Sweetest Of All

Anyone who had witnessed the delivery of the letter this morning, had seen a side of Professor Snape that was rarely shown. He had been flustered, upset, at a loss for words. He managed to tell the students to freeze their potions and leave. Some of the slower children had been surprised he hadn\'t taken off house points.

When everything was warded and cleared away, he started towards the Hospital Wing. His wife...his darling wife was in labor. The last few months of her pregnancy had been problematic, so Madam Pomfrey had put her on bed rest. During the last month, she had seen fit to move her into the Hospital Wing until time for the birth.

Severus had been by her side every night. Enlargement charms worked just as well on beds. She hated it. She hated being away from work, away frheirheir chambers, but she was happy he was there.

He smiled as he walked, remembering all the sleepless nights together, their hands on her stomach, the baby restless and moving. It still amazed him that it was his baby moving and kicking. Hermione had joked that the bruises were going to start showing on the outside if it didn\'t stop.

Snape had talked with the child, trying to reason with him or her. His voice would soothe for a few minutes, but the kicking would resume again. Hermione would just shake her head and curl against him, so he could share in the feelings.

Then there were the cravings. Rock cakes and ice cream, olives and oatmeal. He wasn\'t sure how she could stomach some of the combinations she ate. He would just smile and give her what she wanted, no matter how much his stomach turned.

Now it was time. The letter this morning cau caught him off guard. He knew the news was all over the school by now. Professor Snape red face and flustered, barely snapping at the children to get out of his class room. He hadn\'t even taken house points from the Hufflepuffs that had been lagging behind.

Standing outside the doors, his courage faltered. She was going to be in so much pain. True to form, Hermione had read several books on the birthing process and even convinced him o tho the same. He had to admit, he was glad she was going through it instead of him.

He opened the doors and scanned the room. There was a shielded bed in the corner. He crossed the room and peered around the screen.

That broke the silencing charm.

\"Severus Snape! Get your sorry ass in here! This is all your fault! Dear god in heaven! Why did I let this happen? If you ever touch me again, I\'ll kill you. Hexing is to good for you. I\'ll cut your balls off with a dull knife!\"

Severus looked at Madam Pomfrey. She shrugged. \"She was threatening to cut them off with a spoon.\"

He frowned and looked at his wife, who had calmed down some and was just panting in exhaustion now. \"Why a spoon?\"

She screamed as another contraction hit. \"Because it\'ll hurt worse! Gods I hate you!\" She looked at Madam Pomfrey. \"You\'re a woman. Kill me. Please. Do it for sisterhood. Please!\"

Pomfrey put a hand on her forehead. \"Hermione, relax. Don\'t fight. Just let them roll over you. This will all be over soon. You\'re almost there.\" She looked at Severus. \"Well, don\'t sta stand there.\"

He walked over and looked down at her. \"Love, how are you feeling?\"

She glared at him. \"How am I feeling? How am I feeling? Why don\'t you trying pushing a quaffle through your cock! That\'s how I\'m feeling!\"

He looked at Pomfrey and then took Hermione\'s hand. \"It\'ll all be over soon love. I promise. Just think, the baby will be here soon. Our own baby. Justnk ank about that love. Just focus on that.\" He bit back his own scream as she crushed his hand with hers as she went through another contraction.

Pomfrey lifted the blanket and checked her progress. She smiled up at her. \"All right dear. Let\'s get ready.\" She waved her wand and a comfortable set of leg rests appeared at the end of the table. Pomfrey guided her legs into them and tilted her pelvis. She smiled. \"Now, on the next big contraction, I want you to push. Severus, get behind her and hold her up. She\'ll need some resistance.\"

Hermione groaned as she sat up. \"Does he have to touch me? I never want him to touch me again!\"

Severus pulled her against his chest and smoothed her hair back from her face. He kissed her temple. \"It\'s going to be fine love. I promise. It will all be over soon.\"

He felt her body tense up and he grabbed her hand. \"Get ready to push love. Get ready.\"

She groaned and leaned her head back against him. \"I don\'t want to. Severus, it hurts. Please...please make it stop.\"

He kissed her temple. \"Shh, it\'ll be over soon. I promise. Just listen to Poppy.\"

They both looked at the MediWitch. She smiled. \"Next contraction, push. Bear down and push. Ok. You can push now.\"

She screamed as the contraction hit and then leaned against Severus, pushing hard. She felt like everything in her body was coming out. Her body was shaking from the exertion. Finally, Poppy told her to stop.

Severus wiped her forehead with a cool clo\"Yo\"You\'re doing great honey. Just great.\"

Pomfrey checked her again. \"You are getting closer dear. Just a few more pushes.\"

Severus looked up at her. \"How long has she been in labor?\"

Pomfrey checked the clock. \"A little over four hours.\"

Severus kissed her head again. \"Four hours? Why didn\'t you call me sooner love? I would have been here.\"

Hermione nodded. \"I know, but you had class. I didn\'t want to bother you.\"

He rocked her gently. \"I don\'t care. I could have missed class. This is much more important.\"

Pomfrey did a quick scan. \"All right dear. There\'s another contraction coming on. You need to push again. Just a few more of these and you\'ll get to see your baby. Come on dear. At it again.\"

Hermione groaned and leaned back against Severus. \"It hurts so much. Please, I don\'t want to do this anymore.\"

He leaned down and spoke in her ear. \"Miss Granger. What happened to your Gryffindor courage. Do not back down now.\"

She sighed and looked at Pomfrey. \"Fine. All right fine. Let\'s get this over with.\" She grabbed Severus\'s hand again. \"I swear. No more sex. Ever.\" He chuckled, wiping her forehead again.

Pomfrey disappeared underneath the sheet again. \"All right. When you feel the contraction start, push. Push hard. This should do it.\"

Hermione felt the pain starting up again. She sat up against Severus and started pushing. She grunted and then screamed as she worked. She felt something shift and then everything got easier. She felt all the pressure releasing and she fell slack against her husband. He held her close, wiping her face with the cloth.

The sheet moved and Pomfrey came up with a screaming baby in her hands. She smiled. \"It\'s a girl. You\'ve got a girl!\" Severus kissed his wife and then moved to cut the cord. Hermione only watched through exhausted eyes.

***

A few cleansing spells later, the baby was wrapped in a pink blanket and laying in her Mother\'s arms. Her father sat next to his family, just staring at her small face. Hermione looked up at him. \"She\'s beautiful.\" He only nodded. She looked back at the baby. \"Do you want to hold her?\"

He swallowed and then took a deep breath. \"No.\"

Hermione looked up at him. \"What?\"

He shook his head. \"I...I\'ll drop her.\"

Hermione sighed. \"So, you\'ll be a double agent against Lord Voort,ort, risk your life everyday, but you won\'t hold a baby?\"

Hermione looked at him. \"Damnit Snape. I went through almost five hours of pain and suffering, after nine months of discomfort and weight gain. I still hurt and my nipples are sore. If I can deal with all that, you will hold this baby. You will be a man.\"

Severus looked at her. There was a fire in her eyes that he couldn\'t say no to. He shook his head. \"I don\'t know what I\'m doing.\"

She shook her head. \"Me either. Now here.\" She passed the baby over to him.

He barely had time to think about how to hold her. He looked down at the small person in his arms. He watched her wiggle, and then settle against him. He looked up at Hermione. \"She\'s beautiful.\"

She ran her hand over the soft fuzz ringring the baby\'s head. \"She didn\'t get your nose. She did get your hair.\"

He nodded, then looked at the baby. \"Have you thought of a name?\"

She nodded. \"Alexis.\"

He looked at her. \"I want to give her my grandmother\'s name. Emily.\"

Hermione smiled. \"I like that. Emily Alexis Snape.\" She leaned up and kissed her head.

***

Later, Severus watched as his wife and daughter slept. He ran a gentle hand over his daughter\'s head. His daughter. He liked how that sounded. He kissed each of them, before laying down beside his wife. He pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes. His family. His sweet, sweet family. This was something he could usedused to.

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Title comes from Dr. Hook\'s album: Rising