Chapter 5

There was something very authoritative about the knock on the front door. Hermione had taken the day off work to await the estate agent, now that she and Ron had agreed to put the cottage on the market and split the proceeds, so she went to the door expecting to greet a Percy Weasley-type in a suit. What she got was Lucius Malfoy. He pushed straight past her into the hall, swung around and confronted her, his cane in his hand.

"What have you done to Severus Snape?"

He seemed too big for the narrow room, his height emphasised by the swirl of robes and the bright blond waterfall of his hair. His grey eyes blazed with an arctic light and he looked exactly what he was – a very dangerous wizard indeed.

Hermione drew her wand and took up a defensive stance.

"I beg your pardon?"

"What did you do to Severus?" He spoke between gritted teeth. "More to the point, what are you going to do about it?"

"I haven't a clue what you're talking about!"

"Don't give me that, girl!" He loomed over her, the cane trembling perceptibly in his grip; such was the force of his rage. "You damn well shagged him!"

"I didn't realise there was a law against having sex," Hermione snapped. "And it would be more accurate to say that he shagged me! How dare you barge into my house flinging accusations at me? If you don't want your boyfriend to sleep with anyone else, you should keep him on a tighter rein!"

"Are you denying all knowledge, then?"

"If you would like to explain what the hell you're blathering on about," Hermione said sweetly, "I can perhaps tell you if I know anything about it!"

She had to tip back her head to glower into his eyes. He glared right back. Then he gave an undignified yelp and leaped aside, raising his cane to defend himself against the irate ginger cat who had hurtled from the kitchen and fastened his claws into Malfoy's ankle.

Hermione ducked under his arm and snatched Crookshanks up before Malfoy could curse him.

"I demand that you hand over that dangerous beast at once –"

"If you attack a witch in her own home, you can expect her familiar to defend her!"

Malfoy sneered. "Do you think that you and a mangy cat can defeat me in a fight?"

Hermione pointed her wand out of the front door and snapped, "Expecto Patronum!" Her otter erupted in a blaze of silvery light and gambolled around on the doorstep.

"No, Mr Malfoy, but my Patronus can call more Aurors than you can handle. One more threat and it'll be on its way to fetch Harry and Ron and the rest of their team."

Malfoy took a deep breath and held up both hands in a placatory manner.

"Perhaps we had better start this conversation again, Miss Granger."

Hermione was reminded of the occasion in the Department of Mysteries when Malfoy had tried to obtain the prophecy about Harry while restraining his insane sister-in-law and the other Death Eaters, who would happily have killed a bunch of schoolchildren without a second thought.

"Perhaps we had." Hermione flicked her wand to dismiss the Patronus, which dispersed into a glowing haze and vanished. She shut the front door and marched into the kitchen, Malfoy on her heels. When she put Crookshanks down onto the floor, he sat down to watch with a very suspicious expression on his squashed ginger face.

"Now," said Hermione, "what is the problem? You're well aware I stayed the night and slept with Severus at Malfoy Manor five weeks ago, but I haven't seen or heard from him since."

"He has been ill," Malfoy told her in a terse, angry sounding voice. "He started feeling unwell the very next day."

"He'd disappeared when I woke up."

"He went off to the Dower House, where he has his brewing facility. That's what he does, when anything perturbs him. Clearly, he wanted to be alone. You must understand that Severus is a very private and self-contained person."

"Of course he is. So many people have let him down that he prefers to rely on himself."

"Yes, well, by dinner time the elf that cleans his laboratory came to tell me that she was concerned, so I went down to check on him. He has a bed there for when he needs to stay the night to oversee some finicky brew, and I found him asleep. I didn't disturb him, but I returned in the morning. He was irritated with the elf for fetching me, annoyed with me for fussing, and furious when he found that the potion he had been brewing had overcooked and was ruined. Such volatile behaviour has not been unknown in his past, but since the war, Severus has become rather less temperamental. I put his temper down to you. You reminded him of things he preferred to forget, and he was furious with himself for having given in to temptation and leaving himself open to an emotional attachment that he does not want."

"That's why I haven't heard from him, then," Hermione said slowly. "I kept wondering whether to contact him. Please, go on."

"He collapsed three days later. I found him lying on the floor next to his cauldrons, doubled up in pain. He admitted then that he woke next to you with a pain in his gut, but put it down to colic as a result of vigorous exercise on top of a big meal."

"Don't smirk," Hermione said. "You know what we got up to. Didn't you call a Healer?"

"Not then. Severus is perfectly able to cast basic diagnostic charms and look for the obvious problems. He told me that he'd cast the full range of diagnostics, and every time they had come back with the result that he was in pretty good shape for a wizard of his age. There was nothing wrong with his digestive system, bladder, gall bladder, appendix, prostate and so on. He decided that the cause was psychological; he was inflicting cramps upon himself in punishment for sleeping with a student."

"That's ridiculous. I haven't been his student for eight years."

"Which I was at pains to point out. He dosed himself with painkillers and after a few days, the problem resolved itself – until ten days ago, when he was sick."

"Sick?"

"Nausea and vomiting. Intermittent to begin with, but for the last three days, he has been unable to keep anything down except dry toast and water."

"I should hope you insisted on him seeing a Healer."

"I did begin to wonder if you had dosed him with a slow-acting poison in revenge for the misery he inflicted upon you and your friends at school," Malfoy said lightly. "However, that isn't the Gryffindor way, is it? Yes, I called a Healer and performed a nice little Memory Charm and sent her on her way once she had come up with a diagnosis. Then I called another Healer, since Severus insisted she was an incompetent twat, to use his own words, and this one dithered around but came up with exactly the same result. Another Obliviate and off he went, with a vague memory of having been called to treat a broken finger on a careless house-elf."

"So," Hermione said, with a show of patience, "what's wrong with Severus Snape, and why is it my fault?"

"There's nothing wrong with him – at least, no injury or disease to speak of. He has merely grown an additional internal organ; a very muscular one, hence the abdominal cramps. Specifically, a uterus."

"What?"

"A uterus, womb, female reproductive organ. Furthermore, he is pregnant. The current occupant is less than half an inch in length, but appears to be healthy and growing well, according to my admittedly rusty charms."

"Is this some sort of joke?" But Hermione could not imagine Lucius Malfoy being this good an actor. He shook his head, his hair flowing like liquid over his broad shoulders.

"I wish it was."

"Why are you blaming me?" Hermione asked. "I mean, if it was the other way round, if I was the one who was pregnant, yes, perhaps Severus would have sent you to tell me that I was a careless stupid idiot, but how can you blame me for this? Surely you're more likely ..." She let her words trail away, realising that she had been thinking aloud. Lucius cocked his sardonic blond eyebrow at her.

"You are wondering if I am the father, are you not?"

"It did cross my mind."

"I am not. Narcissa bought a book when she was pregnant which contains charms to check a baby's progress before it is born. The book also contains a charm to confirm paternity, which both Severus and I cast. Each time the result was the same: the father, the provider of sperm, was Severus Snape. We amended the charm to determine the identity of the mother, the donor of the egg. It was you."

"Good god." Hermione sat down hard on a chair. "That isn't possible."

"I assure you, my dear, it is. You're going to be a mother."

She shook her head.

"I can't have children." She looked up into his smooth, still-handsome face. "I was cursed during the battle of Hogwarts, with Uterus Calix. I've been to see Healer Strood, she's the best Healer there is for gynaecological problems, and she confirmed that I'm infertile. It was the final straw for my marriage; that's why Ron and I split up."

Lucius sat down on the opposite side of the kitchen table.

"I see. Did Severus know this?"

"Of course not. I didn't tell him; why should I? I knew I couldn't possibly get pregnant. He cast a contraceptive charm but I just let him do it. He might not have believed me if I'd told him not to bother." She shook her head. "I don't understand it. Surely this would require a lot of powerful magic?"

"One would have thought so. Severus believes you cursed him."

She gave a little gasp of laughter. "Paranoid git, of course he would. I bet he's calling me all the names under the sun."

"In between bouts of heaving with his head stuck in a toilet."

"What is he going to do?"

"That rather depended upon what I found out today. Obviously if you had cursed him, we would expect the curse to be reversed immediately – my dear, you're very, very knowledgeable about curses, so naturally we blamed you. However, we couldn't quite understand why you left your own signature so obvious, or what message you intended to leave."

Hermione waved her wand at the kettle and frowned.

"I need a mug of tea. I've got Earl Grey if you'd like some." He nodded, and she levitated mugs, sugar and milk to the table. "He needs to see Healer Strood, for a start. Then we ought to look for magical signatures, traces that might lead us to what set the entire process going – yes, I know, me having sex with him must have done that, but how, and why?"

"You need a house-elf," Lucius remarked, peering into the mugs on the table. "Great Merlin, there's enough tannin in here to preserve a pair of dragon-hide boots. You will kindly accompany me back to the Manor and continue this conversation accompanied by tea in clean cups and with Severus present."

"I can't, I'm waiting for the estate agent to look at the house. We're selling it."

He looked around at the small, rather cramped kitchen, then surged to his feet and peered into the fireplace.

"Is your Floo open?"

"Yes."

He took a pinch of powder from the pot on the mantelpiece and threw it into the fireplace, stating clearly, "Malfoy Manor." Then he stuck his head into the flames and Hermione heard the distant tenor of his voice. Lucius withdrew looking insufferably smug and flicked his wand to remove the traces of ash from his hair and clothes.

A minute later, a house-elf popped up beside Hermione, bearing a huge tray loaded with tea, sandwiches and cakes. Barely had she poured herself a cup of tea when the Floo blazed green and through it stepped a familiar figure in black.

Severus looked pale, thin and thoroughly out of sorts. His expression, when he looked at Hermione, was that of her old Potions professor, glaring at the children who had made his life a misery.

"I hope you are pleased with yourself, Miss Granger." His voice was as precise and vicious as she remembered. "How overjoyed you must be; at last you have your revenge for all that adolescent angst and those imagined petty slights."

"Severus," Lucius said quickly, "do sit down and stop attempting to intimidate the child. She is undaunted and fired with the righteousness of the innocent – unless Gryffindors have learned to dissemble far better than Slytherins, which is unlikely. Have some tea."

Severus moved with the care of someone recovering from an injury. He lowered himself onto a chair and folded his hands over his waist. Hermione wondered if it was an unconscious gesture. She felt something quivering deep inside her; simply seeing him again was unsettling, and knowing what he was carrying filled her with a curiously guilty excitement.

"Tea, Severus?"

"No."

Lucius sighed but poured his own tea and selected an egg and cress sandwich. Severus' hand moved, performing a little circular motion over his robes, as if trying to soothe his queasy stomach. Hermione had to force herself not to stare at his middle.

"I have explained the situation to Hermione," Lucius said benevolently. "She is as much at a loss as we are to explain it; however, there is a circumstance of which we were unaware. I believe that it has a bearing on the case. Would you mind telling Severus what you told me?"

Hermione repeated the explanation of her infertility. Severus merely listened, his head inclined so that his expression was hidden behind the lank curtains of his hair.

"I wondered if it could be a reflected curse," Lucius said, cutting a slice of Battenberg cake. "That is, one initially applied to Hermione, which was triggered when you had sexual relations and then adhered to you. However, that would not explain why her husband was unaffected."

"Unless it was applied in between Ron and me splitting up, and me sleeping with Severus?"

"By Weasley himself?" Lucius enquired, and Severus snorted.

"Hardly. He doesn't have the power, the malevolence or the capability."

"I know who bloody well has," Hermione said darkly. "My mother-in-law."

"Molly Weasley? Why on earth would she do something like this?" Lucius demanded.

"Because she's an interfering old bag. Just before Ron and I separated, she told Ron that she was going to sort things for him, something about old ritual magic. She said she'd ensure that Ron would have at least one child."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Lucius dropped his slice of cake onto the plate. "She's been dabbling with early fertility rituals? No wonder we're in a pickle. Those antediluvian charms are notoriously unstable and difficult to direct."

"We're 'in a pickle'?" Snape snapped. "It's me who's in the untenable situation!"

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked in a small voice. "Professor?"

"Be sick," Severus said succinctly. "Bathroom?"

She pointed him in the right direction and heard the unmistakable sounds of retching a few minutes later.

"Oh, dear," Lucius sighed. "Poor Severus; I'd better take him home. Unfortunately he's been too unwell to brew himself a safe anti-nausea potion."

"I can do that."

Lucius nodded.

"You'd better come over to the Manor when your estate agent has gone. Come for dinner. We need to talk."

"Yes, Lucius, we do. I'll be there at eight."

He nodded and went off to the bathroom. When he returned, he was supporting a rather green-faced and drooping Severus under one arm.

"Floo or Apparate?" Lucius enquired. Severus looked at the fireplace and groaned.

"Not the Floo."

"Side-along, then. How far do your wards extend, Hermione?"

She took out her wand.

"I'll key you both into them – as long as you don't try to attack me again."

"Attack you?" Severus stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Lucius marched in with his wand blazing when he thought I had cursed you," Hermione explained. "It was rather touching; he was beside himself with anxiety." She smiled sweetly at Lucius, who bared his perfect teeth in a parody of a smile and turned on the spot, carrying Severus away with him.

oooOOOooo

"You'll need to lift the Fidelius," Hermione stated. She had expected Severus to refuse; the fact that neither wizard argued but waited for her explanation gave her a warm, comforting glow. "First, because Severus should see a good Healer and they'll need to monitor him, which they can't do if we keep Obliviating them. Second, I don't have much influence on Molly Weasley."

"Who has?" Lucius muttered, frowning.

"Arthur doesn't, I'm afraid, but our strongest ally has got to be Harry. Yes, I know, but he's incorruptible, he's famous for it. He'll be absolutely furious with Molly, and I know Ginny will side with us too."

"Molly's baby girl," Severus said. "I always wondered if she would grow up to be a better witch than her mother. She wouldn't need to try very hard, after all."

"She did; she's a good match for Harry. With those two and Arthur on our side, the rest of the family will listen to our case. I hope we can force Molly to reveal what she did and reverse it." Hermione dug in the pocket of her robe. "Here, I brought this for you." She held out a vial of potion. Severus took it, opened it warily and sniffed.

"This is not a standard morning sickness potion."

"No, I made it. I substituted galangal for half the ginger, and fennel for a quarter of the anise, plus added colchicum. I reduced the chaste berry and increased the ginseng in the base."

Severus tipped the potion into his mouth. He didn't even grimace, although he obviously struggled to keep it down for the first few seconds.

"I would have used gingermint instead of peppermint, but otherwise marginally acceptable." He let his head roll back on the sofa and breathed deeply.

"I take that to mean it worked."

"Yes, Miss Granger, it worked. Take half a house point. Did you find the recipe in a book or have you at last begun to think for yourself?"

"Severus," Lucius sighed, "restrain your temper, if you please. You are getting repetitive and we require Hermione's help."

Severus drew himself upright on the sofa and they glared at one another. "Is that so?" His voice was silky, his enunciation precise. "Miss Granger owes me more debts than she can ever repay, and she knows it."

The air seemed to thrum with repressed magic, making Hermione's skin prickle. She smacked her hand down on the arm of her chair.

"Stop it, both of you! This has nothing to do with life debts!" When both wizards glanced at her, she asked sharply, "Do Slytherins ever do anything for each other simply because they're friends, or because it's the right thing to do? Or is everything bound in a complicated web of debts and repayments and favours?"

"Of course," Lucius said, raising his eyebrows, although it was unclear which question he was answering. "Although we must assume that things are different when dealing with Gryffindors."

"I wish I hadn't even mentioned houses. Can we discuss this without resorting to insults or bitching, please? Let's look at the situation and consider our options like adults."

"Yes, my dear, if you insist," Lucius said blandly, his grey eyes crinkled with amusement.

"I don't find this funny," Severus said through gritted teeth.

Lucius and Hermione shared a moment of mild exasperation, which unnerved her a little.

"If you'll lift the Fidelius, I'll make an appointment with Healer Strood. We can discuss your options when we know exactly what the implications are."

"Before we do that," Lucius said slowly, stroking his chin, "shall we discuss what we would like to happen? Life-altering decisions should not be made lightly."

The implications were not lost on Hermione, nor on Severus if the dark anger clouding his brow was anything to go by.

"Professor," Hermione said, refusing to sound placatory, "what do you want?" She folded her hands and waited, schooling her face to an expression of calm she didn't feel.

Severus shifted slightly in his seat, glancing aside at Lucius for a moment, who gazed back with polite interest. Hermione's heart beat faster, his hesitation raising her hopes in a way she had wanted to avoid, in case they were immediately dashed.

"I suppose you expect me to carry your spawn to full term, do you?"

Hermione flinched at the bitter spite in his voice. Severus clapped a hand to the robes over his flat, narrow belly. "You want to see me reduced to waddling, the greasy Potions master become a bloated swollen monstrosity for your friends to laugh at? I was foolish to believe that my debts to society were paid, that I could live in peace. I should have Obliviated you the moment you saw me!"

Hermione felt a faint prickling behind her eyes, but she dug her fingernails into her palms and tried to hold onto her facade of calm."You are aware that I didn't intend this to happen..."

"Oh no, you didn't intend anything, of course; you are utterly innocent, one of the stainless golden trio, untouchable in your reflected glory, while the old Death Eater gets the blame and suffers the consequences!"

"I don't recall using the Imperius curse to get you to sleep with me."

There was silence for a moment, broken only by Severus' elevated breathing. A vein pulsed in his temple.

"If you have quite finished," Lucius said, "we might return to discussing what we intend to do? Severus, if we can reverse the spell, will you abort the child? It is, after all, your decision."

Severus' dark eyes flickered as he glanced at his friend, then at Hermione. Again, she tried not to let herself hope too much.

"It may not be possible," he muttered. Lucius blew out a long slow breath and nodded.

"So you've already tried. Is this why you've been so ill?"

"Possibly." Severus glared at Hermione, as though he was braced for attack.

"That's your prerogative," she told him. "It may still work if we can persuade Molly to reverse the magic and get Healer Strood to do it."

"I attempted to banish the uterus," Severus snapped, "before I realised that it was not empty."

"Hermione, you're the other parent, what is your desire?"

Hermione answered Lucius' question without moving her gaze from Severus' hand, resting protectively on his belly.

"It's my only chance of ever becoming a mother. I could adopt children but this is my own baby, so of course I want it. I can't force you to carry it against your will, which I suspect is what you're so uptight about, but if you don't want to raise it, I'm more than happy to take it right after birth and allow you as much or as little contact as you want. The ball's back in your court, Professor."

"You may have no choice either way," Lucius pointed out. "It may be impossible to remove it, or else it may be too dangerous for you to carry to term."

Severus turned his face away, staring into the gently crackling log fire.

"Make the appointment with your Healer."

"Thank you. The Fidelius?"

Lucius drew his wand from the head of the cane leaning against his chair and began a long, complex series of flourishes and a whispered incantation.

Hermione felt something lift, a feathery weight rising from her throat and chest.

"You've removed it completely?" Severus asked and Lucius nodded.

"It's time, my friend. At least this fiasco may have the result of bringing you back into the Wizarding world where you belong."

"Bollocks," said Severus, but without heat, and Lucius looked smug. Prossy appeared then to tell them dinner was ready, and Severus strode off in a swirl of black robes. Behind his back, Lucius gave Hermione a self-satisfied little smile and indicated she should precede him to the dining room.

oooOOOooo

Healer Strood sat with her elbows on her desk, her fingertips together, listening gravely as Hermione related how she and Ron had split up just after Molly had promised to ensure that Ron had a child, that she had slept with an old acquaintance, and that the wizard had acquired female internal organs and was now pregnant.

The Healer turned to where Severus sat, simmering like a cauldron on the verge of boiling over.

"Everything said in this office is entirely private," she remarked. "I am under the standard Healer's oath of confidentiality. In order to carry out a thorough examination, I will need you to remove your glamour, please."

Her tone was brisk and professional. Severus gave a short nod, made a gesture with his hand and dropped the charm that made him appear as a brown-haired, mildly handsome man. Hermione decided that she preferred the real Severus, hook nose, sallow complexion and all; he was certainly more interesting than the bland persona he had chosen in order to travel to the clinic in Diagon Alley.

Strood didn't even blink. She indicated the couch and waited until Severus was lying down before performing a series of wand movements, so rapid that the tip of her wand blurred. Charts, numbers and diagrams blinked in and out of existence above Severus' body. Tiny coloured lights winked in a complex pattern, then clumped together and dived through his clothes, and he gave a little gasp.

"There may be a sensation of mild cold or prickling," Strood said, "but it is perfectly harmless."

Severus' abdomen glowed briefly as if a bright light had been switched on under his robes, then the lights emerged, forming a translucent three-dimensional shape in the air, a rounded organ with a tiny glowing spot inside it. Healer Strood used her wand to point to it. "This is a representation of your womb, which appears perfectly healthy, and here is your son."

The glowing spot expanded suddenly until Hermione could clearly see the shape of the embryo, curled pink and alien, with its huge head and buds where the limbs would develop.

Hermione stared until the picture winked out and the Healer placed her wand neatly on her desk. Severus sat up, pulling his robes straight and glowering at his knees.

"What are the implications?" he demanded suddenly. "Is it possible to remove it, remove all evidence?"

"It may be," Strood said levelly.

"May be? This was inflicted upon me without my knowledge. Are you telling me I'm stuck with it?"

"It is my opinion, judging from what Mrs Weasley said..."

"Miss Granger," Hermione said automatically, and Strood inclined her head.

"I'm sorry, from what Miss Granger has told me, old and unpredictable ritual magic was used in an attempt to enable her to conceive."

"Completely against my knowledge," Hermione added.

"The magical imperative was for her to have a baby. This imperative – this requirement – came up against not only the deep-seated curse on her womb, but a powerful and effective contraceptive charm. Did you cast it?"

He nodded.

"It was impossible for her to conceive, so the next best thing was to use your body. You are magically strong enough to sustain a child to term. This imperative is very robust indeed, Mr Snape." A muscle twitched in his cheek at her use of his name, but he did not speak. "An attempt to remove the embryo from the womb, or the womb from your body, could result in considerable damage. Also, please bear in mind that the abortion of a magical child is illegal unless the pregnancy is the result of rape, or if continuing it threatens the carrier's life."

"Would the fact that Severus was impregnated totally against his will count as rape?" Hermione asked in a small voice. "That he was forced to become pregnant when we didn't even know it was a possibility?"

There was a long pause before Strood replied.

"As far as I am concerned, yes, it would."

"If we were able to convince my mother-in-law to reverse the spell, would you try to terminate it?"

"If that is your wish."

"What would be the risks of going through with this farce, of carrying to term?" Severus demanded abruptly.

"How old are you?"

"Forty-five."

"You appear to be in good health, although I would recommend that you cease smoking, and drastically reduce your alcohol intake. There is a risk to your health and indeed to your life, but no more than there would be for a healthy forty-five-year-old witch embarking upon her first pregnancy. I would monitor your condition closely, and you may require a regimen of potions and bed rest to carry to full term."

"And the birth?"

"You may develop a birth canal near to your delivery date. Also, you may undergo structural changes so that your pelvis more closely resembles that of a female. This depends upon the particular shaping of the initial ritual, assuming it requires the survival of both parent and child. In that case, you may opt for a natural birth; however, I suspect you will require the magical removal of the baby. This is a procedure closely allied to a splinched Apparition. One of our experts will Apparate you, leaving the child in situ. It's a relatively quick and painless procedure."

"When do we have to decide?"

"Ideally, within the next two weeks."

Severus stood up and pulled his black travelling cloak around himself with a dramatic flourish. "Owl me with an appointment in two weeks' time. I can be contacted at King's Potions, the Dower House, Malfoy Manor."

With a sharp crack, he turned on the spot and vanished. Hermione slumped in her chair and clutched at the bushy mane of her hair.

"Oh, good lord."

Strood maintained a tactful silence.

oooOOOooo

"Sit," Ginny commanded as she thrust a large glass of red wine into Hermione's hand, placed a dish of Molly's home-made savoury cheese straws on the coffee table and handed Harry a pint of lager. Ginny opened a bottle of butterbeer; she was breast-feeding Albus so was still off the alcohol. "Go on then, tell us all."

"Yes, Severus Snape is alive, the Malfoys are hiding him. Yes, Ginny, you're right, I slept with him, but not until after Ron told me he was seeing someone, for what it's worth."

"You sound as if you regret it," Harry said, after taking a deep and thoughtful swallow of his pint.

"You wouldn't believe how much."

"That bad, was he?" There was a faintly pleased note in Harry's voice that made Hermione's hackles rise.

"No, actually, he was bloody brilliant; he applied just as much focus and passion as he does to his potions. I wish he hadn't been so good, actually, because the chances of ever doing it again with him are around zero. Your mother cast some sort of ancient ritualistic spell on me, Ginny. She told Ron she'd ensured that he had at least one child – except that she cast it on me, not him, and it didn't matter who I slept with."

"You're not!" Ginny gasped, slopping butterbeer down the front of her jumper.

"No, I'm not pregnant... but Severus is."

"What?" Harry shook his head as if irritated by a fly. Ginny waved her wand to banish the butterbeer from her chest, without taking her eyes off Hermione.

Hermione told them about the visit from an irate Lucius Malfoy, how they had worked out what must have happened, and the appointment with Healer Strood.

"I can't believe this," Harry muttered. "You can tell I was Muggle-raised – things like this still do my head in."

"I'm as pure-blood as they come and I'm equally confounded," Ginny assured him. "Merlin, I bet Snape's furious!"

"He's incandescent. He's reverted completely to his wartime teaching persona, all spite and sarcasm. It's such a shame, because that evening, that one evening when we had dinner with the Malfoys, he was so charming and witty."

"Because he wanted to shag you," Ginny said.

"Maybe it was only because he wanted sex, but it showed that he could be a great companion."

"Is that what you want, Hermione?"

Hermione shrugged elaborately and realised she had fooled neither of her friends.

"Yes, I suppose so. He's so clever, and his sense of humour is very dry and cryptic."

"Being great in bed isn't such a disadvantage either," Ginny said.

"What about the baby? Is he going to carry it?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. He kept saying things that made me think he might, but he's full of resentment."

"Story of his life, really, poor old sod."

"He's not that old, Harry; he's only twenty years older than we are. Oh, you should have seen his face when I told him you'd named your son after him and Dumbledore!"

Harry gave a great crow of laughter.

"Poor Snape!" He sobered abruptly. "You'll have to tell Ron."

"I know. Will you two back me up?"

"'Course we will, Hermione."

Ginny was frowning as she sipped her drink. "When's Snape making his decision?"

"Next Wednesday. We've got an appointment with Strood to discuss it."

Ginny put down her bottle and selected a cheese straw.

"You're planning," Harry said fondly. "I can tell."

"Mm, I am. Let's not say anything until we know what he's decided, okay? If he demands to get rid of it, we'll go in with all guns blazing. Mum had no right to do what she did – even if she did think she was doing the right thing – but what makes me really angry is how careless she was. She should never have messed with ritual magic without knowing exactly what she was doing."

"Totally agree with that," her husband grunted.

"If he decides to carry it, you need to rush up to her and thank her profusely and tell her how delighted you are to be able to have your own baby."

Hermione slowly started to grin. "She'll be mortified."

"Exactly, and what's more, there'll be no need for a huge family row, which would result otherwise. When she thinks about it, she might even realise that Ron had a lucky escape, because otherwise, it would be him up the duff."

Hermione let out a squeal.

"God, I never thought of that!"

Harry squirmed.

"She'd better not decide we need more kids. Christ, that doesn't bear thinking about!" He peered shrewdly into Hermione's eyes. "When is the cottage going on the market?"

"In a couple of weeks, when the surveyor's been. Why?"

"Ron's staying in George's flat permanently, but you won't have anywhere to live, will you?"

"Of course she has!" Ginny protested robustly. "She'll be moving in here!"

"No, she won't." Harry sat back and folded his arms. Hermione's grin widened.

"Oh dear, I'll have to find someone with a large house and ask if I can stay with them, won't I?"

"If you're lucky, they might even have a library you can use."

"Ah," said Ginny with a smirk, "not to mention an old friend with a bun in his oven."

"Right in one. Cheers."

They raised their glasses in unison.

oooOOOooo

Severus swept into Strood's waiting room, the effect slightly diminished by his appearance as the handsome brown-haired wizard, but Hermione would have known him anywhere. The glare was all Snape, as were the sweeping gestures, the air of suppressed ferocity and the silky, scathing voice.

"Miss Granger, let us get this over with, shall we?"

Hermione's heart lurched, but she preceded him into the surgery. Her palms were sweating and she felt slightly sick.

Healer Strood flicked her wand to close and ward the door, and Severus dropped his glamour. He was rather less sallow-faced than when she had last seen him, and she thought he might have regained a little weight. Clearly, her anti-nausea potion was still working; she had owled him a flagon of the brew and received a terse note in reply, telling her that even though he was male, there was no need to be quite so heavy-handed with the ginseng. She took that in lieu of thanks.

The Healer waited with her hands folded and an air of polite interest. Hermione forced herself to sit still and wait. Severus' scowl deepened, a Slytherin who hated to be manipulated into speaking first, but he was clearly too impatient to wait them out.

"Despite all the rumours to the contrary," he spat the words at Hermione, "I am neither entirely callous nor a murderer of children."

She was unable to suppress a little gasp. Strood got to her feet and indicated the examination couch.

"Please remove your robe, Mr Snape. I need to give you a full physical examination and would like your permission to take a blood sample."

"Do you want me to wait outside?" Hermione, filled with excitement, felt that she should be magnanimous, but Severus shrugged so she stayed.

He lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, his shirt pulled up and trousers pushed down so that they discreetly covered his groin but bared his pale belly, which curved very slightly outwards between the hips, instead of being concave as she remembered.

Strood began by pressing all over the area with her fingertips. "This firm swelling is the uterus rather than the foetus, which is still very small. There is a considerably increased blood supply, which you may sense as a feeling of fullness or heaviness, and you may notice that your magical level fluctuates."

"That's started already," he said bitterly. "What other delights might I expect, along with the vomiting?"

"You will probably feel very tired and lethargic. As the baby grows, it will press on your bladder and you will need to urinate more frequently. Because your hips are narrow, the entire uterus will rise upwards and outwards earlier than it would in a mature witch, making your condition obvious by four to five months."

Severus held up his hand. "That will do, thank you. You can tell me all about the swollen ankles, varicose veins and stretch marks nearer the time."

Strood busied herself with her diagnostic charms and then used her wand to nick his finger and transfer blood into a tube. She dripped the blood into a series of tiny vials and added potions, cast charms and muttered to a quill pen, which scrawled the results onto a sheet of parchment.

"I'm pleased to note that you took my comment about reducing your smoking seriously," she said pleasantly. Severus sniffed.

"They taste odd and make me nauseous."

"I'm going to prescribe some potions you can have made up at any apothecary –"

"I shall brew them myself."

"Two of them require precisely controlled charms applied during the brewing."

"Then I'll ask a friend to assist if my magic isn't up to it."

"The problem will be with your fine control rather than with the actual level of your power, Mr Snape. Please take the potions as directed, follow the enclosed advice about rest, exercise and diet, and I'd like to see you again in two weeks."

She handed him a scroll, which he tucked into his robes. He nodded once to the Healer and strode out, ignoring Hermione completely, which on reflection was no more than she had expected.