Unexpectedly Expecting

14: Personal Lab Work

Severus

The two extra doses of wolfsbane potion were ready for consumption, and yet Severus still fought the urge to not slip in a poison to put the damn wolves out of their misery. The Weasleys were shocked, but since Hermione walked in on the two lovers going at it in the library, he reflected that it wasn't such a shock. The way the Diggory boy died, you would think Potter lost his parents all over again. He whined and carried on as if the whole world grieved with him over the loss of his precious Hufflepuff.

He felt Hermione's arms circle around his waist, and she placed a kiss on his left shoulder blade. He lifted up her hand to press a soft kiss on her fingers, as she held him close. "You don't seem surprised by Harry taking Lupin up on his offer to be his beta, or mate, or what have you," She observed.

He chuckled, moving his wand over the cauldron to seal in the magic before turning off the burner. "No. Not in the slightest. I am surprised that you are."

She stepped away from him to help with the lab clean up. "Well...I mean, Harry never really gave any indication that he was bi, and before this whole thing with us, we usually told each other pretty much everything. I'm just a bit surprised that he would make out with Lupin. He was one of his dad's friends for goodness sake!"

He worked alongside her, and packaged up the rest of his potion, and cleaned out the cauldron magically. When that was done, he turned to her. "Ah. Yes, it is a bit odd, but it runs in the family, I suppose. Do you want to find out what color the nursery should be?"

Hermione chuckled, rubbing her still flat belly, "Hm...The family tree indicated twins, so we could be having both, or one of each, so who knows?"

Just like when he initially brought her to his family's ancestral home, rather than Spinners End, he fought the urge to touch her. Attachments were a dangerous thing in this messy business of being a double agent, after all. But there was something about her that got under his skin, and it had little to do with their unexpected family development. No, it was her, and that scared him more than he liked to admit.

He cleared his throat, erasing his emotions the way he trained himself, "Yes, quite. Still, we can find out now so that we can know before muggles do with their ultrasound machines."

She nodded. "I would like that. Is it a hard potion to make? I doubt such potions are not taught to students."

Severus smirked. "No, that is what Luteins is for. Otherwise, the University would go positively bankrupt."

"Oh, Merlin forbid. Let's get to work. I hate being bored in this place and being treated with fine kid gloves. I'm not even showing yet," She reasoned.

He didn't realize he was smirking this time until she pointed it out, "You're doing it again. Trying not to show emotion when it is perfectly natural to show them. You only do that when you are wrestling with something. I didn't notice it in school, but you were more intimidating then."

"All by design."
"And now?"

"Just grind up the ingredients on the cutting board, I will gather the other necessary ingredients."

"Fine. Put up your walls."
"I can order you out of my lab."
"Cute."
"Annoying..."

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I had not intended to antagonize Severus, but it was easy to do sometimes simply because he kept so much hidden from everyone. I threw myself into working, and so did he. He worked with graceful efficiency, and it was astonishing to see, because he never had been a hands on sort of teacher. Professor Slughorn on the other hand, had no problems doing active demonstrations, and even helped those in his classes when they couldn't understand such terms as Golpalott's Law, or why certain magical plants had to be used.