A Season with the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 8 - An Honourable Question

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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Harriet woke the next morning and blinked as a blurry shape hovered in front of her.

She started as she reached over to the nightstand and pulled on her glasses.

"Severus......" Harriet breathed as she found her lover sitting at her bedside, "How long have you been watching me sleep?"

"Only for a moment." He nodded, "I anticipated you'd wake soon after you began to rustle the covers.......Don't worry yourself, Potter, I only wanted to offer you this." Severus said as he handed Harriet a small glass vial with a single dose of yellow potion inside, ".........And this." He drawled as he handed her a second, similar vial that contained a bright purple liquid.

"What are these?" Harriet asked as she sat up against the mound of pillows and took both containers from Severus.

"Anti-Nausea Potion." Severus explained as he nodded at the yellow vial, "Formulated to be safe for an expectant mother."

Before he had a chance to go on, Harriet ripped the glass stopper out of the vial and downed the liquid inside.

To Severus, Harriet's eager acceptance of the potion served as proof of her suffering.

The very idea his pup had made her feel ill caused a frown to mar his pale face.

Once Harriet swallowed and sat the empty vial on the nightstand, Severus nodded towards the vial full of the purple liquid, "And that one," He explained, ".......Is a special elixir brewed for a woman in your condition. It offers many benefits such as nausea reduction, which can be supplemented by what you just swallowed, a bit of pain relief, increase in milk production, and encouragement of the child's growth."

Harriet looked into Severus's dark eyes for a moment before she uncapped the second glass vial and swallowed its contents as well.

Severus took Harriet's willingness to drink his gifts as a compliment.

At least the mother of his child trusted him enough to accept his assistance.

Harriet sighed as she passed a hand over her face.

".........Potter?" Severus asked.

The concern in his low voice was evident.

As Harriet met his gaze, she saw worry soften his black stare before she smiled wryly and said, "I already feel a bit better........Thanks. The mornings can still be difficult for me, sometimes."

"Of course." Severus replied.

The couple stared at each other for a moment with silent frowns as they each wondered what they should say next.

Harriet just wanted to pull Severus into her nest and cuddle him.

Besides wanting to be next to him, she decided she certainly wouldn't have minded if he gave some attention to her sensitive bits.....

As Severus stared into Harriet's face, it was all he could do to resist the urge to lean in and kiss her soft lips.

After years spent starving for simple affection, Harriet Potter had become a source of comfort for Severus Snape, physically and emotionally.

Instead of spending the rest of the chilly morning in tense quiet, Harriet broke the silence by courageously asking, "If it's alright, I think I may like to go back to sleep for a bit? Growing a life has turned out to be harder work than I thought."