Disclaimer: All characters that are from the Harry Potter series, along with locations & other things recognizable to Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling.
A/N: Right now y'all just a heads up, I have been majorly slacking. I've been so worried over my interview on Tuesday...yes, tomorrow... so I haven't had the attention span to finish editing chapters 20-25, but I promise as soon as tomorrow as home and gone I will have them edited & posted for you all. Also chapters 10-18 have been updated if you so wish to go back & read them error free ^_^

Chapter 19

"Everything looks good. So what is your concern, dear?" Madame Poppy Pomfrey asked of the couple sitting before her. She was shocked in the almost complete swap of moods the couple had made. Where Hermione use to be the sweet and levelheaded member of any group, she was now the easily angered and quick to reprimand. Severus was once the greasy git, bat of the dungeons, 'cross me and you'll rue the day' bastard of Hogwarts, now he was the one that was the sound of reason and essentially Hermione's anchor to common sense and rationality.

"I know you can't tell me gender yet, but I was wondering if there was a way you could tell me why my mood swings are so drastic." Hermione lied. She was getting good at that lately. She wanted to know if she could possible have more then one loaf in the oven.

"Well, there is one spell I could do… But let me do it before I say what it's for." Poppy said, she was afraid that if she said what the spell was for, that Severus or Hermione would pass out and that was something that neither one needed from the other. "Ah. Well, hopefully all your years teaching Severus, and all your years of looking after Potter and Weasley, Hermione, you will have no problem looking after three children."

"Th-three?" Hermione stuttered. I had a feeling I was carrying two babies not one, but, three? Oh god! Hermione's thoughts where running in circles and she went pale.

"Love? Are you okay?" Severus was white knuckling it, bad. He was getting tunnel vision and it was going dark quickly after he was told they were going to have triplets. But he knew that he had to fight the reaction. He had to stay strong for Hermione.

"I thought it might be twins because of my weight gain but… not triplets." She turned panic stricken eyes towards the man she loves. "Severus, I don't think I can do this! I don't think my body can survive triplets! I'm too small! What if… oh god, what if they squish each other!" Severus pulled her against him as her fears came out as body wrenching sobs.

"Poppy, be a dear and get her a calming draught." He was shocked at his own calm demeanor but knew that if he even let her see a glimpse of his fear she would fall to her fear even more. He couldn't let that happen to her. He couldn't let his witch think that she wasn't capable of carrying these babies. She was capable of anything she set her mind to. Hell, that's the only reason I'm still breathing today, he thought as he took the potion from Poppy.

"Hermione, I need you to sit up." Severus tried to push her body off of his as gently as he could, but she refused to move. "Hermione, please." Still she wouldn't budge. Fine, if you want to be stubborn. He let out a deep sigh. "Granger, you will sit up this instant and take this potion. Now." Hermione sat bolt upright.

"You just… you just called me Granger." She went from one extreme to the next. First her fear of her babies being squished to death then to 'bull has seen red' pissed off. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Do not take that tone with me, Granger. You will do as I ask the first time or I will turn into your evil bastard of a potions professor, do you understand me?" Severus felt bad but he needed her to calm down. Not only for the sake of the babies but also for her sake. She would worry herself into a sick bed if she weren't careful.

"Fine, I'll take the damn potion, but I hope you enjoy the couch." She snapped at him. She hated when he took that tone with her and called her Granger. She had every right to be worried about her babies. "You would have been mad if I wasn't worried about carrying three. You would have thought I didn't care about these babies if I didn't start worrying."

"What?" Severus just looked at her like she had grown another head. Merlin, help me with these mood swings, he thought as he watched his five foot three furious girlfriend take the calming draught and continue to glare at him.

"You have no reason to be all pissy with me, Snape. I'm not tall like you or Fleur. The fear of our babies being squished is not uncalled for. So you snapping at me while I'm scared out of my mind is not okay." Hermione said as tears slid down her cheeks.

"Hermione, I did not mean to make you think I was mad at you. I'm not by any means mad. I was worried you would worry yourself into your sick bed and needed you to take the calming draught. I knew calling you Granger as I did would snap you out of the shock long enough to do as I asked." Severus said as he pulled her onto his lap and hugged her to his body.

"Ah, there you are Severus." Albus said from the door of the hospital wing.

"Can this wait, sir?" He didn't care if a student was drowning in the lake; his witch needed him more.

"It's nothing that you need to do at this moment. Just wanted to let you know our new DADA professor is going to need the Wolfsbane potion once a month." Albus was not surprised when the couple's heads whipped around to look at him. There had only ever been one man at the school that needed the potion. Though it couldn't be him, he died along side his wife. Didn't he? Hermione thought. She missed Remus, as did the rest of her friends.

"Remus… Remus is alive?"

Date posted: 2/28/2012