Samaria Kirby is my creation. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 4

The months flew by. The third task drew closer and closer. Harry, though not as worried about it as the first two, was still pretty nervous.

Samaria and Severus continued to have dinner at the Malfoy's fairly often. Narcissa and Samaria had become close friends, and it pained her that Narcissa was a Death Eater and she had to work against her.

Though, in preparation for her coming Death Eater days, Samaria started to distance herself, somewhat, from Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Draco would no doubt tell his parents if they're relationship seemed more than the normal student/teacher relationship. This hurt her, but Severus said that the Dark Lord would surely use her against Harry, if he knew. It was hard, though. She loved talking with Narcissa, but missed the youthful observations of her three students. They wouldn't be allowed to know of her status as spy, either. If they knew, it was too risky the Dark Lord might discover it and she'd be killed.

One night in June, just a week before the final task, Samaria sat thinking of all of this. She absently stroked her swollen belly. Six months pregnant, she'd lost her flat stomach and shapely body. Though, Madam Pomfrey insisted she was in good health, Samaria felt like a whale and still had three months to go.

Severus walked in and sat beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Life in general. Everything's changing," she said.

"And it will continue to do so," he added.

Samaria nodded her head. Looking down at her stomach, she said, "I wonder if it really is a boy or a girl."

"We will find out in September," he said.

"So, have you decided to agree with me yet, or are we gonna fight until then?" She was referring to their ongoing quarrel over the baby's name. Samaria liked Scarlett for a girl and she really wanted to name it Sirius if it was a boy, but of course Severus wouldn't hear of it. She also suggested Laden. Naturally, he didn't like that either.

"We shall fight until you come up with a name that isn't ridiculous," he replied.

Before she could snap back, a knock came at the door. She started to rise to answer it, but Severus was at the door before she could even stand up straight.

"Who could that be?" he growled.

Opening the door reveal Harry, standing there looking very nervous.

"It's after hours, Potter. Thirty points from…" he began but Samaria cut him off.

"What is it, honey?" Samaria heaved herself off the couch.

"Um…" Harry started, looking very nervous indeed. "I need to speak with you, alone, Professor Kirby. It's very important."

"Oh, okay." She stepped into the hallway with him, ignoring Severus' furious look. "This way." She led the way down the hall, and into a classroom.

When the door was closed, she asked, "What is it, Harry?"

"It's Snape. I just saw him in Dumbledore's pensieve, and he's a Death Eater! I mean, he was, but probably still is, and you're in danger!" he blurted out in such a rush that she almost didn't catch it.

"Harry," she said, and sat him down at the front desk. Pulling up a chair, she sat beside him. "I know what he was. He's changed. No, don't give me that look. Dumbledore trusts him, correct?"

Harry only nodded.

"That should be enough for you. It is for me. I

know him, I know it's true. He's not a Death Eater, Harry."

He looked down at his lap, but still had a stubborn look on his face.

Sighing, she said, "Harry James Potter. You have many great qualities, but you're too quick to judge."

He looked up shocked at this.

"What happened your first year?" she asked.

"Snape saved me," he murmured.

"And what did you think at first?"

"That he was trying to kill me," he answered, begrudgingly. "But he's a Slytherin! All Slytherin are dark!" he tried in a last attempt.

Smiling, Samaria asked him, "Am I a dark wizard, Harry?"

"No! Of course not!"

"I was in Slytherin."
Harry sat there stunned. "But, but, you're not…"

"Manipulating? Conniving? Ambitious? Dear Harry, there is much you don't know about me. Just because one is conniving or manipulating, doesn't mean they are a Death Eater."

Harry just stared at her. Finally, he looked back down at his lap.

"Harry, relying on your first instinct is good, but jumping to conclusions isn't. You must learn the difference," she said.

He nodded and asked, "Are you going to tell Snape about this?"

"Not if you don't want me to," she replied. After that she gave him a hug.

~*SW*~

Samaria returned to her quarters. She and Harry had a long talk afterwards. They hadn't spoken privately for so long, they had had much to catch up on. Wincing as she thought of her resolution to spend less time with them, and how she had just screwed that up, Samaria opened her door.

Severus sat on the couch, and looked angrily at her.

"What did he want?" he asked, sneering.

"To talk," was her only reply. She wouldn't break her word to Harry.

"To talk? You're just like the rest of them, letting him get by with everything just so he can do what he pleases."

"Don't start that. This was important to him and…"

"Oh, excuse me, important to him. Let's make way so Potter can have whatever he wants because it is important to him."

"Stop it! He needed to talk. It didn't hurt anyone!" Samaria insisted.

"I thought you weren't going to engage with them anymore than the rest of the students? Not to mention, that's the hundredth time he's been out of bed after hours! He deserves detention, points taken… You know what, scratch that. He needs expelling!"

"Over being up after hours?"

"On top of every other rule he's broken!"

"You need to get off this kick about Harry! This isn't even about him, it's…"

Severus interrupted her, "Don't bring James Potter into this. This isn't about Potter looking like his father. It's the fact he breaks rules just like him!"

"Like you've never broken a rule," she shouted.

"Yes, and was punished!"

"You're supposed to help protect him! Why are you constantly trying to punish him?"

"I'm protecting his life, not his happiness. And I'm only doing that for her!"

"You just can't stand the fact that James' son is doing so well! You want him to be miserable like James made you! You just want a little revenge on that man!"

"That is preposterous!" he screamed.

"Is it? Then, why Harry? There are other students, like Fred and George Weasley for instance, that break the rules more than him."

Severus opened his mouth but nothing came out.

Samaria smirked at him, "Got nothing, huh?"

"You know I can't stand the Weasley's either! It's just Potter…"

"Is James' son!" she put in.

"You're just like Black! Always defending him!"

"Someone has to! And don't bring Sirius into this!"

"Oh, I forgot. No one can insult precious Sirius when you're around."

"You know what I mean. He's like my brother!"

"Yes, real brotherly he acts toward you, too! He's constantly flirting with you!"

"Don't! He doesn't mean anything by it!" she shouted back.

"Really, then why does he keep doing it?"

"Oh! I'm getting so fed up with you, I could just…"

"What? Leave? Go ahead, there's the door," he gestured to the front door.

Samaria looked at it and then back at him, "You don't believe I would leave."

"I don't care," he spat.

"Fine," she stormed out the door.

"Fine," he shouted and stormed into the bedroom.

~*SW*~

Samaria stormed through the door at Grimmauld Place. Not bothering to be quiet, she slammed the door shut. Sirius came running downstairs in, what looked like hastily thrown on, shirt and pants, wand drawn, ready to duel. When he saw who it was, he dropped his wand arm and sighed.

"What on earth are you doing?" he asked.

"Severus and I just had a fight," she said and stomped into the kitchen.

He followed, and attempted to help her sit. When she threw his hands away, he stepped back, hands held up.

"He's so stubborn!" she fumed.

"He's not the only one," Sirius muttered so she couldn't hear it. Though she didn't hear what he said, she knew it wasn't in her favor and glared at him.

"What happened?" he asked, and she proceeded to tell him the whole story.

After she finished, Sirius just looked at her and shook his head.

"So, you agree with me?" she asked.

"I think you both are mental," was his reply.

"What? How can you say that? He jumped down my throat after I defended him!"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down," Sirius interrupted. "I just meant that you two are too much alike, both jumping down each other's throats. Look, you know I don't like Snape but I respect the fact that he's your husband, and that's his baby in there," he gestured to her stomach. "You got to remember that."

She just rested her cheek on her palm and glared at him, although knowing he was right.

"What he said was hurtful, but I don't think… well, I hope he didn't mean it, 'cause if he did, I would have to kill him."

Samaria chuckled.

Sirius smiled at her, "I know you wanted to call his bluff, but you should have stayed."

She sighed. "You're supposed to be on my side," she grumbled.

He laughed, "I'm on the baby's side. That's the only safe one."

Shaking her head, she rose and hugged him, "Thanks for listening to me while I calmed down. You know though, I'm not leaving until I get an apology from him."

"Stubborn Slytherin," he said in her ear. "Or maybe it's that American in you."

She pulled back and smiled at him, "You know, I love you."

He pulled her in a hug again and said, "Love you."

Before she could say anything else, Sirius was knocked to the ground. She looked down at him, and then to the doorway where the spell had come from. Severus stood there looking as livid as she'd ever seen him. He didn't even speak; just fired another curse at Sirius. But by then, Sirius was already on his feet and had his wand out.

Samaria back up against the far wall, out of range of the ricocheting spells. She heard some of the curses the men shouted.

They're not playing. They're cursing for permanent damage, she thought.

Searching her robes for her wand, Samaria cursed to herself when she saw it lying across the room on the table. Being as big as she was, she couldn't comfortably sit with it in her pocket, and therefore took it out. Not knowing what else to do, she started screaming at the two.

"STOP!"

She doubted they could hear over the two of them shouting spells at each other, but continued to scream at them, all the same.

All of a sudden, she felt light headed. Leaning against the wall, she continued to scream at them, despite her queasiness, praying to get their attention before one of them got seriously hurt.

Her light-headedness just got worse as time went on. She couldn't tell if it had been one hour or one minute, time seem to stop as she focused on staying on her feet. Then came a pain in her stomach. At first it was just a pang that came and went, but then it came and stayed.

"No, not the baby," she whispered as she sunk to the floor.

After a moment, the spells stopped. She wasn't sure which one noticed her, but both came running up to her. Their voices sounded as if she had cotton in her ears.

"Samaria. Samaria, say something," Severus was pleading.

She opened her mouth but the only word that came out was, "Hurts."

Sirius looked at Severus, "What do we do?"

Shaking his head, he thought for a moment.

"Help me lift her. We have to Apparate her to Hogsmeade, then get her to Madam Pomfrey," he said.

Sirius nodded and helped. It wasn't so much the weight that he couldn't lift, but it was her awkward shape that made getting her from the floor to his arms difficult for Severus alone.

By the time they had her up, she had already passed out. Sirius stepped away, but not before making sure Severus had a good hold on her. When he was sure, he went to the door to open it for him. Sirius happened to glance at his hands. They were covered in blood.

"Snape!" he said.

The other nodded, "I can feel it on my hands, too. We have to hurry."

Helping each other, the two got her outside where they could Disapparate.

When they finally arrived made it just outside Hogwarts' grounds, Sirius transformed into a black dog. Severus managed to get Samaria to the hospital wing, and woke Madam Pomfrey. After they got Samaria into a bed, she shooed him out and started to work on her immediately.

An hour later, Severus was still sitting outside the hospital wing with 'Padfoot', waiting. Somehow, Dumbledore was alerted, and he came to wait with them, too. How he found these things out without anyone telling him, Severus would never know. Finally, Madam Pomfrey came out, but not to let them in. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the men and dog.

"She's fine," she informed them. "She's sleeping. She and the baby have been through a lot of stress. That caused the placenta to separate." Noting the confused looks on their faces, she said, "The baby gets nourishment and eliminates waste by way of the placenta. The placenta began separating and that's what caused the bleeding. The extreme stress caused it to separate, though the condition was pre-existing."

Severus looked crestfallen, "We'd just had a fight."

"No, no. While that might have been the tip of the iceberg, this is more like stress that has built up over a period of time. It's not likely to affect the baby now that I have mended her, and may not happen again in other pregnancies, but she can't have any physical stress. No lifting, no strenuous walking, nothing. Emotional stress also needs to be avoided. I know that's not always possible but do the best you can. She's doesn't have to stay in bed, but she must take it easy until the baby is born."

"Can I see her?" Severus asked.

She nodded but added, "Only for a moment. Do not wake her." With that Madam Pomfrey led him into the room.

He walked over to Samaria's bed, and gazed at her sleeping form. He then looked at the chair beside her bed.

"That won't do anyone any good. You need your rest," the nurse said, guessing where his mind was.

Reluctantly, he nodded and with one last look at his wife, left.

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