Forever and Always Yours, SS [Book 3]

Chapter 50

Severus finally made it back to the castle before dark. The students had run themselves out of energy, chasing down their dates and trying to hide at the edge of the forest. Inside his office, he could hear the soft snores of Amilia coming from his bedroom. He opened the door slowly; he saw that she was taking up the whole bed, her hair fanned out like usual and one foot out of the blanket.

"Amilia?" He whispered.

Nothing.

Severus crept closer to the bed and took off his shoes as quietly as he could, "Amilia?" Still nothing. Gently, he put her foot back on the bed and slipped under the covers in the small space she had left.

Amilia groaned as she rolled over, apparently offended by the occupation of the space. Severus chuckled as he put his arm over her waist and gently rubbed her belly. He wondered at the life growing within her and tried his hardest to swallow the fear that bubbled. He wanted their child to have a happy life, preferably with both parents alive. Not alive in a sense like Severus's own parents, but active and willingly participating in its activities and interests.

I want to watch you grow, and I want to teach you how to brew potions. I want to see you look like your mother and try to crochet. Severus nuzzled Amilia's hair as he relished the thought of the baby destroying one of her projects out of curiosity and trying to brew its potion in the toilet. Yet, if I cannot keep either of you safe, these dreams will haunt me. Severus frowned; he wanted them safe above all else, and his wife was too stubborn to consider the possibility.

Amilia stirred and rubbed her nose, "Everytime you frown, I wake up. Stop it." She yawned.

"My apologies."

She turned her head to face him, "Why are you frowning?"

"It was nothing important." Severus lied. They had such a good time only a few hours ago; he did not want to ruin the day. He knew she caught on to the lie, but she did not press it.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" She asked.

"I need to grade third-year essays, other than that, nothing. Why?"

Amilia yawned, "Curious."

Severus chuckled, "Go back to sleep."

"I plan to."

One week passed, and birds of all kinds flooded the Great Hall. Amilia glanced at Minerva, curious as to what was going on, and the old witch only shrugged and watched curiously. The birds dropped letters and parcels off at the Gryffindor table, falling into plates and spilling drinks all over the place. A couple placed down from Amilia; she could see Umbridge's face turning a horrible shade of purple in anger.

Severus leaned over and whispered to his wife, "I wonder what has her garter in a twist."

"I suppose we shall find out later." Amilia looked at her House's table; Draco and the rest of the Inquisitor Squad looked curious and furious at the same time. Draco more so than the others. Amilia shook her head; it baffled her how much it bothered Draco that Harry got so much attention.

Later indeed came, over the intercom came the grating voice of Delores Umbridge, "Any student found with the Quibbler, will be expelled."

Amilia sighed; I wonder how much worse this is going to get? Hagrid had been removed from his teaching position, and now this. Would she be next? Severus could not be replaced so quickly, but Amilia certainly could.

"Professor? Is she serious?"

"Hmm?" Amilia was drawn out of her thoughts, "Oh, yes, it appears that she is."

"That is not going to be good for Luna."

"Luna? Who is Luna?"

The student looked at her, "Luna Lovegood, she is a Ravenclaw. Rather weird, she is. She speaks softly and loses her shoes a lot."

Amilia furrowed her brow in confusion; the description was not bringing an image to mind. She shrugged, "Finish up and then you are free to go."

"Yes, Ma'm."

After dinner, Amilia and Severus sat at one of the large tables in his classroom. Scrolls were piled up in front of them, and a rubric was in between them. "Thank you for helping me." Severus said as he marked an essay with a poor grade.

Amilia tried not to show her disdain for his strict grading scale, but it could be heard in her voice, "You are welcome."

Severus sighed; he knew that if he asked her what was bothering her, it would just start an argument.

"Did you have Luna Lovegood as a student?"

"What?" Severus looked at her, curious.

"You heard me." Amilia did not look up from the scroll, her quill moving quickly as she made comments.

"Well, of course I did. Why?"

"I had a student in detention today say that the banning and subsequent expulsion of anyone in possession of that, magazine?" She said, unsure if that word was right, "Would be bad for her."

Severus set down his quill and walked over to a drawer in the desk, pulling out the magazine. He gently set it down in front of his wife, "I am assuming you have never looked at it."

Amilia picked it up and flipped through the pages, each bringing more confusion to her features. "What is this rubbish?"

"Exactly that. I confiscated plenty over the years. Each one speaks of a creature that is unknown to any of us."

"Nargles?" Amilia scoffed. She set the magazine down, "Well, I suppose they may not be entirely unknown, we did not know about plenty of creatures centuries ago."

"True, however, the reason why Umbridge dislikes this is because the creater, Luna's father, is pro-Dumbledore and pro-Potter."

"I see. How does this relate to Luna?"

Severus sat and picked up his quill, "She is...eccentric. Having her in my classroom was both a wonder and an absolute atrocity. If she did not like the 'vibes' from one of the potions, she would brew something different or not do it at all."

Amilia giggled, "I see."

"Yes, now let's get back to work. I want to get these returned to students before midterms."

"I would prefer to be doing something else." Amilia muttered under her breath.

"What would that be?" Severus set down his quill, looking at his wife curiously.

She sighed heavily with a wistful look, "Oh, nothing, just feeling a little untouchable at the present moment."

"Untouchable?" Severus raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, however, we must get these essays graded. How else are the students going to be able to learn from their mistakes before the next big test?"

Severus chuckled, "Perhaps we can fix that issue for you and then return to the task at hand."

Amilia scrunched up her face playfully before getting up from the table and taking his hand in hers, leading him to his office and into the bedroom.