****I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters that you may recognize...they alllllllll belong to JKR!****

Hello all! Thank you so much for sticking by me and waiting patiently (I hope!) for the next chapter. You have all been wonderful. I've been home in Joplin for a couple weeks now, helping with tornado debris cleanup and whatnot. The damage is bad...worse that what the pictures and video show...but we will rebuild and we will move on! Please continue to keep Joplin in your prayers!

A couple months later, classes were going well and it seemed like my life was really starting to fall into place. I was blissfully happy with my marriage and truly couldn't have asked for a better man to be married to. Severus was incredibly attentive and although we hadn't actually spoken words of love, I knew I loved him and was fairly certain he returned that love. We just hadn't spoken the words out loud. We were taking our time and enjoying being with each other.

My day started off as any other day, waking up with Severus, just lying there and enjoying the moment. Soon, however, our moment was interrupted by my stomach. I bolted to the bathroom and emptied my stomach of the contents. Severus rushed in after me, held my hair and rubbed my back.

"What was that? Are you alright?" Severus asked, clearly worried about me.

I took a deep breath and let it out, getting my bearing straight before responding, "I'm not sure. I think I'm alright now. Help me up?"

Severus looked at me for a moment before standing and helping me up.

"Are you certain you're alright?" He asked.

I smiled up at him, "I'm fine for now. If it happens again, I promise I'll go see Madame Pomfrey."

"Indeed, you will," he replied.

A couple days later, I was still getting sick at random times throughout the day and Severus finally convinced me to go see Madame Pomfrey, although I was certain I already knew what was wrong. I decided to go during my free hour after assuring Severus he didn't need to come with me.

"Madame Snape, what seems to be the problem?" the matronly woman asked.

"Well, Poppy, I think I might be pregnant," I told her, smiling as I spoke.

"Wonderful! Let me just run a couple tests and I can tell you if you are, indeed, pregnant and how far along you may be," she told me.

She ran her wand over me and did a few complicated movements with her wand as a quill started scribbling furiously over a piece of parchment nearby.

She looked at the parchment for a moment before smiling and turning toward me.

"It would seem, Madame Snape, that you are indeed pregnant. You are just over 8 weeks pregnant right now. Your husband is perfectly capable of brewing some morning sickness potions as well as prenatal potions. Take it easy and I want to see you back here in a month for a checkup. Of course, you may come by sooner if you have any questions," Madame Pomfrey said.

"Alright, I think we can handle that. Thank you, Poppy. I think I should go tell my husband the good news now," I told her, then left.

I got back to my rooms to find Severus sitting in a chair by the fireplace, nervously bouncing his knee while reading the latest Potions Journal.

Before I had the chance to take off my robes, Severus was beside me, helping me to slip them off.

"How are you? Are you alright? What did Poppy have to say?" he asked quickly.

I chucked at the rapid succession of questions before responding, "I'm fine. All good things from Poppy."

He let out a breath that I don't think he realized he'd been holding. "Thank Merlin. What did she say was wrong?" he asked while he hung up my robes.

"Well, nothing is wrong per say. Actually, she gave me quite good news…or at least I think its good news," I said.

Severus just looked at me and raised an eyebrow to tell me to continue.

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves before I told him my news.

"I'm pregnant," I told him.

The silence was deafening. Severus seemed frozen in shock and finally wheezed out, "Pregnant?"

I looked up at him and gave him a small smile, "Yes. Pregnant."

He thought for a moment longer before giving me a genuine smile. "Pregnant. I'm going to be a father," he breathed out.

"Yes, you're going to be a great father," I told him.

He smiled at me brightly before picking me up and spinning me about. While he was a completely different man with me than what he showed the rest of the world, I had never seen him show so much emotion.

"I hope you're as happy about this as I am…and not just because of this whole stupid law," I said quietly.

He looked at me seriously for a moment. "I'm not pleased with this law or the fact that marriage and children were forced upon us. However, I am pleased with you and with our child," he told me while holding his hand over my womb.

"Really?" I questioned.

"Indeed," he said.

I smiled up at him and cupped his cheek, "You're a good man, Severus."

"Only for you, Elle," he said with a small smirk.

I felt completely content with my life and looked forward to the Christmas season coming upon us.