Harriet Potter's Forbidden Love

Chapter 17 - Telling Daddy

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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The unexpected announcement caused Harriet's crippling nausea to rush back in a sickening wave.

She reeled as she put a hand to her head.

"I'm very sorry, Mrs. Snape." The healer frowned, "Most newlywed omegas are thrilled to hear such good news, it means the Ministry won't dissolve your marriage!"

The healthcare practitioner blinked as she watched the colour drain from her patient's face.

"I.....I think I need to lie back down for a moment." Harriet stammered as she swallowed thickly against the dryness of her own throat.

"Of course." The healer nodded as she lunged forward while Harriet settled herself back onto the examination table.

The edges of her vision began to blacken as the healer looked down at her and grinned, "Don't fret, Mrs. Snape! I'm going to rub your palms with a Rousing Salve....Give it just a moment, alright? It's normal to feel light-headed in the first trimester."

Harriet squeezed her eyes shut as she listened to the healer rummage through a cabinet in the room.

What was she going to do?

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Soon, the Rousing Salve took effect.

Still in a shocked stupor, Mrs. Snape left the healer's office and stepped out into Hogsmeade's busy street.

She had never before had her heart so simultaneously full and broken.

As Harriet began to walk, she instinctively placed a hand over her lower belly, as if she hoped to protect the child in her womb from any potential danger.

Danger...........

She realized that both her and her child's future were in jeopardy.

Severus had no interest in becoming a father or starting a family.

It had taken her months to earn anything but his scorn and finally....finally.....they were actually developing a fulfilling, loving relationship.

They enjoyed their days together.

They delighted in the subtle, soothing rhythm which gentle domesticity had brought.

Harriet frowned as she imagined the chaos a baby would bring into their lives.

As the father of a newborn, Severus's exhaustion would only worsen.

She would be forced to give up her position as headmaster's assistant since there was no childcare in the wizarding world and certainly no place for a new mother as an employee at Hogwarts.

Fear gripped Harriet as she considered Severus's potential reaction to the news.

Two years had not yet passed since their nuptials.

The birth of a child would seal their marriage forever in the eyes of the Ministry.

Harriet's aimless wandering took her all the way to Diagon Alley and over the grey patch of pavement that crossed into Knockturn Alley.

While the foreboding place had a reputation for harboring Dark Witches and Wizards, desperate and needy souls also frequented its streets.

At that moment, Harriet couldn't help but consider herself to be in that group of wayward wanderers.