In My Mind

Disclaimer: AS always, this stuff isn\'t mine.


To my lovely reviewers:

Killingprophet: First off, your name ROCKS!! OMG!! Thanks for the review. Hope you like this chapter!!

Anon: Thanks for the review my little blue water fowl friend!!

Shaddow: LMAO!! I love Asphodel myself. If I had a raven, that\'s what I\'d name her. =) You\'ll love what I\'ve done with Rita. *smirks* And, about Zak and Ivan. LMAO!! Go read my fic \'Like Muggles Do...Sort of\'. Zak says my gay supporting characters are like him and Ivan. I only wish that I\'d picked names like theirs. =)) *suddenly realizes that Zak and Ivan have a cult following*

Angie/Les`: Thanks so very much.

Jadzia: *glomps* Thanks. It\'s high praise indeed coming from a writer as talented as yourself.

Zak & Ivan: My sweet little cross-dressing geisha and his left hand. *giggles* I believe that you boys have a better following with my readers than even I do!!! I\'ve had people stop by my Live Journal community and ask me if you had LJ\'s!! *whispers* I think they think we know each other!


Ok, ON WITH THE FLUFF!!



It didn’t take long before the whole of the Weasley clan and Remus were stepping through the floo. They’d all read the headline and were worried about the two men. Harry was heard before he was seen. Remus and Molly cautiously knocked on the door to the bathroom and Severus opened it a crack to see who it was. When he saw Harry’s surrogate parents, he opened the door more. Molly stepped in and shooed Severus from the room as she took his place in the floor, rubbing Harry’s lower back. His dry heaves were worse than they had been so far throughout his pregnancy.

Remus took his childhood enemy’s arm and led him over to the bed. “Are you okay?”

Severus sighed. “I have to be, don’t I?”

“No, Severus, you don’t. You inherited Harry’s family when you decided to be with him. You’ve got nine Weasley’s, me, Hermione, Neville, Pansy, and Katie. You can be just as angry and upset as he is about it, and together we will come up with something to tell the Prophet.”

“Thank you, Remus. I really needed to hear that right now. I suppose that I should go back and check on Harry, though.”

Remus shook his head. “Let Molly take care of him for now. It makes her feel useful now that all of her children are married or out of the house. Why don’t you let me fix you a cup of tea to settle your nerves?”

Severus relented and followed Remus into the kitchen. They heard Ron trying to calm Hermione down in the sitting room. Finally, Ron led her into the kitchen for tea, also. She looked at Severus sitting there; both hands wrapped around his tea cup and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug. “We’ll get that cow,” she whispered in his ear.

To say Severus was surprised was a gross understatement. Other than his mother on occasion and Harry, no one ever voluntarily touched him. He nodded in response and quietly thanked her for her support.

It was almost an hour later that Molly emerged from the bathroom. “Harry’s exhausted. He finally got one of those special anti-nausea potions down. He needs you, Severus.”

Snape got up and walked into the bedroom to find Harry curled up on the bed crying. “Why me, Severus? I would expect an article like that from Rita Skeeter, but she’s dead. Who wrote it?”

Crawling across the bed and gathering Harry into his arms Severus softly replied, “I don’t think you really want to know who wrote it.”

He just shook his head and buried his face in Severus’ chest. He was sleeping peacefully in only a few minutes. Severus dozed with him, the blinding anger he felt finally subsiding and being replaced with deep worry. Harry didn’t need any shocks like this. Severus didn’t want him to go into premature labor and lose Duncan. It would be devastating for them both.

Some time later, Hermione and Pansy walked into the room and watched both men sleeping before sitting on Harry’s side of the bed. Hermione took his hand as Pansy ran her fingers through his hair. He opened his eyes and looked at the two women. “We’ll make sure that Lavender doesn’t write another thing, Harry,” Pansy said softly.

He sat up, eyes wide and asked, “Lavender wrote that?”

Severus was feigning sleep as Harry buried his head in his chest again, crying. “Why would someone who calls herself my friend write something like that?” he asked, his voice muffled by the robe clad chest he was speaking into.

“Because she was never your friend, that’s why,” was the rumbling response from Severus.

“Professor Snape is right, Harry; that cow was never your friend. We promise that we’ll get her,” Pansy answered softly. “With Hermione’s brains and my cunning, I’m sure that we can come up with some plan.”

Hermione nodded. “Pansy could probably even get Fred to help us.”

Harry laughed at that. “If the twins get involved, that could be more fun than is allowed by wizarding law.”

Severus raised an eyebrow and the girls giggled. They all knew that it was true. “I think,” Harry began, “that we should probably scare her for right now. I want to see her.”

There was a dangerous glint in Harry’s eye as he said this. Hermione smirked. “I think that’s a smashing idea, Harry. C’mon Pansy, we’ve got a kidnapping to plan.”

The two young women beckoned the Weasley children and their spouses into Harry’s room and everyone made themselves comfortable just about anywhere they could get. Fred pulled Pansy into his lap as he sat on the edge of Harry’s bed, Hermione and Ron settled in the floor (side by side) near the door with Neville and Ginny on the other side of it, while George rolled his eyes at them and conjured a chair big enough for him and Katie.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Harry, who was grinning evilly at his friends. So this is what it’s like to have people who care unconditionally. How very lucky we are.

All of the young people burst into speech at once, telling their idea of how to get Lavender to the cottage without raising suspicion and certainly without her knowing. It took all of fifteen minutes for Severus to get irritated. He scowled at everyone in the room (Neville cowered at this) save Harry. “The solution is as simple as the nose on my face,” he said seriously.

Harry giggled and whispered, “I like your nose,” while everyone else just stared, mouths agape. Professor Snape made a joke. He smirked at Pansy and she closed her mouth. “It’s elementary, really, Weasley’s. Send her a parchment that is a voice activated portkey directly into the cottage, if the wards allow.”

“It’s brilliant, Sev,” Harry beamed. “How do we make her say it?”

Fred and George grinned at each other. “We know,” George said.

“We saw it…” Fred began.

“in one of those muggle movies.” George finished.

“A sphincter says what?” They both laughed together.

“What?” Everyone in the room asked.

“Exactly,” they replied. “Make the portkey activate on the word ‘what’, and she’ll be here in no time.”

“How do we know that she’ll say it out loud?” Hermione asked, looking critically at her future brother-in-laws.

“Are we the only people in this room that talk to themselves when we’re alone?” They twins asked together.

Everyone in the room blushed but Harry and Severus. “Hey, I’ve always admitted to talking to myself. I do it and I’m sure that I always will,” was Harry’s reply.

Harry asked Pansy to reach into his night stand and grab a parchment while he summoned a quill and some ink. He had Pansy write it because he knew that Lavender wouldn’t know her handwriting. With a slight chuckle, he called for Hedwig, who flew into his room followed by Asphodel. The birds landed on the headboard either side of the two men. “Send Asphodel,” Severus said as his familiar hopped down onto his shoulder. “She will recognize your owl, Potter, and it will give away a bit of the surprise.”

Pansy gasped. “Is that your Raven, sir?”

Severus was absently stroking the beautiful bird’s chest. “She is, and she has been my faithful companion for many years now.”

The raven cawed as if in agreement before hopping down onto Harry’s bulging stomach. He giggled as she turned a small circle before lying down. Everyone looked at him. “What? It tickled!”

Severus scowled at both Harry and the bird. “Yes, Mrs. Weasley, this is the same bird that attacked Draco in the common room in your sixth year. It appears that she is also a fan of the wizarding world’s savior.”

Pansy chuckled. “So it appears, sir.”

George tapped the parchment and said the portkey incantation. Harry took it from his friend and spoke to the raven. “Asphodel, I need you to take this to Lavender Brown as quickly as possible.”

The raven dipped her head and grasped the scroll in her claw before taking off through the window. Harry was feeling a little better, so everyone made their way back into the sitting room where Remus and Molly were talking quietly. Severus held Harry back for a moment and looked down at him. He wrapped his long arms around him and pulled him close. “Are you certain that you will be okay? Duncan is alright?”

Harry smiled up at his love. “We’re both going to be fine, Severus. How are you? I know it’s got to be hard being thrown unceremoniously in the middle of the circus that is my life.”

Severus just pulled Harry tighter. “It is not as hard as I feared it would be.”

When they got out into the sitting room, Remus and Molly were bringing trays of tea and biscuits. The anticipation in the air was palpable and none of the younger people wanted to say anything in front of Molly.

Remus sat in the floor with his back against the couch next to Harry’s legs once he sat the tray down. He could read the mischief in the young man’s eyes. “What did you do?” he asked, almost dreading the answer.

Harry just smiled and put one of his feet in Remus’ lap. He wasn’t offering, so Remus decided that he wouldn’t press him.

It was two hours later when Lavender was dumped into the middle of Harry’s sitting room. She looked at everyone in the room before her eyes fell on Harry, leaned comfortably against a glowering Severus. She let out a little squeak when Harry leaned up and Severus stood. “Well?” he asked.

She swallowed loudly, unsure how to answer, and then looked at Harry. He lifted one eyebrow. “Well?” he echoed.

Lavender began to stammer and sputter, trying to come up with a suitable explanation. After several long moments of listening to her babble, Severus’ irritation had reached its peak. “Enough!” he roared. “You are going to sit down and listen to what Mr. Potter has to say, and if you are lucky, he will not oblivate you.”

One of the twins conjured a hard, straight backed chair for the journalist to sit in. When she looked at Harry, the first thing Lavender noticed was his eyes. They were not warm and sparkling like they were in school. When she looked at his brilliant green eyes they were hard and cold. Power radiated from them and, quite frankly, this frightened Lavender.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Lavender?”

She couldn’t look the pregnant man in the eye, so she picked at a non-existent thread on her immaculate designer suit. “I’m sorry, Harry,” she said with no trace of remorse.

He snorted. “No, you are sorry that you got caught. Since you got caught, slandering not only me, but Severus, you are going to write an article retracting what you said about him being my child’s father. You know as well as I do that he has had enough trouble with the wizarding world since the end of the war without them thinking he has coerced me into something that I did not want. If there is not a large article in tomorrow’s paper with an elaborate apology for sullying our reputations, then I can assure you that you will never write again. You remember what happened to Lockhart in second year, don’t you?”

Lavender bristled. “Is that a threat?”

Fire flared in those emerald eyes. “No, that’s a promise.”

Feeling the power radiate from Harry, Lavender shrank into her chair. “Why don’t you tell the wizarding world who the father is, Harry? You wouldn’t have people bother you so if you did.” She said all of this in a rather small voice

The young man jumped from the couch and stalked over to the journalist. His voice was cold and sharp as a blade. “It’s none of their god damned business who the other father of my child is! The only reason anyone wants to know is because I’m Harry-bloody-Potter. If the media knew, then, like most things, it would only open me up for more questions.

“What if I told you it was Voldemort’s? What if it were Lucius Malfoy’s? Everyone knows that I spent weeks as a prisoner. Why could they not have fed me fertility potions and raped me repeatedly? Do you know what it would do to me if the Ministry thought for one second that I was carrying Voldemort’s child? No, I’m not going to give you any more fodder for the Prophet. In stead, I’m going to do this. You got it right. Snape is the father of my child. He’s also very attentive to my needs in my fragile state.”

Harry lifted his hand and smiled wryly at his former housemate. He could already see the article forming in her mind. “Obliviate,” he said in an almost bored tone.

The young journalist looked around and saw everyone around her smirking. “I’m so sorry, Harry. Please can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me? I’ll write an apology to you and Professor Snape and I will have it published first thing in the morning, I promise. Please, just don’t make it where I can’t ever write again. I swear that I will stay far away from either of you.”

Harry nodded. “See that you do, Lav. Now, get out of my sight. You disgust me.”

Lavender brown wasted no time leaving the small cottage. As the door shut, Harry slumped down on the couch, obviously tired. “That went well,” Hermione said sarcastically.

“I know,” Harry sighed. “I wasn’t planning on telling her anything and then it all just came pouring out. I suppose that I really should get in touch with Luna, just in case my memory charm doesn’t stick.”

Everyone looked very surprised and turned their eyes toward Snape. He looked passively at Harry and then everyone else. It got very uncomfortable in the room all of the sudden and Remus decided that it was time to take his leave. He rose from the floor and kissed Harry’s cheek. “I’ve got to get back to Grimmauld Place, Harry, but please floo me if you or Severus need anything.”

The Weasley’s all suddenly jumped up and made their excuses to leave and soon, there was only Severus and Harry. Tired green eyes met shuttered black. “What do you think, Sev? Should we just call Luna and get it over with? I can’t bear another day like today. Some times, I wish I could just move off into the muggle world and forget I ever knew I was a wizard,” he finished with a sigh.

Both sat on the couch for some time not speaking. Finally, Severus replied, “I am unsure that it would be prudent to reveal Duncan’s parentage in light of today’s article. The ramifications of such a move could prove devastating for us both.”

“I know,” Harry said with a yawn. “Nothing in my life is ever simple. Everything must always be a circus. I’ll get howlers for letting you get me pregnant, like either of us had a choice there. You’ll get howlers for being the evil child molesting death eater who should have been thrown in Azkaban. You’ll probably be fired from Hogwarts, and all kinds of other things could go wrong. It’s not fair!”

Harry began to cry. He hated crying and his hated his hormones. He was tired, and he really just did not want to have to deal with what was going on in his life. Severus put his arm around Harry’s shoulder and pulled him closer. He simply held him, not speaking.

It wasn’t long before Harry’s whimpers evened out and he fell asleep. Severus gently picked him up and carried into the bedroom, laying him on the bed. At the loss of body heat Harry cried out. Severus quickly pulled his robe off, crawled onto the other side of the bed, and pulled Harry into his arms. One large hand lightly rubbed circles in Harry’s stomach, soothing both he and the baby.

Several hours later, Harry stretched and snuggled closer to the warmth of the Potions Master’s body. He groaned at the memory of the day, not ever wanting to leave his bed again if waking up with Severus was always going to feel that this. “I see you have finally awakened,” Severus whispered.

Harry simply stretched and made a non-committal noise before snuggling closer to his love. His green eyes opened and slowly focused on this bed mate. “I have a suggestion on how to handle the Prophet article. It is something you may be adverse to, though.”

This admission sharpened Harry’s focus. “What is it?” he asked seriously.

Severus looked away. He could not stand those green eyes focusing on him in such a serious manner. He was suddenly nervous! “I…I, ah, wasn’t going to suggest this or even bring it up until after Duncan was born, and possibly not even then. Would you like to tell Miss Lovegood that instead of revealing who the father of your child actually is, that you would like to reveal it at your bonding in one month? Giving her exclusive rights to the article and photographs, of course.”


A/N: Let me know what you think!! Did I surprise you??