The next months of school seemed to come and go far too quickly to be possible, and yet still they had passed. Christmas had come and it was now a week after New Year's Day. Hermione had read many of the books at their home in Spinner's End and knew the titles and authors of all of those she had yet to read, and had succeeded in finding a book Severus did not have about potion making. She had given it to him for Christmas and been pleasantly surprised when he gave her a necklace with a golden lion dangling delicately on the chain. It matched the bracelet Luna had given her the year before quite well.
Now that Christmas and New Years were over, things were settling down again and classes were falling back into their regular patterns. Hermione had found it strange, waking up on Christmas morning beside a still-sleeping Severus and realizing that exactly a year before he had been down on one knee asking for her hand.
She had watched him sleeping for several moments, allowing a wave of memories to wash over her. Exactly two years before, she and Harry had been in Godric's Hollow in the graveyard looking over the place where his parents were buried. It seemed so very long ago that they had been there together, without Ron, but at the same time it felt as if it had only happened yesterday and two years couldn't possibly have gone by.
She sat at her desk, grading homework even while she was musing over the holidays. She remembered when she'd found the notes written by young female students about their suspicions of she and Severus' budding relationship and she smiled; they had been right.
Ginny Weasley was sneaking up the hall, not wanting her best friend to hear her footsteps as she approached. She pushed the door open wide enough to peek through and see Hermione, who was sitting behind her desk. Her head was bent over papers, probably grading homework, and there was a ghost of a smile hovering over her lips as she worked. She looked up when Ginny pushed the door open all of the way and stepped inside, approaching the desk.
There were smiles and hugs and Hermione started putting away the papers. Ginny shrugged. "If you're busy, I can leave you until later."
Hermione shook her head. "No, no, it's fine. I'll do it later."
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "That looked like a lot of work. Are you sure?"
Hermione smiled. "I'm sure."
She was smiling one moment but then she was frowning, and she put a hand on the desk after a moment and leaned on it, raising her other hand to rub her temple. She grimaced and moved to sit on the front of her desk like she always did. She looked fine now, but Ginny had seen her pained expression.
"Something wrong?" the redhead asked, concerned.
Hermione shrugged. "I've been feeling mildly ill over the past week or two, but I'm fine now." She saw Ginny's worried expression and said, "Don't worry; I'm all right."
Ginny frowned now, narrowing her eyes at Hermione. She hadn't sat on the edge of the closest student's desk as she usually would have by then, and Hermione noticed. She gave Ginny a questioning look, but the younger woman shook her head before she sat down.
"You had some time away from quidditch then?" Hermione asked, changing the subject.
Ginny nodded. "Just a few days, and I decided to come visit you. Then I'll go back home for a few days."
Hermione smiled. "How is everyone there?"
Ginny grinned back. "Good. Mum and Dad are doing well, Bill and Fleur have been visiting pretty often, and Fleur's actually bearable to be around now." She winked and went on, "Charlie stopped in for Christmas and that was nice. Percy's been busier with work but he always makes time to spend with the rest of us, especially me and George. George and Angelina are planning and their wedding should be at the beginning of the summer." She paused for a moment and sighed. "And I'm fine."
Hermione's brow creased. She bit her lip, releasing it to ask quietly, "And Ron?"
Ginny sighed again. "He's . . ." she shook her head, frowning. "He's . . . I don't know anymore. He's distant, reclusive. He doesn't look like he gets much sleep anymore and when he does come to eat with us he doesn't eat much. It's the complete opposite than how he's ever been."
Hermione grimaced; she felt as if his depression—or whatever was wrong with him—was her fault. Ginny noticed the sad, worried look on Hermione's face and jumped to change the subject. "Teddy's doing well. He's getting big," she said in an attempt to turn the talk away from Ron.
Hermione brightened at the mention of the baby. "Is he very big?" she asked, smiling at the thought.
Ginny nodded. "Yes, walking now, toddling all over the place. It's a full time job keeping him out of trouble these days. Harry takes over for Mum whenever he's home and we try to take turns and give her breaks, you know, the like. He's quite the personality though."
Hermione leaned forward, wanting to hear more. Teddy was adorable and it sounded like he was only becoming more loveable as the days went by.
Ginny smiled widely as she thought about her adopted brother. "He still hasn't let his hair stay the same color for two days in a row. We wake up and each time it's a new shade of some color or other. I didn't know there were so many variations to the rainbow until I started taking care of that baby!"
Hermione smiled and looked past Ginny, picturing the little boy's face and remembering the sound of his laugh.
She didn't see as Ginny tensed suddenly and then leaned forward. "Hermione," she said, whispering now rather than talking loudly.
Hermione came back from her thoughts and looked at Ginny, who was suddenly quite pale, which was sure something because she had naturally pale skin. "Yes?" she asked, worried about her friend. "What is it?"
"How long did you say you've been feeling sick?" Ginny was still whispering, very white in the face, and still tense.
Hermione didn't understand. She frowned. "Er, about a week and a half, maybe two?" she raised her eyebrows, but then frowned again. "What? Why?"
Ginny swallowed. "Did you ever think maybe you were sick because . . ." she trailed off and bit her lip.
Hermione let out a nervous laugh. "Um, Ginny, what are you talking about? You don't look well and-"
She was cut off when Ginny abruptly said, "A baby." It was more of a squeak than a squeal, and Hermione stopped and looked at her strangely.
"I don't think I understand what you're-" but then it hit her. She stopped and looked at Ginny. They stared at each other for a few seconds and then Hermione nodded once. "Oh. You think . . .? I suppose it's possible . . ."
She licked her lips and then stood up. "There's a relatively simple spell to use to check . . ."
Only moments later the two of them were hugging and smiling, both of them caught between laughing and crying. Hermione ran her hands over her face, biting her lip after they had stopped hugging and giggling.
Ginny asked the obvious question. "When are you going to tell Severus? And how will you do it?"
Hermione shook her head, smiling. "How? I'll tell him as it is. I'm not sure how he'll feel but," she shrugged, "it is what it is. And when? Let's see, probably tonight. After dinner."
Ginny nodded and took a deep breath, letting her chest heave and her shoulders sag afterwards. She shook her head. "Can I tell harry when I get home tomorrow?"
Hermione took a deep breath. "You can tell the whole family," she said after a moment.
Ginny smiled, squeezing Hermione's arm. She glanced at the clock and said, "Speaking of dinner, it's about time we got to the Great Hall."
Hermione nodded as they linked arms. "Of course it is."
They walked to the Great Hall, and when they entered they squeezed each other's arms again, this time not letting go. They sat down at the staff table, and Ginny was at the end of the table, not beside Hermione, who found herself trembling slightly as she took her seat beside her husband. What would he think? She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and looked back to her empty plate when she saw that he was looking back.
Severus frowned; Hermione was acting strange. If she thought he didn't notice how she was trembling and fidgeting then she was wrong. And she kept sneaking glances at him and looking away when she found she'd been caught. What was the matter with her?
He decided grudgingly that it could wait until they were back in their rooms but hardly paid any attention to what he was eating because he was worried about Hermione. She had walked in with Ginny. Perhaps there was some news from the Burrow that had upset her or made her excited? Her strange behavior didn't necessarily point to something being wrong; she might just be happy about something or other.
After the meal was over Ginny gave Hermione a hug and a smile. She whispered in her ear, "Good luck, and congratulations, by the way," and then Severus was there beside her, offering his arm. Hermione looked up into his face as they walked through the dungeon and then the teachers' lounge. Once they were in their rooms and had changed she sat on the edge of the bed in her pajamas. Severus went to the bathroom and Hermione let herself collapse onto the bed on her back. After a moment she leaned against the pillows and looked down at her midsection. She pressed her hand against her lower stomach. Could there really be a human, a living thing, a baby, growing there?
Severus opened the door to the bathroom, unintentionally quiet and stealthy as always, and looked up to find Hermione gazing intently at her stomach. Was she ill? Did she have cramps or way something the matter? He stood in the doorway to the bathroom and watched as she lifted a hand to touch her stomach. There was something in the way she let her fingers brush her own skin, almost a reverence in the way she looked at and touched her midsection.
Severus walked towards the bed and Hermione looked up at him. This wasn't how she'd planned on him finding out, but she supposed it wasn't a bad way to start the conversation. She knew by the frown on his face that he'd seen her looking at and touching her stomach and was about to ask if she was quite well or something was wrong. He sat down in the chair beside the bed and raised his eyebrows at her, asking the question she knew he would, though he didn't actually voice it.
Hermione took a deep breath. Why not just get it out? She had said to Ginny that she would tell Severus as it was, but now, with him gazing at her so steadily, so intently, she found a spark of fear ignited in her heart. She licked her lips, biting them and looking at the floor as she moved her hand from her stomach. She opened her mouth and for a moment no words came. And then two simple ones left her lips and that was all it took. "I'm pregnant."
Severus continued to stare into her eyes for another moment and then he blinked several times as if he was just realizing what she had said. "You're sure?" he asked. The words could have been hurtful, if he'd used the proper tone of voice. But no, he had spoken softly, kindly, almost hopefully. He was being careful with her; she suddenly seemed so much more fragile than even before.
"Quite sure," she said.
He inclined his head. "Well, I would suggest names but I'm sure you've gone so far as to think of first names and middle names, perhaps even nicknames, already."
Hermione was even now unused to him making jokes, and she raised her eyebrows. She had played scenarios of how he would react to the news all through dinner, and this was certainly not a reaction she had thought would occur. She managed a small smile. "You're not upset then? You're happy?"
He actually smiled, widely, genuinely. "No, I am not upset. And yes, I am pleased."
She smiled wider now. There was so much more in his eyes that she knew he would never say with his lips, but she could read the words in his eyes and as long as she could see them there she would never worry over not hearing them from his lips.
They fell asleep, Severus' arms wrapped around her as always, after discussing names and whether they would send the child to school or teach him or her at home. They had even had a playful argument over the baby's gender; Hermione wanted it to be a boy and therefore insisted that was what they should call it, and Severus wanted a girl and argued accordingly.
He didn't tell Hermione that he was still unsure of how to feel about a baby. He was pleased, that much was true, but he was also worried. What if he was a terrible father? What if something happened and he could no longer support Hermione and the child? There were so many new things that could go wrong, now that he had received the news. And on top of all of that, he had never, before loving Hermione, wanted children, even if he worked with them every day at Hogwarts. So he was unsure. And what if he didn't fancy the baby after it had been born and the child once it had grown? What then? He was more confused than anything, befuddled, surprised. But he looked down on Hermione's face, pale and peaceful in the darkness, and was sure that he could do nothing but love and adore anything she gave him, and if it was a child who was anything like her, he would never feel anything but affection and tenderness for them.
I don't have much to say about this chapter besides that I'm sorry it's short (however, it was necessary for this part of the story) and that I am sorry I haven't updated in so long. The last chapter had me dealing with a bit of writer's block and I kept writing pages and erasing the whole thing because I didn't like what I had. Thank you all for sticking with me and please review if you have a moment! I would love to hear any comments/advice/corrections you have to give! Thanks again and lots of love! ~Taelr