A/N: This is a repost.
Mrs. Weasley came too quickly to pick up the children, but, Ginny and Snape reluctantly handed them over. Hermione had gotten a shower, and Harry was getting something to eat. When everybody was done, Hermione and Ginny needed to say the spell to put the replicated children back into themselves. After that their bellies swelled to their previous sizes. Hermione gave a sigh of relief, but Ginny gave a frustrated sound, and retreated to their bedroom. Harry followed dutifully.
Hermione just went into the kitchen and made herself something to eat. While she ate Severus watched her in silence. He felt guilty, he didn't know why. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't do more, but the real reason festered in his soul. She had told him, you did this to me. In all actuality he had. He had gotten her pregnant by not doing research into the soul binding, he had taken her energy, her power. He had given her the potion to mature her pregnancy, he had induced her labor twice He had done this to her. He had caused pain in somebody he loved. He branded himself a bad person, apparently it didn't matter whom he followed, he would always be the same.
Hermione saw the play of emotions go across his face. Pain was the predominant one. She walked over to him, and put a hand on the side of his face. "What's the matter?" he turned his head away from her hand. "What's the matter?" She said gentler. She used her hand to guide his face to hers. She looked into his eyes, and saw unshed tears.
"I hurt you today. I just realized that no matter who I'm serving I'll still be the same." was all he said.
"Of course you'll still be the same, you'll still be the fair, occasionally arrogant potions professor, that most hate, but I love. You didn't hurt me. Having a baby hurt me, you induced it when I told you to. What do you think yourself a bad person because you started the contractions?" She put her hand against his face again.
He nodded once and a single tear slid down his face. She straddled his body, and embraced him in a hug. She whispered in his ear, that he couldn't hurt her, and then kissed him on the forehead. She looked at him, and he had his eyes closed. He looked like an angel, which had an ironic twist to what he thought he was. She kissed his forehead again, and held him, she had learned in recent months that closeness was not always about sex. She took her hand, and guided his face up to hers.
"Look at me." she commanded. He opened his eyes, and looked at her. "You're not a bad person. I didn't mean anything I said, in fact, I don't even remember half of it." when he looked down she added with force, "You didn't hurt me. You only did what I asked you to do."
He seemed to believe her, and he slipped his hand on top of her belly which was creating only a little space between the two. Hermione repositioned herself, and rested her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that until Severus fell asleep, stealing Hermione's warmth, and one of the babies' heartbeats fluttering frantically in his palm. Hermione watched as his eyelids got heavier, then finally he fell asleep. Then slowly she got off of him, she was hungry, but it was more then that. She wanted to prepare herself for the meeting with Voldemort, and familiarize herself with the spell that she would have to keep active until her due date. She also had to strengthen her occlumency skills. Otherwise this would all be in vain. She couldn't believe Severus, he was being silly.
Then she remembered, she had said something. She had made Severus flinch. She had asked him for help, then said that he did this to her, and he had jerked away as it he was slapped. She tried to remember where she had heard those words in his memory. Then she remembered, his first wife. She had said a mirror image of what his wife was screaming to him as she was dying. That's why those words affected him so much. Ginny had told her about Snape's worries about Hermione going to see Voldemort, quite frankly Hermione was scared also, but she promised to herself she would make it back safely, for Severus. She may be discrediting Severus, but she didn't think he would be able to survive it twice. Finally she settled onto the couch parallel to where Severus was and got some sleep.