Unexpectedly Expecting

36: The Prince's Tale

Severus

Severus repressed a shudder as he looked around his neat, orderly bedroom. The dark blue kneazle was sleeping on his discarded robes, kneading the velvet in her claws as the creature dreamed on, and Hermione's presence anchored him to the here and now. He did not want to go back to the headspace of the meeting, but his wife insisted.

"Alright, I'm ready," She declared.

What the hell? No secrets, right? You did promise that, remember? Yes, yes, he did, but all the same he did not like it much.

"Good. It all started with a Revel, one of those pretentious affairs, so nothing seemed amiss with this one like all of the others. The location I could not tell you, save that it was at the Dark Lord's discretion. It always is, as I explained multiple times to Dumbledore during my reports. Regardless, this was a fancy pretentious party, save that what was meant to be a relaxed evening of the usual debauchery that occurs at these functions, was an environment meant for walking around egg shells around the Dark Lord.

"Lucius was already half in his cups, and so had no issues with partaking in the usual Claiming ceremony, save no claiming took place, and so we all had to watch the Dark Lord assault and have these three muggleborn witches ripped apart by Nagini."

"Gods, I don't want to unpack how wrong that whole scene is," Hermione commented quickly. "Go on."

"Are you sure?"
"Yes, please."

"Very well. Draco was not chastised for choosing Miss Lovegood, due to her being a pureblood, but that changed when her father was dragged into the arena. Draco dared to argue against the torture his father in law was no doubt going to experience, and that was how Draco was hit with a series of Cruciatus Curses. Lucius doesn't have a wand now as you know, and so he could do nothing, but he tried. I held him back, and that ended up with getting into a fist fight with him."

"Oh wow, and your arm?"

"That came later. We were pulled apart, and went into the meeting proper for only the Inner Circle. The rest partied, blissfully unaware of the scuffle. I do not know what became of him after that, but I do know that he was spirited away from St Mungos after our rescue mission previous. The meeting was straightforward bureaucractic nonsense regarding the government, Hogwarts, and naturally the Carrow twins gloated about the success of Dark Arts classes."

"Obviously."

Severus grinned at how Hermione replied before continuing, "Then came Thicknesse's appointment of the Snatcher program. Well, Lucius had what can only be described as a conniption about that since he declared that the Dark Lord put about a tyrannical measure to punish possible allies to the regime. I had to step in to defend my cousin, and the Dark Lord
..lost it, you might say. He tortured us both for hours. I dared to try to hit him, and that was when he aimed the Cruciatus to attack my arm. So much for bravado there. I don't know how Lucius apparated us here since I lost consciousness from the pain halfway to the apparition point. You have the full story, so I suppose we are all bloddtraitors now according to the despot."

"Well, we knew that that would eventually happen," Hermione said after a long time. "I mean, it's not like you were meant to be a spy forever."

He couldn't help but laugh at her pragmatism as he drank another glass of Skelegro. "True. But he has the Elder Wand, and he believes that I am the true owner of the wand."

"Hmm...It happens to belong to Harry. Dumbledore let Draco disarm him, and so the Elder Wand became his, but after Harry won Draco's original wand from him during their last duel, the ownership passed to Harry, so he has to kill Harry Potter in order to have true ownership of the Elder Wand," She pointed out. Her voice was practical without her usual emotion for her friend, and he found that intriguing, indeed.

"You sound like you do not care for him as you once did," He stated the obvious.

She nodded, frowning, "Yes. He hurt Ginny Weasley, and used me for years. I suppose it took a lot of growing up on my part to see it. But I wanted to fit in so badly I was willing to do anything to be cool to my friends. That backfired, I guess, but there it is."

"What a pair we are then."

"Agreed. Do you want me to stay with you?" She yawned.

The old him would have raged against needing such affection, but he found that he did, in fact need to be close to his family. "I...I would like that, yes, as strange as that is to admit."

She snuggled up to him as much as her belly would allow, and they settled in to sleep. For Severus, it was a restless night where he broke out into cold sweats multiple times, and Hermione had to soothe him back to sleep. For his wife, she simply cared for him, and didn't bother him with further incessant questions...

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In the morning, she attended to the Malfoy guys with Luna's assistance, but as for himself he settled in to healing his broken body with healing potions, and while Minerva McGonagoll did not appreciate communicating with him via owl post, his wife and his godson's wife kept her informed as to what was happening with everyone's health in the Prince household.

It took a month for his arm to be of full use again, and it was nearly time to acquire a new ultrasound photograph from the muggle Doctor. Hermione was busy poring through name books at this stage since it was the seventh month check up. The nursery had been completed a week prior since they both decided on simple minimalism over cuteness unanimously. Two more months, and the room would be filled with two very real babies.

He caught her deciding on which stuffed animal would go in what crib for the fortieth time, and which blanket would be folded in with the pillows. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her temple.

She sighed heavily, "Hmm. I can't decide whether crib number one gets the Slytherin or Gryffindor treatment."

He playfully nibbled on her ear, making her giggle, "How about neither? Perhaps they won't like either aesthetic."

Hermione turned in his arms, and rested her head against his chest as they embraced one another. "Maybe. But the shower is at the end of this month, and I'm still agonizing over names. And you haven't been helping, jerk."

He lifted her chin so she could look up at him. "Lioness, I don't care what names our sons have. Princes traditionally have Latin based names, but you can name them what you wish."

"Just not yours."

He grinned. "No, not mine, unless you call him Junior."

"So noted. I think I'll just keep the cribs universal for now," She decided.

He looked around the nursery. "That seems best. Are you alright going to the appointment with Luna?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't dream of bothering you while you are messing about in the lab with corpses of creatures and noxious chemicals."

He laughed. "A pity we cannot have a private lesson."

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips before pulling away. "Mm. I'll take a raincheck on that, I think."

"I will accept that for now."

"Good." She looked at her watch. "I have to go get ready. Have fun."

"You too."
"I love you."
"Likewise."

She nodded, smiling. He lingered in the nursery, and withdrew to his lab in the basement. He buried himself in his work until one of the house elves forced him to eat lunch. He took the much needed break, and followed his usual routine until his wife and in-law returned from their doctor's appointment. Later on, he went to visit Lucius as he convalesced in bed, and he reassured him that his twins were in good hands with him as a father.

He still had his doubts, but then again, he doubted himself most days, especially with the Dark Lord growing increasingly daily in power. The Elder Wand had to be destroyed, and it had to be done by a Slytherin, he just didn't know how yet. But could it be done? That was the biggest dilemma facing him besides his forthcoming fatherhood: can the most powerful wand in the wizarding world be destroyed? Only one wizard knew...Albus Dumbledore himself, which meant that he would have to return to Hogwarts sooner rather than later, and in that interview he would find his answers come what may...