Headmaster's Secret

The Finals/Ceremony

Severus and Hermione worked around the clock to get ahead of all the tasks that they needed to have at least partially done in case the Board tried to remove Severus again. Minerva wouldn't be able to keep up with everything since she wasn't a part of things since the beginning. The speech was finalized and simply waiting for Severus or Minerva to start practicing. They had another month and a half before the Ceremony would take place, so someone would have to start soon. 

They also worked tirelessly on the stats of the Program that Hermione came up with. Severus was very surprised to see that every single student was doing very well. The bullying and fights in the corridors were less and House disputes were few. The program was nearing 100 percent success. The last bit would be waiting for final exams. That wouldn't officially be counted until midway through the summer, which would be fine with Severus. 

Hermione was so focused on her own finals that Severus told her to go see Pomfrey for a calming draught. She still argued that the calming draught wasn't good for their son, according to their textbooks. Severus rolled his eyes so hard that his head hurt for a second. "That is just a scare tactic for witches that overuse calming potions. It can have adverse side effects for babies if misused." 

She nodded and gathered her things. They had been working on the finals for the students, but she was so strained that he told her to go now to get the draught. Originally she was going to go after they finished the fourth year finals. Her breathing had started to get more labored and her eyes were wide with worry. 

When she was gone, Severus sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his face. Two more months and their son would be here. She'd need a little more than just a calming draught. She would most likely need to go to the regular muggle doctor to get some actual medicine to help prevent post pardum depression and anxiety. How did a wizard know about muggle medicine? He liked to read and sometimes muggle book stores were better than Wizarding ones. Calmer too. 

"Severus, have you given it much thought on when to announce to the world yours and Miss Grangers son?" Albus asked. 

Truth be told, he didn't. Finals were taking his entire mindset at the moment. "Not really." They'd have to go to St. Mungos for the baby and they'd be outed anyway then because there was no way in Hell that Severus would miss the birth of his first child. They hadn't fully settled on a name. Hermione wanted him to have his name, Snape, but he really wanted his son to carry on the Prince name. He didn't want the Snape linage to continue. 

They also were in debate on the name. Hermione liked Seth Jonathan, Severus liked Samuel Tyler. They couldn't ask too many people  because he was a secret. Hermione was surprised that Severus suggested she ask Harry, though. He was her friend and she needed someone else's opinion. 

Hermione spent a whole week preparing for her finals. They were fast approaching and she hardly left the library. Even to eat. Severus had taken to calling Bonks (Binks? I forgot) to make sure she was eating each day. He'd told Severus that she was annoyed each time he bothered her, but was very nice about it. Severus told him that he needed to worry if she suddenly went calm. His beady eyes looked worried for a moment before nodding to Severus and popping out. 

The last week in April was the Finals. Hermione was seen rushing around the school in any attempt to get in another second of study time. Her belly was really starting to show, which concerned Severus, but there was no rumors on the Hogwarts grapevine yet. She came in that evening to complain on how the questions were worded in the exams. That was a Ministry issue, however small it was. She was the only person in centuries that complained about wording. Most would complain to their friends on how hard it was. 

She went in Severus' chambers and plopped herself on the couch with a groan. Severus followed her and watched her rub her stomach soothingly. "He's complaining about my eating the roast at dinner," she stated with a groan. He nodded and went to his little kitchenette. He rarely used it, but she needed some tea to soothe their son. Tea usually stops him from kicking up a storm and annoying her.