AN – I own nothing!

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Chapter 51

When Severus walked back inside the grand ballroom, he noticed that everyone was already present except for King Richard himself. Even Aberforth Dumbledore was present. It was very rare for him to attend Order meetings. Severus knew for sure that Albus made him come along this time because he was a senior member himself and could not miss out on such important meetings.

When he spotted Poppy, who was seated next to a few of his colleagues, he immediately went to her direction. He had to inform her about Hermione's current condition. He feared that she might have pneumonia, which wasn't good for her, or their unborn son.

"Poppy," Severus greeted her as he sat down next to her. He ignored all the other stares of the others, as well as their whispers and gossips. Before he could continue however, he was roughly tugged on his collar. When he looked the other way, he saw Alastor Moody with a very angry glare, inches away from his own face.

"What is this I hear about you being married to Hermione Granger?!" he asked. "Taking advantage of someone younger than you? How disgusting!"

"Do not accuse me of something you know nothing of," Severus seethed back.

Sirius walked up behind Moody, and tried to pull him away from Severus. He and everyone could see the tension with Moody, and knew that he would go straight for Severus. "Back off Moody."

"Don't tell me you approve of this?" Moody asked. "Don't tell me that you are siding with him? You of all people hate Snape!"

"No Moody, not now," Sirius said pulling at him harder and finally with success, releasing Severus from the man's grip. With a strong arm around Moody's shoulder, he led the wizard down the other end of the row of chairs, far from Severus.

"You'll have to check on Hermione after this Poppy," Severus said softly. He didn't want the others to hear their discussion.

"How is she?" Poppy asked in the same tone.

"Not well. Weak and she's starting to cough a bit."

Poppy nodded. "Let's pray that it isn't pneumonia."

"That is what I fear," Severus admitted.

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"So are you willing to cover part time when Severus is unable?" Albus asked Horace Slughorn, who was the Potions Master at Hogwarts before Severus. He had just told Horace some of the information he needed to know as King Richard would explain on further later on. He asked Horace to once again come back to Hogwarts and teach when Severus wasn't able to.

"I see no problem with that," Horace replied. "I would enjoy going back into teaching. I am quite getting bored of independent research."

"Would you also be interested in handling Head House duties, since you were also once the head of Slytherin?" Albus asked.

"Not at all," Horace replied with a small smile. He was getting his old job back, part time, and couldn't wait.

"Wonderful!" Albus said as he shook Horace's hand. "I'm sure some of the staff would be glad to have you back."

Horace turned his hand and glanced at Severus who was seated two rows ahead of him, next to Poppy. He could clearly see that the man he thought he knew was clearly different. Despite the fact that he was wearing more casual attire, he could tell that Severus was nervous. Underneath Severus's chair, he could see him shake his foot slightly with his flip-flops. Since when was Severus the type to show nervousness in his body language?

When Albus had told him about Severus being married to the heir to the throne, who was no less Hermione Granger, he was very shocked. He never thought that Severus would marry, but had hoped long ago that he would find someone special in his life. Horace was one of the few people in Severus's life that spent some time with, other than Albus and Minerva, and Poppy. Severus was one of his best students when he taught at Hogwarts, and had also become his apprentice.

He couldn't admit it, but he somewhat looked at Severus as his son. It was Albus who was more 'fatherly' to him so to speak, and he knew that Severus looked up to him as a mentor. No, he was never jealous of Albus. He tried to examine Severus more closely. Who was that man? He couldn't be happier to hear that Severus was married and was about to have a son. Maybe what Albus said was right. Severus truly loved Hermione.

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King Richard walked into the room right after Alfred had announced that he was about to come in the room. When he stepped into the room, everyone stood up from their chairs and bowed their heads down at him. He then told everyone to sit back down and approached Severus.

"Where is Hermione?" he asked as he bent forward.

"Upstairs your Majesty," Severus replied. "She isn't feeling too well."

"And who is with her?"

"Ginerva Weasley."

King Richard nodded in approval. He didn't want Hermione to be alone, most especially when she was ill. He then asked Severus to follow him, which he did. When they got on stage, he stood behind the podium, as Severus stood tall, not far behind him.

With a scowl on his face, and arms crossed over his chest, Severus looked at the crowd with his black eyes. Some of them were bickering softly amongst themselves such as the two gossip queens, Hooch and Sprout. Even when King Richard was speaking and explaining the situation at hand, they still continued to whisper. The feeling of him being 'naked' in such attire that he wasn't used to letting anyone see was far from his mind. He could still feel her emotions—sadness and guilt. It was eating at him, but he didn't show it.

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"I didn't know the late Queen was a seer. Did you?" Aurora Sinistra asked Sybill Trelawney who was seated next to her.

"No, I didn't," Sybill answered, in a distant tone. She didn't turn to face her colleague. Through her big glasses, her eyes were too focused on Severus. she noticed that there was a glowing light surrounding him. The glow was very vague, but if she did stare at Severus and tried hard enough to look at the glow, it was there. How could she miss it yesterday? Maybe the glow was too vague, or perhaps she needed better and thicker glasses.

As a seer herself, she was the only one in the room to be able to see the glow surrounding Severus. It symbolized that Severus had found his true soul mate and was bound to her. With that, Sybill knew right away that Hermione herself had the glow around her herself. Yesterday, she had a hard time grasping that Severus was married to Hermione. Now though, when she saw the glow and heard the entire truth from King Richard, she accepted it, and was in awe. It was rare for wizards and witches to find their soul mates, making it very rare for seers to see such glows. Some seers never even got to see such a blessed bond of love between couples. Sybill never thought that she would see one either and yet, there it was in front of her.

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"Is there anything that you would like to add Severus?" King Richard asked as he turned to the man behind him.

Severus looked at the crowd. Some of them in a state of speechlessness as they tried to absorb the entire truth of what was and why. He shook his head, not wanting to speak. King Richard had said everything that he needed to say, and told them what was important, which was Hermione.

"That will be all then," King Richard said. "Lunch is ready and served in the dining hall." He dismissed everyone and turned to face Severus. "You think they took it well?"

"You are the King your Majesty. They had to take it well. If they heard the truth form me, I don't think that they would have believed me." He then turned his head a bit when he saw Arthur approach them.

"Severus, your Majesty," Arthur said as he bowed at him. "Arthur Weasley."

"Of course," King Richard said as he shook the man's hand.

"I don't know what to say but to apologize for my son's behavior," he said slightly embarrassed with nervousness. When King Richard started to talk about Ron, he remained silent and heard the King's words. A few of them being threat, harassment, and abusive. He couldn't agree all the more. All those words depicted Ron with the way he was towards Hermione. He couldn't be more embarrassed to say the least. A part of him felt like Ron was no longer his son. He told himself that he too had to protect Hermione from him.

"It is nothing that we can control Arthur," the King told him.

"I apologize Severus," Arthur said sadly.

"Your son's the one that needs to apologize," Severus stated. "There is nothing you need to apologize for to me."

Arthur smiled. "I am happy for you and Hermione. Congratulations in both your marriage and upcoming son."

"Thank you Arthur," Severus said. He wasn't surprised by his sudden acceptance of the truth. Arthur was a good man and held nothing against him. He then excused himself from both parties telling them that he had to return to Hermione.

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AN – Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Ginny and Severus talking a little more in the next chap. Review!