Chapter Four:

6:45am

Professors made it to the Great Hall first, waiting for the students to arrive, it's relatively quiet, Severus and Hermione take their seats in the middle of the staff table, with Hermione sitting on his left, and Minerva sitting on the other side of Hermione.

"Did Severus give you any grief that Amelia has been put in Slytherin?" Minerva questioned.

"Just a little, he is so proud, but I knew she would be placed in Slytherin. I had no doubt. She's Severus' mini- me. Defiantly daddy's little girl. But it's okay, I have Alex." Hermione's eyes gazed over to her husband, who is talking with the new DADA Professor: Professor Perrot.

"Alex is a wonderful young man, very respectful and well behaved for someone his age."

"Of course, thank you. We try to do right by him." She notices Severus' scar is slightly visible showing right above his collar.

"How's his music coming along?" Minerva asked.

"Very well, he's been practicing every day this past summer. His skills have progressed tremendously." Hermione answered proudly.

"That's excellent. I[m glad he has something outside of magic."

"I am too Min, but to thank a few years ago, when we had our family Christmas dinner, he'd taken an interest in it right off the bat." Hermione grinned at the memory.

"Who plays in your family?"

My uncle Dave plays. When he played Frank Sinatra Alex fell in love with the piano, with music all together." Hermione answered.

Around 7:00am students filed into the great hall and sat into their perspective house tables. Once most of the students came in, Severus stood up and stepped toward the podium.

"Good morning." Severus began. His wand is pointed at his neck to amplify his voice. The student body fell silent immediately.

"I hope you all had a peaceful first night. This morning, you should've received a pocket watch and a map of the castle. This should help you not get lost on your way to class, if you still navigation issues, don't hesitate to ask a fellow classmate or Professor." Severus scanned the room, all eyes are on him, if silence could kill, this moment would do him in looking over, he saw Lilly Potter sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, by herself. Her eyes were puffy like they were crying.

"Enjoy your breakfast. "Your first class starts at 8:00am" Ending his speech he sat next to his wife. Scribbling something on a small piece of parchment and sending it over to Lily. The note disappeared from his desk and reappeared in front of Lily Potter. Lily opened the note in front of her.

Lily, meet Aunt 'Mione and I after breakfast.'- Severus.

She looked up at the Headmaster, Severus gave her a slight nod, giving him a small smile, she began to eat her breakfast.

"Is everything alright?" Hermione asked him.

"Lily seemed to have had a rough night last night. I received a note from Sam Longbottom. When he was finishing his rounds, she was homesick and gotten lost trying to find our bed chambers."

"Poor Lily, we'll have a word with her. You have a soft spot for Lily, always had." She smiled at him, placing a gentle hand over his caressing his knuckles. Severus gave her a slight squeeze.

"She's a good girl. Unlike her brothers." Severus responded.

"She reminds you of Harry's mother." The memory of her predecessor made Severus close his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath.

"She was a good friend, no doubt. They blew our relationship out of proportion. She was more like a sister to me, not a lover." Severus explained.

"I know my dear, I know." She tried to let him know that there was no tension or jealousy between them. She never met Lily Evens, no reason to be jealous.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Right after breakfast, Hermione and Severus exited through the side to their left waiting for Lily to follow, which she did. Lily rounded the corner to meet Severus and Hermione. Severus placed a privacy spell around them so no one will be able to listen in on their conversation.

"We heard you had rough night, are you okay?" Hermione asked. Kneeling down to be eye-level to the girl.

"I—I got lost trying to find you."

"How about this, I have a tablet, and gave your mother a tablet last year for Christmas, remember?" Lily nodded.

"I'll send her a message to see if she has time for a video chat. Would that make you feel better?" A few years after the war, Hermione thought it a good idea to add wifi to Hogwarts at least for the first years. Not a lot of people know about it. She added some of her 'muggle-ness' to Hogwarts. Hermione gave Ginny a tablet last year and she and her father were enthralled by the contraption. Arthur asked more questions than Ginny. Hermione showed her how electronics worked. Hermione bought herself one and had wifi both in their homes so it would be easier to communicate. Owls can take forever. Harry knew about iphones, tablets and such but he never really knew how to operate it. He wasn't tech savvy.

"Yes! That would help a lot!" Lily whispered. Without a second thought she flung her arms around Hermione.

"THANK YOU! Thank you, Uncle Severus!"

"You're welcome, but remember what we talked about before arriving here?" Severus raised his eyebrow.

"Oh—Headmaster Snape—thank you." She smiled, turned around and practically skipped class.

Hermione stood up, but while trying to stand up, her mind became dizzy, she lost her footing and Severus caught her before she fell backwards.

"Love, are you okay?" Severus expressed concern; it took a moment before she found her footing.

"I must've gotten up a little too fast, I should be fine."

"Make sure you drink plenty of fluids, you hear me?" Severus expressed.

"Of course, dear, we have to get to our classes. Professors can't be late on the first day."

Very well, I'll see you at lunch." He gave her a peck on the forehead in the back of his mind, he's concerned about the dizziness.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Amelia is sitting front and center in the classroom, she read up to chapter 3 in her dark arts textbook. The Professor isn't here yet, but she's assuming he'll be here soon. Some of the Slytherin's in the back of the class are chatting a little bit and the Gryffindor's on the other side are talking, just a little louder. As the volume became louder, there is a loud slam from the back. Once they heard that loud bang, in unison, they stopped talking.

"Silence!" A male voice echoed from the back. Heavy footsteps followed as all eyes fell upon the man briskly walking towards the front of the room. The Professor has yet to face the students, but instead picked up chalk and wrote his name on the board. The first thing Amelia noticed was that he was extremely tall. Taller than her father, his jet-black hair was neatly combed back and very shiny.

"My name is Professor Perrot. I have been hired to teach you how to defend yourselves. Now, my techniques are a bit different than past professors." His eyes averted over to Amelia, giving her the smallest smile. Amelia took it as a 'hit' on her father. Remembering all the conversations her parents had when he came home from work, he use to teach dada.

"In this class, you will not only learn how to defend yourselves with a wand, you will also learn hand to hand defense tactics. Now, you may ask yourselves: "Why would you need to learn hand to hand defense?" There is another pause as he scanned the room. His eyes landed on Bailey Dursley.

"What's your name hazel eyes?" He sneered at her.

"B-Bailey Dursley sir."

"Ms. Dursley, what would you do if someone suddenly ran up behind you attempting to put you in a head lock? How would you react to that if you didn't have a wand?" Professor Perrot interrogated. Bailey didn't answer too stunned to say anything. Then turned to the student next to her.

"What your name?"

"Teagan Taylor, sir."

"Ms. Taylor, what would you do if someone came up to you with a knife, how would you handle that without a wand?" His bright green eyes stared into hers. Her mind went black lost for words.

"Ms. Snape…. How would you react?" He quickly turned to her.

"I would use the mock 1 and 3, sir." There is a moment of silence so quiet they could hear a pin drop.

"Correct, Ms. Snape. Five points to Slytherin." The longer the class went on, the more Amelia showed interest, despite that little jab at her father. Finn Longbottom nudged her side, congratulating her.

"Great job Amelia." Finn whispered.

"Thanks Finn." Finn Longbottom is the youngest of Neville and Luna's kids and the only Slytherin. Like his father, he is the clumsy one of the bunch.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Transfiguration 12:45pm-2:15pm

Alex Snape found himself front and center of the classroom 'knowing Amelia, she's probably sitting up front as well.' Professor McGonagall has always been one of his favorite Professors. He looked over to his mother, who is sitting at her desk on the other side of the room across from Professor McGonagall, as he's admiring her strength and determination, he noticed that something is off about her. Her eye's seem to be glossed over, like she isn't feeling well.

"Good afternoon fourth years!" Professor McGonagall started.

"Good afternoon, Professor." The class said.

"I hope you enjoyed your holiday and found time to read the first chapter of the required text from the course. As you have certainly noticed, Deputy Headmistress Snape is with us today. She will be co-teaching with me this year as I prepare her to take over, and I prepare for retirement, Professor Snape would you care to address the class?"

"Of course, Professor." She stands up, for a moment, the room is spinning, closing her eyes for a moment to clear her head, she opens them back up and steps forward in front of the class. This worried Alex, he continues to pay close attention to her health.

"Good afternoon class, in this class you are welcome to address me by Professor Snape, but outside, please address me as Deputy Headmistress. Also, if you take a look in the syllabus we've provided, today we will be reviewing our last project before we were released for the summer holidays." Again, the room began to spin around her, she hasn't been feeling well lately, but she didn't want to miss the first day of class. There is a moment of silence. Minerva grew concerned.

"Professor Snape—are you okay?" Before she could turn around, she fainted. She was on the edge of a couple of steps that separated their desks and the students. She tripped, stumbled as she hit her head on the corner of the desk, blood started to spill on the floor.

"Mum!" Alex shot up and ran to her side, wiping the blood from her forehead.

"Mr. Snape, please go to Madam Pompfry, Mr. Potter, please inform the headmaster. Class is dismissed." Alex didn't waste any time. He ran all the way to the hospital wing. James Potter hurried over to the potion's classroom.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Potions Classroom

"You'll even put a stopper in…death." There is a slight pause. Keeping his face neutral, he skims over his classroom. Professor Knight is in the back. He'd used this speech for as long as he could remember. He remembers the day he used it when Hermione and Mr. Potter were in his class.

"You have noticed that this year, we have a guest. Professor Knight will be co-teaching with me as well as assisting in tutoring if any student deems it necessary. He is at the tail end of his apprenticeship. However, Professor Slughorn is currently unable to finish due to health reasons and had asked me to finish. On the board, you will find the instructions to brew the Wiggenweld potion. You have 30 minutes to complete. You should have read the required text. But, if not... you can turn to page 32 in your book." He spun around on his heels to head toward his desk. "Mr. Knight.." He began, however his classroom door slammed open, and James Potter seemed to be heaving."

"Headmaster!"

"There better be a damned good reason for you interrupting my class. Unless you'll lose points faster than you—" before he could finish, James spoke up.

"Headmaster, she passed out… 'Aunt 'Mione…Professor McGonagall is taking her to the hospital wing." James huffed. His face went from zero emotion to worried in split seconds.

"Mr. Knight…"

"I have it handled Headmaster." As fast as his legs could go, he followed James Potter to the hospital wing. His billowing robes made it look like he was flying down the hallway.

HGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSS

Hospital Wing

"What in Merlin's name, Alex, Minerva? What happened?" Poppy hurried as she heard commotion coming from the entrance way. She saw Alex running just a bit ahead of Minerva.

"Mum, she fainted! I—She hit her head!" Was all he could get out, huffing from all the running. Poppy watched as Minerva brought in a levitating unconscious Hermione. Motioning her to lay the patient down on the bed, she noticed a gash on her forehead.

"She fainted, tripped on the stairs and ended up hitting her head on the corner of one of the desks." Minerva explained, but in more detail. Poppy pulled out her wand and started to run some diagnostics on her.

"Where is she?!" Poppy, Minerva, and Alex turned their heads to see Severus Snape in full motion. His concern was written all over his face. Alex moved aside, upon seeing his wife unconscious on the hospital bed he dropped down to his knees, examining her.

"I'll know in just a moment, I am just running some diagnostics on her, any symptoms lately that could cause this?" Poppy asked. James came forward with a few wet rags for Severus, taking one he gently washed the dried blood from her forehead.

"She was having some sort of dizzy spells earlier this morning and a headache when we first woke up. She and I both thought it could have been just stress in general, in preparation for the new year…thank you Mr. Potter."

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Snape, thank you both for your efforts this afternoon. 10 points to Slytherin and Gryffindor each." Professor McGonagall assured them.

"Thank you, Professor." The boys said in unison.

"I do have the results. Headmaster, would you like the boys to stay, or leave?" Poppy asked.

"They can return to their class. I will inform them when the day is over. Boys?" He turned over to Mr. Potter and his son.

"Can I stay dad, please?" Alex begged.

"Whatever it is, I will inform you and your sister, together." Alex didn't argue, just nodded and he and James began their return to the classroom.

"What's wrong, Poppy?" His black eyes stared into hers.

"There are two reasons for the dizziness and the fainting… one is that she is Anemic."

"What is anemic?"

"She doesn't have enough healthy red-blood cells. It's reduced to lack of oxygen flow to the organs. All she needs is to take iron and B12 vitamin. Symptoms include extreme tiredness, weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness, irregular heartbeat, chest pain, and cold hands and feet. Easy to treat." Severus breathed a sigh of relief. Then he remembered:

"What's the second reason?" Severus questioned.

"Congratulations, she's pregnant." Poppy smiled.

A/N: Cliff hanger! I know! Please let me know what you think! Thank you!