Precarious (Severus Snape x Reader)

Chapter 26: Don't Be Angry

"What do we do?"

-

No.

No.

Oh, God.

Your eyes began to fill with hot tears and you let them slide down your cheeks as you slowly moved your hand to clutch your belly.

A baby. There's a baby in there, you thought hysterically. Holy shit.

Poppy smoothed your hair away from your face and pulled you into a light embrace, rubbing slow circles along your back.

"Oh darling," she whispered, attempting to comfort you.

In your mind, there was nothingness. You couldn't fathom any coherent thought as you tried unsuccessfully to process what she had said. The word pregnant echoed inside you, bouncing off the flimsy walls of your brain until it stuck, somewhere deep inside your frontal lobes, and you looked into Poppy's watery eyes.

"Are - are you sure?" you muttered, frozen.

She nodded. "Yes, dear."

"How far...how long...?"

"Probably four or five weeks."

Four or five weeks? Already?

"But - I - I'm confused, I've been taking my potion -"

Your voice cracked into a small sob that wracked its way though your ribcage.

"Magic is not perfect, love," Poppy consoled calmly, soaking up her tears on the collar of her robes.

You forced yourself to push through the shock and disbelief and thought firmly.

What am I supposed to do?

"Severus." You had to tell Severus.

You squeezed your eyes shut, forcing the wetness from them, and called out to him, grasping for the outskirts of his mind, yearning for him. It was to no avail. You couldn't focus on anything but the little thumming heartbeat that surely fluttered within you.

"Severus...is he...?" Poppy inquired carefully.

You nodded, thinking back on the last several weeks when you were carrying but didn't even know it. Memories of you and Severus flooded before your eyes, wondrous, beautiful recollections of love and pleasure and happiness. You wondered how a baby would fit into these memories, and suddenly, you were assuaged with new, imaginary visions. Severus placing kisses along your bare, swollen belly, a soft mound of blankets clutched to his chest, the shrill sound of an infant's laughter and cries spilling over between the two of you. Your heart lurched, and more tears filled your eyes. This pregnancy, this child, elicited powerful bursts of emotion inside of you, and you hugged your arms closely around your midsection. You could not explain it, there were no words, but you were drowned in love unlike any you had experienced before. You were in love with this baby, and you were suddenly so eager to tell him that you almost hopped right off of the table and ran straight to the dungeons. You were stopped, not by Poppy, but by the curt knocking at the door of her office. You were sure of who was standing outside.

"Just a moment!" she called, tidying herself and wiping a stray tear from your cheek.

"Poppy? Do you have (Y/N)? I need to see her right - "

You had stood without a second thought and swung the door open to find Severus standing anxiously, preparing for another round of frustrated raps. You sobbed once more and threw yourself into his arms, and he held you to his chest, murmuring against your hair.