Touch your heart (Severus Snape)

Chapter 42

When I opened my eyes I saw a worried Severus, sitting at the edge of my bed, a worried Minerva and Madame Pomfrey by their side, all three watching me attentively.

"How are you feeling, honey?" Madame Pomfrey asked in a low whisper.

"Sore. Did they took him away?" I asked frightened as I recalled the previous events and my hand automatically touched my wounded belly. Severus' hand landed softly on mine, rubbing it but no words came out of his mouth as his eyes had this unreadable expression, piercing through mine. Somehow, deep inside my heart, I felt something else was bothering me. He was worried about me, yes, but there was something else. And I don't think I would like to know.

"They took him to the Dementors," Minvera answered, trying to disguise her satisfaction for giving me that news.

"Thank god," I sniffled. Staring at all of their faces I perceived something was really off. So I furrowed my brows observing them. "And what else happened? You all have faces like you know something I don't."

"You should rest first, darling," Madame Pomfrey intervened but as I opened my mouth to speak Severus opened his mouth for the first time.

"She has the right to know." Blowing out some air he was holding for too long in his lungs, he stroked my face with his delicate hand. "Even if it's too much for her to bear." He muttered.

"What happened?" I questioned, trying to get to a sitting position only to be stopped by Severus' hand on my chest, carefully pressing me down.

"You are ok, Angel. I gave you a healing potion and you should be recovered fast, but something happened to you. Even though the wound wasn't fatal for you, - it was nothing compared to what had happened previously - "Madame Pomfrey hesitated to finish her sentence but as she battled herself she ended up saying at once. "It was fatal enough for the child you were carrying in your womb."

"WHAT?" I gasped, widening my eyes and getting to a seat position anyway.

"You were pregnant my darling." Minerva approached me with her tearful eyes worried about my sanity.

"No! There must have been some mistake. I can't get pregnant!" I cried out and Severus held me tight on his arms, rocking back and forth, hand caressing my hair as I started whining. "Is this my destiny? Is it? Will I keep losing life inside of me?"

Silently, Madame Pomfrey and Minerva left us alone as they witnessed my outbreak.

"If it is meant to happen, it will happen." Severus tried to call me down, but it was in vain and he was fully aware of it. "I'm here for you. I won't leave you, Angel."

"How will I continue after this? After knowing I was bearing your child, Severus? Your child!" I asked looking down, but then his hands lifted my chin up.

"We thought you weren't able to have children. But now we know you can. We will have children of our own, Angel. We will get married soon and we will form a new family. And I'm certain you will be a splendid mother, so I promise I'll do my best to be a good father. But please, my love, don't give up now. Don't give up on me." He murmured softly as he pressed his comforting lips on mine and wiped my tears away.

"I won't give up on you. But I-- don't know how to handle this, Severus."

And even though he knew there was nothing else he could say that could comfort me, he just held me tight on his arms until I finally fell asleep one hour later.

*****

Opening my eyes and expecting to see Severus by my side, I felt anxious when my eyes met Minerva's.

"He's doing his headmaster' job. I told him I wouldn't leave your bedside, that was the only way to persuade him to get some rest and to work." Minerva said as she sensed my distress.

"Uh... Ok...", I relaxed back to my pillow, "When will I be able to leave this bed?"

"Honey, you need to recover first before any more adventures." She said with a motherly-worried look on her wrinkled face.

"Minerva, I have a wedding to plan," I beamed at her and she smiled back.

"I'll help you with that, there's no need for you to leave this bed. What do you need me to do?"

For hours we talked about how we wanted our marriage to be, how we wanted it simple. And the first thing I asked her to do, was to copy the draft of the invitations and get them inside envelops, ready to be sent.

Then, she wrote a letter I dictated for the catering and servants, where I would tell them what type of food I would like to have served at the wedding.

"Honey, have you and Severus talked about where your honeymoon will be?" Minerva asked with an expectant shine on her eyes.

"We haven't talked about it actually," I said, speculating about all the places I would like to visit.

"Well, you think about that. My wedding gift will be your honeymoon. And don't worry about the money. I'm a single old wizard. I have my savings." I opened my mouth to protest but she shushed me "and don't argue with me. It's my gift."

"Thank you, Minerva" I simply said with a smile on my lips. "There's one more thing. I'd like to surprise Severus at the wedding. A little gift from me to him. I want to sing a song for him. I would need the choir, but the rehearsals should be in secret. I'll need your help with that."

"Leave that with me." She winked. "Well, we are forgetting something, aren't we?" She asked with a great smirk she saw my puzzled face. "The wedding dress of course!"

"Oh, I already started seeing some pictures, but I still haven't tried any." And I opened the suitcase she brought from my chambers, picked up some pictures I gathered and showed her my favorites. "I like this one the most, but I don't know. It seems... too much..."

"Oh, Angel. It is your wedding. It is never too much. If this is what you like, go for it. Besides..." She made a naughty smirk. "I think Severus would very much like this one. It's an interesting... design."

"What would I like very much?" We both jumped when we heard Severus' grave voice near my bed and we managed to cover all the pictures of the dresses.

"Did no one told you it is rude to listen to other people's conversation?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady and don't smile. I was failing miserably.

"Yes, very rude." Minerva backed me up and Severus raised his hands in defeat.

"I can leave if you want."

"No. I'm leaving now. It's your turn." Minerva got up from the chair and left, but right before disappearing she looked at me with a malicious smile and said: "When you leave that bed, we're going to see that thing you liked."

So I just winked at her and Severus lifted his brow eyeing me suspiciously.

"Wedding preparations?" He asked.

"Of course." I blow out some air from my lungs in despair. "I want to leave this bed and never come back."

"I'm counting on that, my love." He said, planting a kiss on my forehead, sitting on my bed and pulling me to his embrace.

And we stayed just like that for hours talking about random stuff without noticing the time passing by.