How Severus Spends His Summer Hols

DISCLAIMER: JKR owns everything that is in reference to the Harry Potter world if it is in one of my works of fiction. If it is not found in one of her creations, then it is mine unless otherwise stated. I am not making any profit from the writing of this story.

Harry woke up to the gentle buzz of the alarm clock next to their bed, rolling over, he winced, he was just a little sore from their adventure by the bridge the night before. Bezoar and Asphodel were snuggled up between the two men under the covers, and he could feel the puppies starting to wake up and wiggle around. He sat up slowly and waited for the dizziness he had been waking with the past few mornings to pass. Once it did he stood and made his way to the bathroom and then carried the puppies downstairs to put them out in the back yard.

“Morning Harry,” Damon said from his chair at the breakfast table as the young man wandered into the kitchen with an armful of puppies. Harry smiled sleepily and sat down with the older man as soon as the dogs were out the door.

“Have you had breakfast, Sir?” he asked as rubbed at his eyes and yawned. Damon looked at him over his newspaper and noticed the tremors in young man’s hands. He looked up at Harry’s face and noticed how drawn and tired he looked this morning.

“Grant made some sort of breakfast casserole thing. Its in the oven, go help yourself to some,” Damon said as he nodded toward the oven and turned back to the sports page, he was following the local high school football team’s prospects this year. After a moment when he didn’t hear anything, he looked up to find Harry still sitting in his chair looking a bit green in the face.

“Is it morning sickness Harry?”

The younger man shook his head carefully and brought one hand up to cradle his forehead in his palm. He really looked like crap, Damon thought as he laid his paper down. He got up from his chair and fetched the young man a glass of water and one of juice and picked up a box of soda crackers as an afterthought.

“Here, drink and eat, see if it helps,” he said gruffly as he set the items down and returned to his seat and his paper. Harry sipped carefully at the juice and nibbled at a cracker, before he got to his feet. Damon looked up at him sharply.

“Feeling better now?” he asked as he noticed the juice was still almost full and the crackers nearly untouched. Harry turned to look at him and gave him a gentle smile.

“I have to get Severus’ breakfast upstairs to him, Sir. May I please be excused?” he asked as he started to get up to fix his husband’s plate. Damon stopped him with a glare.

“No, you are not excused Harry. Take that plate you have there and sit down and eat,” the older man ordered as he pointed back at the place Harry had been sitting. Harry stopped and looked at the older man. He had been trained to obey his Dom, but this was in effect his Dom’s father, did he outrank Severus? His eyes darted between the doorway and the table, clearly unsure as to what he was supposed to do in a situation like this.

“Sit down Harry,” Damon said as he pushed the chair out with his foot. He was accustomed to being listened to and not having his directions questioned.

“I am supposed to wake my Husband,” Harry said softly as he stayed in place. Damon tossed his paper to the table, pushed his chair back and stood up, as he took the first step toward Harry, he saw the younger man flinch and resolved to take a gentler tone with him. He took the young man by the arm and led him to the table, setting the plate in front of him and pressed a fork into his hand.

“I want you to eat Harry, you don’t look very well this morning. Don’t worry about Sev, he isn’t going to be upset at all,” Damon said as he took the fork from the unmoving man and cut a bite from the food and held it out to the young man, Harry took it obediently. “There now, you eat for me. I’ll go wake up Sev.”

“Thank you Sir,” Harry whispered as he took another bite and chewed slowly. He didn’t know if he was supposed to listen to Damon or not, he supposed Severus would tell him shortly. He watched as the old wizard went to the doorway of the kitchen and leaned up the stairway and yelled.

“SEV!! BREAKFAST!!”

Hiding his smile, Harry kept eating as he heard his husband stumble down the stairs a few minutes later. He dropped a kiss on the top of the younger man’s head as he entered the kitchen and waved him back into his chair when he started to rise to serve him.

“Did you decide to start without me, brat?” Severus teased as he drained half of his first cup of coffee. He’d noticed that Harry had started eating breakfast before waking him up, something very unlike him, not that he really cared.

“I’m sorry Husband,” Harry murmured and laid his fork down immediately, his face turning a bright red. He knew he’d had no business putting anything into his mouth without permission. He wondered what he could do to atone for the transgression. Damon watched the exchange between the two and decided to put in his two cents before it escalated into something that Harry was on the floor nearly catatonic for.

“Sev, I told the boy to eat. He looked like he was about to drop,” he said as he looked at his ‘son’. A knowing look passed between the two men and Severus ran a gentle hand over Harry’s back as he sat there with his head bowed. Harry quickly looked up at his Husband and relaxed as he saw the smile on the older man’s face.

“It’s okay Harry, I want you to eat whenever you get hungry. You and Bump need lots of food,” he smiled. He reached out one hand and caressed the young man’s face and then tapped his finger on the plate in front of him. “Now eat.”

“What do you have on the plate today Sev?” Damon asked as the other man started his own breakfast. Between bites of casserole and swigs of coffee, Severus quickly outlined their day.


“Harry has his first appointment with Max at nine, after that we close on the house,” he said as Harry looked up at him with wide eyes, he hadn’t been aware that they would be closing so soon. “Kat called while you were downstairs, babe. The bank accepted our offer with no conditions, all we have to do is sign the paperwork and the house is ours.”

“We have a home?”

“Yes Harry, it’s all ours. We will start on repairs this week. You just need to let me know what you want and where you want it from,” Severus said as he swallowed the last of his breakfast and took the section of newspaper Damon handed him.

“May I be excused to shower?” Harry asked as he wiggled anxiously, wanting to go sign the papers and start on their house. Severus looked at his plate and then at his glass and nodded that he’d eaten enough. Harry stood and gathered their plates, taking them to the sink to rinse so he could wash them up at lunch.

He hurried upstairs, got ready and returned to his husband’s side in a few minutes. He’d noticed the time earlier, he hated to make anyone late and it had been a quarter after eight then. Severus stood and slipped his shoes on and let the puppies in, locking them in the laundry room while they were gone. Taking his Harry’s hand, he led him out to the truck and they headed on into town.

Once at Max’s office, Severus opened the door and guided Harry in ahead of him with his hand on the small of his back, he could tell how nervous his young husband was. Walking up to the receptionist’s window, he gave the woman at the desk their names and was given a sheaf of forms to fill out before Harry could be seen by Max.

Nearly fifteen minutes later the nurse, a kind looking woman, called Harry’s name and ushered him back. As she took the file from the desk, she noticed the green sticker denoting Harry was a wizarding patient so she was prepared for most anything.

She led him back and got his height and weight before leading the couple to a private room to finish her questions. Seating Harry on the examining table she took his pulse and respiration before she began to question the young man.

“So what are we seeing you for today, Mister Snape?” she asked as she motioned for Severus to sit in one of the chairs along the wall. The older wizard simply shook his head and remained at his husband’s side.

“I’m pregnant,” Harry said softly. He didn’t know how the woman was going to react, he certainly hoped she was a witch and not a muggle. He looked down at his knees and waited as she took his blood pressure the old fashioned way and then patted his arm comfortingly.

“Congratulations to you and your husband, Mister Snape,” she smiled as she closed the folder and set two hospital gowns and a sheet on the exam table beside him. “Now Dr. Sorens will be in momentarily, but before he comes in, you need to be undressed and in the gown here. I also need for you to give me a urine sample,” she explained to the blushing man as she set a plastic cup on the counter in front of him. “Just leave it on the sink in the cabinet in the bathroom when you finish.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled, completely mortified as she left the room. Once the door closed, he looked at his husband and swallowed thickly. Severus rubbed his back gently and helped him down from the table and to the door, then walked him down to the bathroom and waited outside for him.


Back in the exam room, Severus helped Harry undress and slip the backless cotton gown on and then the second one on as a robe, still leaving him feeling terribly exposed. Harry hopped back up on the table and Severus spread the sheet over his lower body and then sat back up on the table behind him to wrap his arms around him to keep him warm.

“I’m nervous Husband,” Harry said softly as he ran his fingers nervously up and down his lover’s arm, and pulled him tighter to him. Severus tucked the young man’s dark head under his chin, rocking him as he hummed softly to him while they waited for their friend.

“It is going to be okay Harry. It’s just Max,” Severus soothed as he rubbed his cheek along the younger man’s fresh smelling hair, inhaling deeply, he smiled thinking back to last night and the way he’d looked all spread out for him by the river.

The door opened and Max Sorens strode in with Harry’s chart in his hand and a frown on his face. He glanced sharply at the couple as he shut the door and pulled up a chair so he could talk to them. He was not at all pleased with what he had found in Harry’s file so far and he had some strict orders for both men.

“Good morning Harry, Severus,” Max said as he sat the folder down and looked at both men before he began to speak. Harry bit his lower lip and wrung his hands nervously as he stared at the floor, he just knew something bad was coming. Severus on the other hand simply held Harry’s hand and waited, he could tell something was on Max’s mind.

“What is it Max?” Sev asked, never one to beat around the bush.

“Harry, do you know what you weigh?” Max asked as he fixed the young man with a soft look, he didn’t want to frighten him. Harry didn’t look up, but he shook his head that he didn’t know. Max then looked at Severus who shrugged.

“Harry weighs one hundred and fourteen pounds,” Max said in answer to his own question and watched as the older man’s eyes widened. Severus knew his husband was thin, but not that thin. “He’s nearly twenty pounds underweight and three months pregnant.”

“Three months?” Harry asked, finally finding his voice. He hadn’t thought he was that far along, maybe half that at most. He felt his husband’s arm pull him back against him and hold him close. He thought back frantically and tried to recall another night they might have forgotten the contraception spell. He looked to his husband with wide eyes, he couldn’t remember and it didn’t look like Severus could either.

“The spells are not foolproof Harry, pregnancy can happen if both partners are wanting it bad enough,” Max explained as he stood and shooed Severus off the table. “Now I need you to lie back so I can take a look at you.”

Harry scooted back on the table and with a supporting hand from his doctor, he was soon lying with his head on a flat pillow and staring at the ceiling. He noticed someone had put a poster of a kitten hanging onto a tree limb with the caption “Hang in There Kid” over the exam table. With Severus holding his hand, he waited as Max lifted his gown, but left the sheet covering him, and started pressing in on his lower abdomen.

“Does anything hurt Harry?” he asked as he took a special measuring tape for male pregnancies and took the pelvic measurements on the young man and entered everything on his chart.


“No, not down there, but my nipples are really sensitive,” Harry said as his face flushed red. Max finished the external exam and lowered the gown, pulling out the dreaded the stirrups he stood back.

“Harry, I have to do an internal exam now. I need for you to come down to the end of the table with your bottom almost hanging off the edge, Severus will make sure you don’t fall. I’m going to get a nurse, so I’ll be right back.”

“Wait...” Harry said with a note of trepidation in his voice, he didn’t want strangers in there. “Why are you getting a nurse?”

Max stopped and turned back to the young man on his exam table and took in the frightened face. Placing one large, beefy hand on his narrow shoulder, he tried to explain the reason.

“Harry, it is standard procedure to have a nurse in the room at all times a physician does a pelvic or rectal examination. It not only protects the patient from unwanted advances from the doctor, but it protects the doctor from accusations made by patients that may wish to cause problems. It’s a legal, ethical, and insurance issue Bit, I am sorry, but I have to do it.”

“But I don’t want people to think I am a freak,” Harry said softly and turned his head to face the wall. Max looked at Severus, the other man shrugged, he understood the position his friend was in, Harry was just going to have to deal with it.

“You aren’t a freak Harry. I see several pregnant wizards in my practice, no one is going to look at you funny,” Max said as he left the room. Severus turned to his young husband and turned him so that he was facing him, looking down into his emerald eyes, he began to speak.

“This is going to end Harry James Potter Snape. If it is such an inconvenience to you to be seen carrying our child, then tell Max and I am sure he can remedy the situation. You are acting like you are the only man in the world to have ever carried a child and that it is the biggest shame imaginable,” Severus snapped. He truly hated to have to be harsh with Harry, but this had to end, it was driving him insane the way Harry was acting embarrassed by the pregnancy. He chose his words carefully, he wanted to get his point across and get it in deep. “If this is not what you wish, I will inform Max and have it dealt with.”


Harry’s mouth dropped open and he stared at his husband in horror. End the pregnancy? Was that what Severus talking about? His hands came down to cover his belly protectively and he shook his head violently.

“No please Sir, don’t. I want my baby,” he whispered as he covered himself as much as he could and looked up into the cold eyes of his husband. He was having a hard time comprehending the words that had just came out of the man’s mouth. Severus looked down at him and let his eyes travel over the too thin figure huddled under the sheet, feeling his heart aching inside. He knew he had to be an ass to keep Harry from slipping too deep into the role he’d had under the other bastard’s thumb.

“Then I would suggest you stop acting like a simpering debutante that needs her damned hand held in order to get through a simple pregnancy. You are a grown man Harry, you are my husband and the father of my child, act like it,” Severus retorted as he grabbed Harry’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I am always going to be here for you, but you can’t hide the fact you are with child.”

Max stood just outside the closed door listening to the couple, inwardly cheering Severus on with Harry, the young man needed a huge boost in confidence. It was hard to believe he was the same person that had saved the British wizarding world a few years ago. Once he could tell they were finished, he motioned to his nurse to follow him in.

“Okay, are we all ready here?” he asked as she closed the door behind them and they moved further into the room. Harry looked at Max and then the nurse, then he smiled weakly. Severus took his husband’s hand and gave it a squeeze to reassure him.

“Yes Sir,” Harry said as he felt Max lift each of his feet and place them in the stirrups. The nurse stood on the other side of the exam table and smiled down at Harry as she patted his shoulder.

“Harry, this is Jennifer, she’ll be the nurse you see when you come in. She is the one that works with all my pregnant wizards, so if you have questions, just call and ask her,” Max said as he reached up and repositioned the bright lamp he needed to make sure all was well. Noticing a bit of swelling and bruising, he looked up at Severus and shook his head, his friend was really going to have to be more careful with Harry now. Turning to his nurse, he took the gel and told Harry that he was going to feel him touch him on the outside of his slit first and then he would feel his fingers inside of him.

Harry shifted and winced as he felt the cold fingers slide into him, he hated the feel of gloves on fingers. He held Severus hand and was happy when he saw that his husband was smiling down at him in pride. Not long after, he felt Max wiping him clean with tissues and then he lifted his feet out of the stirrups and helped him slide back up on the exam table.

“Everything looks good Harry. There is just a bit of bruising of the tissues, but nothing to worry about. If you aren’t in pain that is,” Max said as he opened a drawer in the cabinet and pulled out some sort of contraption and a bottle of gel. He turned to the nurse and nodded that she could go, he was finished with the part of the exam that required her presence.

“Like I said, you are further along than you thought you were when you came to me in Sturgis. Almost twelve weeks now, that puts your due date at March 2, 2006, give or take a few days,” Max said smiling as he shook Severus’ hand and kissed Harry’s cheek.

“Now would you like to see if we can hear that little witch’s heart beating for her daddies?” he asked as he held up the little machine in his hand. Both men just nodded their heads speechless. Max pulled Harry’s hospital gown up once more and smeared the conducting gel over his tummy and then placed the doppler on his skin. Severus watched closely, almost forgetting to breathe.

“This is a Doppler, it is wonderful in picking up the fetal hearbeat, so let’s see what we find,” Max smiled as he turned the switch on and almost immediately the room was filled with a steady swish-lub swish-lub swish-lub swish-lub... Max counted the strong steady heart beats and just let the parents listen for a few minutes before he turned the machine off.

“There she is, strong and healthy it sounds like, heart rate of one sixty two, in perfect range,” Max said as he set the machine to the side to be cleaned. Wiping Harry’s tummy down, he was considerate enough to leave the box of tissues close enough for both men to make use of them. He gave them a few minutes to dry their eyes and cuddle before he began to speak again.

“There are a few things I am very concerned about with your pregnancy Harry,” he said gently as Severus helped his young husband sit up and then sat behind him. They both looked at him worriedly.

“Harry, you are severely underweight. I know you played professional Quidditch and I am sure you had to stay trim, but not now. I want to see you up to at least one hundred and sixty pounds before the end of the pregnancy. Severus, I am going to give you a list of potions for vitamins and nutrient supplements I want him on. You shouldn’t have any trouble brewing them up in Grant’s kitchen if you don’t already have them,” Max said as he began to tick things off of his list. Both men listened and nodded.

“Speaking of Quidditch Harry, absolutely no flying, Severus lock his broom up. He also needs to stay calm, no fretting if it can be helped.”

Severus shifted a bit and started to ask a question and then abruptly shut his mouth, Max noticed and simply smirked.

“Yes, sex is okay as long as Harry is comfortable, if it hurts, don’t do it. Any bleeding I want you to call me immediately, you have my home number and my cell.” Severus only chuckled at this, his friend knew him too well.

“Now, Harry, you can get dressed now and I’ll see you back in a month here at the office. Other than that, Allie wants you both to come over for dinner tomorrow night. Any other time I see you, there had better be something in your mouth,” he laughed as he left the room.

Harry looked at Severus as the older man helped him with his shirt and started to grin. Severus looked at him for a minute and just shook his head.

“What is so amusing brat?”

“I’m having a baby Severus. There is really a baby in there,” he said as he put one hand on his tummy and smiled. Severus leaned down and kissed his younger husband tenderly, dipping his tongue in to taste his mouth and swallow his sigh of contentment.

“Yes beloved, you have our angel in you,” he smiled gently as he lifted Harry from the table and set him on the floor. Harry looked up at his older husband and leaned against him briefly before they left the room.

“Husband, I’m hungry, could we maybe have a chili dog?”