Gossip at Hogwarts

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

Poppy Pomfrey returned to Hogsmeade after quite a journey. She took her bag to the Hospital Wing, unpacked some hard-to-obtain potions that were in it, and looked in her cabinet in satisfaction. Turning, she saw a cat watching her, its head tilted to one side.

"As you can see, it was a fruitful trip."

Minerva McGonagall regained her usual form and looked. She tapped one bottle. "Someone has time on his hands. We couldn't get him to make that very often even when he lived here year round."

"He always said it was just as easy for me to mix muscle relaxants, pain relievers and caffeine for the poor girls."

"But that's not as good as Moonease."

"No, but it's not like he would know the difference."

The two witches looked at each other and couldn't hold back a laugh at the idea of Professor Snape needing such a potion.

"Marriage must have mellowed him."

"You have to see it to believe it."

Minerva looked at the other potions Poppy had placed in the cabinet while Poppy stepped into her living quarters to put the rest of her things away. "When Hagrid saw you, he alerted me. The house-elves are laying out tea in my study. When you're ready, why don't you come up and tell me all about it?"

Poppy came back out, wearing comfortable robes. "Of course. It was half the reason I went. I can come with you now."

Minerva looked her over. "I think you must have picked up some color while you were gone. I would guess you saw the sun wherever you went.

"Oh, yes, there's quite a bit of sunshine in that place."

You were there when the Owl came (said Poppy to Minerva in the Headmistress's cozy study), so you know I wasn't given much option. The note all but demanded that I come to deliver the baby in exchange for certain Potions. As you saw, the Potions were delivered as promised. He's arranging for greater quantities of simpler ones to come to us from the little shop front he set up in London. It's not exactly a functional establishment, but he has some former students working there.

At the appointed time, I went to the Three Broomsticks and took out the Portkey. It was, of all things, an empty potion vial. When my senses returned, I was standing on an island in the sea somewhere. I was literally near a beach. I have no idea where I went, but it was a place with modern buildings. Those line things were strung up and down the streets, there were cars behind me on the roads, and motor boats on the water.

"Aha, just in time," said a voice behind me that I recognized. Only Severus Snape has that voice that goes down your back even if you don't really have a back anymore, you know. He led me to a secluded part of the beach and pointed out on the water. "Our villa is on an island just there," he said, and there it was. He picked up my bag and took my arm. Then he Apparated us both across the water and onto the island.

I don't know how to describe that island. There's a different sea view every way you look, of course, but there are two small groves, one of oranges and another of olives. There's a beach on the side facing away from the main island, and the house... I don't know how to describe the house.

There are rooms, just as you would find in any house, for cooking and washing up and sleeping, but there seems to be a room for just about anything a person could want. When you're in the mood to sit down with a good book, there's a room with a good library. Sometimes it's sunny and bright while at others there's a roaring fire in the fireplace and an excellent lamp. When you want to enjoy the breezes and rest, there's a porch that seems to always have exactly the right amount of sunshine and shade. I don't think there's a room of requirement, exactly. They're not quite like the Room of Requirement downstairs. I think those rooms are there all the time, but they adjust to suit the person within them, and you don't notice those rooms when you want something else.

When I arrived, poor Katherine Snape was having terrible pains. It was probably a good thing that Severus had been on the other island waiting for me, but they have four house-elves who fought over how best to soothe her. She had no idea what to do and just lay in her bed, suffering.

When I was able to report that the pains she was feeling were just false labor, she was very relieved but a little disappointed. She had gotten so hopeful that the child might be coming, but at the same time, she didn't cope with her pains at all. I got her up and walking. I had the elves bring her water and juices and before long she felt much better.

After a pleasant walk along the grounds, we got Katherine to take a restful nap. I spoke with Severus at length. "How long has this been going on?" I asked.

"For a few days," he said with a sigh. "We went to the Healer on the main island, but I started to worry that someone would get suspicious. Katherine needs to stay hidden."

Now I was close to the question we've been asking ourselves as we've read the Prophet together. "Why on Earth have you been running all over Europe, with a trail of destruction following you?" Well, Minerva, he launched into this long winded explanation about an inheritance that they weren't going to receive, but somehow everyone in the world thought they could get if they could only kill Katherine and the baby. I don't know what to think about any of that, but they believed it, and decided that if I could come to their island, they wouldn't need to worry about the other Healer.

I asked him, since he was trained in the Healing arts himself, why Severus hadn't thought to check for the changes that labor causes. He could have checked for himself whether it was true or false labor and whether she was progressing. At the same time, he should have known that liquids and walking are a good way to differentiate between true and false labor. I'm not sure I've ever seen that look of foolishness on his face.

"She doesn't like me to touch her there," he mumbled. "She doesn't want me anywhere near that part of her body these days."

I admit it was all I could do not to laugh.

Katherine woke after a couple of hours, but now she was completely nauseous. We were able to calm her stomach well enough to eat dinner, but she was clearly not comfortable. Poor Severus suffered right along with her. Is it evil of me to wish you could have seen him, Minerva? As little as we ever saw anyone or anything get the best of him, it was a little bit delicious to watch him twist in the wind.

We bundled her off to bed, and then sat down to gossip about everyone at the school. He did not know, for example, that Sibyll had finally admitted her strong attraction to Firenze. When I told him about that afternoon when she stumbled into staff meeting late and said, "I've always wanted to have my own pony," he roared with laughter. He remembered that Horace had that block in the office pool. I was surprised at how well and how fondly he remembered us all. I was quite embarrassed and ashamed for several minutes.

The next day started frantically. Katherine was feeling pains again. I felt horrible for her; it was clear to me now that she was in prodromal labor. When I checked again, I realized that there had been some very minor change overnight, but no serious progress. Every morning she felt miserable until I could get her up and around. Severus couldn't stop aching with every one of her pains.

Then when she finally felt better, he watched her so carefully that she couldn't sigh or even stretch to better take a deep breath without him asking whether it was another pain. That, of course, was stifling to her, and she yelled at him to leave her alone. He would wander off in search of a magazine, but then he came back and made a show of reading while really watching her until she cleared her throat or shifted her weight. That would restart the cycle and I finally had to stop it. I swore that I would let him know if the slightest thing happened, and then sent him to the room where he brewed his potions.

There came a day when Katherine felt quite well. I sensed this was the beginning of the end. They encourage mothers to rest at this point, but she wanted to go out to the beach and swim in the sea. Many women wouldn't be able to rest, anyway, since their minds are busy thinking of the things they want to do. Severus took her down, with a great amount of paraphernalia stuffed into an impossibly small beach bag. I would have followed, but the house-elves discouraged me, so I went to the library and read for a couple of hours.

At that point, I thought it was past time for lunch and set out to tell them so, house-elves or no house-elves. I got to the edge of the back garden before I saw them coming toward me, arm in arm and smiling secretly at each other. They advise against intimacy right before childbirth, but in this case I think it was good for both of them. Before that morning they were both exhausted. She was tired of being pregnant and took it out on him without intending it. He understood, and although he tried to handle it in his normal stoic way, it was very difficult for him.

Dinner was quite restful and pleasant. We laughed and talked over the meal. Afterward, we went out onto a patio where there was a fire pit. They played Wizard's Chess together with a special set that lit up enough for the players to see what was happening. I have to admit that listening to the sea and occasional mayhem on the chess board lulled me to sleep. I bid them good night and went up to bed.

I was shaken awake by one of the elves some time early in the morning. "Mistress Poppy comes now," he said. "Master says not to wakes Mistress, but Mistress needs you." I got up and dressed quickly. The elf pulled me by the hand while he carried my bag in his other hand. He pushed me into the bedroom, in which I arrived just in time to see the baby slide into Severus's hands.

They didn't know I was there, yet, and I felt a little bit like I was eavesdropping. Such a look passed between them that I couldn't describe it, Minerva. He held the child so that she could see it, and they were laughing and crying together. Suddenly Severus looked at the baby again and said, "Katherine, our daughter has non-standard equipment."

Katherine was the picture of serenity as she looked at her child and husband. "I believe they call that kind a son, my love."

They were laughing and crying again, until a new pain hit. Katherine's labor wasn't quiet over, and it was high time for me to take over. "You might have called me sooner," I said, trying to sound peevish but really quite relieved that it had gone so well.

"It wasn't that intense," he said. "By the time we were sure it was real, it was mostly over."

After the baby finally came, we thought the ordeal was over. It turned out that it had actually just started. He was very fussy at the beginning, crying for several hours right in the middle of the night. He refused to nurse at those times, and Katherine burst into tears, feeling rejected. When I reminded her how eagerly he had fed just a few hours earlier, she perked up. Then she worried again, wondering what the problem could be.

I explained about colic and Severus worked on several potions until we found one that seemed to work well. By the end of a week he was sleeping two to three hours a night. He had already grown into the next size of playsuits and looked like nothing so much as a grumpy little man. I had to laugh, but I couldn't explain why.

Picture this, if you will, Minerva. After the blotchy redness due to birth wore off, the baby's skin was very pale and just a little yellow. He had been born with a shock of dark black hair and by the end of the week he had black eyes that looked at everyone as though he were going to start firing questions any moment. He still had no name, a fact that seemed to trouble his parents much more than himself.

I spent one more week with the Snape family. As I was there, I saw Katherine take over more of the care of the child. She was surprisingly good at bathing and dressing him. She was a natural at feeding him. I caught Severus watching her do that from a doorway one afternoon. I must have caught him off guard, because he spoke rather openly to me.

"She's so beautiful," he said. "I never expected anything like this in my life."

I admit to being incredulous. "Come now, Severus, they said you were planning all along for Dumbledore's side to win."

"It wasn't for me," he answered. "I never dreamed I could have this, too, until I met her." Then he looked at me and nodded his head down the hallway. We made our way to a porch, where we sat and the house-elves brought lemonade.

"Fern and Wilbur are supposed to be at our apartment in London, but since we couldn't be there, they insisted on being here. They wanted to be here when the new baby came, and they all love each other, but nevertheless none of them thinks the others can properly look after my wife. Even less do they think I can take care of her." He sighed derisively and added, "After what we've been through in the past year, maybe they have a point."

"It can't be as bad as what happened with You-know-who."

"It's different, but it's just as terrible. There's so much to lose, now. Back then it was just myself, and I didn't expect any sort of happy ending. Both sides considered me expendable, eventually, and I half believed it."

It was a chance to ask the questions that had bothered us all for the last year. "Still, Severus, if you didn't think you had a happy future, why did you do it? Why didn't you work truly for Voldemort?"

"I believed even less in my chances as one of them. I doubted my survival in any event, and I threw my lot in with the side I thought would make... certain people happy."

I looked at him and understood so much more than I ever did before. If he never expected to survive, much less be happy, no wonder it infected his actions all along. How many times did we assume he simply didn't care about us, and how many of those times was he perhaps insulating himself from something of which he didn't believe he was a part? Was that distance an attempt to protect us?

I didn't have much chance to ponder the question at the time because he continued speaking. "I know the Death Eaters rather enjoyed themselves during that year at Hogwarts, but I was quite lonely. I did my best to keep the Carrows under control. I know you don't believe me, but it was difficult to prevent trouble while letting them think they were doing exactly as they pleased. Otherwise they would have complained and there would have been more like them. The idea of Greyback teaching at Hogwarts amused the Dark Lord..."

He actually shuddered at that thought, Minerva. Then he shook it off. "I don't think he would have done it. He knew how I felt about werewolves, and he may have suspected that it would have been a step too far even for me.

"How did we ever get into this topic of conversation? You know, Poppy, you made things go so much smoother during the days leading up to the baby's birth that I'm very grateful to you. Is there a particular potion you would like made?"

Since he'd already made all the others I wanted, I decided to test his largesse by requesting the Moonease potion. If I'd had a camera, I would have taken a picture of his face at that moment. "Why do you hate making it?" I had to ask.

"It's so bloody fiddly," he replied. "Once you have it under control, it pops out in a new and different way. The brewer has to be prepared to fix anything."

"Ah, but that's the nature of womanhood at such times," I replied. "Once we learn how to deal with the symptoms, some of them go away and others pop up."

"Nevertheless, I'm not inclined to make that one," he said.

"Which one?" a new voice said. I turned to see Katherine. She had put the child down and now wanted adult companionship.

"Poppy is asking for the Moon Ease potion." He said it with his arms folded, glowering as he would look at every staff meeting. You remember, don't you?

"Oh, what an excellent idea!" said Katherine. "I've been wondering if it would help with my afterpains."

I turned to look at her. "Are they severe?" Perhaps there was some new trouble that cropped up.

"Oh, no," she replied. "I just seem to get achy whenever I feed the baby, and then it lingers."

I thought about it. None of the ingredients were bad for a post partem mother or the baby, so I nodded, knowing it would help my case. "It could help."

Severus looked at both of us and then rolled his eyes. "I can't fight both of you, so I'll do it. You don't know what you're asking of me."

We smiled then, pleased that we had won this round. He stomped off, muttering that certain ingredients would be better if he harvested them from the island garden right now. Katherine and I looked at each other and laughed. Then we chatted about her Hogwarts classmates who were now parents of current students.

It only took a few days to prepare the potion, and by then, it was clear that things were going well. The baby was thriving, the mother was recovering well, and the father enjoyed his family. We made arrangements for me to leave. This time, the two elves who usually live in London took me back to the Snapes' flat. From London it was an easy trip back to Hogsmeade.

The only thing they never told me was the name they're giving their son. I know they had planned everything for a girl. Katherine whispered to me at one point that Severus had been adamant since before conception that any child would be a girl. They were going to name her Corinne, after Katherine's mother. Still, after seeing Severus with his son, it's hard to believe they hadn't planned for any boy's names...

A/N: Ack! It was missing an ending! My apologies! I'm going to blame this on my junior editor, who likes nothing more than to sit on top of the keyboard while poking keys. She's at the age when she's worse than a cat.

Thank you to Trickie Woo for beta reading, and to Becky for catching the problem!

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