Darkness Shadows Light

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR - IF AT FIRST YOU DON\'T SUCCEED, REMOVE ALL EVIDENCE YOU EVER TRIED

Harry stared dazedly into space.

*This cannot be happening* he thought in disbelief.
Just then as the pain hit him again he knew that it most definitely was happening...right now.

He jumped as he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

\'Are you okay?\' asked an anxious voice.

Harry looked up with relief into the worried face of his husband.

\'Not great,\' Harry said with a grimace. \'The baby\'s decided it wants out.\'

Harry almost laughed at the look of horror on Severus\' face - almost - but the situation was too serious.

\'You could have timed that better,\' Snape muttered.

\'Like I had a choi' ex' exclaimed Harry. \'It\'s not even due yet. I guess whatever the hell we did to kill Voldemort set it off.\'

Snape knelt down next to Harry and gently fingered the emerald pendant.

\'Not so much a protective amulet but a type of focus for your power,\' he muttered speculatively.

\'I don\'t really care at the moment,\' Harry said impatiently. \'We need to get back to Hogwarts so I can get this thing out of me!\'

\'You\'re not going anywhere,\' Snape replied equally impatiently. \'Haven\'u liu listened to anything Poppy told you? The only way we can get back is to use magic and the one thing we can\'t risk anywhere near you is magic. It\'s too dangerous.\'

Harry looked at his husband in dismay.

\'You mean we\'re stuck here?\'

\'I\'m afraid so,\' Snape replied gently, stroking a tender finger down Harry\'s cheek. \'I\'m afraid that also means you\'re going to have to give birth naturally, there\'s no way a caesarean could be performed here.\'

\'But Madam Pomfrey said that it was too dangerous!\' Harry cried, the fear showing plainly on his face.

\'No, she said it was more dangerous than a caesarean, but we don\'t have really have much of a choice.\' Looking around at the prostrate forms surrounding them, his gaze stopped on the fireplace. \'I see you have disabled the Death eaters in this room, so the next thing necessary is to contact Albus to get some Aurors down here. I\'m sure there were more than were in this room and if I\'m awake that probably means they are too.\'

Snape got up and looked searchingly at the stricken Death Eaters.

belibelieve Goyle had my wand,\' he muttered to himself, going over to one of the more bulky figures and searching through his robes. Triumphantly he drew out his wand and went over to the fireplace and lit the fire, calling for the headmaster. Within seconds his face appeared in the flames looking unusually flustered.

\'Severus! Thank goodness! Harry\'s missing!\' he said breathlessly.

\'He\'s fine, we both are,\' Snape quickly assured the older wizard. \'Voldemort\'s dead and we\'ve got about twenty Death Eaters captured here, but there could be more around.\'

Dumbledore looked faintly stunned, but rallied quickly.

\'I\'ll contact the Ministry immediately. Where are you?\'

\'We\'re at Avery\'s house,\' Snape replied. \'And we also need Poppy urgently.\'

\'Why?\' asked Dumbledore with a note of worry discernible in his voice. \'You said you were both fine.\'

\'We are fine...but Harry appears to be in labour.\'

For the second time in as many minutes, Dumbledore looked stunned.

\'We\'ll get there as quickly as possible,\' he said abruptly, not even saying goodbye before his head disappeared from the flames.

Snape quickly returned to kneel next to his husband, who was looking a great deal paler than he should be.

\'Don\'t worry, they\'re on there way,\' he said comfortingly, taking Harry\'s hand.

\'I didn\'t realise this would *hurt* so much,\' said Harry in a weak voice.

Snape had never felt so helpless. He would do anything to take the pain away from Harry, but there was no way of doing this. All he could do was hold Harry\'s hand and murmur useless platitudes

It seemed to be hours before anyone came to find them. They heard muffled shouting outside the room, but Snape refused to open it until he knew what was happening. Eventually he heard the distinct tones of the headmaster who, luckiwas was able to remove the locking and warning spells Harry had put on the door, as Harry was in no state to do it himself. Snape had never been so relieved to see the headmaster before in his life, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey.

\'I\'m sorry that took so long,\' Dumbledore said apologetically, as Madam Pomfrey started fussing around Harry. \'Bue Mie Ministry took quite a lot of convincing and then we were forced to wait until they were sure it was safe.\' Dumbledore sounded mildly disgusted about this last fact.

\'Did they find anyone else?\' Harry asked quietly, obviously thinking of Ron.

\'Yes, they found three more wizards still stunned, but any others must have fled.\'

\'Did you find Ron?\'

Dumbledore\'s eyebrow\'s went up in surprise and then lowered in concern.

\'Is young Ron involved in all this?\' he asked with trepidation.

\'He most certainly is!\' snapped Snape. \'He\'s the one who betrayed Harry and almost got us both killed.\'

Dumbledore turned almost as pale as Harry, but was distracted from saying anything else when Madam Pomfrey interrupted them.

\'We need to get Harry somewhere more comfortable,\' she said urgently. \'By the looks of things this is going to be a very short labour.\'

\'So no caesarean?\' Harry asked faintly, any hopes he had on that score quickly fading.

\'I\'m afraid not.\'

Quickly Snape half-carried Harry upstairs and found the nearest bedroom, setting him on a large bed.

\'I\'m scared,\' Harry whispered.

\'I know,\' Snape said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. \'But I won\'t let anything happen to you.\'

With that, Madam Pomfrey shooed both Snape and Dumbledore out so she could examine her patient in peace. They stood impatiently outside the door, neither saying a word. After the space of about ten minutes, she came out to them, face gr

I\'m afraid Harry\'s very weak,\' Madam Pomfrey said soberly. \'Using the Killing curse has taken a lot out of him, and the baby \'s magic is the only thing sustaining him at the moment. I\'m afraid we don\'t know what will happen when it is born and he no longer has that magic.\'

\'There must be something we can do?\' Snape asked desperately. The thought that, even in death, Voldemort might still manage to take Harry away from him, was a bitter blow.

Madam Pomfrey sorrowfully shook her head. \'If only you two had bonded instead of just marrying then there would be a chance that you could share your magic with him.\'

Suddenly something clicked in Snape\'s head, something he should have realised at the time.

\'Is it possible,\' he said slowly. \'That two people could bond without realising?\'

Madam Pomfrey looked slightly taken aback.

\'I\'ve never heard of such a thing before,\' she said thoughtfully. \'But I suppose it *could* be possible.\'

\'Do you think it has happened to you and Harry?\' Dumbledore asked, a light of hope in his eyes.

\'I think it might have,\' he replied, explaining about what had happened when they had married. \'And then when Harry used the Killing curse I could feel my magic being drawn into his.\'

\'But you haven\'t been able to tell what each other has been thinking of or even feeling?\' Madam Pomfrey asked, still unsure.

Snape shook his head, his hopes starting to fade.

\'That could be because neither knew the bonding had happened,\' interrupted Dumbledore. \er aer all neither of you have been trying to hear each other\'s thoughts because you didn\'t know you *could*. Why don\'t you try it?\' he urged.

Closing his eyes, Snape concentrated deeply whilst the mediwitch and the headmaster looked on anxiously. Suddenly Snape gave a shout of laughter that made them jump.

\'It worked?\' asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

\'It certainly did,\' replied Snapeh a h a smile.

\'Well what was he thinking?\' Madam Pomfrey asked.

\'I won\'t go into it word for word, but the gist is that he\'s going to cut off certain parts of my anatomy for getting him pregnant.\'

The mediwitch went slightly red, but Dumbledore thought it was most amusing.

\'I think you\'d better stay out of his way for a bit when he recovers,\' he advised dryly, but unable to stop the smile playing on his lips.

Snape much appreciated that the headmaster used the word \'when\' rather than \'if\'. It was a small thing, but it gave him hope.

\'Well Severus, we\'d better go back in,\' said Madam Pomfrey. \'Headmaster, would you mind staying out here and seeing that no one disturb us?\'

Dumbledore nodded his head, and the determined look on his face didn\'t bode well for anyone who tried to get past him.

Snape and Madam Pomfrey re-entered the room and Snape was horrified that even within the space of a few minutes, Harry looked far paler. Snape quickly strode over to him and took his hand. Harry smiled faintly.

\'Don\'t leave me again,\' he whispered.

\'Never,\' he promised, hoping that Harry would not be the one doing the leaving.

Under Madam Pomfrey\'s expert care, Harry gradually began to relax a little and be able to ride the pain of the contractions, his husband by his side giving words of encouragement and mopping his sweating brow.

Occasionally they heard voices outside, some loud and demanding, others more quiet yet forceful; but it would seem that Dumbledore was taking his duty seriously. At one point Snape was sure he heard the voice of Cornelius Fudge, but not even he gained entry.

\'Well I think we\'re nearly there,\' said Madam Pomfrey, hiding any anxiety under her usual efficient tone.

\'Thank god for that,\' said Harry faintly, his eyes closed and deathly white.

\'Now, Harry, the next contraction you feel I need you to push as hard and for as long as possible,\' the mediwitch ordered.

As he felt the pain wash over him again, Harry bit down on his lip and concentrated all his efforts on one final push. With relief, he felt the baby slip from his body.

\'Congratulations, it\'s a beautiful baby boy!\' exclaimed Madam Pomfrey, doing the necessary before wrapping the squalling infant in a towel and placing him in a cot she had transfigured. Then she turned her attention back to Harry.

\'He\'s okay?\' asked Harry in an exhausted voice annaginaging to open his eyes.

\'He\'s perfect,\' assured Snape, looking in awe at the tiny bundle that was his son.

\'Good...look after him for me...\' Harry said quietly, his eyes closing again and his hand going limp in his husband\'s grip.

\'No Harry, you\'re not going anywhere!\' cried out Snape, his grip tightening on Harry\'s lifeless hand.

\'Now, Severus!\' urged Madam Pomfrey, feeling for the pulse in his other wrist. \'We\'re losing him, he needs your magic!\'

Closing his eyes and concentrating fiercely, Snape shut out the entire world and thought just of his magic flowing through into the younger wizard.

*This just has to work* Snape thought agonisedly, as their young son lay there peacefully unaware of the life or death struggle going on next to him...