Unexpectedly Expecting

6: Bonded?

Severus

The saltiness of the ocean air had always smelled so cleansing to Severus for as long as he could remember. He needed that from the news of losing Narcissa...to her own sister. Lucius was barely holding it together, but bringing the Weasley girl had been stupid in the extreme in his mind. Was the chit dating Draco? He had no way of knowing.

Lucius had argued that he had wanted to travel to Brighton, a Malfoy owned manor in Cornwall, but Severus urged him to remain where he was for now. The last thing they needed was to fuel the fires of Voldemort's increasing paranoia. Lucius eventually agreed, and so that was where they were at now.

Hermione Granger was especially quiet as she walked beside him, her face a mask of quiet contemplation. He knew she was sad, but beyond that, he couldn't discern what she was thinking, unless he actively used legilimency.

"I'm sorry. About Mrs Malfoy, I mean," She broke the silence, "I didn't know her very well, but she seemed nothing like Bellatrix."

"Yes, well, Bellatrix has always been the wild card of the Black sisters. Andromeda committed the ultimate sin by marrying that muggleborn wizard, and so was disowned, but Narcissa was always the peacemaker of the family."

Hermione nodded. "She seemed nice when she prepared me for the...ceremony. I'm sorry I won't get to know her more."

Severus said nothing for a long time. He hunted for sea shells, and picked up a few choice ones. She grinned. "What is that smile for, witch?"

"Nothing. I just...You don't seem the type to just go looking for sea shells," She explained. She shook her head. "Sorry. It's just nice is all. The Dungeon Bat does have endearing qualities after all is how Gryffindor House would call it. I won't tell anyone your secret is all I am saying."

He nodded, not trusting himself to smile. He pocketed his sea shells in his left pocket, and dusted off his hands. "About the Claiming--"

"Oh, no, it's okay, sir. Really. Like you said, if it had not been you, it would have been the Dark Lord," She assured him. "It's just that...well, we might have bonded a bit too closely."

The vision on the Black Lake, yes, there was that between them. But how deeply were they bonded? That was the real question, and the real erumpent in the room to be addressed.

He turned to her, and took her hands in his. She laced her fingers through his, and the feeling of her soft hands in his tingled. Their eyes met, and her amber doe eyes sparkled in the moonlight as the breeze of the ocean blew her hair around.

"We should see how far this bond between us goes," He said, simply to break the ice, since he hated uncomfortable silences. "Still, I want to know why my staff defers to you."

Hermione frowned. "Smocky showed me the reason in the Tapestry Room. I...I didn't want it to be true, but she claimed that family tree magic does not lie, that it is impossible."

He released her hands after giving them a gentle squeeze. "Yes, yes, that is true. If a bond is formed between witches and wizards, if family additions are made, the Tapestry records it automatically."

"Just...Please don't be angry with me when you see it, Severus. Please?"

"Why would I?"

She sighed, "Well, because I've been your student for six years, and I know that when you do get mad about something it's usually not a pretty sight. I mean, I may not know you beyond that role, but I'm surprised you didn't jinx my friends for mouthing off to you in class, or chastising me worse for rattling off the answers to your lecture questions."

Severus chuckled, "Oh, believe me, I came very close to jinxing your friend Weasley for that one time he played your white knight and talked back to me that day I substituted for Lupin."

Hermione's smile was wicked, "I know, and I told him afterward to stop doing that. Can I ask what you would have done if he pushed you further? I am extremely curious now."

"He would have been a pig the rest of the class," He teased.

She laughed. "Oh, that's...That's just awful! It's against the rules too."

"Do I look like a wizard who cares about rules when a student misbehaves in my classroom?" He inquired.

"No."
"There is your answer then..."

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I was the one to smile first. His was slow, but boyish at the same time. I don't know why I liked seeing it, but I did.

I shivered against the sudden bracing wind, and Severus seemed to notice my discomfort. He stripped off his coat, and placed it around my shoulders.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. We should go back inside, the air smells as if it is threatening to rain at any moment."

I held out my hand, and he took it. We walked back inside, and we stopped holding hands once we were inside the Tapestry Room. He located the proof of our union, and his face was inscrutable, stoic, and he paced the floor restlessly, like a caged animal almost before he eyed my still flat belly.

His eyes narrowed, "I am certain this bond between us pleases you. How else to explain why my staff defers to you?"

"Severus, I--"

"You planned this all along, didn't you?? Didn't you?!" He demanded.

Tears rose to my eyes. "No! How could I?? You are the only wizard I have been with! How could I have known you would get me pregnant?! If anything, you are more to blame for not pulling out."

"Don't you dare get crass with me!"

"Then don't blame me, Severus!" I shouted back. "The Tapestry isn't lying. There is a gold thread linking my portrait to yours, and two buds on the tree below us. So, like it or not, you are the father of my children, and the Tapestry recorded us as binding our magic together as one."

He glared at me, not saying anything in response for a long time. He sat down on one of the benches, as I did earlier, and I stared at the Prince family tapestry going back 3,000 years to its founding, until the present where Severus was the last heir to the family legacy, until I came into the picture.

"This is just my luck," He grumbled, almost to himself, "The one time I get forced into the despot's farcical Revels, and I decide to knock up a former student of mine with twins."

I sat beside him, "Severus, look at me. Please?"

He did, and he wasn't pleased with me, but it didn't look like he hated me either, so that was progress...right? "I didn't want this either, but...I...I kind of don't mind that it's with you."

He rolled his eyes. "Spare me your flowery terms of infatuation, witch. I am not of a mind to hear them, nor do I want to be reminded that through a psychotic wizard's scheming, I am now saddled with an unwanted wife, and children."

That felt like a real slap in the face. "Fine. Deny it all you want, but I refuse to give up our twins. I don't care how they got here, they are mine, and I will raise them with or without you."

I turned on my heel, and left the room, tears nearly blinding me as I ran back to my bedroom. I locked the door behind me, and cried myself to sleep. But it was during that first night, that younger Severus visited me in my dreams, and I shared with him the news of our forthcoming arrival in nine months....