Song Of The Guardians

Harbingers

Hermione sighed with contentment as she snuggled against Severus in the darkness of their bedroom. Her breath came in soft little pants as she recovered from their love-making. "That was lovely," she sighed quietly.

Severus chuckled in response. "Understatement of the century," he retorted. He fell silent again, his mind swirling with thoughts. He looked down at Hermione when she shifted against him and lit a candle on the bedside table with a wave of her hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked with a frown. "And don't just say 'yes'. Tell me what's on your mind."

Severus heaved a sigh. He hadn't wanted to burden Hermione with his brooding thoughts. However, he knew that there was just no use in trying to hide his thoughts from her. "Just thinking over our battle plans," Severus said reluctantly, running his fingertips down her spine lightly. "I know it will change nothing, but I hate that you will be fighting in yet another war."

"You will too," Hermione noted.

"I am less concerned for myself," he replied. "Though I will admit to having a great deal to live for this time around." He hugged her closer to himself to illustrate his point.

Hermione grinned and reached up to smooth the worry lines creasing his brow. "We'll both survive this," she said firmly. "We're going to grow old together."

Severus hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should say anything more. "Perhaps have a family?" Severus suggested so quietly that she nearly missed it. Nearly.

Hermione gasped softly and her eyes jerked to his. Half of his face was bathed in soft golden light from the candle, while the other half was concealed in shadows. His expression was unreadable. "You want to have children?" she asked hesitantly.

"I had never considered it before you," he admitted. "I am not opposed to the idea." He smirked and added "Someone will have to produce intelligent offspring for the next generation. We can't rely on Potter to do that."

His tone lacked any venom when he spoke of Harry, and that made Hermione smile. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and snuggled close again.

The next morning, it didn't take long for Caroline to notice that something was different. Severus and Hermione were both rather quiet, and sometimes Hermione would smile wistfully for no apparent reason. Severus seemed restless and preoccupied.

Caroline made it a point to go to Hermione's last class before lunch, in the hopes of questioning her friend. She was pleased to find Hermione seated at her desk, looking over some student essays. "How is your day going?" Caroline asked cheerfully.

"Well enough," Hermione said lightly. "Some of these essays are so horrid that they would be funny if they weren't so disappointing." She looked up and caught Caroline's curious gaze. "What?" Hermione asked, looking puzzled.

Caroline smiled and sat down on the edge of Hermione's desk. "You tell me," Caroline replied playfully. "You have been smiling all day. What's the story?"

"Nothing really," Hermione said, looking down at her clasped hands and blushing. When she glanced up, she saw that Caroline was giving her a disbelieving look and she chuckled softly. "Severus just surprised me a bit last night," Hermione admitted softly.

"In what way?" Caroline asked. "Unless he decided to get creative with the sex last night. In that case, I don't want to know."

Hermione shook her head and laughed. She was silent for a moment and then she met her friend's eyes solemnly. "Last night, he hinted that he'd like to have a family with me," Hermione said softly.

Caroline made some sort of noise that ordinarily would have been reserved for admiring small furry animals. "That's so sweet," Caroline murmured, her eyes misty. "I'm so glad. Severus is a great man."