XVII

This is based on the Surrogate Mother Challenge on WIKTT. For full description of this challenge, please see the author's notes at the end of the first chapter.

Disclaimer:I looked in the mirror this morning and was stunned to discover that I am not JK Rowling. Shocking, I know.

Special thanks go out to both JuneW and SnarkyRoxy, both of whom are very quick and have splendid ideas. Thank you, gals!

"I know how to help Harry," Hermione cried.

Severus was pulled instantly from his sleep, as he tried to comprehend her words.

Potter! Severus tried to hide his agitation and disgust. He audibly sighed and wiped the blur of sleep from his eyes as he sat up. "Explain," he snipped, as his eyes adjusted to the dark room.

Hermione seemed to be trying to clear her thoughts before she spoke. "It was a dream, but not. I experienced something similar before... a few weeks ago. I didn't remember the other dream until just now." She clambered out of bed. "I need to write this down," she said, as she made her way to the sitting room.

Severus shook his head lightly in a combination of frustration, tiredness, and slight amusement. She certainly had regained some of her previous zeal. Warily, he wondered what she was talking about, though if she was truly back to form he expected that she'd be back once she got her thoughts in order. Then he wouldn't be able to get her to shut up.

A small thump next to him in the bed drew him out of his reverie. He regarded the black-haired cat as she walked over the entire area where Hermione had been, occasionally stopping to hiss at one spot or another. After several minutes his familiar began to paw at Hermione's pillow, as if wiping all remnants of her from the fabric. She circled the very place where Hermione's head had lain just minutes prior and eventually curled up there. Somehow, Severus got the impression that the feline was not doing this to be close to Hermione, but rather to claim ownership of her master. "Are you jealous, Nyx?" Severus asked, amused. The creature's yellow eyes narrowed for a few moments before she closed them.

Smirking at the now softly purring creature next to him, Severus laid his head back down. He fell back into a light slumber, knowing that Hermione would likely wake him as soon as she finished whatever she was now working on.

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Hermione wrote down every detail she could remember from the dream that she'd had involving Harry. She wondered how she'd forgotten so much of the dream before, but then recalled the emotional state she'd been in at the time and quickly forgave herself. Finding herself listing a potion recipe, the only thing missing was the base potion that she was supposed to start with.

Absently, she began to chew on the end of her quill as she tried to remember the attributes of the base potion. When she had first awoken, she had thought she knew exactly which potion it was, but the memory flittered away almost as quickly as it had surfaced and was now only tickling the back of her brain. She decided, instead, to concentrate on the other ingredients she'd added to the brew in her dream.

Some of them were not what could be considered as traditional potion ingredients. Brandy, for instance, though on a few occasions liquors were beneficial to potions. She wasn't certain what the usage would be in this particular potion. Next to the words half a bottle of brandy, she wrote down: calming agent or inebriation. Hermione doubted that its usage would be for inebriation, as surely the alcohol would be entirely cooked out of it in the several days it took for the potion to brew. Though, she conceded, you never can tell with potions. It's certainly not the same as cooking.

The next item on the short list was six knarl quills, added one per day. She wracked her brain over that ingredient for nearly two hours, going through various potions journals and books that Severus had in the sitting room. The only instance she could find where knarl quills had been successfully used in potion-making was when the Weasley twins used them for making Fainting Fancies.

Tiny cries could be heard from the nursery before she had a chance to write down the attributes of the twins' skiving candy, and Hermione went in to feed her daughter. As she nursed the babe, Hermione's thoughts remained engrossed in the potential uses of the knarl quills. By the time she put the infant back to sleep in the cradle, she felt that she had figured out their purpose. Making her way back to the desk in the sitting room, she jotted down her theories.

The final ingredient that she remembered adding to the brew in her dream was the parboiled mandrake. Cut into perfect one-inch cubes with a flint blade, she reminded herself. It was a restorative, and would help revive Harry, bringing him back to his normal state.

Still at a loss for what the base potion would be, she glanced at the clock above the mantel. It was shortly after seven. Discouraged with her lack of progress on her notes, she decided to tackle the other portion of the puzzle. She looked over her appearance and realized she was still wandering around in her nighttime attire. Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket; with a few quick swishes, her hair was tidy and she was dressed in something more appropriate.

Knowing that Severus was likely already up, Hermione Summoned the house-elf who was watching over Elina and gave the small creature instructions to let Severus know where she was going and that she would return shortly. Hermione went over to the fireplace and grabbed a small handful of the glittering powder. "Professor Flitwick's office," she said clearly as she stuck her head through the fire.

"Good morning," she said to the man sitting behind the desk. She was glad that she knew his schedule well enough to know he was an early riser, usually in his office by six every morning.

"Oh, Hermione, please come through," replied the short wizard.

She smiled and quickly stood up. Adding a touch more Floo powder, she stepped through the green flames.

"Good morning to you," Professor Flitwick greeted when she entered his office. "Please have a seat. I've been meaning to come down to see you, but things have been quite busy. You may be pleased to know that I received the formal declaration from the Ministry stating that you are officially my apprentice. No questions asked regarding how it was that I felt you'd be ready to teach by September," he said with a cheeky smile. "Whatever it was that Severus did down at the Ministry for you, he did it well."

Hermione smiled as she sat in the squashy armchair facing his desk. "I'm glad to hear it. I know that I should've come up to speak with you sooner, but I've just felt very overwhelmed lately."

"Not to worry, not to worry," he squeaked. "Though, I do need you to start back with me soon. There are less than two months before the end of term, and we need to get you some teaching experience before I unleash you to the wolves next year."

Suddenly Hermione began to feel more than a bit weighed down. It finally sank in that it was nearly May. How did time run away from me like that? "Yes, I agree," she answered. "Not that this has been the best of circumstances, but the fact that I delivered Elina so early seems to have helped. I mean, I wasn't due until the end of May. I don't know how I would've had the chance for any teaching experience before next year, otherwise."

"True, true." Professor Flitwick pulled his wand from his sleeve and conjured two glasses of pumpkin juice. "Here, you need something this morning," he said with a kind smile.

Taking the proffered goblet of juice, Hermione slowly sipped as she listened to the Charms professor outline his plans for his classes from now until the end of the school year. She hadn't come up to his office with the primary intent of discussing her apprenticeship and her job come September. Though, she'd known that the conversation was necessary and inevitable... she truly had been putting it off. No matter how much she wanted to spend every waking moment with Elina, she needed to get back to work. At least she would still be in the castle, and close to her daughter. She listened intently and threw in her opinions where needed.

After nearly thirty minutes of conversation, the professor asked, "Now that we got that out of the way, Hermione, what is it that really brought you here this morning?"

"I must be really transparent if you were able to see through me," she remarked.

"Well, not fully. After all of the time I've spent with you over these last six months, I'd like to think that I know you relatively well. This is typically not the sort of thing for which you would come by for an early morning chat. Something is bothering you," he finished. It was a statement, not a question.

"You're right. I had a dream about Harry last night and I haven't been able to sleep since. I think that there is a way to help him," she stated cautiously, gauging his reaction.

Filius sat back in his chair and began rubbing his chin. "I was under the impression that he was being studied in the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione snorted with disgust. "Studied? He's a person, a great wizard, and he was one of my closest friends, not to mention the fact that he's still alive!" She slammed her empty goblet onto the desk. Only when Professor Flitwick jumped slightly did she realize that she'd lost her temper. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, sir. I..." Heaving a heavy sigh, she slumped in her chair and rested her face in her hands.

"It's quite all right," soothed Professor Flitwick. "It was my understanding, however, that there was nothing to be done for Mr. Potter. The spell that he used to trap the last remnants of You-Know-Who's soul in the Pensieve wound up taking his soul as well. If Potter's soul is released, You-Know-Who's will be as well. Besides, it is very unlikely that Mr. Potter would be able to hold onto his soul even if you were able to get it to reenter his body."

Hermione dropped her hands to her lap and looked at the older man. "Yes, that's what I've been told. But I've been thinking about this, and I believe that there is a way." Sitting up straight in her chair, she elaborated. "I need to know if there is a way to modify the Adligo Memoria Charm."

The tiny professor tapped his chin lightly before wielding his wand and Summoning three books from his shelves. "I take it you wish to modify it from binding memories to actually binding the soul?"

"Yes, exactly. We... rather, he used a modified charm to pull the soul out with Dumbledore's wand. It was just as Harry was pulling Voldemort's soul into the Pensieve that Voldemort was somehow able to pull Harry's in as well. I don't know what went wrong." Hermione stood up and began pacing as she talked. "I think that it had to do with Harry not pulling out the soul in a steady stream. It wasn't the same as pulling out a memory. The soul fought, jerked..." She shuddered at the vision.

"Yes, yes, I read some of the file," replied the Charms professor. "I believe you're right, it was the way that he removed it." He sat quietly while Hermione continued to pace, lost in thought. "I think that it's possible to adapt the charm, Hermione. However, I must caution you against trying such a thing. There is no guarantee that you'll be able to pull out just Harry's soul, and you would likely need something stronger to bind it. Not to mention the condition of Harry's body. It's just been lying there for the last three years. Really think long and hard about this before you attempt it."

She stopped pacing and began chewing on her lower lip as she processed Professor Flitwick's warning. "Yes, sir, of course. I don't want to cause any more harm. I... I just want to do everything that I can to help him. I feel like it's my fault that anything happened to him. I should've anticipated... I should've known what could happen."

"That wouldn't have changed a thing, and you know it. Mr. Potter wasn't going to go down without a fight, and you gave him the ability to take down You-Know-Who so that the rest of us could go on with our lives. So you could go on with your life. When this first began, Hermione, I thought that you had resigned yourself to live the life of a criminal all too quickly. You never fought, you never tried..." He rested his hands on his desk. "Now, I believe that I know why. You blamed yourself for what happened to Harry and felt that you deserved to be punished. Happens all the time... all the time."

Hermione stared at him for a long moment, willing herself not to cry. She hated to admit that he was right. Though she couldn't imagine things playing out in her life any differently than they had. Everything happens for a reason, her mother had always said. Perhaps this was just the course that Fate had meant for her life to go. As calmly as she could she said, "Thank you for your help, Filius. I need to get back to my room. Elina will be up soon. I will be ready to start back to work on Monday." She gave him a warm smile.

"Not a problem, Hermione. Take these books. I think you'll find something usable in them. I'll think on it as well. I look forward to Monday; we'll start you off easy with first through third years," he said with a cheeky grin. "Now, go enjoy some time with that little girl of yours."

Hermione returned to her quarters, expecting Severus to be sitting at the small table with his usual morning coffee. She went over to the desk and dropped the books she carried and picked up the list she'd worked on earlier. Shaking her head, she dropped the list again, deciding it would be best to speak with Severus about the potion that she'd dreamt about.

She had felt a tiny weight lift from her after talking with Professor Flitwick... there was hope. It was a small hope, but there it was. Hermione walked into Elina's room to feed her, after which she planned on putting herself back to bed where she was certain that she would finally be able to find sleep.

The sight that greeted her was not what she'd expected. There, dressed in a simple white dress shirt and black trousers, was Severus, holding a bottle to the small bundle in his arms. There was no smile on his face, nor did he wear a scowl. That's something, Hermione decided as she quietly watched him.

Severus had been helpful the last few weeks, but mostly he did things for Hermione. He rarely did much with the baby, aside from moving her. There was nothing that would strike any person as being "heart-warming" about the scene before her, but it melted Hermione's heart, nonetheless.

"I'll take her," she said as she stepped into the room and moved towards the chair.

He looked up at her, nodded, and held out the child to her.

Hermione readily took the baby into her arms. "The house-elf would've fed her, you know."

"I am aware of that," he replied simply, as he stood from the chair.

Biting back another smile, Hermione sat in the chair that he'd just vacated.

Severus continued to regard her for several minutes as she resumed caring for their daughter. When she said nothing more, he asked, "Now, would you care to tell me why you bolted out of bed so early?"

"I dreamt about Harry last night," she began.

When her story was retold for the second time that morning, she waited for Severus to tell her how foolish she was being. The scathing remark never came, however.

"What?" she finally asked, when he continued to remain silent.

"I am just thinking about all that you've said. Surely, you don't believe this to be some sort of premonition?"

"No, of course not," she huffed indignantly. "I just think that my brain has finally thought of a possible solution."

"Indeed," was Severus' only reply.

When he made no move to leave, Hermione responded, "I have notes in the other room, on the desk, if you'd like to have a look."

Severus nodded. "I will take a look at them when my classes are finished for the day," he said. "Get some sleep, Hermione. You need more rest than you are getting." With that last comment, he left the pair in the nursery.

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Severus watched Hermione over the next few weeks. She fretted over everything ceaselessly. Not only was she taking on every responsibility that she could manage with the baby, but she had gone back to assisting Flitwick, including teaching some of his classes, and now she was doing research for Harry Bloody Potter during every spare minute of her days. It was already late May, and he found little consolation in the fact that the term would be finished in just over a month.

Normally, Severus would spend the summer in the school dungeons, ensconced in research. He had planned to take Hermione to his home in Tuscany, but with her new obsession with Potter, he was afraid that she would not wish to go. With the releasing of his father's estate came several of the homes that Severus grew up in; most of them he'd not seen since before he attended Hogwarts. The Tuscany home had belonged to his grandmother, and was a place that held his fondest childhood memories.

Sitting in the Potions lab, Severus leaned over a steaming cauldron and with great trepidation he slowly began adding the half of a bottle of brandy, as he softly muttered, "This is the second case of brandy I have used in the last several weeks for this potion base. I would much rather be drinking the stuff than using it to melt cauldrons."

This step that Hermione had thought could be a common potion ingredient was truly a telltale indicator as to whether or not they had the correct base. He added the first dram, noting that only a few small bubbles issued forth. The next dram, the potion began to hiss and protest the addition of the alcohol. By the fourth dram, the mixture was violently boiling and hissing. Severus knew that if he dared to add any more the cauldron would be worthless. He extinguished the flame and walked away from the now useless concoction, all the while trying to maintain his calm.

Hermione chose that inopportune moment to enter the laboratory.

"Severus, I..." she stopped when she saw him grumbling and pacing away from the table. "I take it that the base is not Baruffio's Brain Elixir, then?" she asked.

"No, it most definitely is not," he snapped. "Hermione, do you not think it possible that it was just a dream?"

It was not the first time that the words had been thought or spoken by either of them. However, they both knew that she would never forgive herself if she gave up so soon.

At the somber look on her face, he simply waved his wand, Summoning yet another book from his worn shelves for her to peruse.

Hermione pulled up a stool and settled herself next to him. She began thumbing through the ancient tome, looking for something familiar, although at this point she was willing to brew every single concoction in the damned book if she had to. During the hour that followed as Hermione poured over the volume, Severus brought his hand up to knead the tense muscles in her neck and shoulders.

It was sheer curiosity that caused her to pause on a particular potion. Then with a startled gasp, she jumped up, exclaiming, "I'm a complete dunderhead! I am a complete and utter, bumbling fool, Severus!"

"What in the world are you nattering on about, woman?"

"This," she said, pointing to the potion in the book. Her finger rested on the potion's title: Elixir Corroboro.

"You aren't serious? Are you?" Severus asked, recognizing the potion immediately as the one that they had brewed to save Elina shortly after her birth.

"Yes, I'm serious. I recognize it," Hermione insisted. "This is the one, Severus. I have to brew this as the base for Harry's potion." She reached for a clean cauldron and began gathering supplies, then stopped and looked pleadingly at him. "Please, if I'm wrong, it's just one more wasted potion base. If I'm right, then we can go on from there."

Deciding it best to acquiesce and knowing that at least for part of the potion, Hermione must be the brewer, Severus inclined his head slightly. "What can I do to help?"

Pausing a moment to think, she stated, "You could go in and feed Elina. I usually feed and hold her this time of day. I hate to leave her in anyone else's care when I don't have to."

"I know, Hermione. You do well with her," he said softly as he came up behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist, which was still shrinking. Placing a quick kiss to her temple, he added, "I will go tend to her while you work on the potion," before quickly leaving the room.

Severus made his way into the nursery. The house-elf conjured Elina a bottle at his request, before leaving him alone. Although Severus groused outwardly, he did not wholly mind this time alone with the infant.

Carefully lifting up the alert bundle from her bed, he carried her to the rocking chair where he sat himself down and settled her comfortably into the crook of his arm. Black eyes looked up at him expectantly, and he placed the bottle nipple in the waiting mouth.

His daughter's eyes were still watching him, though he was certain that he could see a questioning quality behind them. He wondered how perceptive the infant was and thought about exactly what it was Hermione was currently doing. "Those hormones must still be in an uproar and causing your mother to be going slightly mental," he finally said. "She is currently brewing a potion...the same potion, I might add, that saved your life. It uses breast milk or colostrum, and she has some inane idea that it's going to cure the ruddy Boy-Who-Is-Still-Catatonic."

Severus nearly jumped when he felt what seemed like an empathetic squeezing of his finger. He looked down at the tiny fingers and then the small face that seemed to be saying, "I completely understand."

Allowing the corner of his mouth to quirk slightly, he waited several more minutes before he finally spoke again, "Just promise me that you will not be sorted into Gryffindor."

Elina blinked her eyes at his question and a small scowl of distaste seemed to appear on her face, giving the impression...to Severus, at least...that the very mention of Hermione's House was not appealing to the baby at all. The quirk of his lips grew to a smirk. He thought that perhaps he would enjoy having "father-daughter" discussions with Elina.

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16 June 2003

Hermione

Handing the missive to the house-elf to take up to the Owlery for her, she settled back in her chair and said a silent prayer that she was not wrong. It was all theory, of course. Theory based on nothing more than a ruddy dream, she silently chided. Not that she needed to remind herself. Miraculously the potion had been stable. She had been correct. The Elixir Corroboro had been the base potion that they had needed, and it had successfully held stable after adding all of the brandy for Harry's potion exactly as it had in her dream. Then the remainder of the potion had been brewed exactly as it had in her dream as well, retaining the same qualities, to both her and Severus' utter amazement.

The next step was ensuring that the charm she had worked on was correct. The spell needed to pull out only Harry's soul and then help bind Harry's soul to his body. Of course the potion aided in that process, but not entirely. The potion aided in the body's healing and magical regeneration, as well as aided in clinging to the soul in some way, according to their research. She prayed that it all worked.

Eyeing the stacks of third year essays she still had to grade before the weekend was over, Hermione pulled them in front of her and dutifully began working. Elina had just gone to sleep, and Severus was out patrolling the corridors, as he often did on Saturday nights.

Hermione was not certain how long she had been working when she felt a brush of fingertips at her neck. Barely jumping at the contact, she sighed, "I have to finish these."

"You have all day tomorrow to finish," came the deep, velvety voice in her ear, as his fingertips traveled down to her shoulders. He gently began to massage her shoulders causing her to drop her quill, eliciting a small moan. "It's time for bed, Hermione," he whispered to her.

"Yes," she softly agreed. Severus helped her to stand. The moment she was on her feet, his mouth descended upon hers. She found herself instantly lost in his embrace. Arms encircled her body and pulled her tight against him. They broke the kiss only long enough for him to lead her to bed.

A/N: I apologize greatly for the lengthy delay. At first I got caught-up in the Holidays, than real life became more than just a little bit over-bearing. Things are starting to settle-down now, though. I actually broke my arm just below the wrist back in early January and that really affected my ability to write much of anything. It is still very sore, although I can handle small spurts now. So, writing this chapter took longer than normal for me. (I won't even mention the surgery I had in early February or the rest of the real life drama that's going on... grrrrr.)

The remainder of the story is mostly written. Just the filler needs to be added in, so the updates will be coming in much quicker from here on out. Thanks so much for your patience everyone and sticking through everything! We're nearly there, I promise!