Thanks for much for all the reviews and to all who continue to read this. Special thanks to my beta ObsessedRHshipper.Sorry it took so long to update, life has been crazy. Work, school, life in general. But with summer coming I anticipate lots of more writing. Plz R&R :)

Cassi

A week after the twins' departure, Ron's birthday came. Harry thought it was strange that Hermione disappeared that afternoon since they were supposed to be preparing a celebration for Ron together. It was her idea to do all this in the first place, but he had to get it all together with only Ginny's help. Still, the evening was fairly fun. Ron and Hermione were in incredibly good moods, Ginny was her normal self and poked fun at Ron without restraint, and all of Gryffindor enjoyed the free food and the butterbeers that Estella brought.

"Courtesy of Fred and George," she said. Estella and Malfoy's presence seemed odd to some, but Ginny managed to integrate them into the swing of the party.

Still, Harry couldn't find full contentment in these peaceful moments. Thoughts of his dad, the curse, his mum, and his soon-to-arrive sibling, invaded his mind often.

"What is it?" asked Hermione when she caught him sitting by the fire.

"Nothing," he answered as he tried to show a grin.

"Harry."

"You should enjoy the party with Ron."

She felt heat going up to her face as she thought about how she had already enjoyed a private 'party' with Ron earlier. She shook off her intimate memories and then said, "Ron wants you around him for his birthday. You're his best mate."

"I know."

"It's next week, isn't it?"

"You kept track?"

"Of course I did! I didn't know you were keeping track too."

"I wasn't. Estella reminded me. She said dad owled her asking her to be the baby's godmother. She wanted to talk to me before saying yes."

"So?"

"I told her I was fine with it."

"Not that. How do you feel? You'll have a brother next week, or a sister."

"He asked me to be the godfather."

"What?"

"Dad… he asked me. He said he thinks of Estella as the daughter he never had, and I'm his son. He said that once he dies… if anything happens to mum, we're the two people he trusts the most with the baby… me and Estella, and then you and Malfoy."

The next week, on Sunday, March 10th, Harry was allowed to leave Hogwarts for the birth of his sibling. Ron could have sworn he had never seen Harry that nervous before, not even at a Quidditch match. The moment McGonagall walked in the door and told Harry that Umbridge had allowed for him to go and be with his parents for the birth, he paled.

"Go!" enticed Hermione.

"I don't know. Maybe I should just wait here… to hear what happened," said Harry.

"Snape!" exclaimed McGonagall, in a motherly but stern tone, "Your parents went through an ordeal to be able to have you join them. Now, hurry up and get a uniform from your room so you can come back tomorrow ready for classes. Professor Lupin is waiting to take you to Hogsmeade."

Harry followed her orders and got ready, and in no time, he was gone.

"It has to be strange," mumbled Ron after Harry left.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione as she sat next to him.

"Having a baby in the family, when you're this old," he answered.

"Severus and Lily aren't that old, only thirty-six. Honestly, how old was your mum when she had you and Ginny?"

"What?"

"How old is your mum?"

"Forty-seven."

"So she was… thirty-one when she had you and thirty-two when she had Ginny. Not a whole lot younger than Mrs. Snape is right now."

Ron was then quiet. Can't I just make a simple comment without her having to analyse it? Plus I meant that it must be weird for Harry, not his parents!Ron thought.

"Why are you sulking?" asked Hermione after a while.

He looked at her with annoyance and answered, "I'm not sulking." Then he walked out of the common room.

She went after him. "Ronald!"

"What?" he said while turning to face her.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" he said with a mix of mockery and anger, "What's wrong is that I was making a simple comment about how it must be strange for Harry to have a baby brother or sister and be so much older. And before you go there, Bill is only ten years older than me, not sixteen!"

He walked away again and Hermione went after him. She had to practically run full speed to keep up with his long steps. "Ronald! Would you wait? Ron! Ron!"

Finally, she caught up with him and pulled him towards her.

"What now!" he yelled.

"I didn't mean to upset you!" she screamed, coming closer to him.

"What DID YOU mean to do?" he asked. By now, their noses were practically touching.

"Nothing! I was just trying to make sense of what you were saying!"

"So I'm a fool that makes no sense!"

"No, you're not! But you are acting daft! So stop it!"

"Me! You're the one who cannot listen to me share my thoughts without correcting me! You stop it!"

"I WAS NOT correcting you, Ronald!"

"Yes, YOU WERE, Hermione!"

Their enraged eyes found each other's and they could see the madness and passion they shared. It was magnetic; they were forces of a positive and a negative, different, yet unable to be apart. Then they couldn't help it. Their lips met.

"You're… maddening... I can't… I can't even explain…" she mumbled between kisses.

"It's you… you're… mental… I swear…" he muttered amidst their now heated snog.

They devoured each other's lips in the middle of the deserted hallway. Hermione was the first to get some control. "We should… go…"

"To the Room of Requirement…" Ron finished.

They separated and ran almost full-speed to reach their destination. Once they got to the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry, they stood by the wall that led to the room, and focused on opening the replica of the Gryffindor common room. But to their surprise, they had no luck. They tried a second time, then a third, then once more, but nothing.

"Oh for goodness' sake! Come on!" she said, pulling at Ron's hand.

They headed downstairs and were soon on the fifth floor, by the door of the prefect's bathroom. She gave the password and they walked in.

Ron gave Hermione a wicked grin and said, "You really want this, even willing to break rules in the prefect's bathroom. Tsk, tsk, what would McGonagall say, Hermione?" It was a statement filled with happiness, pride, and, of course, the need to tease her.

She blushed and shyly said, "Maybe we should go back."

"No way!" he answered and pulled her close to him into a snog.

She smiled against his mouth. This was wonderful. A part of her couldn't believe it. Ron really was mad about her and made her body react in ways she had never experienced before. She got lost in the moment and after some wondrous minutes she found herself clad in only her knickers and enjoying a warm bath.

He felt like the luckiest bloke alive. Not only did he have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world and the smartest witch he could think of, but somehow she knew just how to touch him and kiss him to drive him mad. How she had learned to do all this was a wonderful mystery.

They dipped their bodies in the water and snogged madly. Her back rested against the wall of the tub that had no faucets. His body leaned against hers, right between her legs, and she could feel him hard and strong against her.

"You do this to me," whispered the fully aroused young wizard, "Your skin, your breasts, your lips, your hair, your brain… your heart. You. All of you."

Heat coursed through her and moisture pooled between her thighs. Hearing how he felt was incredible...

She pulled him tightly against her, with only her knickers and his underpants preventing the union their bodies craved. The feeling was amazing. This was so close to what it would be like. They were so intimate, so near, and yet they were not there.

But this was enough for Ron. Kissing her, touching her, seeing her bare skin… it was more than he had dreamed of.

After several minutes of rubbing their bodies together, their releases came. They gasped through their pleasure and then she murmured, "Soon love."

Ron smiled and kissed her, enjoying the mixed warmth he felt from her body and the bath.

The next day, Harry returned. They had a YPS leader meeting and he showed them a picture of his now larger family.

"They named her Cassi after your mum," Harry mentioned looking at Estella. She looked surprised, but also a bit sad.

"Blimey, she's small!" Ron commented, breaking the ice.

"Oi, Ron," Hermione uttered while smiling and also looking at the picture.

"What?" Ron protested.

"I said the same thing when I first saw her. Plus, she was all wrinkly like one of those dogs we saw in Hermione's muggle neighbourhood," Harry added.

"Mrs. Kendall's Shar Peis? You two are mad!" Hermione exclaimed.

Everyone laughed and Hermione realized that for the first time she was able to smile about a memory from her old life, and her old neighbourhood.

"Mum said we can all visit Cassi during the next Hogsmeade day," Harry added with satisfaction.

"Great!" answered Hermione in an excited tone.

"Sure," said both Ron and Malfoy. They then looked at each other in consternation. They were not used to agreeing about anything. Estella looked at them, let out a laugh, and then added, "Umm... I sort of had plans."

"Mum said George can come too," replied Harry.

"Then we'll be there… but maybe a bit late."

Malfoy snorted and Estella looked like she wanted to kick him.

"What? It doesn't take a genius to figure out what you'll be up to with Weasley," he added cheekily.

"Shut up!" Estella admonished while smacking Malfoy in the back of the head.

Ron and Harry practically had hysterics at that. Hermione tried to refrain to a simple giggle.

Three weeks later, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the gang got to meet baby Snape. She was a beautiful baby with bright green eyes and a full head of black hair. Everyone could tell she was Harry's sister. That day the Weasleys, Professor Lupin, Sirius Black, and Professore Dumbledore also visited Severus and Lily's Hogsmeade flat. Mrs. Weasley was cranky at George and Estella's lateness. But once her fuss and criticism of her son's relationship was over, they had a small and private christening ceremony and made Harry and Estella become Cassiopeia Snape's godparents. It was lovely, but something about having Harry and Estella holding the baby together seemed to bother George. The Snape professors on the other hand seemed thrilled, even though Severus refrained from any attempt at magic, looked really tired, and had to drink a potion every hour.

At the end of the visit, Lily told them about the arrangements for her to return to work. Every morning Severus and Cassi would take a portkey to the Burrow and be under the care of Molly Weasley until the evening.

On the way back to the castle Harry walked fast and passed everyone else.

"What's with Snape?" asked Draco.

"Severus," answered Estella. He still gave her a quizzical look.

"He's sicker than we thought. Professor Snape would have never agreed to be under my mum's care otherwise," answered Ron.

"He only agreed for Cassi's sake. He doesn't have enough magic in him to protect her if anything bad happened," added Estella.

Time passed quickly after meeting little Cassi. One of the biggest things that happened for the gang was Harry and Cho. They kissed after one of the YPS general meetings. He told Ron and Hermione right after it happened. They were happy for him. He needed something good in his life right now. Hermione then thought it might be a good time to tell him about her and Ron and end the secrecy. She was about to begin, when they were interrupted as a note with little feet and hands pinched Harry.

"What is it?" asked Hermione

Harry opened the note. It was from Blaise Zabini. It was short and the writing looked rushed. Room behind the mirror in an hour; it's important!

They raced to the room but when they arrived it was empty. A few minutes passed and the mirror entrance moved. They looked anxiously, but were met by three pairs of eyes just as uneasy as theirs.

"What are you doing here?" asked Harry.

Estella showed him a note exactly like the one he had received, but from Daphne Greengrass. "Draco thought it would be a good idea to give them an alternate way to communicate. I showed them how to send these notes and told them to send one to me and one to you in an emergency."

Ron, Hermione, Harry, Draco, Ginny, and Estella all looked equally troubled but had nothing to do except pace in the room and wait. Finally, Daphne Greengrass arrived.

"Where's Blaise?" asked Draco.

"Blaise couldn't get away. They needed him to help them."

"Help them with what?" asked Harry.

"To stall Lupin and McGonagall."

"The Order!" exclaimed Estella.

"Yes. They got a list of Order members: Lupin… McGonagall… you…"

"George!"

Greengrass nodded.

"How?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know, but they gave us names today and said it was our job to stall the Order members in Hogwarts while they attack."

"Attack who?" asked Ron and Harry at once.

"The Burrow."

Evil cliffhanger :) Plz R&R

Next chapter: The Burrow