Triad of Mothers
Chapter 3: Help Incoming
Severus didn't leave his office until he felt the wards indicate that people had just entered the Manor via the floo. He took some deep, shaky breaths before entering the entrance hall and saw that the Tonkses were the first to arrive.
"Severus," Andromeda breathed as she looked at him with a motherly worry in her eyes.
She rushed over to him and took him into her arms. Two more sets of arms joined hers and he was trying not to let his emotions spill over again in the safety and warmth of their hold.
"Did you manage to call everyone?" Andromeda said gently as she pulled back to look him up and down with worried eyes, checking for injuries alongside her husband.
"Almost," Severus said quietly.
She nodded in understanding, "Where are the kids?"
"Follow me," was all Severus found it in himself to say.
And he turned around, leading the three of them to the family sitting room where he found Harry and Luna curled up together on the sofa, attempting to take comfort in one another. Nym ran over to them both and hugged them gently, and they seemed to melt into the comfort of it.
Severus sat next to the two teens and barely refrained from curling in on himself as Andromeda and Ted moved to stand in front of them.
"So, Sev, what happened when you were… taken? Are there any injuries I need to heal?" Ted asked gently as Nym pulled back from the teens and looked them up and down with worried eyes.
"No injuries, I believe. It is more just the fact that we are all pregnant with the Dark Lord's children," Severus said, shocking the three newcomers into silence as they stared at the three who had been taken with concern and care.
"Right…" Ted seemed to be choking back something, probably anger if the fire in his eyes had any indication, "How… How did you get pregnant?"
"Through a ritual. I believe it was the Triad of Mothers ritual but it was all a bit fuzzy," Severus said, looking down at his knees for all of a second before looking back at the healer.
"Okay," Ted said gently, looking at them all with sad, caring eyes, "We can work with that. Although, I will let you all know that due to the magics involved in the ritual you will not be able to abort your pregnancies. I am sorry if that is what you wanted, but that doesn't mean you can't give the babies up for adoption when they are born. Although given that he used that particular ritual to get you all pregnant, and your power levels, I assume he had a reason for doing this to you all,"
"Indeed," Severus said, "He wanted to torture us with the pregnancies, with childbirth, and then with having to watch as he took our children from us with full intention of raising them for the purpose of being to take over the world. He was going to torture us to death after we gave birth, of course, but we managed to escape shortly after the ritual happened thanks to our now combined magics,"
Ted nodded in understanding before waving his wand over the three of them to get their medical histories.
"The babies have settled nicely. I will be getting each of you started on a course of pre-natal potions. And Harry, you need a lot of healing to recover from… But we will get you in tip top shape, don't you worry. Severus, you need to eat more, and Luna, you need more sleep. We have time, though, to make sure you and the babies are all healthy, and safe. Now Severus, did you call for Healer Greyclaw?" Ted asked gently.
"Yes,"
"Good. Three pregnancies at the same time is a lot to be dealing with. There is a chance, a small one, but still a chance, that you may all give birth at the same time, so the more people with healing capabilities around, the better,"
"How… How are the Professor and I meant to give birth?" Harry whispered, sounding absolutely terrified.
The three newcomers look at the boy in shock.
"He didn't have the tests that would have shown he was a bearer. He doesn't know anything," Severus explained to them gently, "And Harry," he turned to Harry and held the boys hand gently, "At the end of the eighth month of our pregnancy, at thirty six weeks, our body and magic will create a birth canal attached to our womb which we will be able to give birth through when the time comes. It will disappear about a week after we give birth. It usually happens over night so we don't feel it happening, and our magic makes the formation of our canal painless anyway, if you do feel anything it will just feel… tingly,"
"Where-where is the canal going to be?" Harry said.
Severus couldn't help but blush, "It will be… right where it would be if we were women. In between our penis and our rectum,"
Harry blushed, too, "R-right…" he nodded, "And what will happen if we give birth at the same time?"
Ted smiled at the teen gently, "Well, young one, given the magic of this ritual it is best that the three of you remain together during childbirth to help stabilise your magics and such. So you will all have to give birth in the same room in that instance, and myself and Healer Greyclaw will be running between you all trying to keep an eye on things. However, as I said, there is only a small chance that this will happen. There are a number of things to consider such as all of your general health's, how the babies are, etcetera. You will all probably give birth at different times, I can't say in which order, or when it is going to happen, babies come when they want to come. I can give you an approximate due date, but it is rare that the babies, especially since they are all your first babies, will arrive on their due date. In any case, though, you will all be in the same room when any of you gives birth. The magics of the ritual, and your own magics will need the stabilising effects of you all being close. Obviously anyone else you want in the room with you can be there as well, but we will get there when we get there,"
"And, erm, how… How does it work?" Harry said, sounding very confused.
"Much like a woman's birth. There are stages to it. It gets more painful as time goes on. Your cervix will need to dilate to ten centimetres before you can start to push the baby out. At some point the amniotic sack will break, and the fluid will come out in either a trickle or a gush. Magic is a great aid in the childbirth process, however. It tells you, the labouring mother, what to do, what you will be more comfortable doing, and mostly it will just be you going with what your body and magic is telling you to do. Healer Greyclaw and I will be there, just in case of an emergency, to keep an eye on things, to help you remain calm if needed, and to deal with healing you, and checking on the baby after it is born. But mostly you just do what you need to do. You listen to your body and magic. I'm not saying that non magicals don't have a sense of what they need to do, many of them do, but it isn't as easy for them. Not that childbirth is easy, but innately knowing what you need to do to make yourself more comfortable, or to make things move a tad faster, or knowing when something is wrong, or whatever else does have a habit of helping magical mothers through the process with less fear and such,"
Severus felt a tingle in the wards as more people arrived and he stood to go and greet them. He was grateful when Andromeda walked alongside him, he needed something to ground him.
She stopped him as soon as they exited the family room, though.
"Sev, are you… I mean, you're clearly not okay, but…" she clearly didn't know what to say, which was a shock considering how she was in the courtroom, or just anywhere else really.
"I… I mean I finally get to have a baby, and it is because myself and two of my students were kidnapped by a monster and used in a ritual. We had to imagine that this monster would take our babies from us and raise them horribly for his own plans to conquer the world. I…"
She wrapped her arms around him and he sunk into her embrace, needing something. Anything really.
"It'll be okay, Sev. I promise. We will all do everything we can to keep the three of you and your babies safe. From everyone,"
"That's easier said than done," he whispered.
"I know. But it doesn't mean we can't do it,"
They stood like that for a few more minutes before the wards indicated that more people had arrived and Severus led his friend to where they were all waiting for him.
"Severus," Kingsley, Bill and Charlie said at the same time, sounding very relieved to see him as they bounded over to him and wrapped him in their strong arms.
He saw Draco gaping at him over Bill's shoulder, and Neville for that matter.
But he didn't care.
Especially as Draco walked up to him with worry in his eyes.
"Uncle Sev?" he said quietly as the three men let go of him.
"I'll be fine, Dragon. I… We just need to be in hiding for a while, is that okay?" Severus said.
Draco nodded and wrapped his arms around his godfather.
"More than okay," Draco whispered against the man's chest.
"Where's Luna, Severus? Is she okay?" Xenophilius asked worriedly from his spot next to the Weasley twins.
"She's in the family sitting room. I will take you all there now," Severus said as he let go of his godson and led them all, since they had all arrived, to the sitting room.
Xenophilius rushed over to Luna as soon as he saw her, and Luna gladly fell into her father's arms. Harry was soon surrounded by the Weasleys, Fleur and Neville. And everyone else stayed with Severus, for which he was rather grateful.
"Severus, do you care to inform me as to why yourself and the two teens you were captured with are pregnant?" Healer Greyclaw growled with anger at the people who had attacked them.
However, the growl was loud enough to attract the attention of everyone in the room, and so everyone was looking at the three in shock.
"We were used in the Triad of Mothers ritual, by the Dark Lord himself," Severus said.
She nodded to herself a few times, an angry gleam in her eyes, and then she turned back to the door as if to leave, only to be stopped by King Ragnok himself standing in front of her… and she growled at him.
"You can't kill him Healer Greyclaw," King Ragnok said in a booming voice that defied his small stature.
"Why not? He impregnated my babies against their will," she growled.
"There is a prophecy in play. You know we can't go against Fate," he said.
"Why not?" she repeated, "In any case, the prophecy says 'power he knows not', I am a power he knows not,"
"That is true, yes. But you are not the boy. The 'power he knows not' has to come from the boy. And it will, once him and his child are safe,"
"What if the boy were to give me orders to go and kill the bastard, painfully? Then I would be coming from the boy, and I will be the 'power he knows not',"
"Please do," Harry muttered from his spot on the sofa.
"See, the boy clearly wants me to go and kill the bastard, so why can't I?" she said, beaming at Harry, who smiled shyly back.
"That is not the way Fate works, and you know that. We can't defy one of our Ladies. We can help, sure, but we can't do things for him. We can train him. We can protect him. But we cannot cast the final blow. Which you know,"
"But why?" she practically whined, which was very unnatural for her, "He's just a child. He shouldn't be involved in this. Especially not with his own little one on the way,"
"I know. But it is He who set the blasted prophecy into motion by trying to kill the boy. And it is Dumbledore's fault for letting it happen in the first place. We will help. And we will fix things. But we can't do this for the boy. He is powerful, and he is more powerful now than he was before. He can do this. With all of us at his side. When the time is right,"
She growled at him, but nodded, not seeming happy about it at all.
"Severus, since we all seem to be here, unless you are calling for Nick, too, maybe you should lock down the Manor… Just so that this one doesn't escape to go on a killing spree, of course," King Ragnok said, grinning when Healer Greyclaw growled at him even more.
"I figured I would wait to call on them unless we really needed them. They are rather busy at the moment," Severus said, grinning also at the irate goblin healer as he locked down the wards of the Manor so she couldn't escape to kill anyone. Or attempt to, as it were.
Severus collapsed back onto the sofa with the two teens, and Xenophilius who had squeezed his way between Luna and the arm of the sofa to hold his daughter in his arms, and everyone gathered around them.
"So, I take it we are all here to help you all with the pregnancies, and to protect you all," Kingsley said, a fierceness in his voice, but softness in his eyes as he looked between the three of them.
"Indeed," Severus said softly, "I don't know how much protection we'll need, this place is well hidden, but we can never be too sure. And we don't know how we are going to be affected by the pregnancies, and when we are further along things will be difficult for us. We will also need potions made that I won't be able to make, but you, Andromeda, the twins and Draco can make them for us. And, Merlin forbid, should anything happen whilst any of us are in labour, then none of us will be able to protect ourselves all that much during that time, so we will need help. I will call Nick in if we need him, but I am hoping it won't be necessary. I was also hoping the goblins and Bill could add some wards, maybe. Whatever they deem necessary,"
"Of course, Severus," King Ragnok said.
"And obviously Ted and Healer Greyclaw are here as our healers, and will also be able to help with potions and such. Draco and Neville are here mostly to protect them from Dumbledore and the Dark Lord whilst we're in hiding. Though, as I said, Draco can help with the potions that we need to keep stocked up on. And Neville can help with the plants in the greenhouses and gardens. Charlie, you can help with the animals in the gardens also, if that is okay?"
Charlie nodded with a grin on his face.
"There are some house elves also, who will be cooking, cleaning and helping with protection and such. But you can never have too many people around in circumstances like this. Even if we get to the end of the pregnancies and find that it wasn't necessary, at least we were prepared for everything," Severus said.
"And we have time to plan what we are going to do, in regards to the Dark Lord, and Dumbledore," Andromeda smirked.
Severus nodded, too exhausted to do much else.
"Right, you three need to rest," Bill said gently, "Go to bed. The goblins and I will get started on the wards. Some standard pregnancy potions can get made whilst you are resting, along with maybe some standard healing potions. We don't know what will happen so we need to be prepared for everything. Charlie can go and check on the animals, and Neville on the plants. You three do not need to worry about a thing, we are all here to protect and look after you now,"
"You know you're talking to Professor Sev, right, brother?" Fred said, looking at Bill incredulously.
"Professor Sev will never stop worrying," George nodded alongside his twin.
"He is a worrier," Fred said.
Bill sighed, "Right, yes, however they need to rest, and I was just stating a fact. We are here to look after them now, they are safe now. Yes, he will always worry, that is who he is, but right now him resting is much more important. And he brought us all here to protect him, Harry and Luna, that means he must trust us to do so without worrying too much," he said.
Severus just shook his head, much too exhausted to do anything, the two teens on the sofa with him also looked exhausted. So he stood, and he helped Harry up as Xenophilius helped his daughter up, and soon the four of them were making their way up the stairs.
"From what little I know about the ritual the three of you can't be separated for more than an hour at a time whilst your magics are settling into its new bond, right?" Xenophilius said nervously, looking between Severus and the teens.
"Yes, sir," Severus said respectfully, "But I assure you that I mean no harm to your daughter, or to Harry. I have sworn a vow of protection towards my students, and I shan't harm them. I have no interest in a romantic relationship with either of them. Yes, we are bonded together by magic, but not in that way, not if that isn't what we all want. We can be friends. We can be family. But I will not be taking advantage of them. I promise. I will protect them as much as I can. And I will look after them. But I will not hurt them, especially not like that. Whatever happens between us, it will all be up to them. This ritual, whilst not pleasant, isn't restrictive in the type of bond we can form," he was fierce in his determination to show the man that he wasn't going to hurt his daughter, but he was also tired, so very tired, and just wanted to sleep.
And perhaps not wake up for a very, very long time.
Xenophilius nodded and Severus led them all into the bedroom they had shared the previous night. Not that it was night time again, it had really only been a few hours.
They were rather magically spent though, after the ritual and tearing through the wards on both Manors.
It didn't take long for the three of them to fall asleep, almost cuddled together, with Xenophilius watching over them protectively.
Hiya, how are you all?
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was meant to be published last week but I am a bit of a mess at the moment and too exhausted really to update as often as I had been doing for a little while. We'll get there though, I suppose. So what's going to happen now? Who are the main three going to get with, I wonder, if anyone? How will they get rid of Voldie and Dumbles? When will they give birth? Together, or separately? If separately, who first? What genders will the babies be? Names? Will they be blood adopted by the potential future partners of the three? Who the hell knows?
Anywho, I am working on some spotify playlists for my fanfics, so if you can think of any songs you think work with the stories as they are so far, or where you think they are going, or songs that give you the vibes you get from the stories, then please do let me know and I will give them a listen, then potentially add them to the playlists. I will let you know as soon as they are ready, though it may take a few weeks because life.
Anyone want an essay/rant regarding my completely honest opinions about my favourite character, Severus Snape? Or a petition as to why I think I should be cast as Severus in the HBO series despite being a woman? You know, just so he is played by someone who loves, understands and respects the character properly?
All jokes aside (are they jokes though, really?) I have a Facebook group called Maraudering_Paige which you are all welcome to join if you would like to and are able to. It is where we can talk about Harry Potter, fanfics, life, share memes and more. It is also where I have somewhat of an update schedule for my fics and will be keeping you up to date on what I am working on, in regards to fanfics, original works, and more things. So if you are interested in joining then I am more than happy to accept you all.
I hope you are having an amazing day!
Kind regards,
Paige xx