The Era of Aria Snape

108

So I saw someone added Eyes to an HP reading list so I went to go and check it out. I was scrolling through the other stories on there, but when I came across this one it was marked as "completed" which is weird. So I come back here to change that, but the complete option isn't even ticked? Idk it was weird so sorry if this story is showing up as completed, it's not yet, but we're getting really close! I estimate another 10-20 chapters and then I can finally finish it off after about two years haha :)

Chapter One Hundred and Eight

AS WEEKS WENT on, it was becoming more and more difficult for Aria to keep her pregnancy a secret. What with old Voldy having continuous meetings that she had learned to zone out in — luckily, the Dark Lord seemed to have a soft spot for Aria and hardly ever picked on her, although she reckoned that he knew she wasn't listening.

She had kept in contact with her dad who was doing a lovely job at Hogwarts, which she had heard was now emptying quite substantially — no one wanted their kids to spend time with Death Eaters.

She couldn't blame them.

Christmas was around the corner and for a holiday that she had once hardly celebrated, Malfoy Manor was now decorated. Not a lot, only a large tree in the living room lined with sparkling orbs and tinsel. On the hour, every hour it would begin to snow onto the tree for a while and then stop.

It was the morning that her father was due back that chaos broke out.

Aria had simply sat at the table, her stomach (underneath an oversized sweater) churned at the sight of scrambled eggs in front of her, but she simply smiled at the Malfoys, who all ate in silence, and shoved a forkful into her mouth. She swallowed the egg without chewing.

She reached forward for the bacon and shoved two strips into her mouth. There was a ready-made turkey on a nearby counter. She stood up and headed for it, ripping a leg from it and biting into it. It wasn't until she turned around did she see all three sets of grey eyes on her, wide and curious. Lucius's egg fell from his fork and onto his plate. Draco looked taken aback and Narcissa only revealed a small grin as she sipped on her orange juice.

"What?" Aria held her hands up in surrender, watching as cranberry juice dripped down her arm. "Oh," she wiped her mouth and dragged her hand across her sweater. She smiled and reached for another leg.

"Aria?" Draco stopped her.

She waved a hand in dismissal. "Hungry."

After devouring half a turkey, she went to sit back down. A moment of silence passed before she felt the consequences of what she had done. Aria turned away from the table and spilled her guts across the floor. She looked at Draco's horrified expression and turned to continue throwing up.

She felt him stand up and go behind her, gently moving her hair from her neck and holding it back.

"I'm going to take her to the room," Draco mumbled to his parents and lifted Aria from her seat. "Come on, love."

She felt his arm tighten around her waist as he led her to the bedroom and rested her on the bed. She didn't want to rest, though. The moment he set her down, she sat back up and vomited all over the floor.

Draco's face scrunched. "I'm worried about you." He sat next to her and rubbed her back soothingly.

"Don't..." Again she vomited. "Be." She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. Draco waved his wand over the mess and it vanished.

Finally, once she was sure the contents of her stomach had been emptied, she turned to look at Draco. Seeing the concern laced in his eyes and feeling the calming sensation of his hand moving up and down on her back made Aria realize. It was cruel to keep this from him. He had a right to know. It was his baby too, after all.

And now was as good a time as any.

"I have to tell you something."

He nodded, although Aria didn't miss the flash of panic in his eyes.

Perhaps she had better show him instead. In a swift movement, she lifted the sweater off of her body and tossed it to the side of her bed.

Her belly was not huge, but it definitely was there, bigger than it had ever been. She was only around four months pregnant, and she didn't have much to show, but Draco seemed to immediately notice what had been bothering her.

His eyes went wide as he leaned back a bit, his hands coming up to touch Aria's stomach as if to test it was real. "You're..."

She nodded.

"How..." He breathed out the word, eyes flickering between hers and her pregnant belly.

She let out a light laugh. "We had sex practically every day for months. Unprotected. It's not that shocking that this happened." She reached out to touch his hand and brought it to her stomach. "But I think it was shortly after we left Hogwarts that this happened." His hand was still against her skin.

"It's been so long."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know how and you had so many other things to deal with."

He shook his head. "This comes first. You will always come first." His eyes met hers.

He was taking it well, much better than Aria had previously anticipated. She hadn't expected him to be angry, but she had at least expected him to need a moment before being able to comprehend what was going on. He didn't though, he only took her in his arms and held her.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed. "This is so much trouble on top of everything else we have to deal with. This is why I've been snappy and why I've been avoiding you. I didn't—"

"What are you apologizing for?" He asked. "I'm happy."

"You are?"

He nodded. "Yes. This is..." He searched for the words. "Aria, I've been in love with you since the day we met when you snapped at me over breakfast in my first year. And every time I was near you after that... It's always been you. Seeing you carry my child..." He laughed. "I've never been happier."

She laughed as well, a few tears slipping from her eyes as she leaned into him.

He cradled her head and pressed his lips against her forehead. "I'll do anything to protect you and the baby. I promise."

She nodded against him.

"I promise." He whispered again as Aria slowly fell asleep in his arms, a massive weight that she had been carrying out lifted off of her shoulders as Draco lowered the two of them down and rubbed small circles across her stomach until the both of them fell asleep, entwined.