A Season with the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 10 - The Snape Family

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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As the bright, summer sun illuminated the waters of the shimmering sea outside Harriet and Severus's window, the couple gradually woke to begin their first day back at the healing spa.

Harriet groaned quietly as she rolled over in her nest and cuddled against Severus.

"My love?" He asked as he gently wrapped Harriet in his arms, "How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine." Her muffled reply came, "And you?"

"You need not trouble yourself with me." Severus frowned. The worry was clear in his usually steady voice as he asked, "Are you having any pain this morning?"

"I have pain every morning now, Severus." Harriet huffed as she pressed a hand against the side of her belly, "From my back to my joints, it's difficult to find something that doesn't hurt."

"If you release me for a moment, I'll bring you a dose of potion." Severus offered in a low whisper, eager to aid his darling in whatever way possible.

Harriet sighed as she slowly let him go, snuggled into his pillow, and confessed, "I'm not sure it will do much good."

He frowned as he glided into the adjacent room and quickly retrieved two small vials filled with yellow and purple liquids from the well-stocked potions trunk he had brought on their trip.

Severus scanned over the variety of creams, tonics, medicines, and herbal teas he had packed to help his darling through the birthing process and her postpartum recovery, but his expression remained tense.

It pained him to know he wasn't able to completely alleviate all of his wife's discomforts, yet his hope to minimize her misery surged as he walked back to her with the vials in hand.

He frowned as he approached the bed and noticed Harriet had already fallen asleep again as she lay on her side with a hand protectively over her belly.

Silently, he placed the vials on the nightstand next to the bed, careful not to knock Harriet's glasses off before he knelt beside his wife.

His black eyes glimmered with anxious excitement as he placed his pale hands on the roundness of her belly and whispered to his unborn, "You're exhausting your mother.......Surely you're as ready to meet us as we are you?........The world is waiting, little one."

Harriet furrowed her brow in her sleep.

Severus's dark eyes widened in wonder once he finished speaking, only to be greeted by a torrent of motion from within his wife's heavy womb.

He let out a breath of awe as he pressed his fingers down gently against Harriet's abdomen and let his unborn son or daughter respond to his voice with their tiny kicks and punches.

Severus was certain the violent movement would wake Harriet.

He had underestimated the level of her exhaustion.

While Severus bonded with his child, Harriet slept on as her body prepared itself for the onerous task ahead.

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The magical healing spa which had fostered the birth of Harriet and Severus's relationship and prepared to host the birth of their first child was a popular destination for expecting omegas.

On top of offering a variety of mental and physical treatments for ailments ranging from infertility to depression, wound care, and emotional rehabilitation, the resort housed Harriet, Severus, and the other visiting, expectant couples in quiet birthing suites at the island's distant corner.