He smiled at them and headed over to meet them in the middle of the room.

"Severus, Miss. Granger, what brings you here this evening?" He asked waving them into chairs in front of his desk. Instead of going to sit on the other side as usual, he conjured a chair to sit next to them. He leaned forward and watched as Hermione slowly lowered herself into one of the chairs and then Severus sat next to her. They were silent at first as Hermione got ahold of her nerves, but in that time the headmaster had observed most of what he needed to know to figure out why they were there.

"Let me guess, you are carrying more than one child?" He guessed. Hermione sighed in frustration.

"How did you… Never mind. Yes, you are correct." She answered, after shaking her head. Dumbledore chuckled.

"You're moving a lot slower than you would be if you were only 3 months along with 1 child, so that is how I concluded that you are carrying more than one. It was either that or you are a lot further along than madam Pomfrey had predicted before now. As I doubted that was the case, I went with a twin." He assured her, assuming incorrectly on the one thing he couldn't know. Hermione glanced at Severus and kind of grimaced.

"Well, you are correct on one thing; I am having more than one, but unfortunately, it's not only 2. There are 4 of them." She said, turning to face the headmaster, whose face went slack jawed in surprise at the news. It took him a minute to process the news, but he eventually did.

"How long have you known that you were having 4? You had to know about the others at least a month ago." He asked, turning to look at Severus, obviously hoping to get his input on the situation.

"Actually, we have known since Hermione was 3 weeks along. Lupin informed us of this surprising fact. He can smell them because of his wolf side. As to your next question, at first, we didn't want to tell anyone so that we could process what this means, but as it is becoming difficult for Hermione to get to classes, we realized that everyone would have to be informed of the change in circumstances sooner rather than later." Severus said and then turned to Hermione knowing that she would want to add something.

"I still want to attend classes as much as possible, but with all of the stairs to climb up and down, there is a risk to the babies with so much movement and stress. I was informed by Madam Pomfrey that I would have to be on bed rest at 6 or 7 months until I go into labor unless something happens before then. We were hoping you could help us figure out a way for me to continue my education while keeping the babies healthy. I want to finish my schooling on time or as close to on time as possible." Hermione finished. Dumbledore nodded obviously knowing that this was important to her.

"Of course. When you get farther along, we can have homework delivered to you by your friends. If you need help understanding anything at that time, you will be able to ask that subject's professor to come visit, so you can ask what you need. We could either get you an item to contact the professor you need, or you could ask one of your friends to convey your request, which ever you prefer." He suggested.

"I might be able to send my Patronus to them with the requests, if my magic is still working at that time. I was told that I might not have full access to my magic the farther in I am, especially since there are 4 babies drawing from my reserves." Hermione suggested, but Dumbledore shook his head.

"We don't want you to overextend your magic more than you need to, as making you use that much magic could drain you completely. So, from time you are 20 weeks along, you should ask your friends to help you get messages and homework to and from the proper professors. If that doesn't work, then I will make you something to help. Would that be adequate?" He asked and waited for them both to nod before continuing, "Now, we do need to inform the students of your pregnancy. I will do so for you at dinner tonight. Unless you would prefer to do so yourself." He wondered aloud. Hermione shook her head and looked at Severus. He was watching the headmaster very intently for a minute before nodding.

"I would like to address the students myself on this matter." He finally said, which made Dumbledore smile knowingly and the twinkle to appear in his eyes again.

"Of course. Dinner is in an hour, so I will meet you both in the Great Hall at that time. Come in through the professor's entrance." He suggested. They both nodded and stood to leave. Just before they opened the door, the headmaster said, "Again, Congratulations. Also, good luck." Hermione smiled at his words and the couple walked out of the office.

Hermione snuck glances at Severus as they wondered down the hallway in the direction of the great hall. It would take them a while to get to the hall that's why they were heading there early. She was worrying about how he was going to address the school about this new development. She knew for a fact that most of the students would be disgusted to hear about it, as the father of the babies was their former hated potions professor. Hermione knew that she would have had the same response, if she had been a normal bystander in this situation. Also, the fact that they had obviously been having sex was going to throw the others for a nauseating loop.

"Don't worry. I know what I am doing." Severus suddenly said, jolting her out of her thoughts. She smiled when she realized that she could tell that he was nervous. She didn't think he ever got nervous, but then what did she really know about this man-turned-teen anyway? She nodded to him and tried to stop worrying. He had been a teacher, so he probably knew what he was doing very well.

Forty-Five minutes later, they arrived at the Great Hall just in time to see Harry and Draco enter the room holding hands and talking. Hermione smiled at how happy her friend seemed to be with Draco. She was genuinely happy for them. They spotted Dumbledore waiting for them at the teacher's entrance to the Great Hall. He watched them approach with the usual twinkle in his eyes.

"Most of the students are already settled in and ready to eat, so I am going to go in and make my announcements and then tell them the two of you wish to address them about a very important matter. Sound alright?" Dumbledore asked, waiting for both of them to nod before turning and entering the Hall. They both stood next to the door, so they could listen to his speech and know when they were to come in.

The students in the hall quieted down as soon as they saw the headmaster arrive, clearly eager to eat. As soon as Dumbledore reached his seat, he began to speak.

"I just have a couple of things to say and then you can eat. This year has been full of surprising happenings already. I am very proud of several of you for ending inter-house rivalry and others for not bullying those students." Dumbledore smiled and then went on to remind them of restricted items, things that had been added recently, and restricted locations. When he was done with that, he smiled again. "Now, for the most shocking development, Severus Snape and Hermione Granger wish to address you all about a recent development." He finished with a flourish at the teacher's door. Severus pushed open the door and stepped through with Hermione trailing behind him, trying to stand up and walk normally. They approached the dais and went around to the front of the head table.

"As you all have been made aware, 3 months ago we found out that Hermione and I are soul mates. This was a shock to all including us, but we have learned to live with it. Within the first 2 weeks things started to change in a way we didn't think it would at the time, as we didn't have all the information about this bond. What I wished to address to all of you is this: Hermione and I are expecting." This statement caused the Hall to erupt in chatter from the students. The teachers were mostly smiling as they had been informed of this development months ago. Severus looked at Hermione for a moment to give the students a moment to settle down again. He saw Hermione smile and then duck her head, obviously trying to keep from laughing. He touched her arm and raised his eyebrows in question as to what was so funny. Hermione shook her head and said, "later". The Hall went silent after a moment, so Severus went back into his explanation.

"We have been keeping this a secret so that we could come to terms with this new development. Recently, we discovered something that makes hiding the pregnancy impossible any longer." Severus turned to Hermione, who turned sideway and placed her hands on her extended stomach. This caused the students to begin talking among themselves again, obviously thinking something wasn't right. A lot of the Ravenclaws knew that she shouldn't be that big at only 12 weeks and were telling others near them. Severus raised his hand before it could get out of hand. "Before you all think that something happened between us while I was a teacher, Hermione is pregnant with 4 babies, and that is the reason she is so large and why we could not keep this to ourselves any longer." He paused as the Hall got loud, then went quiet again, "She is going to be continuing to take her classes and we may end up asking some of you for assistance at some point in the next several months." He paused, as he wanted the students to process this information before continuing. "I know none of you particularly liked me as a teacher, so I don't expect you to want to help me, but Hermione has been nothing but kind to most of you. Think of her if we ask you to do something in regard to our babies." Severus then turned to Hermione and motioned for her to walk off the dais. She turned and did so, walking over to her normal seat at the Gryffindor table with Severus following her.

The chatter around them intensified when they sat down, and the food appeared for dinner to finally begin.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I have been taking the time to edit the previous chapters as somethings weren't the same as later. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are still enjoying this story even with how long it takes me to update. I am working on some things and am trying to work on this story again as well as to finish the others I have started.

Questions I leave you with:

Will anyone approach the couple about this new development?

Who will be the first to volunteer to help the two?

Will Dumbledore find out anything more about the bond?

Why can't they see the babies?

When will they be able to see the babies?