The Wrong Time

You Made Your Bed…

Hermione swallowed the information. Severus was the father of her son? Severus was Josiah’s father? The room began to spin, and she fell to the floor, welcoming the blackness around her. When she came to, she realized that she was snuggled against Severus. Ron was standing over her, concern etched in his freckled features.


“Wh-what happened?” she asked, her voice hoarse.


“You fainted,” Ron said.


Her eyes found Severus’.


“Did you really glow blue?” she asked him, eyes welling with tears.


“I’m afraid so,” Severus said, clutching her tightly, as if afraid she might collapse again.


Hermione’s face glowed a bright pink.


“Ron, I--” she began, but she really didn’t know what to say. “I should have told you.”


Ron nodded.


“That might have been good, yeah,” he said, looking away.


Hermione had seen him do this a million times. He was hiding the fact that his eyes were filling with tears.


“Ron, I’m--”


He held up a hand to silence her.


He grasped her hand in his.


Hermione could hear Lavender sigh heavily from somewhere in the room.


Severus inhaled sharply. He could not help but feel a slight pang of jealousy at the sight of another man holding her hand.


“I don’t want your apology. I deserved what I got. I suppose what they say about karma is true,” he said, his blue eyes full of guilt.


“Ron, it was just the wrong time. It just wasn’t meant to be. I’m only sorry we wasted so many years. Clearly, you are in love with Lavender, and well, I’m in love with Severus,” she said, feeling her voice crack.


Severus looked at her incredulously. She had not said that before.


“I love you, Severus,” she said, looking into his eyes.


“I love you too,” he said, kissing her forehead softly.


He blushed. He felt exposed, saying that for the first time in front of her ex husband, his new bride to be, and her former mother in law.


“Well, what do we do about Josiah?” Ron asked. “I’ve been his daddy since he was born. What will happen now?”


“I honestly don’t know,” Hermione said.


“I think we should just tell him the truth,” Severus offered.


“Don’t you think he is a little young to understand?” Molly said.


“Actually, no,” Hermione said. “I mean I know he is only two years old, but he is very smart. I think he would understand it if we explain that Severus is his daddy.”


Ron looked crushed.


“Where does that leave me?” he asked her.


“You can see him when he visits your mother,” Hermione said.


“Yeah, I suppose that will be alright,” he said, turning away again.


He wanted desperately to protest, to shout that he was Josiah’s father no matter what the bloody test said, but he knew that he had made his bed, and now it was time to lie in it. Hermione had been unfaithful to him, but it was nothing against the five years he had been unfaithful to her.


“What are we going to tell Rose and Hugo?” he asked after a few minutes.


“If we can tell a two year old the truth, then there is no reason why we can’t tell them the truth as well,” Hermione said simply.


She only hoped that her children could understand.


Severus poured four glasses of wine and one of pumpkin juice.


“Perhaps, under the circumstances, we should all be present when Josiah is told the truth of his parentage,” Severus said, passing the glasses around.


Everyone sipped their wine.


“Severus, this wine is amazing, wherever did you get it?” Molly asked.


“I made it,” he replied simply.


“It’s wonderful! Do you sell it?”


“Yes, actually. If you were to go into a muggle restaurant and order a glass of it, you would be charged roughly 300 euros.”


Ron spat wine all over the counter.


Severus glared at him and tossed him a towel.


Molly looked flabbergasted.


“How would that translate in wizard money?”


“Forty-five Galleons,” Hermione said softly.


“Good Lord, Severus! I am thoroughly impressed!”


“Thank you,” Severus said curtly. “Of course, I only sell it by the bottle, so you would be very hard pressed indeed to find it by the glass.”


“And how much is a bottle?” Molly asked.


“Two hundred seventy Galleons, ten Sickles, and twenty-three knuts,” Severus said.


“My word,” Molly muttered under her breath.


Hermione noticed that she began to sip her wine much more slowly.


They stayed that way, sipping their drinks in awkward silence before Josiah came toddling into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.


“Mummy?” he said sleepily.


“Yes, Baby, Mummy’s here,” Hermione said, scooping him up.


Severus led them to the living room, where everyone took a seat.


Once they were settled, Hermione, Severus and Josiah on the loveseat, and everyone else on the couch across from it, Hermione spoke.


“Josiah, we have something very important to tell you. Can you be a big boy for Mummy?” she said sweetly, stroking her son’s soft curls.


“Mmmhmm,” he said.


“You love Sev very much, don’t you?” she asked him.


“Yes,” he said, smiling at Severus.


Severus managed a weak smile back.


“Well, it turns out, Son, that Sev is your Daddy,” Hermione said, looking at him expectantly.


“But what about Daddy?” he asked, looking confused.


“He can still be your friend,” Hermione told him, hugging him tightly, “but he can’t be your Daddy anymore, because Severus is your Daddy.”


“But what do I call Daddy now?” he asked, looking frightened.


“You can call him Ron. Can you say Ron?”


“Won,” Josiah said.


He turned to Severus.


“You’we my Daddy?” he asked him.


“Yes,” Severus said, looking awkward.


Josiah climbed off Hermione’s lap and walked over to Ron.


“Won?” he said, tentatively, as though he was afraid he might get in trouble.


“Yes?” Ron replied, fighting back a tear.


“I still wove you, even though you’we not my daddy anymore,” Josiah said, and wrapped his arms around Ron’s knees.


“I love you too, Baby,” Ron said, voice wavering with tears. “We can still play together if you like, when you go to see your Grandma.”


“Otay,” Josiah said.


He went back to where Hermione and Severus were sitting and took Severus’ hand in his small one.


“Hi, Daddy,” he said, shaking Severus’ hand.


Hermione laughed aloud, as did Severus.


“Hi, son,” he replied, his voice cracking slightly.


“Well, I think we better be off,” Ron said rushedly, wiping the corners of his eyes. “Lavender really needs her rest, you know.”


Hermione nodded in response.


“Bye-bye Won,” Josiah said.


“Bye, Joe,” Ron said, a single tear sliding down his cheek.


He took Lavender’s hand, and Severus showed them back to the fireplace. Ron and Lavender stepped through the flames.


“I want to go wif Gwamma,” Josiah said pointedly.


Hermione smiled at him.


“Aright sweetie,” Hermione said.


Molly smiled broadly and scooped up the baby in her arms. Perhaps things would be alright after all. She turned to step through the flames when Severus stopped her.


He handed her a bottle of wine.


“For the road,” he said, winking at her.


“Th-thank you!” Molly said incredulously. “Thank you so much!”


“Don’t mention it,” Severus said dismissively.


Molly leaned up and dropped a light kiss on Severus’ cheek . They both turned scarlet.


When the house was finally empty, Severus enveloped Hermione securely in his arms.


“I’m going to have to get used to being called ‘Daddy,’” he said softly into her ear.


“So it would seem,” she said, smiling at him.


He held her tightly. He never wanted to let her go.


A/N:Thank you all so much for the reviews! I am glad that you enjoyed the plot twist….I know it was little extreme, but I wanted them to have a child together, so instead of making Hermione pregnant too, I thought perhaps they already had one but weren’t aware. Oh, and just in case anyone got too hopeful, don’t forget that even though Josiah is not Ron’s child, Rose and Hugo both are, so we haven’t gotten rid of Ron and Lavender, we’ve only made Ron pay for his betrayal.