Hilltop Cottage

A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews. I am very pleased with the response :)

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Hermione was surprisingly calm as she left Bellevue Hospital, and decided to walk home through Central Park to take in some fresh air. Families went past her as she walked, children running about and laughing, some with footballs, some on bicycles. The parents would smile at them indulgently and then at each other, as if they shared some amazing secret. Subconsciously, Hermione put her hand over her abdomen and wondered what would happen in her future now.



Hermione had purposely left her plans open-ended. The opportunities that were open to her now she was Dr Granger seems endless, and spending time in America, expanding her experience, seemed like a good chance for her. Eventually she would want to move home, and use the knowledge she had gained for the good of her own community, but she was enjoying being in the States, and there was so much more to see. Now, everything was on its head, and she had no idea where she was going.



She had been feeling unwell ever since the disaster with the microwaved prawns, which she had studiously avoided ever since. She was convinced it must have been the prawns, because no one has a hangover that lasts for longer than a week. But the week had turned into two, then three, and after a month of feeling tired, aching and just not herself, Hermione had allowed Alicia to arrange an appointment with her physician.



But the news that she was pregnant had thrown her completely, and she felt ridiculously alone and overwhelmed with a feeling of homesickness.



She sat on a nearby bench and allowed the sun to warm her face. Something deep inside her made her wish that the heat was coming from the fireplace in Spinner’s End, and that she was sitting beside Severus, cosy and loved and making excited plans for their new baby. As soon as she had been told the news, she yearned to have Severus by her side, and knew without doubt that she was as deeply in love with him as she had ever been, despite everything. Her life was empty without him in it, and it had taken this to make her realise it.



The new pregnancy charms could determine the magical signature of each child. The baby, a boy, would be powerful, the medi-witch had said.



‘Like his father,’ Hermione whispered aloud.



She couldn’t stop the tears once they had begun, and she swiped at them in frustration with the back of her hand. She should tell Severus, she knew that, but a part of her dreaded his reaction. Damn it, she didn’t even know how she felt about it herself, but the medi-witch had told her that once the pregnancy was confirmed, she would bond with the baby, because while she was carrying him, their magic would be inextricably linked. She might even discover abilities she hadn’t had before. The thought was intriguing, but before Hermione could apply her intellectual capacity to being pregnant and research all that it would entail, she had to deal with her emotions, and at the moment she was all over the place.



Feeling slightly weak, Hermione walked slowly back to her apartment and immediately Floo’ed Alicia. She needed to tell someone, and here, in this foreign place, Alicia was the only one she had.



The blonde witch stepped through the Floo almost immediately, and as she caught sight of a weeping Hermione sitting and wringing her hands on the edge of the long couch, she went to her and wrapped her arms around her, holding her close and stoking her hair soothingly.



‘Shh,’ she said softly. ‘What is it, Hermione?’



Hermione snuffled softly and wiped her eyes with the cuffs of her long sleeved t-shirt, laughing at the gesture ruefully.



‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.



‘It’s okay. Gross, but okay.’ Alicia smiled encouragingly. ‘Tell me the worst of it,’ she said.



‘I’m having a baby.’ Hermione stared as she spoke the words for the first time.



‘Oh my God,’ Alicia gasped. ‘Oh, Hermione.’ She took Hermione’s hand in hers and squeezed tightly. ‘Are you quite alright?’



‘I don’t know, Alicia. I don’t know how I feel at all, really.’ Hermione leant back against back of the couch and sighed deeply.



‘Will you tell him? It is his, right?’ Alicia winked at Hermione cheekily, and she could help but giggle. She gave Alicia a playful punch on the arm.



‘Of course it is!’ Hermione laughed. ‘I should tell him, I suppose,’ she mused. ‘I just don’t know what he’ll say.’



‘There’s only one way to find out. Why don’t you visit? I’ll come with you, if you want?’



Hermione shook her head firmly. ‘No. I couldn’t stand to see him without knowing how he feels first. I’ll write, to him and Minerva. If anyone can encourage him to be sensible about things, she can. But I do know this much, Alicia. I don’t want my son growing up not knowing who his father is.’



Alicia grinned slowly. ‘You’re having a baby!’ she said excitedly.



Hermione stared at her and down at her stomach pointedly, then giggled. ‘I am, aren’t I?’





***



Writing the letter to Severus reminded Hermione so much of the first letter she had written to him that she almost couldn’t get through it for the tears. Finally getting the right tone, she had scribbled it quickly, leaving tearstains and crossings out all over the parchment, but she didn’t have the energy to start all over again.





‘Dear Severus,



I hope this letter finds you well.



There is no easy way to say this, but you should know that I am having a baby. You are going to be a father, Severus.



Please know that I have no expectations, but I hope that you can find it in your heart to allow your son to know you as he grows up.



I… I think of you often, Severus.



Yours,



Hermione’





The letter to Minerva was easier to write, and she included specific instructions to her to keep Severus from acting rashly, and to look after him, if he would let her. She decided to post this letter first class, which meant using very expensive International Apparition Mail, to allow Minerva fair warning, and once both missives were sent, she headed for bed, hoping she would hear some news soon, one way or another.