Love and Parenthood

Love and Parenthood

Disclaimer: All canon characters are the property of JK Rowling and those with whom she has agreed contracts. This story was written for practice not profit.

The Opening Feast


Severus stood on the dais at the end of the ballroom surveying the new temporary residents of the Manor. At Hermione’s suggestion there was one large table running down the middle of the room to be used by both staff and students. For the sake of the pregnant women chairs had been provided instead of benches.

y way was the first day back after the Easter holidays and the Manor was officially open as an annexe of Hogwarts and this dinner was to celebrate the occasion. Severus rang a small bell and was rewarded with attentive silence.

“Good evening everyone and welcome back. Professor Dumbledore has asked me to convey his regards to you. Before the dinner begins I would like to outline a few of the basic rules and practices of this household.

Firstly, there will be formal dinner every evening in this room. You are expected to seat yourselves by 6.50pm. If any of you wish to receive visitors at dinner that is allowed provided you give 24 hours notice. Visitors are only permitted access to the gardens and communal rooms on the ground floor and must leave by 9.30pm if they are Hogwarts students and 10.30pm if they are from elsewhere. We are going to strictly enforce this rule for reasons of security.

Breakfast will be available in here between 7.45am and 9.00am. Lunch between mid-day and 1.30pm. Both will be informal.

There are no formal curfew arrangements for residents but you are asked to keep noise levels down between 11.00pm and 7.30am out of respect for your fellow residents.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome two important temporary members of staff. Mistress Margaret Finch is a medi-witch from St Mungo’s. She has a full general training and has chosen to specialise in midwifery. She will be leading the birthing teams when the time comes but until then she will be attending to general needs and keeping an eye on all our expectant mothers. Sitting next to her is Madam Minton who normally works for the Family and Heritage department at the Ministry. She is here to help reassure your parents and the Ministry that you are all being properly cared for. For security reasons we have come to an arrangement with the Aurors that they will assign teams to guard the premises in the daytime. Whilst there has been no direct threat to the pregnant residents here, we are not willing to take any risks with your safety.

As some of you may have realised this building was formerly a Muggle residence. This means that the building is not amenable to any kind of structural distortion. I am aware that some of you may find your bedrooms smaller than you are used to but I urge you not to attempt to alter the size or shape. You may however alter colour schemes to suit your own tastes. Plans of the building have been left in all rooms and I should inform you that the plan in my own quarters shows the whereabouts of all residents on the property at any time. This has not been done in order to spy on you but as a safety measure so you can be found quickly if necessary.

As some of you will have noticed we have several other ladies staying with us who are also pregnant. They are here because we have commandeered so many accomplished birth attendants for our team that they would not have been able to observe the traditions had they stayed in their own homes. These ladies are not staying in the main house but in the cottages. Mr and Mrs Arthur Weasley will be residing in the Gatehouse and have been accorded the status of staff for the length of their residency.

Regarding schoolwork, all pregnant pupils will receive a daily summary of work covered in their classes. Your teachers will recommend some reading and written exercises for you. You are not recommended to exert yourself in attempting any advanced spells because as many of you will have noticed your powers are declining rapidly at the moment and will not return in full until after you have given birth. The work you are given is to make it easier for you to resume your studies in September. It is not compulsory so if you are not feeling well enough to do it you may leave it. Please bear in mind however that doing so may hinder you if you were planning to subliublic exams in December.

I think that I have said enough for the moment. If anyone has any pressing queries they may approach any member of staff after dinner. Let the feast begin.”

Serving dishes appeared on the table at this and everyone began to serve themselves. Severus left the dais and made his way to his seat next to Hermione.

She smiled at him as he sat down and he leaned over and kissed her. “That went well,” she whispered. “Everyone seems to be settling.”

“I think the restrictions are reasonable,” said Severus. “I have to show the pregnant women some respect, even though some of them are not yet of age. On the other hand they’re a big responsibility and I need to know where they are and who else is here.”

“I think you’ve got the balance right,” she said soothingly. “Even the stroppiest girl isn’t going to want to deliver her baby alone in the grounds and we can’t have unauthorised people around under the circumstances.”

“Where is Melissa? “Ch “Charlie flooed to say she’d be over in the morning. Albus has put his foot down and told her that the castle and forest are out of bounds for her. I think she’s sulking.”

“More than when she had to stop riding her broomstick?”

“She doesn’t want to leave Charlie. I’d be upset if I had to leave you.”


“If I were a cynical man I would say that Charlie comes a long way down the list of things she doesn’t want to leave.”

“You are a cynical man. Below the unicorns?”

“Most definitely. On the bright side she might favour him over the bowtruckles and he definitely rates higher than the fairies.”

“She could have stayed there longer. We’re not due immediately.”

“We need a female Professor, at least until the birthing teams are in place. I know you’ll do your bit but you’re carrying twins yourself. No hormonal female is going to want to weep over me and most of the girls don’t know Molly yet.”

“She’ll be here in time for the tours in the morning. I think everyone will just want to crash after dinner. I know I will.”

“Are you all right?”

“Just tired. I’m fine really.”

“I’ve invited Draco round to our rooms after dinner. I could put him off if you’d rather rest.”

“No that’s okay. If I don’t feel up to it I’m sure he’ll let me go for a lie down while the two of you chat.”

“I’m sure he will.”


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Later that evening Hermione retired shortly after Draco arrived.

“It’s not anything I said is it?” said Draco nervously.

“No. I think a pregnancy with twins is even more wearing than an ordinary one. According to the books I’ve been made to read the babies are growing quickly now and that has to be hard to cope with. She gets tired easily. Apparently she might have bursts of energy later.”

“I’d hardly ever seen a pregnant woman before all this.”

“There aren’t as many as there should be. Purebloods aren’t reproducing enough to keep the population steady. The statistics would be even worse if it weren’t for the productivity of the Weasley family. How many families do you know with more than one child?”

“Hardly any. Is it true about inbreeding being to blame?”

“Yes. It’s common knowledge amongst anyone with the mental capacity to understand the Muggle research. It’s considered bad taste to mention it.”

“But if it’s Muggle stuff… how do we know it affects us?”

“We reproduc the the same way as Muggles do. Muggle scientists have discovered a way to extract a pattern from a cell sample. They call it DNA. If you use t met method to demonstrate the cell pattern for an individual and then put it alongside the patterns for his or her parents you can see that each feature of the pattern comes from the parents. The theory is that many of these features are flawed but that the person should have the least flawed option as the dominant feature. If there is inbreeding then the chance of the flawed feature becoming the dominant one increases.”

“What happens then?”

“Unborn babies who cannot flourish in the womb, infertile adults, reduced mental capacity, physical deformities, propensity to illnesses and squibs. If a scientist were to investigate us they would eventually isolate the features, which allow us to use magic and would be able to show us that we have managed to breed out the magic.”

“So how do we get over that?”

“Try to match couples who are not related. You and I are fortunate in that our families have made varied marriages in the past. Your mother was not significantly linked to your father although her own line was closely bred. My maternal grandmother was Italian and my paternal grandmother was Russian. I have married a Muggle born which is the best option available if healthy offspring is your prime concern…. It doesn’t have to be.”

“Pardon?”

“Healthy powerful children don’t have to be your prime concern. You can be married a long time Draco. It’s better to marry a woman you love. Wizards don’t conceive in test tubes.”

“What?”

“Another Muggle thing. Where couples have difficulty conceiving a child the foetus may be created outside the body and then implanted afterwards. The man doesn’t even need to touch his wife.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Hermione’s parents are both keen on science. It’s an easy thing for us all to talk about and they’ve lent me lots of books. You’ll meet them eventually. They’re going to bring their baby up when it’s born.”

“At this rate I’ll be an expert on Muggles. Spending the holidays with Maria’s family was an experience.”

“A good experience or a bad one?”

“Both. It worried me a bit that Maria’s so Muggle like when she’s with them. Shouldn’t she be more like us than them? She’s a Pureblood after all.”

“She’s Muggle-raised. She’ll find a balance eventually. In her parent’s house she will abide by their customs. When she’s grown up and in charge of her own estates she’ll take advantage of what we’ve taught her.”

“Will you always be able to tell?”

“Tell that her brother murdered her parents?”

“No… that she was raised by Muggles.”

“Probably yes. For all that Hermione is an accomplished witch, she’ll only use ‘Accio’ if she’s really desperate and she cooks like a Muggle when we visit her family. Does that bother you?”

“I like Maria… I really do like her. She’s about the only person at school who even talks to me but… oh I don’t know!”

“Maria is twelve years old. She’s well above average and your tutoring is bringing her on quickly. I think it’s good for both of you to carry on your friendship as it is now. However at this time the gap in your ages is significant. Maria needs time to grow into an adult witch before it can develop further.”

“I wasn’t trying to say… I wouldn’t harm…”

“I know you mean well Draco. Your friendship with Maria mirrors my friendship with her sister. We established a friendship which planted a seed for a future relationship. If I read you correctly then I would say that you would be happy if this came to pass with you and Maria. Am I correct?”

“Yes. I know it’s unusual for an aunt and nephew but it’s not impossible. I honestly don’t mean to harm her. Do you mind?”

“I don’t mind but I think we can safely say that her parents would. In their society such a relationship would be illegal.”

“What should I do?”

“Maintain your friendship as it is now for the time being. Don’t let her know that you entertain hopes. It would frighten her. A twelve year old is not ready for considerations of this kind and I would be severely displeased with you if she became aware of any of this.”

“I understand. I wouldn’t want that either.”

“Hermione and I found the Prophecy your father had. It talked about you meeting your bride and that being the trigger for a sequence of events. Your father tried to take control of the Proy byy by marrying you to Hermione but that same day was…”

“…when Maria came to Hogwarts.”

“Exactly. It is that which leads me to believe that in the future, when she is an adult she may be destined to be your wife. Keep your friendship for now. When you leave Hogwarts you can Owl each other and visit under supervision in the holidays. Work hard and make something of yourself so she can respect you and then wait and hope that she fixes her affection on you when she matures. If she does then you can develop an adult relationship from there.”

“Just wait and hope?”

“You can’t direct a woman’s affections. In my experience they bestow their affection on you whether you deserve them or not. I know of no legal way of influencing them. Speaking as a man who has made two unlikely happy marriages I haven’t the faintest idea how I came to be so lucky.”

“I ought to let you two have some time together. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Are you going to be all right in the cottage?”

“Potter and Weasley are making an effort. I’ve kept the single room. We’re working hard.”

“Don’t be afraid to come to me Draco. I’m busy but you are still my responsibility.”

“I won’t forget. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Draco.”


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