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The rain fell hard from the sky, like a sheet of water, obscuring the view beyond the porch. It was like this in Summer sometimes - grey and cold - the kind of weather where you might bundle up under a throw rug in front of the fireplace. As Hermione sat on the porch chair, the earthy scent of petrichor hung in the air, assailing her senses.
Her attention was drawn little by little to a slow but steady movement at the edge of her vision. A figure swathed in black stood watching her, robes swaying in the wind as the wearer stood protected by a shield from the downpour.
His eyes met hers as she turned her head to look more closely, and it was as though a bolt of electricity had struck her. She froze, then stood shakily, and took an uneven step towards him.
Those eyes, she had seen those eyes before. But here, in the middle of nowhere? There were very few who knew of this place. Hermione had done everything in her power to ensure she couldn't be found. Someone must have told him how to find her, but who?
Her body trembled with barely contained anger mixed with fear. She'd spent the better part of the last six months, trying to forget all about him. But there he stood, in the middle of a downpour, looking every bit as unreadable as they day she’d seen him last.
She took another step towards him, right to the edge of her porch, afraid to hope that he might draw closer. Her eyes met and searched his, filled with so many questions; all of them caught in her throat, useless.
Severus Snape returned her gaze, lifted that infuriating eyebrow of his, and said calmly, “Minerva told me where to find you. I was...” he hesitated and then continued, “I suffered memory loss which delayed me. I...apologize for-“
"Memory loss?" she whispered, shaking her head. " Memory loss?"
Her tone was bordering on hysterics and she knew it. He started to speak again, but she cut him off by raising her wand. It was true his eyes looked pained, but they had the time before this, as well.
"So, it's memory loss now, is it? It's always some fucking thing with you..."
She spun on her heel toward the door, with it wide open she spat over her shoulder, "Leave, Severus" and slammed it shut, leaving him out in the rain.
She stood inside the house, her breathing hard from her outburst, chest heaving with the effort. She'd managed to get rained on, and her shirt was now clinging to her, making the swell of her rounded belly a little hard to ignore. Closing her eyes, she sighed and wondered if he was still standing outside.
In spite of her usual good sense and preservation instincts, Hermione took a deep breath, turned around, reopening the door now that her temper felt more under control.
As she pulled it open, a low cramp began. She grabbed for her stomach and doubled over in pain. Severus ran to the front porch stairs. Taking two at a time, he managed to reach her just in time for her to stand back up. His eyes rounded as he took in her swollen form.
"You're... you're... you're..."
She scowled at him. As she was about to congratulate him on his keen sense of observation, another cramp struck her low. She grabbed her stomach, just as she felt a gush of fluid running down her legs.
“Fuck.” Severus breathed harshly, reaching for her even as a number of realizations hit him in rapid succession.
She was pregnant. “Fuck.”
He was undoubtedly the father. “Fuck.”
He was going to be a father ! “Fuuck.”
He ran a hand through his hair before lifting her, one hand arm behind her back and the other behind her knees as she barely offered even a token resistance.
He was going to have a child with her , and she seemed to be in labour and he was suddenly terrified that something was wrong .
“Fuck. FUCK. FUUCK!!”
"Pregnant" she said through clenched teeth as another contraction hit her and then ebbed away. "The word is pregnant , Severus, and now by the looks and feel of it, in labour, too! Are you going to stand there saying ' fuck ' like a useless ape or call the Mediwitch?"
"Mediwitch? What Mediwitch?" He gaped at her as he set her down on the plush sofa.
"Pull yourself together, Severus! The floo - use the floo to call her!" Hermione shrieked the last word as the contractions struck her again.
He immediately ran across the small room and threw more powder than was necessary into the grate. "Fuck! What's her name?" he asked frantically.
“Call Poppy Pomfrey,” she ground out, her jaw locked as she struggled to breathe through the pain.
He nodded sharply, and the green flames roared to life in the fireplace. Severus bent over, stuck his head into the flames, and hastily called out ' Poppy Pomfrey, Hogwarts '.
Hermione couldn't hear anything after that except for the blood pounding in her ears. Her eyes swam with tears as another contraction hit. The next time she looked up, she saw Severus rushing toward her, followed closely by the Mediwitch, and felt relief wash over her.
“How far apart are the contractions?” Poppy asked.
Severus looked at Poppy. "How the fuck should I know?"
Seeing that Severus was panicking for once, though anybody who didn't know him as well would have a hard time telling, she brushed off his sharp response and looked to Hermione.
"Thirty seconds! They're coming every thirty seconds, and lasting about a minute and a half."
"Well then, I'd say I'm here just in time. What's the saying? Ready or not, here I come?"
"You can't seriously be thinking about doing that here?!"
"Where else did you think she was going to have her baby, Severus? Now, make yourself useful. We have a baby to deliver."
"Fuck."
Poppy immediately sent Severus to the kitchen to boil water and gather clean linens. After quickly consulting Hermione, he was also directed to a closet in which he found a number of infant supplies, swaddling clothes and socks, hats and blankets and such. He brought a whole armful back with only a slightly panicked look in his eyes.
Poppy directed him to sit behind Hermione, and he held her hand and wiped her brow and supported her as her exhaustion grew, murmuring endless encouragement in her ear, and never once complaining about the growing number of bruises and possible fractures she was leaving on the hand she squeezed in a death grip with every push.
Severus cradled Hermione as she brought their child into the world, as she cradled their new daughter, and as they both looked at her sweet face and sighed almost in unison. Poppy watched as Hermione looked up at him with so much peace and love in her eyes that he could feel it. Both he and Poppy could tell that Hermione was overjoyed to be right where she was at that moment.
“What would you like to name her, Severus?” she asked him softly.
"Name her?" he squeaked, out slightly alarmed. What did he know about naming children?
She laughed, and the sound was that of real amusement. This woman had just given birth to a baby, their baby, and she was laughing at him. She was an enigma to him now, more so than ever before. He was in awe of her.
"I think Epiphany suits her well," he said, meaning it as much as he had ever meant anything in his life. This moment, seeing his daughter in her mother's arms, melted any ice he ever had in his veins. He was a changed man. This little girl was the light he didn't know he was missing in his life.
She nodded. "Epiphany is a beautiful name." She handed the beautiful pink faced baby up to him. "Say 'Hi' to Daddy, Epiphany."
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Fin.