Leaving a Mark

Author’s Notes: This chapter has been sitting in my lap half done for a long time now. I have promised myself time and again that I will go back to it soon and finally finish it but alas life kept interfering with my plans and besides I had a few nuts to crack before I could be satisfied with this chapter. Since the appearance of the HBP this story now looks AU. It is possible I suppose to explain how to get from HBP to this story without a hitch but I’ll leave that up to your imagination. This chapter is unBETAd yet because I wanted to give it to you already and couldn’t wait any longer so any mistakes you see here are my own. So without further ado read on.

Disclaimer: The characters aren’t mine they belong to one JKR, the general plot doesn’t belong to me either its part of the Surrogate Mother Challenge from the great WIKTT but everything else is indeed mine, all mine.



Chapter Three: Contracts


“I am in need of one Kneazle\'s tail, please.” Severus muttered in a low and overly pronounced tone, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to identify him. He would never live it down if he, Professor Severus Snape, was recognized while buying something like this, but he needed a son and for that certain ingredients were essential. Shifting his eyes stealthily beneath his hood he took the familiar shadowed alley and thought how infinitely preferable it would be to have one of his dunderheaded former pupils steal a glimpse of his visage and run tell all his snotty friends what he saw Professor Snape buying in Knockturn alley than have some half forgotten retch from the banished past see through him to the hidden blemish at his core and call him ‘Moonboy’ in surprised disbelief and wonder. He would kill them all before he let a soul suspect that once he was that boy, answering to that vile moniker and having this place to call his home. He made sure it would never happen, that no link would ever be made between him and that \'boy\' but the fearful doubts always bloomed within his chest as he breathed the air of this human waste dump, trying to escape the heavy clamps he set upon them in his mind. Fortunately, at this early Sunday morning hour the alley was practically deserted of both sources of danger.


“Yer want me Kneazle tail.” the hag crooned in delight from behind her ratty stall, her mouth splitting open in a leering toothless smile. Severus breathed in shallow breaths trying to ignore the heavy reeking fumes breathed on his face and contented himself with a small tight nod. “O\'course, o\'course, I\'ve got just the fink. Take a feel at this tail \'ere, long and furry, ain\'t it, straight as a stick. Yer\'ll \'ave yor wee lady thankin\' yer and beggin\' for more, walkin\' like the bloody wee ducklin\'.” Her high shrill voice grated on his ears and he could already feel eyes in the shadows around him drawn his way by the waving tail in her hand.


“Yes, thank you very much. I’ll take it.” he answered hurriedly through gritted teeth in a dignified tone of voice, hoping to end this as quickly as possible and be gone from here. He knew how to handle her sort, these dregs of Wizardkind society that were content to remain and live their lives in Knockturn alley. Smiling broadly at her he fished a Galleon from his pouch and presenting it to her, tried to grab the tail out of her hands but wasn’t quite quick enough. Scowling to himself as she cackled at his clumsiness he wondered whether the complacent life he lived in Hogwarts since the fall of the Dark Lord was making him slow. He should have had the tail in his hands without breaking a sweat; he used to do this all the time back in the old days. Than again back in the old days the familiar aromas of his boyhood didn\'t smell quite so repulsive though he always hated them. He felt filthy every time he returned to Knockturn alley.


Eyeing his coin greedily, the hag started babbling hurriedly “Good master, surely yer would like ter have a look at the bloomin\' rest of me fings? Yer can \'ave anyfink that cotches yor eye, right, anyfink that sparks yor fancy. \'Ave a look \'ere, I’ve got \'ere a clutch of Ashwinner eggs, right, right fresh, still warm from the chuffin\' stove, right, only a Sickle an egg! Oi! Surely a Wizard such as yorself would like ter have some?\"


Severus grimaced shaking his head emphatically \"Just the tail. I do not require any overpriced rubbish I can have for Knuts at the nearest Apothecary from the likes of you.\" She was taking him for a fool, a rich fool at that. He shouldn’t have showed her the Galleon like that. She didn’t guess what stuff he was really made of and it was his duty to teach her a lesson or two in the art of small time haggling. Yes, this was more like it.


\"Yer might find cheaper eggs elsewhere.” she spat, than smiled crookedly. “But if that’s not ter yor likin\' \'ave a look \'ere. Cor blimey guv! I \'ave, hoarded \'ere and waitin\' for a wizard like yorself ter step up ter my stall and claim it, a mermaid’s \'air-lock! Right! Taken on them sunny Rhodes\' beaches, it is a superb specimen wiv just that perfect golden green \'ue yer will not glimpse ter pluck anywhere else on the Nanny Goat Race of this world. A wizard like yer, \'oo knows \'is eggs and potions, will surely know its value? To possess the voice that would lure any tart or lass ter yor bed wiv just a trill or murmur in \'er wee ear. Yer won’t find that at any street or corner now, will yer?\" she asked, looking hopefully at him, searching for the tell tale signs of wakened interest. He sneered back at her, not even bothering to look at the damp, knotted wisp dangling from her filthy hand. It wasn’t his voice after all that needed fixing.


Giving up on the hair-lock after a long moment’s silence, she fished once more beneath her little stall for a long moment before surfing triumphantly out of her jumbled knick-knacks with a little ornate box. \"I \'ave \'ere fairy dust. Pure from the barest touch of warmff or sunlight, right, it were gathered untouched, straight from the air on frosty, full moon winter nights and kept in this \'ere enchanted silver snuff-box ever since. I prepared it accordin\' ter my own ancient secret recipe wiv Kelpie spit and right good ground Sneezlewort. The chuffin\' lightest sprinkle in yor mince pies and in yor bed yer\'ll spot yor \'eart’s desire, right, and so will she: a fairy-princess in yor bed, a shy virgin evry singgle time.\" She was winking at him!


Severus just scowled feeling anger bubbling in him. He wasn\'t interested in living his life in lies and self-deception. That was what led him to the dark side in the first place though he got benefits enough from it. \"I have no interest in anything you have to offer.” he hissed in a low whisper at her. “I\'ll take the Kneazle tail and be gone from your petty little stall and if by any chance, I discover that this isn\'t truly a tom’s Kneazle tail as you claim it is, you will regret it for the rest of your very short and miserable life. Now take my coin already and be done with it. It is more than it’s worth, as you no doubt know, but I don\'t have all day to waste here in idle chit-chats.\"


The hag just shook her head vigorously her eyes flashing in anger. \"On me \'oary mole, yer \'ave me word yer\'ll not find a singgle fin\' \'ere false or dull, I reckon.” Her smile was returning, \"A not so bad tail this is and will last yer many a nights. Will one Galleon last me that long? Yer won\'t be takin\' advantage of a poor ole hag like me, right, will yer? Yer\'ll \'ave it for five gold ones, not a Knut less.\"


Severus had had enough of this. \"Five Galleons, just for a tail?” he asked, his voice rising higher and higher. “That is plain robbery! I\'ll find my tail elsewhere where they still remember the value of a Knut and not disdain the weight of a good Gringotts\' Galleon.” She would give up now he felt with gleeful confidence. She would stop pestering him with her demands and endless offers and take his coin with eyes full of meek gratitude, subservience in their watery depths. A Galleon was not something a hag like her would see everyday after all.


The hag took a step back at his shout before giving him a hard appraising look, trying to see what lurked beneath his robes and hood. Appearing to make up her mind she spoke. “A Galleon for the bloomin\' tail, right, that is fair. But wot worff is cold coin ter an ole hag like me, eh? Would it keep me blood coursin\' strong in me ole desiccatin\' bones in lonely days ter come, eh, luv? Give us a token ter remember yor \'andsome yung self by, to warm me in the bleedin\' cold winter nights soon ter come. Give us a kiss on me lips wiv yor wee golden coin and yer\'ll \'ave the chuffin\' tail wiv me blessin\'. Deny me this boon and yer\'ll \'ave naught but me evil-eye on yer and yors ter nick yor luck and fortune.”


He was struck dumb speechless staring at her in disbelief while seeking in vain the words to express the unlikelihood of ever kissing the likes of her. He would rather kiss Aberforth’s old goat on the snout than this smelly old hag wouldn’t he? He would have kissed Albus over-sweetened lemony gob before touching his lips with hers, right?


Opening his mouth to give her his scathing retort he found out it was already too late. Leaning suddenly forward across her stall she grabbed his hair with her dirty hand and tugged him painfully toward her putrid open mouth making him feel faint with her smell and looks. She was murmuring softly in a distracting saccharine screech “Don’t be shy now. Give an ole lass a kiss for good luck. I know yer want to, yer \'andsome wee divvy.” And before he could manage to jerk off and free himself her tongue was thrusting its way through his half open lips to roam freely over gums and teeth and tongue, making his mouth her own and choking him with the taste of things half or more than half rotten. Snatching the coin from his nerveless fingers she left the tail nearby and leaned back to her stool licking her lips smugly “Cor blimey guv! I’ll remember yer, my wee incubi. Don’t forget yor tail now.\"


Hastily grabbing the tatty tail from her stall Severus stepped back before he would either topple over with sudden dizziness or retch his guts out in the middle of the alley and let the hyenas now surrounding him rob him of all but his name and under-things. His back stiffening defiantly he stared murder on the onlookers and half strode half run out of the alley trying to ignore the taunts and snickers harrying his footsteps. Turning the corner he Apparated back to Hogwarts gates and leaning on them, fell to the ground bonelessly, gulping the clean cold Scottish air in heavy gulps and wretches. He tried to spit her foul taste out of his mouth but his mouth was soon as dry as a bone and the taste worse as ever.


Why did he go there? He felt so enthusiastic this morning, waking up before the crack of dawn thinking only of a new beginning, imagining a bright little boy looking up in adoration at him from bright black eyes like his own. What a fool he’d been. He shouldn’t have gone there. In all likelihood she’ll never show up. Just because Miss. Granger seemed agreeable at their meeting yesterday didn’t mean she’d go through with the deal. She would probably chalk it all up as some sort of temporary madness and confess to her snotty little friends how the ugly Potions’ Master tried to seduce her to have his perverted way with her.


What was wrong with him? He wasn’t himself ever since that meeting yesterday. He felt so relieved after seeing her, almost grateful to her for Circe’s sake. But it wasn\'t anything she did he knew, it was all the fault of those others. After meeting those first five applicants it was no wonder he felt this way. Anyone would have in his place Severus thought with a shudder as he recalled what transpired yesterday at that quaint little restaurant.


The first one he met was a grey haired, heavily built witch. It didn\'t take him long to know he couldn\'t stand her. From the moment they met she started smothering him with gushing praise and acclamations for the offer he made her out of the goodness of his heart exclaiming how timely his ad was for her. Not wanting to push her away before he knew he had better options he ground his teeth repeatedly and kept his tongue under heavy guard lest he drive her away with his usual sarcasm. She seemed to take his silences as an invitation to elaborate, perhaps encouraged by the overly polite tone he employed whenever he knew he could not hold his silence a moment longer. She told him how grateful all her children would be if only they knew from what dire straights he was rescuing her. And of her darling family and her poor dearly departed husband Mister Fletcher she couldn’t stop nattering. He was a good man according to her and did his best by her but alas, the man had no sense for business and left her sunk hip deep in foolish debts. So far she had managed to scrape through by selling household and cosmetic potions to their neighbours but the goblins were not satisfied with her promises and got louder and nastier by the day. They demanded their gold back now or else they’d take matters into their own grubby hands. Why she would believe he cared to hear all this fluffy tripe he had no notion. It would have sufficed to say ‘I need this much money to pay some debts or else I fear I shall lose my home and belongings.’ She even had the gall to offer him some of her homemade potions for his teeth and hair. The rest of their time together she spent spouting endless variations on the tiresome theme of how grateful her whole family, even to her smallest grandson would be for his saintly financial support in their time of need. The worst part was when she invited him for dinner at her home so he could meet her family and see for himself what great good his magnanimity would bring about. It would have been pure torture. She also told him her door would always be open to him and his boy once he came about, that if ever he felt overwhelmed by parenthood he shouldn’t fear to floo her since she had plenty of experience with her own brood. He couldn’t accept it. He just knew his hand would reach for his wand if he had to spend any more time with the woman. It was Molly Weasley all over again, only ten times uglier.


The second one looked so promising at first. Miss. Meadows was only forty-five years old and reasonably intelligent. She looked so perfect, with her dry silky brown hair to counter his own greasy mess, her wide hips perfect for the bearing of his child. She even had a sunny ready smile under a petite French nose to soften his own unsavoury countenance. It was such a rude awakening to learn her hidden flaw. A Squib. He recalled how he asked her, just as he was about to tell her she was his choice, why couldn’t he remember her from their time at Hogwarts together. Did she go to Beauxbatons instead or maybe learned at home? After she confessed that she was educated in a Muggle boarding school it all came out. He lost his temper with her then, calling her a cheat and a liar for not telling him what she was upfront from the beginning. She left the restaurant with tears in her eyes, telling him she was sorry and that she didn’t mean to hide it from him. She only wanted to have a child that would bring some magic into her life, to have something in the magical realm to call her own. He actually missed her company after she left, having to sit with the next three women, if he could call them that. She was certainly nothing like Argus Filch, the only other Squib he really knew.


The third witch he met was one of his former students. A nineteen-year-old Hufflepuff chit he thought he had seen the last of the year before. She had some bizarre notions about having a romantic relationship with him, of spending their days together in Madam Paddifoot’s place uncovering his till now hidden sappy core and revealing it to the astounded but happy world. She even thought she could clear his name with a few heart-full words to the public proclaiming him a good man, misunderstood for the thin rough outer shell he hid behind to protect his fragile feelings but still hurting from the name-callings and hatred he constantly suffered from the world. That he was only seeking the ‘loving touch’ to free him from his self-imposed chains and become the golden hearted person she knew he was underneath it all. In her plans they lived happily ever after in their new home at Hogsmeade making lots of cute little babies, she serving teas in that revolting teashop of hers while he brewed them for her in the back kitchen using his till now untapped potion-making skills to achieve the maximum ‘happy effect’. The lunatic! They should lock people like her somewhere out of sight like the Muggles do instead of letting them just wander around harassing normal people like him whenever it caught their fancy. He finally managed to get rid of her with a ‘Don’t owl me, I’ll owl you.’ line.


The fourth one looked much like the first if a tad older except for the moustache. He tried keeping his eyes trained on hers, but they kept sliding back to that moustache. Apparently she was bored with her husband and wanted to ‘Get back to it and do it hard like randy goats.’ with anyone she could lay her hands on. She licked her lips crudely before telling him she couldn’t wait till she tasted his ‘special brew’ after he ‘stirred it thoroughly in her tight little cauldron’. That pervert. What did she take him for? It took him a few minutes to grasp what she was talking about and than a few more before he managed to be calm enough to shoo her off. Calling himself ‘Succulent Vulcan’ was a mistake, a horrible mistake.


The last one was so old she could have passed for the old man of the sea’s mother. Her head was nearly bald, her stature only held wrapped around her walking cane and her face was so wrinkled he had trouble finding her toothless mouth in it. She seemed mainly interested in his money and became very hard of hearing every time he started asking her whether she considered the possibility she might be a tad too old to fulfil her side of the bargain. He finally managed to convince her he wasn’t interested after he explained for the third time in a row that his ad didn’t say ‘up to and including witches of age two hundred and seventy five’ but just ‘below age seventy five.’ and that seventy-five wasn’t the same thing at all as two hundred and seventy five. The other patrons were giving him dirty looks by the time he shouted his explanation in her ear that third time and he had to give some quick excuses to the muttering Muggles and apologize to the bothersome old relic, giving her enough money to pay her cab’s fare back to the Leaky Cauldron.


Looking around he noticed that it was still very early in the morning, the sky still half dark and the castle windows unlit by waking stuff or students. Getting back on his feet he swiftly made his way to the dungeons before anyone could notice him, relieved at this one small lucky break.


Preparing a shower to cleanse himself of the morning’s events he remembered what a surprise it had been seeing Miss. Granger after finally getting rid of that old leech. He couldn’t imagine her answering an ad like his for any reason except perhaps to tell him off for degrading womankind to the statue of paid prostitutes with his egocentric ad but there she was. When she started making friendly small talk to him he didn’t have the heart to make more than a token effort to get rid of her with his usual biting sarcasm fearing that the next candidates about to come would be even worse than the ones he just endured, if that was at all possible. It was actually pleasant having an intelligent conversion about obscure magic rituals and life after the war with a witch like her though he still felt surprised at her naiveté and isolation not to be aware of his current unwelcome status in the magical world. She couldn’t be pretending ignorance. He remembered what a terrible liar the girl was back in school and he didn’t believe she’d changed all that much in the few years that passed since her graduation. It was such a shock, once he put all the pieces together, to realize why she was really there, that it took him a few moments to gather his wits and find his words once more to reply to her. He felt light headed at that moment, almost flippant. She was his sixth appointment. Who would have thought? He needed look no farther. She was the right choice. She was intelligent, young, and strongly magical. She even had a reasonably passable physical appearance, certainly a better one than his own ignominious visage. He didn’t wait any further for his seventh and last appointment. He had chosen.


The smell and taste of overripe cheese and rotten cabbages, of piss and puke and blood pulled him back to the present with their nauseating effects. They were still clinging to his clothes, his hair, his mouth. They were stronger than ever now that he was confined in this enclosed space. Banishing all his clothes, he used sterilizing cleansing solutions for his mouth and hair and body. Solutions he knew were strong enough for his need based on his knowledge as a Potions Master. He spent the next hour scrubbing himself clean and banishing the dirty Hogwarts towels when he was done as well and Evanescing the room clean of any malingering traces of the foulness.


Feeling marginally better, he ordered strong bitter tea and a plate of dry toast from the kitchens to break his fast and wash away the remaining traces of the accursed Hag’s taste from his nose and mouth. He knew it was a mistake to go and buy the Kneazle’s tail this morning before he even had Miss. Granger’s signed word to proceed with the deal. He had become careless with his over eagerness to have his wish fulfilled. Thinking ahead now on his upcoming meeting with Miss. Granger he started wondering how he was supposed to impregnate her with his child. Surely she didn’t expect him to do it the ‘natural way’? The foul taste he just spent the last hour and a half trying to banish and forget came back to him with a vengeance. He could hear the pealing sniggers surrounding him once more. Oh, the gleeful mocking laughter, the pointed fingers, the taunts, the jinxes and the kicks. It was always the same. She wouldn’t just expect him to do it the ‘natural way’, she’ll demand it, ensuring her ceremony was natural through and through. Women, they were all alike, the scheming deceitful little hellions, first that hag and now Miss. Granger. Was he required to make her come as well he wondered? Nothing was beyond them. He could imagine her expression already, when the moment came, wrinkling her nose before shutting her eyes firmly, her lips compressed in angry determination. Yes indeed, he wasn’t stupid. And what will she say to her disgusting little friends later? Oh, how she will regale them with late night tales about the disgusting pitiful greasy git from the Hogwarts dungeons and what must he have to do to find women willing to take him to the same bed as them.


He won’t let her get away with that. He will ensure from the start that her lips stayed sealed to the end of her days on this little matter no matter what she thought.


Going to his private laboratory he looked at the stiff tail on his workbench and was relieved to see no sign of flees. Casting a thorough Scourgify on it he stored it away and went on to his office. Finding the overflowing pile of parchments of the week’s unmarked student assignments he got to work waiting for the chit to arrive.


&&&


Hearing the knock at ten o’clock sharp he finished marking the current rubbish assignment from his pile before barking “Enter!” at the door.


Looking up he saw her standing a little nervously in front of his desk, holding a long parchment and a book in her hands, and dressed in witch’s robes this time. Nodding to her to sit down he held out his hand for the parchment and taking it, ignored her completely.


Skimming quickly over the preliminary details, his eyes focused on the details of the consummation ceremony. Reading it over a few times to make sure he wasn\'t making a mistake he drew a relieved breath. It didn’t look too bad to him, nothing like what he had feared earlier this morning seemed to be a requirement. Looking up at her at last he said “Miss. Granger. I see the ritual doesn’t require actual copulative intercourse between the two parties involved?”


She was looking very nervous now, “Professor Snape.\" Wetting her lips she continued lowly \"You wouldn’t insist on doing it the old fashioned way, because it’s the, ahm, the pure-blooded way, right professor? I’m positive that it’s not required for the ceremony to be successful.” she finished in a rush looking down at her book with what looked like a terrible blush.


“No. This way is much more preferable.” He said with great relish. He won’t have any need to use the tail he bought to make the infamous Erecting Draught after all, just the semen-separating one. Seeing her nod he returned to perusing the parchment more fully now that his main worry was taken off his chest. Reading it from start to finish and than a second time to make sure he didn’t miss out anything he wondered idly whether she would manage to keep all these restrictions on her life for the next long nine months. The ritual was tedious in the extreme and the privations it demanded were simply preposterous, especially for a muggle born like Miss. Granger. She would have to give up all ‘unnatural’ foods and clothes, never use her wand to cast spells on herself or any other living creature, give up meat and of the remaining foods eat only the freshest available. She would spend long nights in the freezing great outdoors communing with whatever it was that she found to commune with there, flies and mooncalves perhaps. The finishing act with the placenta was simply revolting. Where did she think they lived in, New Zealand?


It didn’t seem to him that all these sacrifices, beginning with the pregnancy itself, were worthy of the eventual rewards she craved so much but that was her life and firstborn she was so eager to waste with this decision after all and he shouldn’t complain, seeing how much benefit he was drawing from it. She was always such a show-off back in school and probably couldn’t bear to live with the fact that anyone in her year could get higher NEWT scores in any subject like mister Longbottom did in Herbology. He didn\'t for a moment believe she did it to gain more power like she alluded to yesterday. She had nothing of Slytherin in her. He wasn\'t quite certain whether she did it from a Ravenclawish hunger to possess all knowledge or a Gryffindorish arrogant need to bask in her own supremacy but it didn\'t really matter.


“It seems feasible, if a tad difficult. I don’t see anything that will harm him directly in here, but how you can expect me to agree to have my child delivered without a Mediwitch\'s supervision on the birthing, or the pregnancy for that matter is beyond me. I would not have my child and heir harmed just to cuddle your overblown sense of pride.”


“A Mediwitch\'s diagnostic charms could disrupt the ceremony beyond repair and she won’t be needed in any case if we follow the instructions in the book.\" she interrupted him hotly. \"One of the reasons this ceremony was performed in ancient times, if you\'re unaware of this, was to ensure the health of the newborn and his mother. The food requirements for example ensure there will be no chance of malnutrition to the mother or the child and the repeated blessings will prevent the foetus from getting turned at the wrong time or direction or from getting strangled with the umbilical cord and the like. The ceremony ensures that the pregnancy and birth are as easy and uncomplicated as naturally possible. It wouldn’t prevent birth defects or negate injuries of course. That would require a dark ritual with a blood or life sacrifice. But this is as good as any charm-work they can perform in St. Mungo and much less intrusive.” She was beaming at him now, leaning forward in her chair and speaking animatedly in sheer enthusiasm on her subject. “According to ‘Ancient rituals of light and darkness’, while the ancient dark rituals always demand a sacrifice of some sort and could produce stillborns or cause the mother’s death or barrenness for example, light rituals have the opposite effect, enhancing the health and fortune of all involved. This is especially relevant to nature-rituals, who deal directly with these subjects of health and sickness. In ‘Rituals of yonder ages’ Delphus explains the basis of ceremonial and ritualistic magic and how it is related to modern charm work, particularly of the unfocused, wandless kind. There is a strong resemblance to…”


“Enough with your prattling, Miss. Granger. If I wanted to read a tome on outmoded magical lores I could have gone to the library and read it myself. I do not require or care to hear it recited ad naseum to me by you.” He sneered at her. Was she still the same silly girl he remembered from her schooldays, practically standing up from her chair that first day in his class from waving her hand in a futile attempt to grab his attention? “Now, you claimed the ritual will prevent accidental complications in the pregnancy. How do you know there won’t be any deeper problems with yourself or the foetus that will require a proper Mediwizard’s care?” he smiled cruelly at her.


Looking triumphant she gave him a wide toothy grin full of smugness and vindication before answering him. “After I decided to perform this ritual a month ago, I went to St. Mungo and asked the healer, Madam Llewellyn, for a complete check-up to make sure I didn’t have any of those problems standing in my way. I passed all the tests and she said there shouldn’t be any problem with the birth or pregnancy as far as I am concerned. She told me that in most cases the stuff in the birthing chamber is just a cheering squad for the expecting mother and doesn’t have to do anything more than be good supportive friends to her, helping her pass the ordeal and not allowing her to give up before the end. Actually, she made me promise not to tell this to any other mother or soon she’ll be out of business, though I don’t think she was really serious about that.


“I think she was quite pleased that I wanted to have a natural birth outside the hospital. She told me how right it felt for her when she was a girl to sit by her mother on her parents’ bed, holding her hand as she gave birth to her little brother. It was true bliss, to hold him for the first time seeing his peaceful smiling face that knew he was safe at home amongst his loved ones instead of the wailing cries she usually gets in the hospital. She wished my time to be as magical as her mother’s. The poor woman really wanted to have her own child that way but the St. Mungo regulations require her to set an example for the public and do it in the hospital.


“Anyway, as for the foetus, she gave me a potion that checks if the parents are compatible. All you have to do is add a drop of blood from each parent and if it remains translucent and colourless there is nothing to worry about. It doesn’t check, of course, if it is magical or what its personality and intelligence will be or even how it will look physically but it will rule out the possibility of any major birth defect or family curse that could affect its life at such an early stage.” And with that she fished from her pocket a vial of clear fluid placing it on the table for his inspection.


Apparently she came prepared. Picking the vial, he inspected the unbroken St. Mungo seal before opening it and giving it a suspicious sniff trying to determine what its ingredients were. Was that Unicorn hoof clippings he detected? He thought there was a bit of Billywig stings in the mix and perhaps also a dash of fluxweed but he could get no farther than that. There seemed to be hundreds of ingredients thrown into the mélange and they were quite distorted by the heavy charm-work these sort of potions relied on to adapt them to their specific use. It irked him that this medicinal diagnostic potion wasn’t a branch of potions he was versant in but didn’t want to reveal his ignorance in front of his former student.


Taking a deep breath he picked a silver pin from one of his drawers and proceeded to add a drop of his blood to the unblemished fluid, holding his breath as the girl added her own drop of blood. Would the flaws, the unknown curses be revealed in him now? His past was never a pristine one. The instances in his life where such things could have happened to him were countless. The silence lengthened for long moments as the potion stood on his desk, still and unchanged. Unchanged! He was safe, unmarked. Even the girl seemed relieved at the result he noticed peripherally as the evidence sank in him. He wasn’t doomed by his past to end his life in lonely bitterness. To think, that he had never bothered checking such a basic thing. He could feel a smile tugging the corners of his lips and forcefully repressed it.


Frowning fiercely he returned to his examination of her parchment for long moments until finally looking back at her he said “I wonder how you plan to follow these rules. I don’t believe you’ll manage to follow this without a constant ‘assistance’ from house-elves. Mayhap you could manage to obtain the proper garments for this on your own but the food requirements? Without the constant service of the house elves you would never manage it on your own. Do you believe you would be able to accept their humble help to your cause?”


She looked a little put down and annoyed at this new line of questioning. It was an old argument for her and a sore spot besides. \"I have realized since my fifth year at Hogwarts that house elves need to serve humans to be satisfied with their life. I just think it would be appropriate to give them something in return for all their loyal service. They can have wages and vacations from time to time, and freedom to pursue their own goals and ambitions in their free time. Also, wizards have to stop punishing them so cruelly with physical abuse anytime they annoy them. They could be given a fine or denied breaks instead of punishing them in this medieval way. Anyway if I\'ll need the assistance of a house elf I was thinking about asking for Dobby\'s help. He is a free elf after all and I would pay him proper wages for his service.\"


\"You mean that house elf Lucius lost? He is already sworn to serve at Potter Hall for the next decade. Did you really think you could have a house elf pack his socks and towel and follow you from his home just by snapping your fingers at him and offering him bribes? You really know nothing about house elves but that is not my concern. What we are here for is to reach an agreement on how we will bring forth my child to the world, to which you have already agreed yesterday and what you wish to have in return.\" Besides, he thought to himself, there was no way he was going to accept a Potter elf into his household. Hell would have to freeze over before that ever happened as the Muggles liked to say.


Drawing a blank parchment from his desk and picking his quill and red ink jar, he wrote:


‘Hermione Granger agrees to bear the male child produced by the joining of the essences of Hermione Granger and Severus Snape. Hermione Granger will take care to keep this child\'s health and magic during the nine months she will bear him and will relinquish all rights and claims to him after his birth. The child will remain in the custody of Severus Snape and be his son and heir. The child will have Snape as his familial name. Hermione Granger will deny any connection to said child and maintain the identity of her surrogate mother contractor (meaning Severus Snape) anonymous.

In return ’


\"What do you wish in return? I have offered you monetary rewards before but I don\'t believe that that is what you covet now. Do you have a different goal on your mind?\"


\"I, I would need financial support during the time that I\'m pregnant, since I wouldn\'t be able to continue working in that condition. Nothing extravagant of course, just living expenses for a year I should think. I suppose what I really want is to perform the ritual successfully. That is after all the reason I\'m doing this. So what I would like to have in return is your aid in ensuring its successful completion. I, I read about the hormonal fits women have when they’re pregnant, how they lose all their self restraint under momentary cravings they are overpowered by. If that, if that ever happens to me, and I would forget my goal here you will have to make sure I stay my course.\"


She was looking at him, her brown eyes filled with fear and self-disgust, waiting for him to assume once more the mantle and obligations of her elder and teacher. It was touching in a way and also quite amusing, that she still saw him that way given the situation. Picking his quill once more he wrote:


\'In return Severus Snape will endeavour to ensure the successful performance and completion of the “ή τελετη συναπτουσα μητρος” or “Motherhood’s Bonding Ceremonial” as writ in the translation added below. He will provide living expenses for a year in addition to financing any needed goods for the above ritual.\'


\"Is that satisfactory?\" he asked her pushing the parchment to her.


Looking at it she bit her lip before saying “If I have to give up all my rights on the child and deny any relationship to him afterwards I want to get more than just having you ‘endeavour’ to make sure I succeed with my ceremony. I want the successful completion of the ceremony to be a condition for my agreement to your terms. Now give me the quill.” She demanded haughtily and proceeded to completely rewrite his deed.


They haggled back and forth over the rapidly disintegrating parchment until they were both as content with its contents as possible. Taking a new blank parchment from his desk drawer, this one of a finer making than the previous one he copied the final version of their agreement:


‘Hermione Granger agrees to bear the male child produced by the joining of the essences of Hermione Granger and Severus Snape. Hermione Granger and Severus Snape will follow the dictates of the ritual “ή τελετη συναπτουσα μητρος” as writ in the translation (titled “Motherhood’s Bonding Ceremonial”) added below to the best of their abilities till its complete fruition at the birth of their progeny. Hermione Granger will take care to keep this child\'s health and magic during the nine months she will bear him. Hermione Granger will relinquish all rights and claims to the child after his birth leaving him in the sole custody of Severus Snape on the condition that the above ceremony ends in complete success. The child shall be Severus Snape’s son and heir legally and publicly and will have Snape as his familial name. Hermione Granger will deny any connection to said child and maintain the identity of her surrogate mother contractor (meaning Severus Snape) anonymous if her terms are fulfilled.


In return Severus Snape will endeavour to ensure the successful performance and completion of the “ή τελετη συναπτουσα μητρος” or “Motherhood’s Bonding Ceremonial” as indicated in the above to the best of his abilities giving it his utmost priority above all other concerns including the wishes of Hermione Granger herself. Only in the prevention of sure death or irrevocable injury or ailment to the foetus, Hermione Granger, Severus Snape or other innocent bystanders may he break his vows here without reprisals. This clause is not valid if the crisis is instigated in any way by an action or inaction of Severus Snape himself and in any case, Severus Snape must try to minimize the clash between the two as far as possible. He will provide living expenses for a year and a day from the start of the above ritual in addition to procuring any needed goods for this ritual at his own expense.’


Severus was feeling sour with this final draft of their agreement but the chit wouldn’t be budged any further than that. At least he ensured that no matter what, the child would be legally his and known as such to all. Signing the parchment and touching it with his wand he handed it over.


Miss. Granger picked the quill and looked ready to complete their deed when suddenly she frowned and looked back at him. “How do you intend to ensure that the gender will be male without ruining the ceremony?” she asked suspiciously, “I won’t have you cheating me here and have me start with this business from the start all over again if it turns out to be a girl. I‘m here for nine months professor and when they’re gone I shall be gone as well, returning to my old job, to my friends, my life.” She was shouting now. “I will not stay here at your whim, shackled to your bed by a contract, hear me? And don’t tell me you intend to use some gender determining enchantment on me. I’ll have you know that they are considered as belonging to the Dark Arts and are classified highly illegal!”


“Calm down Miss Granger,” Severus sighed in exasperation “do you honestly imagine that I have not already considered this matter far more deeply and thoroughly than you, going by your clumsy attempt at it just now ever could? The method I have chosen is no darker than numerous daily potions and charms that you have no doubt brewed and cast during your own short days on this world and I am certain that it will not interfere in any way with this ceremony I am about to assist you in performing. As for the laws our beloved Ministry has devised on this matter and the biases they are wont to spread amongst the fools and sundry of our community, you should know by now how little substance they truly hold. Now will you sign this or not?”


Looking properly chastised and hurt she nodded and added her own signature and wand mark to it. Now if either one of them broke any clause within it their action would be indelibly marked upon it and could be presented as evidence to a member of the Wizengamot to judge between them on the fate of their offspring.


Making a copy of the document and handing it to her Severus started considering aloud how the terms could most efficiently be fulfilled and getting some of his own back after the smarting document he had just signed. \"Since I am now required to ensure that you follow this ritual to its fulfilment we must find the means to supervise you properly. I believe you will agree that the only logical solution for this is to move you over here for the duration of your term. My quarters are roomy enough, have no fear and this way you may perform all your rituals in the Forbidden Forest. That way you will be close at hand and I could prevent you from following any of those foolish flights of fancy you might have during your, ‘hormonal fits’” he sneered “that would ruin any chance you might have of ever fulfilling your, ritual.” Filling the last word with all the scorn and revulsion he could squeeze into it. “You should quit your job forthrightly and move your things to my quarters. As for your needs here you must pick a house elf from amongst the Hogwarts’ pack. Ultimately it will serve me, not you as I am a member of the school’s resident staff but it will simplify your chores here immensely. Pending my approval, it will serve you exclusively.”


Looking her over, he continued quickly, quelling the objection shimmering in her over-bright eyes with a withering glare. “The secrecy clause will be kept Miss. Granger. Never doubt my powers as a wizard. I have power and will enough to bend reality to my ends. Surely you have heard the term ‘Secret-Keeper’ before? Under my enchantment you shall be hidden from all human eyes and devices. The Fidelius charm will serve our purposes well. It will not interfere with your interaction with the natural forces, only with those possessing human souls and intent.


“As I said, you will perform the rituals in the Forbidden Forest. I will assist you in those but I must insist that you observe the proper precautions against frostbite and the like. This is not sunny Greece we live in or have you forgotten that little fact?” Yes, Miss. Granger looked ready to burst with her retorts and excuses but holding up his hand he forestalled her with one last tantalizing item.


“Now since you asked me so nicely to protect you from your baser instincts, please hand me your wand. We can’t have you wandering about hexing the portraits or, Merlin forbid, your tummy. You shall have the silly thing returned to you in a few months time at the ends of your labours.” He told her with a sneer holding out his hand. He was starting to feel better already and from the looks of it he had for once rendered poor dear Miss. Granger speechless.


&&&


Author’s Notes:


1) The Greek name for Hermione ritual: “ή τελετη συναπτουσα μητρος” (which is pronounced: “Hē teletē sunaptousa mētros”) translates as: A mother’s joining (lit. joining people together) ritual (lit. initiation, celebration). I hope the Greek alphabet version is readable on your computers. If you wondered, the reason it is written in Greek letters this time is that here it is written down not spoken by one of our characters. A big thank you to Anastasia Whelchel for making it possible for me to dabble in the Ancient Greek language. Without her I would be shamefully clueless.
2) No cats or kneazles were harmed to write this chapter. I give my apologies to all the cat-loving readers out there but we all have to remember that Knockturn alley is a dark and gruesome place indeed. Besides, I am quite certain that even the bravest of the magical creatures would shudder in dread and fear contemplating what goes on in any of the apothecaries out there.
3) If you are wondering about the potion ingredients and various concoctions used in this chapter I hope this will help a bit:
a. Ashwinder eggs - Quite valuable, as they can serve as ingredients in love potions or may be eaten whole as a cure for ague. These uses are quite appropriate as Ashwinder eggs are so flammable that they will ignite a dwelling within minutes if they are not frozen as soon as possible.
b. Mermaids - Are famous for luring sailors to their death by their enchanting singing.
c. Fairies - Tiny creatures that look like perfectly formed humans with insect wings. They are extremely vain and quarrelsome, liking nothing better than to serve as decoration. Fairies have their own weak form of magic which they use primarily to avoid being eaten by predators. They are not considered very intelligent.
d. Kelpie – water demon creature that transform its shape (usually looks like a horse covered with wet kelp) to lure travellers into its grasp.
e. Sneezewort - A kind of yarrow, the powdered leaves of which are said to cause sneezing. Sneezewort is \"moste efficacious in the inflaming of the braine, and [is] therefore much used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts, where the wizard is desirous of producing hot-headedness and recklessness\"
f.Billywig - A magical insect, native to Australia. It is about a half-inch long and vivid blue in color. A Billywig\'s sting causes giddiness and levitation. For this reason, the Billywig\'s sting is highly sought after by Australian wizards. Dried Billywig stingers are useful as a potion ingredient.
g. fluxweed - Isanthus brachiatus, a member of the mint family also known as \"false pennyroyal\" (pennyroyal being another member of the mint family). Fluxweed is native to the eastern United States and is a threatened or endangered species in several areas. When picked at full moon, this plant is used in Polyjuice Potion. \"Flux\" means constant change or flow, which is appropriate for a potion that changes a person\'s appearance.

Next chapter we will here what Hermione thinks of Snape’s conditions and see the beginning of their magical ceremony.


Finally a big thank you to my reviewers: Kristy, June W, Aulkan2, Cocoachristy, KarenDetroit, Lovethelab, Miari, Southern_witch_69, Azalea, Maela, Lady Jade, Miki, Gannet, mysticsong1978, Kliodna, Cenicineta, Lilyvalley100, Jen, GinnyW, Vickie, Azulkan2, Lemonade and Ashley.


Kristy – I hope this chapter isn’t overdramatic for your taste. I wanted to delve a bit into Snape’s past here. I will give more on this in later chapters.

June W – I hope this chapter answered all your questions. Muggles don’t have to be the only ones who can make babies without the dreaded sex. After all the techniques required for it are very simple (if there are no fertility problems).

Lovethelab – As I said it would not be strictly speaking the old fashioned way but there will be some innuendoes surrounding the act nonetheless.

Azalea, Kliodna – As you see I have now, with the help of the wonderful Anastasia Whelchel corrected the faulty Greek in my story. Hope you’re still interested in it.

mysticsong1978, Cenicineta – Severus doesn’t know at first why she’s there but as she tell him about her new book and he notices the absence of his next candidate despite the late hour he adds two and two together and comes up with a HERMIONE.

Lilyvalley100 – Yes, I like my relationships to develop gradually and not be some Deus Ex Machine at the beginning of a story.

Jen – maybe later. For now I’ll try to write and finish it without dying of old age in the process.