Disclaimer: Let's see…do I own this? No. Do I have any right to anything here? Absolutely not. I won't even claim the plot or the unborn child. J.K. Rowling—mastermind that she is—can have it all if she chooses. I just like to borrow the characters for a bit.

Hermione, despite her original thoughts, had not rushed out and told everyone she saw that she was expecting. She had thought, in the brief moments before she became terrified Severus would reject their child, that she would share the news with her husband and then go right to Harry and Ron and share the news with her best friends. She didn't expect them to be thrilled for her, but she knew that eventually they would be disappointed if they weren't among the first to know. But after she had convinced herself that Severus would hate her for becoming pregnant, she had decided that much thought would have to be given to telling anyone. She knew, logically, that she should alert Professor Dumbledore and Madame Pomphrey, who, after all, would be taking care of her. She was far too happy, those first few days, to think of letting anyone else share in her joy.

She had been apprehensive, obviously, about telling Severus, but after he had assured her he was delighted with the development she let her mind begin to wonder to what it would be like to be a mother. She had hardly been old enough to be of marrying age and now she was only half a year older. She would technically be nineteen when her baby was born and she could only hope that she would be ready by that time to be a mother. And her husband may have been older, but he had less experience with children than she. She would, she decided, have to start telling people. She had to so that she could tell Mrs. Weasley and have someone who had raised nearly every sort of child there was to help her.

Her own parents, while loving, wouldn't be of much help, she ultimately decided. They had raised a witch, but they hadn't known it at the time and they wouldn't know what to tell her to do when her child crashed his or her toy broom or how to explain that most magic had to wait until school. And if the magical reasons weren't enough, her parents just didn't have all that much experience raising her—magical or not. She had had a nanny for most of her eleven years prior to school and her parents had been at work most days and she had went to bed early most nights. She loved her parents, but she didn't know them that well, if she were honest with herself. They were still extremely busy with their dental professions and Hermione had only heard from them once every few months since she had married Severus. Still, though, she felt it her responsibility to let them know first, before she shared her happy news with the others. She jotted a quick note and sent it off with the owl she shared with Severus.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I hope this finds you well. Severus and I are wonderful and have had great news recently. We're expecting our first child this fall. We're both excited and hope you are as well.

Much love,

Hermione

It was a simple note and only covered the basics, but it left Hermione feeling as though she were able to tell others. Her largest challenge would be telling Harry and Ron. They were still her best friends and though they had come to terms with her marriage and understood the reasons why she had married Severus—though they still didn't understand why she actually seemed happy with him—they still rarely visited her in her quarters and if she wished to see them she had to make the long trek up to Gryffindor Tower or wait until it was a night for her to dine in the Great Hall. She preferred not to announce her pregnancy in front of the entire school.

That Thursday, before she was due to eat dinner with Severus, she travelled up to the Tower and sought out her best friends. She was only about two months pregnant and the trip was still easy for her, but she could only imagine what it would be like in the coming months. Harry and Ron might have no choice but visit me in my rooms, she thought with a small laugh to herself.

When she entered the common room she didn't have to look far for her friends, they were in their customary spots in front of the fire, Ron and Harry on the couch and Ginny leaning against Harry's legs. She hadn't thought of telling Ginny at the same time as the other two—she had thought that, knowing Ginny's need to ask multiple personal questions, it would be best to tell them separately. Now she couldn't very well ask to speak to Harry and Ron without upsetting Ginny.

"Hi guys," she said as she walked toward the fire and sat down between Harry and Ron.

"'Mione, tell these two gits that your room isn't all green and black." Ginny said, with no greeting what-so-ever.

"Not until you stop calling me 'Mione, I'm not," she said with more sarcasm than anything. She had nearly given up in reforming Ginny's bad habit picked up from her twin brothers. "And even then, if they want to know anything about my rooms, they'll have to come and visit and see for themselves."

Ginny nodded in agreement, having long ago found out for herself that there was nothing wrong with visiting Hermione in the dungeons—if Snape wasn't there, of course.

"What brings you out of the cave, Hermione?" Harry asked, changing the subject to something that would hopefully be less uncomfortable.

"I have something to tell you three, actually," she said with a smile, hoping they wouldn't jump to conclusions.

"You're dumping ol' greasy and coming back to us?" Ron asked with hope in his voice.

"No, Ronald, I am not!" Hermione nearly shouted, smacking Ron's arm in indignation. "And it's Professor Snape," she added as an afterthought, having come to the conclusion that her husband deserved the respect that his title brought to him.

"What do you need to tell us?" Ginny asked, already seeming to be excited by the very prospect of news. She was normally a calm girl, the levelheadedness that Harry and Ron lacked more often than not. Hermione often found herself lamenting the fact that Ginny had seemed to take her place in their little trio, but those thoughts didn't last long.

"Let's go to the boys' room," Hermione said, standing before anyone agreed or disagreed.

"Must be really important," Harry observed as he stood and made his way behind Hermione.

On the way to the boys' dorm Hermione was gripped with a sudden fear of how her three best friends would take the news. She was thrilled, Severus was thrilled, she honestly could care less if her parents were thrilled, but she wanted her friends to at least be happy for her. She had reread the fine print on her marriage contract the other day and she and Severus had to have a child or be expecting by the time a year had passed, so she had to have the child—and it was a darn good thing she already loved it.

Once they were settled in, Ron on his bed and Ginny and Harry together at the foot of his, Hermione began pacing back and forth slightly in front of the window. After a few moments of brief starts and stops on Hermione's part—and several promptings from an impatient Ron—Hermione began.

"Severus and I…" she started once again, before stopping and glaring at Ron, "Are not divorcing, separating, or anything of the sort. We are, in fact, going to be, well, parents." She nearly whispered the last word.

"Did she say 'parents'?" Harry asked Ginny in a whisper. Ginny nodded, grinning madly from ear to ear. She was by far the most adjusted of all Hogwarts students when it came to the head girl and the potion professor's relationship. She saw this latest development as simply another step in their marriage.

"Oh, Hermione, that's wonderful!" She said, bouncing off the bed and quickly enveloping Hermione in a hug. Hermione, for her part, wasn't expecting such an enthusiastic response from anyone, not even Ginny.

"Th—thanks," she stuttered, using a free hand to move a bit of Ginny's red hair away from her face and peeking around to see Harry and Ron. They were both still in their same spots from before, though Ron's mouth was slightly more agape than before. His already pale skin had paled even more and his freckles were standing out like neon paint.

"Say something, you two," she said as Ginny let her out of the hug, "That was only the second most important announcement I've ever made in my life." Ginny had sidled back over to Harry's bed and as she sat down gave him a none too subtle poke in the shoulder.

"Hermione…" he paused, "It's just…I don't think we…you…a baby…" his words weren't coming out clearly and Hermione sighed, resigned to her thought that her best friends weren't going to be supportive as she had hoped.

"Its fine, I'm just going to go," she muttered as she strode toward the door, tears already welling in her eyes and sobs choking her breath.

Damn emotions!

A/n: I can't believe it's been over a year since I last updated and three years since I wrote the first chapter. I don't know how many of you will be willing to pick back up on a fic that hasn't seen the light of day since this time last year, but for those of you who do come back to Look and those of you who are reading it for the first time, I thank you for doing so. The very thought that people are reading what I've written is heartwarming. Please review and let me know—good or bad—how you think this chapter went. I was a little rusty writing it, but I'm happy with how it turned out.