Chapter 5

Hermione's day went by fairly quickly with minimal prodding as to what had happened to her. Every time someone asked she would just smile at the person asking and tell them that they would find out after dinner tonight. Draco was the most persistent of them all which didn't surprise her in the least. At almost every turn he would be there asking and asking the same questions. It was actually getting on her nerves so much that the last time he asked, which was at lunch, she told him that if he didn't stop asking he could just forget about knowing anything. As expected he immediately stopped and she spent the rest of the day pondering how she would word it at the end of the day. After her last class, she was walking toward the Great Hall when she remembered that Neville had wanted to talk to Harry and her earlier that day. She walked in the doors and headed straight towards where Neville was sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Hey, Neville. What did you want to talk to Harry and me about this morning? You were up pretty early so it has to have been really important." She said, sitting down on his right side. Neville looked embarrassed.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you two. I know you guys don't get a lot of time to be alone, but I wanted to tell you who I saw last night. I know it seems unlikely but I saw..." Neville was interrupted by Harry and Draco arriving at the table quite noisily. They were talking loudly and laughing. Hermione looked away from Neville and watched them for a moment. They looked so happy. The way they looked at each other let everyone know that they were truly in love. Hermione was jealous of their love. They could show it to everyone and not be punished for it. She thought of the time she was Katrina. She remembered how at first she hated being taken care of my Severus. She had never been sure of how he would react when he found out that the cat he was taking care of and loving and talking to, was the 'Know-it-all' that he loathed at school. She would never have predicted that he would try to choke her. She was his student. And then they had fallen in love. She admitted it freely and willingly, but it had taken him quite a while to tell her his feelings. She would never tell him this but she really loved it when he wrote his feelings out in the air. It was cute and adorable that he would be shy enough to do so.

Hermione felt a nudge at her shoulder. She looked away from Severus, whom she had been staring at this whole time, to look at Harry, who had poked her and who had been trying to get her attention for the last 5 minutes.

"Sorry, Harry. I was just thinking about a few things. What did you want?" She asked, then smiled and started to pile food on her plate. Dinner had shown up in dishes of pot roast and potatoes. There were dishes with carrots and fruits. She reached for everything one at a time and piled it all on her plate all together. On top she put ice cream and cherries and Chocolate syrup. Lifting her spoon she took a bite and turned to Harry to listen to what he needed. When she saw Harry and the rest of her friends staring at her, she asked, "What?" She continued to eat, as they all looked at each other in puzzlement.

"Hermione, that looks so disgusting." Dean said from the other side of Neville. "Are you okay?"

She had just eaten a big spoonful of the mixture, so she couldn't answer right away, but as soon as she could she did so.

"No. This is really good. I've always been weird with how and what I eat together. Sorry if it doesn't agree with your tastes but I am going to eat it this way." Saying so, she continued to eat. Harry looked at her for a moment and then over to the others who were watching Hermione eat her concoction. Shrugging, he looked back at Hermione and tried to remember what he had wanted to ask her just a little while ago. As soon as he remembered, he looked questioningly at her.

"What time did you want to meet in the head quarters?" he asked.

"At seven I am going to leave here and go to the head dorm. Give me a few minutes to prepare and for someone else to arrive. Then everyone that I mentioned needs to be there as soon as possible." Waving her wand she found that it was 5 til seven. Quickly, she finished her plate and drank the rest of her pumpkin juice. "See you all there." Glancing at the teachers table, she nodded subtly at Severus to indicate that she was going to the dorm to wait for him.

Severus saw Hermione's nod and knew without a doubt what she was trying to say. He really didn't know how or when he had started learning what she was saying without her saying so, but in this case he was glad for it. He finished the last bite of potato on his plate and stood up. Walking to the teacher's door he went through it and headed straight towards Hermione's rooms. He really didn't know how to feel at this point about telling her friends about the baby. He remembered the other teacher's reactions to the news when he had told them earlier that day, just before classes started.

Flashback

He had asked Dumbledore to hold a conference and not ask questions until he was done explaining what was happening. Dumbledore agreed with that annoying twinkle in his eye. He had always hated the damn twinkle so much, even as a student. He walked out of the Headmasters office and towards the meeting room. 'How am I going to word this? I really don't know how we would have told her parents about us if they hadn't found out the way that they did. I hope Minerva doesn't go all lioness on me for getting her best student pregnant. That woman needs to take a chill potion. Anyway, What am I going to tell them?' He was thinking this all the way down to the meeting room.

By the time he got there a few of the teachers had already made it. Minerva, Flitwick, and, surprisingly to him, Trelawney had also made it so far. He just had to wait for the other nine teachers to make it. He sat down and waited with the others. After a few minutes eight teachers appeared in the doorway. Hagrid sat down next to Minerva and immediately asked her why they were called there? Minerva just shook her head and shrugged. Bins just hovered in the corner, while Sinistra sat in the chair opposite Severus. Just as Albus enter the room the rest of the teachers took their seats. Albus walked over to the seat on Severus's right and sat down.

"Albus, why were we called to this meeting just before classes? I still have a few things to do before class starts." Minerva inquired.

Albus shook his head. "I called this meeting, but I was not the one to request it. Severus was." Everyone's eyes moved to look at Severus.

He stood up and cleared his throat, which was now starting to feel dry and tight.

"Well, I have some news you are all going to want to know. As some of you already know, I have been seeing Hermione Granger for the last little while. What I hope you don't already know is that we have slept together once. I was not in my right mind at the time, and I forgot something very important." He stopped for a moment to give them time to process this information. As soon as he saw Minerva's face grow alarmed he continued. "Hermione passed out in the Library yesterday after dinner. I was fortunately there to brake her fall and I took her to the hospital wing to get checked out. This morning we discovered that she is indeed Pregnant." He stops again, because Minerva begins stuttering.

"WHY? WHAT? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH A STUDENT?" Minerva shouted, standing up and flailing her arms around.

"A student/ Professor relationship isn't against the rules as long as the student is of age and both parties are consenting." Dumbledore said, seemingly to try and calm her down. Minerva shot him a glare and started to pace.

"I know that, Albus, but that doesn't explain why Severus is having a relationship with a student that he has hated the whole time she has been in school. I mean, what changed?" She continued to pace.

Severus looked away from all of the questioning eyes to think about how to answer this question. Looking back at Minerva a few seconds later, he answered honestly.

"I fell in love with her. That's all there is to it. At first, when she said that she loved me... I couldn't say it back. When I finally tried to tell her, I didn't say it... I wrote it out. She got mad at me. Eventually, I realized why and I finally said it to her." The whole time he said this, unbeknownst to him, his eyes were filled with the love he felt for Hermione. Minerva had stopped at the beginning of his speech and saw this look. She smiled and sat down. "Okay" She said and nodded. Severus was surprised that she would give up so easily, but he was thankful for it anyway.

Nodding he continued his explanation, "We both thought you should know about it before she started showing. This way you know when she can't participate in something in your classes. She wishes to keep studying until she can 't climb stairs as fast or as often as she is now and after that happens she is going to ask her friends to bring her homework to her. She really wants to finish school and keep the baby as well. Are there any questions?" He scanned the room and not seeing anyone with a question, he nodded, "Okay, this meeting is over. Thank you all for understanding." He walked to the door and left to get ready for his first class.

End of Flashback

Finally he reached the Head's dorm. Knocking, he hoped no one was there except Hermione yet. He wanted to talk to her about the teacher's meeting. The portrait swung open to reveal Hermione, who beckoned him inside. Stepping inside, he walked to the couch and sat down just as the portrait slammed closed behind him.

A/N: I know I'm being mean with this closing to the chapter but I needed to find somewhere to end it. Please don't hurt me. (:

I told you it wouldn't be very long for another chapter. I hope you like this one.

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