Three\'s A Crowd

Part - 3

\"It is not the end of the world, Severus.\" Dumbledore tried to sound reassuring.

\"You think not, Headmaster?\" Snape hissed, black eyes blazing. \"Then let me elaborate for you! I may have come from a poor family, but I am still a Pureblood. We are not supposed to get knocked up! My father will be furious that I am pregnant and unmarried. I pray that all he does is disown me!\"

\"And if that was not bad enough, according to the standard Hogwarts teacher\'s contract, having a child out of wedlock is cause for immediate termination with prejudice. Not only do I lose my job, but I receive no severance or references. It does not matter how the condition arose, or even the gender of the teacher. There are enough people on the board who want me gone already that they will take the opportunity to relieve themselves of my presence.\"

Dumbledore opened his mouth to address this concern, but Snape was having none of it. \"This could not be much worse, Albus. Apart from anything else, you can forget about my work for the Order. As soon as the Dark Lord sees me he will know I am pregnant, and it would be just as easy for him to discover who put these potions in my caldron. He will think that Christmas, New Years, and his birthday all came at the same time, having Harry Potter\'s child in his hands. I might as well just take poison and get it over with quickly.\"

\"Severus, do not be ridiculous,\" said Dumbledore excitedly; he had a plan now, a purpose. \"Yes, this will mean an end to your spying, though we both know that Voldemort was becoming suspicious. It was only a matter of time before he decided you were more dangerous than useful. As for the other, I will not allow the board to fire you, especially now. There is nowhere that you will be safe except at Hogwarts.\"

\"If the board has a problem with you being unmarried, I could marry you, Severus,\" said Lupin, trying not to sound too pleased with the idea. He knew that this should be perfectly acceptable to the board since same sex marriage was not only legal, but also fairly common in the Wizarding World.

\"You would marry me?\" Snape stared at him incredulously. There was something strange, vulnerable in his deep black eyes as he looked at the werewolf, then he quickly turned away. \"Gods, Lupin, why should you wish to do that? We hate each other.\" Before Lupin could answer, Dumbledore stepped in.

\"That is an excellent idea, Remus. It will kill two birds with one stone so to speak. A marriage between the two of you will keep Severus safely employed, and we can allow people to believe that you are the father of all of the children.\"

\"Why not, I am having a litter!\"

Dumbledore ignored the bitter outburst and went on excitedly. \"It would also give Remus a perfect excuse to remain at Hogwarts! Yes, this is wonderful. Severus, you can let it be known to Draco Malfoy and his cohorts that you are being forced into this marriage with Remus by me to placate the board, and are very bitter about the whole thing. I doubt that it will be too much of a stretch for you, my boy.\" His eyes twinkled.

Snape grimaced. Whenever those damned things started twinkling, he was in for trouble.

\"Yes!\" Dumbledore chuckled. He was on a roll. \"This way Voldemort will have no interest in harming the children, he does not consider Remus important. No offense,\" he told the werewolf who shrugged. \"I will set a couple of house elves to look after you. Do not fear, I promise to give you plenty of time alone, Severus, but to the outside observer it will appear that between the four of us and of course Poppy, as if you are being watched constantly, for your own good of course. You can keep up the pretence with Voldemort that you are unable to come to him because Remus and I are keeping you on a tight leash as it were. You can send him some selected information by owl, or through Draco Malfoy. This should keep the junior Death Eaters from turning on you. It might even help allay Voldemort\'s suspicions for a while.\"

\"All well and good, Headmaster, but how am I to get through this? I am going to have three babies growing inside me. Three! More than half the men who have been impregnated this way died in child birth and they only carried one.\" He tried to sound angry, but it was obvious that Severus Snape was afraid.

\"You must also recall that the last such potion induced pregnancy was over one hundred years ago. Much progress had been made in that time. Also, Poppy is one of the best Medi-witches around. I know several pregnancy specialists at St. Mungo\'s who will jump at the chance to help. You will have the very best of care. I will not insult you by saying that there is no danger. This will not be easy, Severus, but I have no intention of allowing you to die.\" He smiled reassuringly, a hand on Severus Snape\'s much too thin shoulder. \'Must make him eat better,\' he thought to himself, then said aloud, \"Now, let me see, ah, Dobby! Winky!\"

Quickly the two House Elves appeared before them. Dobby in his ridiculous mismatched socks, one day glow green, another canary yellow nightmare were on his ears, he also wore a red Weasley jumper, and Winky, looking red eyed, shaky, and to be honest slightly green around the gills in her filthy Hogwarts tea towel. \"Thank you for coming so promptly. I have a very special assignment for the pair of you.\"

\"No, Albus, you cannot be serious,\" Snape gasped. \"Everyone knows that the female elf is a drunkard, she . . .\"

\"Now, Severus, we all have our challenges to overcome.\" He turned back to the elves.

\"There has been a bit of an accident with a potion and . . .\"

\"Professor Snape is having babies!\" Dobby jumped up and down clapping his long fingered hands excitedly. This surprised Remus and Snape. Neither realized just how powerful house elf magic was. Dobby could \'see\' the babies inside Snape that were only hours old and consisted of only a few cells.

\"Babies?\" Winky looked up at him with huge her bloodshot eyes. \"Is true, Professor Snape is having babies? You is needing Winky to take care of babies!\" She blinked, stood a little taller and straightened her tea towel self-consciously.

\"Yes, Winky, you are the only elf at Hogwarts who has ever cared for a baby. And I thought that Dobby could help you.\"

\"Oh thank you, Headmaster, sir. Dobby sees them! Oh pretty babies for Sirius Black/ Snuffles, and Professor Lupin, and . . . Harry Potter!! Harry Potter is going to be a daddy!!!\"

\"Quiet, Elf,\" gasped Professor Snape, freezing the over excited Dobby in mid leap. \"No one must know that Black or Potter have anything to do with these babies. Especially Potter, or the Dark Lord will come for them!\"

\"No!\" Dobby yelped. \"Bad Dobby! Putting beautiful babies in danger!\" He jumped onto the bedside table, grabbed a heavy lamp and began to hit himself with it.

\"Dobby, stop!\" Lupin caught the lamp and pried it from his fingers. \"It is alright, just do not speak of it to anyone.\"

\"Especially not Potter,\" inserted Snape.

\"But we cannot keep this from Harry!\" Remus protested. \"One of these children is his, to hide it from him . . .\"

\"Will save all four of our lives,\" finished the Potions Master. \"The boy is all Gryffindor! He would start treating me differently, being too concerned for my health, hovering over me like a mother hen. He would not be able to help himself. He would let the information slip eventually, and one of our resident Junior Death Eaters would tell HIM. Then he will have one of his minions try to abduct or kill me.\"

\"Harry and his friends will be concerned for your health anyway, even if they believe that you are carrying only my children. Besides, a number of the students will be curious and concerned. It goes with being pregnant, double for a man. And a man having multiples to boot. People are going to treat you differently.\"

\"Gods save me from well meaning people,\" sighed Snape.

\"We should tell Harry, Albus.\" Remus turned to the Headmaster. \"It would be cruel to keep this from him.\"

\"It saddens me to say this, Remus, but Severus may be right. Harry is too open. He could never keep something like this hidden. Let us wait for a while at least. Though it pains me to do so, Harry so longs for family.\" He sighed.

\"He is better off without one,\" Severus said softly.

\"How can you say that?\" asked Remus, aghast at the bitter words.

\"You will see when my father arrives.\"

\"I thought you said he would disown you? If you do not get on with your father, why invite him here?\"

Black eyes looked at the werewolf with a mixture of sadness and rage, then turned on his heals and swept out of the room in a swirl of black robes. Dobby and Winky followed closely after, running to keep up with his long strides.

\"I do not understand?\" Lupin looked to the Headmaster for some kind of clarification.

\"Sebastian Snape is a bastard of the first order. He makes Severus seem quite mild in comparison. There was no way to prove, but I am sure that he beat Severus when he was a child. Very probably sexually abused him as well considering Severus\' aversion to being touched. I must admit I had not thought of what he would do. You had best let me handle the negotiations.\"

\"Negotiations?\" The younger man blinked. \"What negotiations?\"

\"Patriarchal Rites, my boy. Severus has been \'knocked up\' by us, we will be expected to buy him.\" The Headmaster sighed. \"It is not the most sterling tradition of our kind. There was a time when an unmarried pregnant person would be considered a disgrace to their family. Though it is extremely rare now, in the past they were often sold as servants, or, gods forbid, even prostitutes. At one time no one would have batted an eye if they were killed.\"

\"But that is barbaric!\" gasped Lupin. \"I have never heard of such a disgraceful practice! Surely that is not still done!\"

\"Fortunately the practice has fallen out of favor for the most part. But you may have no doubt that Sebastian Snape will use it. And sadly, Wizarding Law still recognizes a parents right to dispose of such tainted children.\"

Both men turned suddenly as they heard the massive wooden door that Severus had exited from open slowly. A large, very formidable looking black dog trotted in. It cocked its head at them, then as they watched, the long snout was pulled in, fur disappeared and the dog became a tall, rakishly handsome man.

Sirius Black smiled genially at them, flipping his long wavy hair. \"I swear, if looks could kill, I would be stone cold dead in the hall. So, what is Snape\'s problem this time?\"

tbc