Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. I just like to use her characters in my twisted plots!

A/N: Thanks so much for my wonderful, wonderful betas Southern_Witch_69 and Meredith. Without them I could NEVER have done this. They are truly inspiring.

If you are one of the few who have not read The Succubus, Libertine, or Vengeance is Sweet, run and do so NOW!

This is based on the Surrogate Mother challenge posted on WIKTT.

For the challenge and challenge rules, please refer to the end of the chapter

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Chapter 1

Severus Snape sighed. He looked around the room and grimaced at all the happy faces he saw. A solitary creature by nature, he usually didn't attend these events. He felt he had a right to be at this one, however, and thus was making an effort to keep a sour look off his face. Tonight was the night he would receive his Order of Merlin, First Class, for his efforts in helping defeat Voldemort during the war. It had been one year since the final battle, and for Snape, that alone was reason to celebrate. Yes, he did indeed want to enjoy this celebration. There were other awards and citations being handed out that evening, however, and the speakers were droning on and on. Could he be blamed if his attention wandered?

Snape glanced around the room again and focused on Draco Malfoy. Draco had been a big surprise to everyone in the Order. After some subtle probing and lengthy discussions with his godson, Snape realized Draco did not want to follow Voldemort, but was scared to refuse. Snape offered him a way out. He would still take the Dark Mark, as expected, but he would spy as well. Nobody had known the truth of Draco's loyalties except Albus, Minerva, and Snape. It had been worth it just to see the look on Harry Bloody Potter's face when Ron Weasley stood on one side of him and Draco Malfoy on the other, both protecting him fearlessly. Snape smirked when Draco put a possessive arm around Ginevra Weasley as Potter approached. Old habits die hard.

Snape's victory had been bittersweet. He had finally brought honor back to the name of Snape, but he had no one to rejoice with. His mother was long dead; he had no siblings, nor did he have any children. And there it was...the reason for his melancholia tonight. Severus Snape wanted an heir.

He had no illusions about himself, and knew the likelihood of ever finding a reputable witch to marry him was nonexistent. Despite his new Order of Merlin, the things he had done in his past were irrefutable. He simply was a former Death Eater, and thanks to Fudge and the Daily Prophet, everyone in the Wizarding world knew it.

That was why Snape had turned to an agency to find a mother for his heir. The agency matched surrogate mothers to potential parents, which seemed an ideal solution to Snape's problem. He could find a witch of quality to act as a surrogate mother and bear a child for him without any hassle. The only problem was that he needed the surrogate's egg as well. It would cost extra, but he could afford it. Being the last of the line did have some advantages; not having to share the wealth was one. The agency made arrangements for him to interview several witches, and he approached each interview with the same determination that carried him through every confrontation he ever had with Voldemort. After the fifth one, however, he began to lose all hope. Each witch was worse than the one prior, and Snape was finally forced to admit that they were all terribly unacceptable.

Snape sighed heavily as he recalled his final interview. It had been an American Muggle-born witch whose name was Miss Shufford. He was not as bothered by that fact as one might think he would be. A child conceived with some Muggle ancestry and some pureblood ancestry greatly reduced the chances of a Squib birth or other genetic aberrations caused by the many years of inter-mixing the pureblood lines. He actually supported the Marriage Law that Fudge had recently proposed, but it would take a while to go through the process of legislation, and Snape did not want to wait that long. Besides, he didn't want to bring a child into the same sort of loveless marriage that his parents had brought him into. No, he had seen the results of that, and part of what he had become was a result of that type of marriage. He did not want his child to turn out as he had in his tempered youth.

Miss Shufford was a disaster from the beginning. She had bounced into the interview with the most ridiculous grin on her face he had ever seen. After his first question, he knew without a doubt she was not the one. She had attended The Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was a very reputable school; however, she herself did not have a reputation to match. He learnt she had been expelled at the end of her fifth year for her promiscuous behavior with most of the male students and some of the staff. She had left the States for London to start over, but needed the funds to do so. Hence, her decision to become a surrogate mother. To say she was incompetent would be gracious. She couldn't even name the twelve uses of dragon's blood! No, she would not do. He had no intentions of the mother ever being around the child after the birth, but still wanted good stock and at least adequate intelligence.

Well, at one time he might have wanted a particular witch to have a relationship of sorts with him, but he knew better than to hope for anything to come of that obsession. The witch in question seemed uninterested in anything other than a working relationship. His thoughts drifted to Miss Hermione Granger, the cleverest witch of her age. A most brilliant witch who happened to owe Professor Severus Snape a Wizard's debt.

It had happened during the final battle. Everyone had been so focused on guarding the Boy Who Lived to ensure he got to Voldemort that they were paying attention to little else. Snape had glanced towards Hermione just as Antonin Dolohov cast the Killing Curse right at her. Dolohov had been looking for revenge against Miss Granger ever since the incident in the Ministry of Magic at the end of her fifth year, and that particular moment had been the perfect opportunity for him to get it. Without thinking, Snape had grabbed her and pulled her to him with all of his might as the curse glanced by, missing her by mere centimeters. She had looked her Potions teacher straight in the eyes and said, "Thanks! I owe you one!"

As Snape had looked into her eyes, so bright with excitement, he had thought immediately of several ways she could repay him. He was not blind to the fact that Hermione Granger had grown into a beautiful young woman. Oh, not the classic model beauty, but beautiful to him nonetheless. Combined with her intelligence, she was a complete package. Several times he had watched her in his Potions class, thinking of her full, rosy lips and her soft, graceful hands. He could never refrain from thinking of all the ways she could put them to use. Snape had seen her eyes glaze over while completing a potion. He'd wondered how much effort it would take to make those eyes glaze over while she was beneath him...but alas, that would never happen; he was certain.

But Miss Granger did owe him something. She likely had no idea how her words to him would haunt her some day. Today was that day. Severus Snape, Slytherin extraordinaire, was going to collect that debt. He would get his surrogate mother one way or another.

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Challenge Rules:

Plot: After the war Severus decides that since things are safe in the Wizarding world, he wants an heir. Thinking no witch would ever marry him because of his background, he decides to hire a surrogate mother. Of course, it will have to be Hermione. He wants an intelligent witch, and she is the smartest one of the age! As to why Hermione does this, that is the author's discretion.

Requirements:?

-Severus must interview at least 5 witches.

-Severus insists Hermione live in his residence during the pregnancy (Whether he is still at Hogwarts or not is the author's choice).

-At least one of Hermione's friends tries to talk her out of it.

-Severus insists on a confidentiality contract so no one, including the child will ever know she is the mother, and he wants a contract giving him all rights to the child and her none.

-Hermione gets at least one weird craving and Severus gets it for her.

-They must at some point during the pregnancy develop romantic feelings for each other. -Authors choice on how it ends, but I prefer happy!

Required Sentences:

-I never knew I could love so deep

-Oh NO! Here come the hormones again!

-Your water has to break NOW of all times?

Bonus-not required

-You know, we could try this the old fashioned way.