The Potion Mistress & the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 46: Into the Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OC (Katherine) is entirely my own.

"SEV...I'm pregnant."

The figures of the two men stopped abruptly, and Narcissa's jaw nearly hit the forest floor. Severus slowly turned back towards the two women; his eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing slowly.

"W-Wh...What?" Severus' own stuttering reminded him of Quirrell. 'She can't be. No. Not now'. Severus's thoughts raced through his mind. 'It cannot be true.' But his thoughts were broken by the look in her eyes. Her ice blue orbs held truth and honesty behind them.

"I'm pregnant." Katherine voice was barely a whisper, as she stepped towards him. "Six weeks to be exact."

"Six weeks?" he whispered.

"Yes," Katherine said. "That's what Poppy told me this morning."

"So it happened around the time of our bonding."

"More than likely, the night of our bonding," Katherine confirmed, as she stopped before him.

"But...the potion?"

"Apparently, Severus, that sort of bond is stronger than any potion," she stated, as she stared up into his dark eyes. "I did a little research when I returned to bed this morning. Apparently the bond we took cancels certain spells, charms, and in this case potions."

Katherine and Severus were standing so close now, nose to nose as one might say. Severus let his eyes wandering down Katherine's body to her still flat stomach, and his carefully constructed emotions began to run wild.

Fear was the first to emerge; for if not all went to plan and the Dark Lord should, for some reason, win, both him and Katherine would be killed in a heartbeat for their betrayal of the Dark Lord's wishes.

Anger followed; for he believed he was stupid enough to fool the Dark Lord with the bond. But what nipped at the front of his mind was something he hadn't felt in a long time. Well, probably never.

Pride.

He had never thought of being a father, for the fear of being like his own. Nor did he think that any witch saw him in that light or was willing to give that gift to him. But that was where Katherine differed from the others. For some reason, over these past two years, he had felt more calm and relaxed than he had for years.

"What are we going to do Sev?" Katherine asked, breaking Severus from his thoughts. "If the Dark Lord finds out..." She lowered her head suddenly, as Severus noticed a tear escape from her eyes.

"We'll keep quiet about it for now," Severus told her, as he cupped her face gently with his hands and raised it towards him again. He tenderly ran his thumb over her cheek, wiping the tear away.

"And what if we decide to tell him," Lucius sneered from behind them. Severus watched Katherine's eyes widened in panic, but before he could retort, Narcissa beat him to it.

"Lucius, you will do no such thing," Narcissa growled. The elder witch had recovered from her shock and was now glaring draggers at her husband on the opposite side of the clearing.

"It will definitely bring them down in the ranks," Lucius smirked, ignoring his wife's death stare.

"You're half right Lucius," Severus said, looking back at the blonde wizard in disgust. "It's hard to serve the Dark Lord when he has killed you."

"Severus?" Narcissa panicked. "What do you mean?"

"The Dark Lord had ordered us that no children were to be conceived until after Katherine's final mission," Severus explained as he turned towards Narcissa. "I'll believe he will see it as treason."