Love and Parenthood

Love and Parenthood

Disclaimer: All canon characters are the property of JK Rowling and those with whom she has agreed contracts. This story is written for practice not profit.


Surprises


“Are you intending to stay in the bed all morning?” asked Severus teasingly. “We’ll have no home to go to come Easter.”

“I’m going to St Mungo’s at 10.30. Poppy made me an appointment to see a specialist.”

“You never said anything about it to me. Is something wrong?”

“No. It’s just a standard thing. We’ve all got appointments during the week. She did try to get the Healer to come to us but she said we had to go there. I’m taking Ginny and Lavender this morning and Melissa’s taking the Hufflepuffs this afternoon. Ravenclaw and Slytherin are on Thursday and Friday. There’s really nothing to worry about. Poppy says all pregnant witches go there at least twice.”

“Do you want me to be there with you?”

“Do I what…? Have you been talking to my Dad again?”

Severus shifted guiltily. “I received a letter yesterday.”

“Since when does my Dad write to you and not to me?”

“I…I may have asked for advice.”

“Advice on what?”

“Just things…”

“What kind of things?”

“Husband things… responsibilities of fatherhood… that kind of thing.”

“Why are you taking advice from a Muggle on these things?”

“He’s family. It was either him or Binns. I don’t know many happily married men.”

“What about Arthur?”

“From what I’ve seen of the Weasley family Molly gives him clear directions when she requires something. You do not. Not until I’ve really made a serious error anyway. Your father said that a husband should experience these things and that accompanying you to examinations would be a reasonable thing for you to expect me to do. Therefore I am now getting a hard time due to my efforts to be reasonable. Stop laughing at me.”

“I’m sorry,” said Hermione, struggling to control her laughter. “Severus, just be yourself. You don’t seriously want to come do you?”

“Well no, not really but if you require it I am prepared to indulge you.”

“That’s very kind. I do appreciate you making the effort but I am a witch and you are a wizard and all this work with the house and everything is a big effort to follow the traditions that should apply to us. You do realise that Muggle men are required to observe the birth of their children don’t you?”

“I won’t do that. It’s indecent!”

“Well if I had a choice I’d definitely skip the birth myself and I have to say I really wouldn’t want you there, so let’s just do things our own way. I only complain because of the hormones you know. You don’t behave badly it’s just that my temper bubbles up quickly at little things. I don’t hold any grudges about anything you’ve done since we married.”

“I’m pleased to hear it.”

“Have you got a class?”

“In ten minutes. It’s a full day today. Perhaps we could meet at lunch and you could give me a report on what your Healer says?”

“That would be nice. I’m not doing much at the Manor today anyway. The builders are starting tomorrow so I’ve tried to arrange deliveries for when I’ve got to be there.”

“Don’t wear yourself out. I was only teasing about your lie-in.”

“I know you were. I need to get up now anyway.”

“In a moment.” He gently stroked her shoulders and leant in for a kiss.


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Severus was relieved to let his last class of the morning out. Now that he had the position at the Auror training academy on the horizon he was finding it hard to summon the energy to deal with the dunderheads. He yawned and stretched before standing. As he turned he realised his wife was standing in the doorway with a pinched expression on her face. She was quite pale.

“What’s wrong,” he asked quickly.

“I’m having twins,” she said quietly.

“Oh,” he said, in shock.

“Is that all you can think of to say? Just ‘Oh’?”

“I don’t quite know what ay. ay. Are you in good health?”

“The Healer said so.”

“Do you mind… having two babies instead of one?”

Her face crumpled. He had her in his arms by the time the first tear started to fall. He picked her up and carried her through into their sitting room. He settled himself on the sofa and continued to cradle her in his arms until she eventually stopped crying.

“Talk to me Hermione,” he said softly.

“I’m scared.”

He left a short pause in case she wished to say anything else.

“What are you scared of my love?”

“Having a baby….. babies now…. Having to look after them all the time. What if I’m not good at it? What if they hate me? Am I a bad person for not wanting to be a mother?”

“Enough child… you’re letting the hormones get the better of you.”

“What?!!”

“Shush! If your logic were in control you would see that it is impossible to be worried about their welfare and your parenting skills unless you care for them. You are apprehensive about a big change in your life. You should have gone through this when you found you were pregnant but there was so much going on at the time you put it on one side.”

“Don’t call me child,” she said petulantly.

“I’m sorry. I shall remember to address you as ‘wife’ when I reprimand you in future. I notice you are not attempting to correct me on the substance of what I said.”

“No. I must want the babies otherwise… well… I know very well how not to have them.”

“And you were distressed when you nearly lost it… them.”

“God yes… what am I saying?” She began to cry and Severet aet about comforting her again.

“It’s going to be fine. You’re going to have the best birth attendants I can find and there are going to be lots of experienced witches to help with the babies. You’re a good person Hermione. You will want everything to be right for the babies just like you want the world to be right for everyone else. Go and wash your face and I’ll send for some food. When I go back to class I’m expecting you to have a rest to settle yourself. You are to tackle nothing more strenuous than a book and then this evening I am going to find someone to cover my duty so we can have some time together. Is that understood?”

“Yes… what’s this?” she said picking up a folder from the coffee table.

“Olivia’s research notes. Tonks delivered them this morning. They put them in a clean folder for me.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

“I imagine I’m going to let you go over them. I never actually worked through them myself. We never collaborated.”

“Do you really not mind me looking?”

“I don’t mind. Perhaps one day we might work on it together and see if we can take it to a conclusion. You can put them down until after lunch though.”

“Yes sir!” she said with the beginnings of a smile.


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Later that after Severus returned to their chambers to find Hermione sitting at the table, with the notes spread out, wrestling with a string of arithmancy equations. She didn’t even notice him at first.

“I see you found something interesting,” he observed.

“It’s fascinating. I might need to use the Library to understand it all. Much of this is way over my head.”

“She was very good with the calculation aspect certainly.”

“You never told me she was a Seer.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“She included dream recollections in these notes. There’s one about a serpent drinking wine to become mortal and then being struck by lightening. That can’t be a coincidence surely?”

“She denied being a Seer. I did wonder once after I had used Legilimency on her.”

“She was very young though. Perhaps the gift was starting to come. There’s this one here. I think this is what set Lucius after me. Look!”

She held out a sheet of parchment and Severus felt a jolt at seeing the handwriting once again. He instinctively turned away from Hermione to read it without her eyes on his face.

The Dragon shall find his bride.
The Man of Faith will be restored through the power of the Mud and the Blood.
By him Magic shall be reborn and a new age will begin.

“It would seem that you could be right about Maria and Draco,” she said after a moment. “The Marriage Law was passed on the day she was sorted.”

“It explains why Lucius tried to marry the two of you. I can’t see myself as a ‘Man of Faith’. That would seem to relate to Malfoy… the derivation of the name at any rate.”

“You married a Malfoy though. Perhaps she was ‘Faith’ and you belonged to her? It might not eve rel related to the name, you do have some rather rigid beliefs. At any rate the combining of our power seems to have caused a lot of potentially magical babies.

“And a new age will begin…” he said slowly.

“Please let that be a good thing,” said Hermione hurriedly.

“If I have any control over it at all it will be… I think what we’re going to do next is given meaning by this.”

“Are you freaked about where the Prophecy came from?” she asked.

“Surprised. She was very sceptical about this kind of thing. Is there any indication of when she wrote this?”

“Just before she put the project on hold,” said Hermione. “She was having dreams over about ten days and that was written at the end.”

“She didn’t put the project on hold. She was working on it the day she died. We weren’t really speaking much that last week after the argument. Perhaps if I’d had more sense… Never mind. What’s done is done and I can’t ever change that.”

“No you can’t. You couldn’t have stopped Lucius from killing her. It wasn’t your fault he did that.”

“I know that intellectually but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the guilt. Until I began to love you, I felt it all the time. Now it just sneaks in. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

“I know. I’m not jealous I promise. She you your wife then and I am your wife now and I have no complaints.”

He stepped over to her and knelt on the floor beside her, placing his right hand on the slight swell of her pregnancy.

“I don’t deserve you Hermione,” he said solemnly. “I don’t de….”

“Shush!” she said. “I would be dead now if it weren’t for you. You don’t even have the excuse of hormones. You’ve lost so much during your life. Anything I give you is long overdue.” She paused and sniffed the air. “What have you been making?”

“Miss Lovegood did all the making. By the time I noticed it was too late. I take it you can still smell it?”

“I can indeed. Perhaps I could assist you in the shower?”

“Is that you or the hormones?”

“I think it may be both. Would you rather shower or discuss it?”

He smiled at that and extended a hand to help her to her feet.

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