A/n: Remember: this is very much AU, which means that Deathly Hallows didn't happen. Voldemort's gone, but it happened differently (maybe one day I'll do a flashback chapter to how it all went down).

Disclaimer: Not mine, regretfully.

"Go on, then, you two."

"You knock, Harry."

"You're closer, Ron."

"But you know Snape was in the 'let's save Potter's life' business...he could very well kill me."

"Oh for the love of Merlin!" Ginny muttered, pushing her way past her brother and her boyfriend and gave three sharp raps to the wooden door. It had been a couple of weeks since Hermione had told the three of them that she was pregnant, and while Ginny had spoken to her several times, the boys had taken much longer to get over their shock and shove it through their thick skulls that their best friend was going to be a mother. Ginny had tried, unsuccessfully, to get the two of them to go to the dungeons several times, but it was only now that they had finally agreed to visit the place Hermione called home. They had held to the belief that Hermione would come to them to speak, that they wouldn't need to go out of their way to patch things up, but by the fourth or fifth day even Ron was begining to realize that that wouldn't be the case.

It had been two Fridays after Hermione's announcement that Ron had entered the common room, flopped down next to Harry on one of the sofas and said, "You know, I think we'll have to go to Snape's quarters if we want to speak to Hermione again." Ginny had just come into the common room from the girl's dormiotory when she heard this.

"About time one of you realized that," She said, hugging the books he had went to retrieve from her dorm to her chest as she looked down at the boys from over the back of the sofa. "Now, what are you going to do about it?"

"I suppose we'll tell her we're sorry and that we were simply shocked the next time we see her in the Great Hall," Harry answered.

"That could be days yet!" Ginny said, amazed by their lack of sense. "Why don't you just go visit her? I know she's down in her rooms right now."

"I'm not going to that gits' quarters," Ron insisted.

"That 'gits' quarters' are also Hermione's quarters, you git. When will you get over your fear of Snape and just go visit her already?"

"He hates us, Gin, you know that. Hermione's or not, we can't just walk down there and knock all pleasant like, and say 'excuse the years of hatred and loathing, but we'd like to sit down, have a cuppa, and be welcomed into your home'. He'd hex us a soon as we knocked."

"Then you might as well get used to the idea of never speaking to Hermione again. She's not going to come to you." Ginny uncrossed her arms, and made to go toward the portrait hole before turning to speak once more, "I'm going down there now. Would you like me to tell her you're both still being gormless about the whole thing?" As she crossed through the portrait hole, Harry turned to Ron once more, "You know, she's got a point..."

"Yeah, on her head," Ron interupped with a mutter.

"...about the whole thing," Harry continued, choosing to ignore Ron. "We should go."

"Fine, but you're doing the knocking."

"No, you can."

They continued their back and forth until the had caught up with Ginny and then picked back up on it when they had arrived at the dungeon door, but once Ginny had stepped forward and actual knocking had occurred, they both quieted quickly.

"Coming." They heard faintly from the other side of the door, and the footsteps that followed. As the door swung open, both Harry and Ron took a small step back, still seemingly unsure of their decision to come.

Hermione had been looking directly forward when she opened the door, and at first only saw Ginny. "Ginny!" she exclaimed happily, stepping slightly aside so that the redhead could enter the room.
"I brought back that book you let..." Ginny began, but was cut off quickly by a small squeek of surprise from Hermione.

"Harry...? Ron...?" she said quietly, almost as though she didn't believe her own eyes. She stepped into the hallway and quickly pulled the two to her in a hug, knowing that their being there was sign that they had gotten over themselves and their shock (or anger, as she still believed it had been, despite Ginny's assurances that they had simply been shocked). "I've missed you," she said quietly, pulling back, but holding onto their wrists. "Come in!" she said with a smile, pulling them forward as she moved back through the doorway.

Harry and Ron moved forward as though they had forgotten how to walk, stumbling slightly over their feet and robes, gazing open mouthed at their surroundings. They entered into a bit of a foyer, which had the main door, a side door that led to Snape's classroom, and a small table that currently held Hermione's school bag. From there they followed Hermione and Ginny into a room directly off of that area, where they saw a dining table and a living room area, where Hermione was currently settling herself and motioning for the others to join her. Much to the boys' surprise the rooms they could see were not dark and dank, as they had expected, but actually much lighter and seemed to be cozy. The couches were of black leather, but there were throw pillows of bright gold and green and the rug in front of the fireplace was Gryffindor red (which Ron raised an eyebrow at, unable to believe snape would have such an enemy color in his home).

"So, Hermione," Ron said, as he sat down, "how's Sn...Professor Snape?" He had seen his parent's in polite conversation and had actually managed to pick up a few social ques over the years, and remembered that his father always asked about the absent person first.

Hermione giggled quietly at Ron's obvious attempt not to call Severus by his last name alone, "He's well," she said, "Busy with classes, as usual." she added, not used to talking about Severus with her two best friends. She had gotten over the awkward feeling with Ginny months before, not long after Ginny had boldly asked about their sex life, but she hadn't had a chance to get things to a new normal with Harry and Ron.

"And the baby?" Harry asked, the very word 'baby' feeling weird on his tongue.

"She's wonderful," Hermione answered with a warm smile, placing one hand on her small bump.

"She?" Ginny shrieked, "You didn't tell me you knew what it was!"

"That's because I don't know," she said with a laugh, "I just don't like calling the baby an 'it', so some days she's a she and some days he's a he."

"Will you be able to find out?" Harry asked, unsure of exactly how things like that happened in the wizarding world. Hermione was the first magical person he knew to be pregnant.

"Madame Pomfrey says she can tell me, but I'm not sure if I want to find out."

"We will be finding out," came a voice from a door along the wall of the fireplace that Harry and Ron hadn't noticed before.

"Severus," Hermione said, turning slightly in her seat to look at her husband, "I had forgotten you didn't have afternoon classes today."

"Obviously," he said, sneering in the direction of the two male visitors.

A/n: What's this? An update within a month? And one of semi-substantial proportions (or at least substantial for this author)? Yes, yes it is! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It feels a little different to me from the others I've written, but that's probably because I've always had a difficult time writing Harry and Ron. And I was pretty sure had never described the Snapes' quarters as I imagine them before, so I thought I should here. Anyway! Let me know what you think. I love reading reviews and hearing that people are reading and enjoying the story. If it wasn't for ya'll I probably would have stopped writing this a long time ago, but everytime I read a review it renews my interest in the story of this version of Hermione and Severus.