Early next morning
Eileen walked into Florence's room and looked at her sleeping form, admiring how beautiful she was and thinking how stupid her son had been to throw away the love of such an amazing young woman.
She hated seeing both of them suffering, having to be apart from each other when they belonged together.
All because Severus' obsession with money.
She shook her head, glancing into the en-suite bathroom and stopping- Was that...?
She quickly stood up and got closer, picking up the small vial with the yellow liquid with awe.
She carried it to the bedroom and sat on the bed, letting the tears fall.
She was going to be a grandma – it was real.
She closed her hand around the vial and brought it to her chest, feeling her happiness turn a little bittersweet as she realized that her son couldn't know he was going to be a dad.
"Morning, godmother," whispered Florence sitting up on the bed and stretching, "I see that you've found the pregnancy test..."
"Yes, my dear. You're truly pregnant!" she said in amazement, hugging Florence, "This is incredible! I'm going to be a grandma! I'm so happy! How are you feeling?"
"I'm happy and afraid. But mostly really really happy," she smiled, "I love your son, and this baby is a piece of him I'll have with me forever," she sighed sadly, "And he'll never know..."
"I know, Flor," Eileen touched her face. "Maybe someday we'll be able to tell him about the baby. I'm certain he'll be so happy. He loves you, you know."
Florence just nodded.
"Now," continued Eileen, "Get up, cause I'm getting Pomfrey here ASAP!"
Florence got up, changed into a comfy dress and by the time she was leaving her bedroom, she could hear the Floo activating and Eileen welcoming Madam Pomfrey.
After Florence explained to the mediwitch why they needed to keep that pregnancy secret – news that Pomfrey took quite well, being more concerned for Florence than scared by her parentage – the examination began with Pomfrey casting some strange spells over Florence's body to test her blood parameters and also to see the baby inside her womb (like in a muggle ultrasound).
When Pomfrey cast: "Vide utero." a strange shadowy image appeared above Florence's midsection and Eileen gasped, teary-eyed, as she looked at her grandchild for the first time.
"I can't see anything," said Florence, lying on her back on the sofa, staring at the weird image floating above her body.
"Well, the babies are not big enough to have discernible limbs yet," Pomfrey calmly answered.
Eileen's breath hitched and Florence asked, surprised: "Wait. Babies? In plural? As in more than one baby?"
"Yep," Pomfrey smiled, "There are two little hearts here. Identical twins for what I can see. And everything looks perfect," she stopped the spell, the image disappearing, and looked at a stunned Florence, "You know you'll have to stop playing Quidditch, right?"
"Yes, I've reached that conclusion myself," said Florence, sitting up on the couch, the news she was expecting twins still messing with her mind.
"You are eight weeks pregnant," continued Pomfrey, "Considering you only have a little over three months at Hogwarts, I think it won't be difficult to hide your condition. But you'll have to tell someone at school about your pregnancy, so that if anything happens to you they'll know to call me immediately."
"I'll think of someone," Florence nodded.
"Also, it would be better if you lived with your godmother," added Pomfrey, "It's not good to be pregnant and alone... you could get depressed and that wouldn't be good for the babies."
"Ok. I'll move my things to Eileen's house, if that's fine with her."
"Oh, my dear Flor," Eileen hugged her, "It's more than fine! I'll love to have you in my house!"
After lunch, Pomfrey went back to Hogwarts and Florence took some of her things to Eileen's house.
The next day
Sunday
Tiffany insisted on going with Florence to Eileen's house, for the elf said she already knew all of her Mistress' needs.
Florence was glad to have her loyal elf with her; with just one look, Tiffany could really tell exactly what she needed.
That Sunday morning, right after breakfast, the wave of nausea that hit Florence was so awful that she ran to the bathroom and threw up all she had eaten that morning; a few minutes later, Tiffany showed up in the bedroom with a cup of ginger tea, four crackers and an antiemetic potion.
"Thanks, Tiff."
Sam, Eileen's house elf, became Tiffany's number one fan.
She followed Tiff's every command and paid attention to everything the older elf did.
Tiffany, being the bossy little thing she was, beamed at all the attention she got while ordering Sam around the house.
Later that morning, Eileen stood in the kitchen thinking about what she would ask Sam to prepare for lunch, since Florence had thrown up all of breakfast, when she heard a knock on the door and walked towards it to answer, her heart nearly stopping as her eyes fell on the person on the porch.
"Severus?" Eileen gasped as she looked at his face – his very bruised face – and noticed the way he was leaning on the wall, as if he needed help to hold himself up.
"What happened to you, my son?" she helped him get inside the house, fearing that Voldemort had found out about him and Florence not being as over as everyone thought.
"She's here, right?" he asked, his voice hoarse as if he had been screaming.
"Yes," Eileen hesitated, helping him to the sofa, "Actually, it's good that you're here now, for I invited Florence to stay here with me for as long as she wants. You're never home and she lives all by herself in Hogsmeade. So if you need to sleep here someday, just let me know and I'll make a bed for you in the living room. Florence's in your bedroom and..."
"No problem, mum. It's fine," sounded tired, "I just wanted to talk to her before I go... I have to try one last time to..."
"Try what, Severus?" Eileen interrupted, "You made your choice, my son."
He winced, "I know, I just..."
"You've hurt her enough already, don't you think?" she had to dissuade him from that idea of talking to Florence.
"Yes, but... I love her and I need her... just let me speak to her for a moment. In Hogwarts, she ignores me-"
Eileen could tell he was close to tears; whatever had happened to him, it had been bad not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.
They heard a noise on the staircase and looked there, seeing Florence walking downstairs.
Severus stood up, grimacing at the pain that filled his body but he forced himself to ignore it, he needed to be close to her.
Florence heard everything he said.
She had also seen Eileen helping him get to the sofa – he was badly hurt.
She felt tears filling her eyes but didn't let them fall.
"You're wasting your time here, Severus," she said, looking at him angrily, "I don't want to hear a word from you. I imagine you've finally seen that I was right when I told you it would be worse outside Hogwarts," Her voice breaking a little, "You knew my opinion about your choices, but you chose them anyway; we have nothing else to talk about."
"I love you..." Severus said.
"Shut up!" Florence shouted, feeling the tears fall, "Go away. Leave me alone!" she had to send him away, she needed to think about his safety – and their children's, "You've lied to me enough already," she finished in a whisper.
No one spoke again for a while.
Severus looked from his mother to the young woman he loved more than anything in this world. And he knew Florence was right, she had warned him and he had lied to her.
He took a deep breath and walked, limping, to the door; he opened and closed it without another word.
Florence let out the sob that was clogging her throat and felt her legs go weak, then she passed out.
When Florence came to, she was back in Severus' bedroom and there was someone by the bed.
"Sirius? What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting up.
"Hey, you're up, finally! I came to visit you. Eileen told Lily you're staying here with her and I... I'm worried about you, Flor," he helped her sit up more comfortably on the bed and hugged her, "Do you know what's wrong with you?"
"Yes, I talked to Pomfrey..." Florence felt tears flood her eyes again, "I need to tell you something, Sirius. But I don't want you to hate me..."
"I could never hate you, Flor," he said, smiling and holding her left hand.
She closed her eyes feeling some tears roll down her face.
"We started dating on January 1st , right?" she asked him.
"Yes," he said, looking confused at where that conversation was going.
"Then, on January 9th, I came to sleep here..."
"Yes..." he said slowly, no longer smiling.
"Well, Severus was here," Florence said, quickly adding: "Not at first! He wasn't here when I arrived. But he showed up, in the middle of the night and- I just couldn't- the Enchantment makes it impossible to resist and-"
"You slept with him," Sirius said, his voice sad but not accusatory.
"Yes. And now... I'm pregnant."
Sirius let go of her hand and got up from the bed, going to the window, without saying a word.
"I'm sorry, Sirius. I know it sounds awful when I say I easily fell into bed with him when I barely let you touch me," she whispered.
He frowned, "Flor, I've never pushed you to let me touch you. You say you don't want me to, and I understand."
"I know! But I feel guilty for cheating on you... you're such a sweet boyfriend."
Sirius kept quiet for a while, before asking: "Will you tell Snivellus?"
"No," she wiped her tears away with the duvet, "What I've said before still stands: I have to move on with my life. My father will kill Severus if he learns about my pregnancy, and he might come after my babies as well," she looked at him, "Please, forgive me... don't hate me."
"I don't hate you. I'm just hurt... you've cheated on me, Florence," he whispered.
"I know," she cried harder, "I'm so sorry!"
He sat back on the bed by her side, "Look, I can't say I understand your love for him. You're this perfect angel and he's an ugly git."
Florence chuckled.
Sirius continued: "But... I've been in love with you for years, so I know the heart doesn't let us choose – it wants who it wants," he held her hand, "I forgive you, Flor," he whispered.
"Thank you, Sirius," She smiled at him, his hand caressing her face, wiping her tears.
"And if you still want me by your side..." he added.
"What are you talking about?" Florence was confused, "Sirius, I'm pregnant with the babies of the guy you hate the most in this world. I cheated on you!"
"I know. I know... but I love you. And I can't let you handle this all by yourself, you'll need a father for- wait, you said babies? Plural?"
"Yep. Two babies."
He smiled, "That's double the fun!"
Florence laughed, "Only you would see it like that. I'm double-scared."
"Well, I'm just saying I want to be there for them. If you'll have me."
"You won't break up with me?"
"No. I won't."
"You're unbelievable, Padfoot!" she threw her arms around his neck, hugging and kissing him.
"Can I tell everybody we're pregnant?" he asked.
"No! Remember who I am... not everybody can know about these babies. You can tell Lily and James though. I was thinking about asking them to be godparents... what do you think?"
"Perfect!" he exclaimed, "I totally agree!"
They heard Eileen knocking on the door and saw her coming in, "Finally, you are awake, dear," she sighed in relief after seeing Florence was well, "Are you hungry?"
"A bit, yes," said Florence.
"Me too," said Sirius.
"Help her get downstairs, Sirius," said Eileen, smiling, "Tiffany made chicken and vegetables soup for you, Flor. And she taught Sam some fragrant beef stew that has my mouth watering!"
Later, that same night
Sirius had long gone to the Potter's house and Eileen and Florence were watching TV in the living room.
"I got so worried today..." Eileen said, "When I saw Severus like that, all hurt... limping."
"I told him it would be like that," Florence looked down at her lap, "My father used to train me, and he wouldn't spare the Unforgivable Curses on me. If he did that to his own daughter, I can only imagine what he does to his Death Eaters."
They looked at the TV for a while, in silence, none of them really paying attention to what was happening on the screen.
"Promise me you won't take my grandchildren away from me. I feel like I've lost my son, I can't-" Eileen started to cry.
"Don't worry, godmother." Florence sat closer and hugged her, "I'll never get my children away from you- you'll be an awesome grandma."
Eileen smiled, "I remember when Severus was a kid..." she chuckled, "He was such a momma's boy, always around me, helping me, needing my attention. He used to hide under my skirt when he was three," She wiped her eyes, "If these babies turn out to be like their father, you better be ready to be loved and needed at all times of day and night," she winced and looked at Florence, "And weaning Severus was a pain, he cried for months. But he was almost two, I was more than done with breastfeeding by then!"
"Well, he's eighteen and still has an obsession with it," Florence murmured, remembering all the attention he loved to give her breasts.
Eileen grimaced, "I really didn't need to know that."
"Sorry, godmother," said Florence, laughing.