"Unanswered Prayers"

 

Six Years Later…

“Severus — let’s take the boys into the bounce house. I think our ladies have had enough.”

“They’re not the only ones.” Severus remarked while chasing the youngest of his three chestnut-haired sons and corralling the lot in the direction of Harry and his two sons.

“Never thanked you for that potion, by the way. Ginny’s really pleased to be having a girl this time.”

“If there’s any left over, feel free to use it again. And you’re welcome.”

 

Harry laughed while keeping an eye on five rambunctious boys all under seven years old.

 

“We’re done. We get this little girl here safe and sound and I’m going to get a permanent fix. Can’t keep up with you, Severus. Ginny said Hermione wanted a girl too. Did you use the potion?”

“Yes, but I neglected to research its effects on a magically bonded couple so we’re getting two-for-one — one of each; Cetus and Hypatia. She’s in the middle third of her pregnancy —”

“The sex-all-the-time part. My favorite. Ginny’s not quite — James! Let Corvus up! Don’t sit on his head! Real comedian, my son.”

“Caelum sits on his brother’s head with alarming regularity. I blame it on Hermione’s violent genes. Corvus’ child magic remains too unreliable to defend himself.”

 

Away from the bounce attraction, Ginny and Hermione rested on a bench while they shared a smorgasbord of treats — candied nuts, chocolate biscuits, ice cream and crisps.

 

“Confess, Hermione. What did Severus give you to get twins?”

 

Hermione missed her mouth with the ice cream cone from laughing so hard.

 

“Nothing, I swear! Unless you consider… you know… as ‘giving me something’.”

“I do — which is why you’re about to have five children in your house under six years old. You’re two of the most powerful wizards in Europe — can’t you master a simple contraceptive spell? You’ve lost your minds!”

"They don't always work, you know."

 

Hermione magically retrieved the pack of her favorite chocolate digestives hidden by her twin-filled baby bump. 

 

"Are these two the last?"

 

Both women, while gravid, plotted together daily how to get maximum spoiling out of their respective husbands. The fun would really begin in four months; their due dates were a week apart. While stuffing a digestive in her mouth alongside a lick of ice cream, Hermione considered Ginny’s question. This led to a smile so lustful, Ginny flushed at the mental image of her best friend’s activities with their old potions teacher in their marital bed.

 

“I’d say ‘No’,” Hermione finally answered, “but we’ll probably take a break until these two go to Reception before we start up again. I need to finish up my residency at St. Mungoes and our mothers could use a break.” 

 

Molly Weasley and Jeanie Granger traded off keeping Hermione’s, Ginny’s and George and Angelina’s children while their parents worked - eight in all and half under the age of three.

 

“You thought I was joking when I put down ’10’ in that bridal shower game!”

“I did!” Ginny admitted.

“On our honeymoon, Severus ‘suggested’ we have one every year. Having to take care of the boys last month when I came down with Hooting Cough changed his mind.” Hermione laughed.

“I —” Ginny began then stopped, her eyes focused on something behind Hermione.

“Gin?… What’s wrong? Is it one of the boys!?”

“No,” Ginny sighed in annoyance, “it’s my git of a brother — Ron. Do you want me to get rid of him?”

“No — I don’t want to draw attention.”

“He’s coming this way.”

 

Hermione sighed and twisted on the bench to face him.

 

“Yes, Ronald? What do you want?”

“Nothing, really. How are you, ‘Mione? I see you’re expecting.”

“We’re fine, Ronald. Where’re your children?”

“With the ex. Little behind on my cheques… Her 'fiancé' took them all to Florida to DisneyWorld for the weekend. Rich prat.”

 

Instinctively, Ron moved towards his sister and her best friend.

 

“Stop right there, Ron,” Ginny warned him, “save yourself some pain.”

“I think about you, Hermione. I shoulda treated you better. I was a right bastard, full of myself. War and all… I miss you. You still with Snape?”

 

The name came with disgust.

 

“You know I am and, yes, these are his children — and so are those coming this way.”

 

Three raven-eyed rowdies ran full speed towards the bench, Crux — the baby — screaming “Mummy” and smiling.

 

“Hermione, the boys are exhausted and so am — Weasel. Why are you this close to my wife?”

“Didn’t mean nothing, Snape. Just catching up. Haven’t seen ‘Mione in a while. Looks like you two have been busy.”

 

She rose awkwardly, incensed at the innuendo.

 

“And we’re not done. Your mother’s hoping we hit ten. Sev, these two —” and Hermione rubbed her bump affectionately, “should be fed something other than sugar. It’s time to go, boys. Kiss Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny good-bye. Gin, we’ll see you tomorrow for dinner. Good evening, Ronald.”

“See you ‘round, ‘Mione.” 

 

The Snape family huddled together and Severus apparated everyone to their village outside Hogsmead.

 

“Grow up, Ron, or you’ll lose your own kids again.” Harry warned, “Got a job, yet?”

 

Ron looked ashamed and shook his head “No” in Harry’s direction. 

 

The Ministry removed him as an auror for abuse of power. Only Harry’s intervention kept a wand in Ron’s hand. The news of Ron’s dismissal flooded the magical “twit-verse” — his meteoric rise to celebrity setting the velocity for his crash into disgrace and dishonor. Ron spun like a dervish from one bad choice to another, ignoring the well-intentioned advice from those who genuinely cared about him. 

In no time his money and his opportunities disappeared. So did the list of people who would answer his owls.

Molly Weasley blamed Ron’s obsession with Hermione for his sudden marriage to an already-pregnant Daphne Greengrass — a snobbish, social-climbing  pure-blood intent on improving her station in life by snagging one of the new elite: Ron Weasley of the “Golden Trio”. Three years and three pregnancies after the wedding, slow-witted Daphne decided Ron’s prospects — and therefore, hers — had diminished considerably. 

She divorced Ron for Draco Malfoy, taking his four children with her. Draco’s lawyers used the years of back child support Ron owed to limit his access to his children.

With no career, no wife and no children to speak of, Ron cleared his calendar and resumed his obsessive pursuit of Hermione Granger Snape. Like the rest of his endeavors since the defeat of Voldemort, Ron failed superbly at this effort.

 

“Can I come by for dinner?” Ron asked.

 

Neither Harry nor Ginny were fooled.

 

“Sure, you can come today; not tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you in an hour. Thanks, Harry.”

“Bye Uncle Ron!” Harry’s kids called out.

“Mum says Ron’s never going to give up on Hermione.”

“Let’s hope Snape lives to be 200. He’ll need to, the way they’re making little Snapes.”

 

With a lascivious laugh, Harry apparated the Potter family to their home near the Burrow.

 

 

 

---

 

 

“We’re not home. Sev???”

“I though it wise to walk the adrenaline and the sugar out of our systems. The boys will sleep more soundly and eventually so will we.”

 

Hermione chuckled at his subtle come on.

 

“I’m already pregnant, Severus.”

“Keeping you in shape for the next one, Gryffindor.”

 

 

---

 

 

Lying in bed, sated and content, Hermione adjusted to get comfortable when an arm, tanned by a day in the sun, settled around her expanding middle.

 

“Hermione?…” came his drowsy voice.

“Hmm???”

“Our first New Year’s Eve, in the cottage in Flatley, I prayed to Merlin that Ron would treat you well, take care of you. I prayed he would love you like I did.”

“Tell me, please.”

 

Sighing in embarrassment despite six years of marriage and almost five children, he repeated the words that accompanied his most unselfish act:

 

“Merlin, grant me this: Pray let her be happy with him; let him love her as she deserves… as I would love her…”

“Did Lily know? That you prayed James would love her as you did?”

 

He responded by snugging closer to his wife and kissing that part of her neck that reinforced their bond.

 

"Smartest witch in a century..." he murmured against her skin.

 

Tears came, as they always did when she was pregnant.

 

“I am well loved, Sev.”

“When I saw that pitiful prat Weasel today I thought ‘Thank the stars Merlin ignored me this time’.”

 

Two sets of tiny feet inside a chuckling Hermione kicked his arm in agreement.

 

 

 

---

 

 

AN: This was written as a ChallengeFic response when I stumbled across this site. I typed in the wrong combination of words to search and found a site I’d never discovered before. I want to thank the challenge originator — MissCourtneyC — for the inspiration.

 

This is/was my first fanfic in this fandom on any site. Several readers have been kind enough to take the risk and provide encouragement. I’d like to acknowledge them AFTER I explain why my appreciation was relegated to end of the last chapter. For this story the chapter beginnings and endings where calibrated to set a mood as Hermione and Severus move from externally driven needs and reliance to internally driven desires and affections. For this tome, I chose not to break the readers’ attentions up with ANs. 

 

Believe me, it in no way reflects my humble appreciation and awe that someone would invest time and brain cells to both read my writing and to comment. I know you didn’t have to and I am grateful.

 

So thank you — mariteri, HarryGinny4eva, LDeetz, Nox, pickles87, Secretness, staar, Bournespeed and Victoria. You hold a special place in my memory of this story.

 

It is done; let life continue.

Updated AN - 23Feb16

meldz: I take plaguerism very seriously. Snapes_Goddess is an excellent writer and well published in this fandom on numerous sites. However, a careful reading of my story will show the following major differences - 

• My Hermione is suffering mild PTSD and is struggling for normalcy. This dynamic occurs long before her attraction to Severus and is what drives her to reconcile with Ron despite her misgivings and his subsequent treatment of her.
• In this story, Ron is neither truly Hermione's friend anymore nor capable of being part of the trio. He's become a stalker, obsessed with having and controlling Hermione.
• Severus and Hermione seldom cohabit in the bed unless there's a necessity driven by their war wounds. In "The Healing" this is not the case - the first chapters begin with Hermione sharing a bed with Severus (a situation Hagrid remarks on).
• There's no sex between Severus and Hermione that can lead to pregnancy in my story until they wed. The unwed penetrative sex that does occur is between Hermione and an aggressive Ron; it's this sex that leads to her unknown pregnancy and subsequent medical issues.  Severus denies her penetrative sex until they're married. Clearly this differs from "The Healing" where they engage before leaving their isolation.
• Severus does nothing to admit he cares for her until New Year's Eve and even then will not allow himself to be her first. 
• They have a magical bond that Severus is willing to die for rather than confess how he feels about Hermione. The "bond" between them in "The Healing" is "magical" in the muggle sense - it's Sebastian, the baby.
• There are a number of other key plot/character points/moments that have no analog in "The Healing":
  • Hermione suffers a miscarriage.
  • Severus buries her daughter in his family cemetery
  • There are no Malfoys, no Greyback and no revenge plot - which are central to "The Healing"
  • There's more Harry and a great deal of Dumbledore in my story
  • Harry plays the role of "father confessor": much of Hermione's and Severus' true feelings come through interactions with him - as do Ron's, where the hint that he's attempting to dominate Hermione come through
  • No glimpses into Hogwarts after their children are born occur and certainly no wedding for any of the kids as they have nothing but boys by the end of my story

In summary, while both stories deal with the impacts of having to isolate Severus initially to save him, "The Healing" does so to create the opportunity for an unplanned pregnancy whereas "Unanswered Prayers" does so to allow for the unintentional creation of their magical bond. In my story Severus will not cross the line to have sex with Hermione because he realizes she's still healing herself and that she doesn't belong to him - it takes a bottle of sparkling wine (tampered with by Dumbledore) to overcome SOME but not all of Severus' restraint. There's no hint that magic played any part in their coming together in "The Healing"; that idea drives my plot.

I try scrupulously - as scrupulously as anyone can who reads and remembers what they enjoy - to ensure my work is original. But any writer who claims their work owes nothing to other writers is at best a fool, at worst a liar. After all, fan fiction is - in and of itself - a form of allowed plageurism; we fanfic writers use characters, situations and references to spin canon to our own preferences (that's why this particular site can be draconian about the disclaimer language). There are islands, babies born (tho' not to these characters), healing and threats in the canon. Snapes_Goddess (who I consider a hell of a writer) and I found these appealing and used them in two entirely different ways.

I hope you'll re-read both stories and note how early the diverge in plot and characterization and I hope you enjoy them as much as you did the first time you read them.