III: Welcome, Little One

Thanks to JKR for creating the HP universe.

Thanks to Apple Blossom for beta reading.

And thanks to you for reading.

Chapter III: Welcome, Little One

Everything was prepared.

Cassandra had let her NEWT class write their exams already in early April. She said that she would do the grading after the baby was born. Poppy had prepared all the necessary potions. And a Healer from St. Mungo's was on stand-by in case there were any complications. And the elves had had a blast decorating the nursery. Yes, everyone involved was prepared and calm. Everyone except the father-to-be.

With the end of April approaching, Severus became edgy, and he did not let Cassandra out of his sight more than necessary. He brewed Strengthening Potions, Sleeping Potions, Vitamin Potions and made sure she took them all. He escorted her to her classes, to her meals in the Great Hall. And every time she took as much as a deep breath, he was ready to take her to see Poppy right away. This had all gone so far that Cassandra had once or twice actually lost her patience with her husband and sent him to the dungeons to calm down. But Severus always returned, was right by her side, and sometimes, she did not even notice. At those occasions, a smug grin would appear on his face. Having been a spy for all those years seemed to have its advantages after all.

It was on the last day of April that Severus once more stood in front of Cassandra's classroom door before lunch. She was the last one to come out, and Severus could nothing else than gape at her. She looked radiant. Her cheeks were rosy, and the smile on her lips had never been brighter. She had not looked that healthy and happy in weeks.

Her appearance and her joyful mood was enough to distract Severus, and hence he was completely unprepared for Cassandra suddenly falling dead in her track right outside the Great Hall, clasping her side.

'Did we walk up the stairs too fast?' he inquired, feeling slightly guilty for having set such a fast pace. 'Have you got a stitch?'

Once more Cassandra smiled and took his hand. 'No, Severus, this is not a stitch. I think I am having contractions.'

~ ~ ~

'Severus, let go off me!'

The tone in Cassandra's voice was a strange mixture of a laugh and an angry shriek, but Severus did not listen.

'Poppy!' he yelled. 'Poppy, get in here!'

He carefully guided Cassandra to the closest bed and made her sit down.

'Are you alright?' he inquired over and over again. 'Are you in pain?'

'Whatever is going on in here?' sounded Poppy's voice from the front door. She was obviously just returning from her lunch.

'The baby is coming,' Severus exclaimed.

The medi-witch smiled kindly and let her gaze wander from Cassandra to Severus and then back to Cassandra again.

Cassandra grinned. 'He's exaggerating, Poppy. I've only felt two or three contractions over the last hours.'

Severus stared at her in utter disbelief. 'Two or three? And when exactly were you planning on telling me?'

'There, there, dear boy,' Poppy said and took a firm grip around Severus' left wrist. 'Now, you go and have a seat over there while I examine the mother-to-be.'

He opened his mouth to protest, but Poppy cut him off. 'No! Don't argue. Just sit.'

'It's funny, isn't it?' Cassandra asked with a broad smile on her face as Poppy had closed the curtains around the bed. 'Severus Snape, ex-Death Eater, bat of the dungeons and terror of all the students of Hogwarts, is totally losing it due to one simple contraction.'

Poppy murmured a diagnostic spell and then patted Cassandra kindly on the cheek. 'You know, dear child,' she said. 'He has tried to fool us for years, but he has always been a softie at heart.'

~ ~ ~

When Poppy opened the curtains again, Severus rose from his chair so fast that it fell over.

'Is everything alright?' he demanded to know. 'Cassandra ... the baby ...'

'Would you calm down?' Poppy chided him. 'Cassandra is perfectly fine and so is the baby. I am, however, a little concerned about you. Let me take your pulse.'

'Let go off me, woman,' Severus hissed angrily as Poppy took his wrist.

And the medi-witch smiled. 'Ah, there he is, scowling, hissing Severus Snape. Glad to have you back.'

As if on command, Severus indeed started scowling, but Poppy's smile did not falter.

'Now, I want you both to go and have lunch,' she instructed. 'Severus, you make sure that Cassandra eats something as well. Something light, a soup maybe. She will need her strength later today.

'Now, after lunch, you, Severus, will return to you lessons. Cassandra, you will cancel yours and go for a walk or take a relaxing bath. And when the intervals between contractions get shorter or if you feel uncomfortable in any way, you come and see me right away. Is that understood?'

Severus and Cassandra both nodded and left the hospital wing for the Great Hall as instructed. Neither of them was brave enough to argue with Poppy. But however hard Severus tried, he could just not imagine how he was going to give a proper lesson that afternoon.

~ ~ ~

As expected, the afternoon turned out to be a nightmare, and not just for Severus. If the students had found him unpredictable and foul when he had still been a spy during the war, then they had not seen him a few hours before his first child was born. Every mistake in the classroom was severely punished, and half-way into the lesson the students started to wonder if there would be any House points left in the evening. And when the bell finally rang, they fled the dungeons in panic.

For the first time in his career, Severus did not even bother tidying up his classroom. He simply locked the most pricey and dangerous potions ingredients into the cupboard and then stormed out of the room, his black robes billowing behind him. He had to see Cassandra.

He almost bumped into her in the corridor. She looked by far less cheery than she had at lunchtime.

'Is there a fire, or why is everybody running out of your classroom?' she joked. But then her grin faltered, and a moan escaped her lips.

Severus grabbed her by the shoulders. 'What are you doing down here?' he inquired, frowning. 'Why are you not in the hospital wing?'

'Because,' Cassandra replied in a defiant tone, 'Poppy said that walking is good for me.'

But then she winced, and Severus twirled her around, firmly holding on to her shoulders.

'We are going to see Poppy. Right now.'

And Cassandra did not resist. She too knew that it was time.

~ ~ ~

'I am not leaving her side!' Severus bellowed.

'Yes, you are,' Poppy replied in a calm tone. 'The Healer will arrive at any moment. And there is absolutely nothing you can do, Severus. You would only be in the way.'

The word Healer made Severus regain some of his control, and he started to understand how serious the situation was. Poppy was more than capable of delivering a baby. And the fact that she had called for a Healer from St. Mungo's meant that something was amiss.

'Please, Severus. Go and wait in my office.'

He cast a last glance at Cassandra. Her face was deadly pale and covered with sweat. And her eyes were closed. Poppy had given her a Calming Draught about ten minutes ago. It had taken her all her powers of persuasion to make Cassandra swallow it. The red-haired witch was surely as stubborn as a donkey. But Poppy had not had any choice: the labour had gone on far too long, and Cassandra had been hurting far too much. Had Poppy not sedated her, she would most probably have passed out from sheer exhaustion.

Severus had been by his wife's side the whole time, sometimes holding her hand, sometimes massaging her shoulders or caressing her cheek. Some hours ago he had been excited and curious. But as the evening had turned into night and midnight was approaching, he had become nervous. And Cassandra's anguished moans had driven daggers into his heart. He had never felt so helpless before in his life. And he hated the feeling.

He felt his stomach clench as Poppy dragged him away from the bed and pushed him towards her office. He did not want to leave Cassandra. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to do ... well, something.

'You will come and get me, Poppy, will you not? If anything happens ...' He did not even try to hide the panic in his voice. He was scared, so terribly scared.

Poppy pushed him onto a chair and quickly squeezed his hand. 'Everything will be alright, Severus,' she said. 'Just have faith.'

Then she turned and left Severus alone in the office with a bottle of Odgen's and a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He managed to stay seated for about five seconds. Then he started pacing the tiny office.

What was happening out there, he wondered. What had gone wrong? And where in Hades was this blasted Healer?

He tried to listen at the door but soon realised that Poppy had put a Silencing Spell on it. Hence he did not even try the handle. If Poppy did not want him to hear, she had certainly made sure that he would not come bursting into the ward either. So he continued pacing the room, from the door to the bookshelf, from the bookshelf to the window.

It was pitch black outside. But on the faraway hills Severus could see the flickering lights of the Beltane fires. Amazed, he stared at the dancing flames. During all his years at Hogwarts, he had never realised that the fires were still lit.

The soft clicking of the door being unlocked made him spin around. Poppy was standing in the doorway, looking tired but calm, and in her arms she was carrying a little bundle.

'You daughter, Severus,' she whispered and smiled.

And Severus stood as rooted to the spot, staring at the medi-witch, unable to take in what she had just said. He did finally snap out of it when Poppy had crossed the room and was holding out the baby towards him.

He stiffened, suddenly struck by the irrational fear of dropping the tiny human being, but Poppy professionally arranged his arms and hands so he would hold the baby safely.

'There is no need to be scared, Severus,' she whispered.

And he relaxed enough to look down at the little bundle that was now lying in his arms. His daughter was looking up at him with eyes blue as the spring sky. She had her mother's eyes. And the down on her tiny head foretold that her hair would one day be just as red as her mother's as well.

Her mother. Cassandra!

Suddenly, the knot in Severus' stomach was back. And so was the panic in his voice.

'Cassandra. How is she?'

Poppy smiled. 'She is alright. She lost a lot of blood. But your potions will help.'

Severus never waited for permission but pushed past Poppy and stormed towards Cassandra's bed, still holding the baby safely in his arms.

Cassandra looked tired, so terribly tired. But when she heard Severus approach, she opened her eyes and a smile lit up her pale face.

'I see you have met your daughter, Severus Snape.'

'Our daughter,' he replied and smiling looked down at the baby his arms. 'She has your eyes, beloved.'

'All babies have blue eyes, Severus.'

He settled beside Cassandra on the bed, wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and positioned the baby so Cassandra could see what he saw.

'I did not just mean the colour, my love,' he explained. 'I meant the look in your eyes. You are both smiling.'

~ ~ ~

Cassandra soon fell asleep with the baby at her chest. And Severus stayed beside them, his arms wrapped around his beloved wife and his eyes on his darling little daughter. How could he ever have thought that he would do anything but love this little child, he wondered.

'I will always be there for you, little one,' he whispered. 'I will protect you and love you. And you will never have to be afraid of anything.'

He felt Cassandra shift in his arms and found her looking down at their little baby daughter as well.

'Eydis,' she whispered in a sleepy voice. 'We should call her Eydis.'

And Severus nodded. Because who else than a goddess could have given him such a gift?

A/N: Eydis: Ey-: Old Norse auja, meaning fortune, gift; -dis: Old Norse dis, meaning sister, woman, goddess