Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Once Madam Pomfrey released Harriet from the infirmary ward, Severus escorted her back to his chambers and promptly settled her into her nest.
She was quite surprised when he left shortly afterwards and returned with a midwife by early evening.
Harriet kept scowling at her alpha the entire time that the woman examined her, but Severus returned her hateful look with an unreadable expression.
"Congratulations, my dear!" The midwife beamed to Harriet after she finished her assessment, "I'll give you and your alpha some instructions, but it looks as if everything is going splendidly so far!"
Harriet barely listened to the midwife, still in shock, but Severus clung to the woman's every word, recording them in his mind for later review.
Once the woman left, Harriet frowned over at Severus as if he had betrayed her.
"Why did you do that?" She huffed in an irritated tone.
Severus blinked questioningly at his omega.
"Why did you bring someone in here?!" Harriet snapped, "You know that'll only fuel more rumors that we're......that we-"
"But we are, Potter." Severus replied. His tone was low and cutting as he added, "You're my mate and I'm yours."
Harriet closed her mouth with a frown.
"When a son or daughter is born to us, how long do you think it will be before someone discovers their parentage? I'm opposed to frivolously letting nosy students and prying staff members know the details of my personal life, but I do have a mate now that's going to be wandering the halls, round-wombed with my child......It's inevitable that our coupling will eventually become common knowledge."
Harriet heaved a great sigh and put her hands on her face.
"........Are you not up to the task of motherhood?" Severus asked.
His question was blunt but his voice was hesitant, as if he feared his omega's answer.
"No, it's not that.......I'm just.....I'm frightened." Harriet replied with a sigh.
Severus glided over to her nest and sat down beside her.
Slowly, he pulled his beloved into his lap and wrapped her in his strong arms.
Harriet laid her head against Severus's chest and listened to his voice rumble within it while he spoke, "Being frightened changes nothing. You'll be a mother and I'll be a father. Instead of squandering time on pointless fear, we should be doing what we can to prepare for what lies ahead of us."
Harriet looked up at Severus and he gazed down into her green eyes before he opened his mouth again and mentioned, "I can make you more comfortable, you know."
"What do you mean?" Harriet asked quietly.
"I hardly imagine now that you'll be able to finish the Auror program on time, no matter what delusions you may entertain......You'll be of little use to me as my assistant when you're days away from giving birth. We can buy a home, you and I. A proper home that you can keep as your nest. You can rest there and look after our house and child. I can hire help for you, if need be." Severus generously offered.
".........You want me to be a housemate?" Harriet gasped as she looked up at Severus in disbelief, not daring to utter the presumptive word "housewife".
Her alpha hadn't mentioned marriage.
"That's it, then? That's what you want me to do, give up and sit at home?" Harriet scowled offendedly.
"I never said anything about 'giving up', Potter." Severus snapped, "After our pup is born and you've healed properly, you can pursue whatever vocation interests you. Until then, yes, I think the most responsible and safest course of action is to look after your pregnancy, not your own selfish desires."
Severus finished with a frown as Harriet angrily narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm not being irresponsible!" Harriet scoffed, "You can't bend me to your will! I don't care if you agree with me or not, I refuse to give up my place in the program!"
"Very well, Potter." Severus instantly quipped, enunciating each word very slowly, "I refuse.....to allow you....to endanger my child's life."
Harriet stood from Severus's lap as she cried defiantly, "I'll......I'll find a way! I'll move into my own flat if I have to! I'll-"
"Calm yourself." Severus's voice interrupted her, rolling from his barely moving lips in one silky, decadent wave.
Harriet blinked at her mate and the commanding roughness of his tone that ordered her to listen.
Severus was not pleased that Harriet was being so stubborn, but if she refused to take to her nest and focus on their baby, at least he could keep an eye on her if she continued to live with him.
He couldn't stop Harriet from pursuing her career on her own time schedule, no, but from leaving him and going off into the world with their baby?
He would truly despise the need to bring a paternity suit against his omega.
However, if the situation came to such extremes, Severus was hopeful that he may be able to change her mind with a few passionate kisses and some well-placed touches of gentle, loving reassurance.
Harriet was his mate, after all.
Severus chose not to continue their argument, fearing that she would excite herself to the point of harm.
He stood with a terse look on his face and hissed to her, "The room is yours."
Harriet frowned as she watched Severus turn, sweep out of their bedchamber, and swiftly close its door behind himself.
With an upset sigh, she abandoned her empty threat of leaving and crawled back into her nest, burrowing through the pillows and blankets until she came across a patch of fabric that strongly carried Severus's soothing scent.
With a sigh, Harriet shut her green eyes and fought back hot tears of quiet frustration.
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While his lover rested in her nest, Severus went to his empty dungeon classroom and worked for a few hours.
He diligently brewed mixture after mixture over the pewter cauldron that sat atop an open flame.
Once he had bottled and stored all of his finished products, he cleaned the room with a swish of his wand and glided back to Harriet with his black robes billowing around his feet.
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Harriet looked up in surprise when Severus strode through their bedroom door with his arms full of glass jars and small, tin containers.
"You could have told me where you were going." Harriet frowned as she sat up in her nest while Severus placed some of the jars and containers in a drawer atop a small cabinet that sat on his dresser.
"After our taxing quarrel, I left you alone to rest after." Severus explained, "Would you like something to eat?"
"..........No, I don't care to look at food." Harriet answered with a grimace of disgust.
Severus looked over and eyed her carefully.
He had prepared for Harriet's nausea to linger, whether the symptom was a result of her condition or her mental state, but Hogwarts' headmaster was certain that he had a suitable remedy for his mate's suffering.
Severus kept two of the tin containers and one glass jar in his hand after the others were packed away appropriately.
He turned swiftly and stalked over to Harriet.
She watched as he sat on her bedside, sat the two tin containers on the nightstand, and opened the jar to reveal a small, glass dropper.
Severus looked at Harriet and tested her trust in him, not bothering to explain before he commanded his omega with his black eyes shining intently, "Open."
Harriet blinked at Severus for a moment.
She seemed to arrive at a silent decision as she tilted her head back and opened her mouth.
Very carefully, Severus leaned forward and placed three drops of the jar's contents onto Harriet's tongue.
"Swallow." Severus authoritatively spoke.
The way her alpha gave orders thrilled Harriet but she said nothing as she swallowed the droplets, obediently following Severus's instruction.
Since his omega had sweetly offered no complaint or protest in response to his aid, Severus enlightened her, "Three drops every evening should calm your stomach enough that you can take your meals without interruption. Three drops exactly, no more, no less."
"........Thank you." Harriet nodded after a moment.
She watched as Severus placed the glass dropper back into the jar and sat the jar on the nearby nightstand while he gave her a new order, which rumbled out unapologetically from his chest, "Remove your clothes, Potter."
Harriet looked at the matter-of-fact expression on Severus's face as she watched him for a moment, but did as she was told and pulled her robes off of her body while he opened one of the two tin containers.
Quietly, Harriet unhooked her bra and wiggled out of her panties.
Once she was bare, she settled herself back against the pillows and shivered at the chill as her sensitive nipples tightened in the cold air.
She could feel Severus's black eyes silently roving over her.
It made her grin to notice the way his dark gaze lingered on her swollen breasts, but he said nothing.
Severus took his wand from his pocket and laid it against the palm of his hand.
In a low tone, he murmured something under his breath.
Harriet watched as a tiny burst of light exited the tip of Severus's wand and illuminated his palm with warmth, a warmth which he quickly shared with his other hand by rubbing them together before he deftly slipped a few fingers into the open tin container and pulled out a scoop of fluffy cream.
Harriet let out a little cry of pleasure when Severus leaned forward, cupped her breasts with his hands, and began to massage that lovely cream into her tender, neglected glands.
Severus watched Harriet's facial expression change as he attempted to soothe the ache she carried in her breasts, devouring the way her pink lips parted, relishing how her eyebrows narrowed in a look of intense relief.
Harriet whimpered as Severus's adept, cream-covered fingers gently rolled over her nipples as tenderly as if he were coaxing roses to open their petals.
"Oh......." Harriet gasped as she breathed in the scent of the cream, which Severus had purposefully devised to be soothing and calming; lavender, a hint of peppermint to quell the last of her nausea, and a gentle splash of bergamot.
The fragrance of the cream combined with the comforting scent of her alpha and the incredible touch of his skillful hands as they massaged her sore breasts was nearly more than Harriet could stand.
She had never felt such a strange combination of tranquility and arousal.
"Mmmm........Can you do this until the baby's born?" Harriet moaned as Severus finished his last bit of teasing kneading.
Her question made him smirk, but he stayed silent as he pulled his hands away.
Harriet sighed at the loss of contact, but she watched curiously as Severus turned back towards the nightstand.
He closed the tin container that held the fluffy cream and opened the other.
Harriet watched as Severus placed two fingers inside the second tin container and wet them gently with what appeared to be some sort of oil.
The oil carried a pleasant scent, similar to that of the cream.
Harriet watched Severus pull down the blankets to expose her abdomen, before he let two fingers glide the oil gently over the skin below her navel.
His touch was almost feathery, very careful and cautious not to harm the life inside of his mate while he massaged the oil into the area that would be stretched thin in just a few short weeks.
There was something singularly erotic and heartwarmingly cozy in that moment for Harriet as she laid there, in her nest on her alpha's bed, with the fireplace in the bedroom crackling in front of them and its soft glow illuminating his pale face.
Severus's dark eyes glistened as he stared down at Harriet with a tenderness that she was still growing accustomed to seeing.
Severus's fingers dipped with his head and as his lips found Harriet's, the pads of his digits, warm and slick with that oil, found her womanhood.
Harriet whimpered into his kiss, groaning and writhing against his lips while her alpha guided her over dazzling crests of pleasure.
Severus meant for it to end there, expecting Harriet to have been more than satisfied once he pulled his hand away and ended their kiss, but his touch wasn't enough for his expectant mate.
With her stomach settled and the nerves in her body tingling, on edge, waiting, Harriet brought Severus down into the nest with her and clung to him while they made love.
The blush on her cheeks and the look of adoration in her eyes made it very, very difficult for her possessive alpha not to hold her down by her hips and punish her for the wanton sounds that escaped her throat.
A couple of hours later, after Harriet had finally reached her limit, Severus requested that the house elves of Hogwarts bring dinner to his chambers.
Harriet was in no condition to sit in the Great Hall that night.
Despite the further whisperings that their mutual absence from the evening meal may spawn, Severus felt a pleasant sense of contentment as he sat behind Harriet while they ate, cuddled up together in her nest.
Earlier, before their argument, Headmaster Snape had spoken truthfully to his assistant.
What difference did it make what the students and staff said?
Once Harriet started to show, it would be obvious that she had a lover.
Severus was silently making his own plans and if they went how he expected, it would soon be more than apparent to everyone that he and Harriet were indeed, a couple.
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The next couple of weeks passed by in a blurry haze.
Severus kept a startlingly close watch on Harriet at every moment.
Sensitive to her needs and eager to help his expectant mate nurture their growing pup, Severus saw to it that his omega had anything and everything she wanted to eat, drank enough fluids each day, and laid down in her nest for an adequate amount of time each night.
Harriet assisted Severus with what she could in class, but he would no longer allow her near a bubbling cauldron, afraid its fumes may harm the baby in her womb.
He was also cautious not to overburden her with work.
Severus continued to give Harriet assignments and essays to grade, but when she showed signs of exhaustion, he stepped in and completed the task while she went and laid down.
Fatigue was really the only complaint that Harriet had during the first few weeks of her pregnancy.
Three drops of Severus's anti-nausea potion each night guarded her from stomach upset and light-headedness.
His warm hands and the soothing cream he had made alleviated the pain in her breasts.
Although, while Severus had intended to make his omega more comfortable, he had perhaps made her a bit too comfortable.
Harriet didn't understand why her pregnancy posed such an issue about her finishing out the Auror program and the academic year as Severus's assistant.
By her sixth week, Harriet's abdomen remained flat.
She felt rather good and that gave her a false sense of arrogant confidence.
As long as she had her alpha's skillful help, she had no need to be concerned about her condition.
Harriet had never been around an expectant mother or a newborn.
Neither had Severus very much, but he was older and wiser than his omega and he anticipated the obstacles that would present themselves in the coming months.
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One week before Hogwarts' autumn break, Harriet scowled down at the letter she had received in the mail that morning.
Outside, the crisp leaves fluttered to the ground while her eyes narrowed at the handwriting on the parchment.
Harriet,
I'm so sorry to trouble you again, but I've been called away on another trip. Isn't Hogwarts' autumn recess coming up soon? Do you think that you may be bothered to watch Teddy?
Kind Regards,
Andromeda Black
While they sat at the High Table, eating breakfast side by side in front of the school, Severus glanced over at Harriet's letter and skimmed its contents before he spoke to his omega in a low purr, "Shall we have a guest again?"
"I can't refuse." Harriet quickly replied as she looked over at her alpha.
"Of course not, I was suggesting no such thing." Severus blinked before he raised another forkful to his mouth.
He and Harriet had looked forward to spending the week with each other.
Harriet was frightened that Severus would be angry that Teddy was coming instead, but actually, the change of plans gave him a promising idea.
Severus silently determined that Teddy's next visit wouldn't be held in the castle at all.
For the duration of autumn break, he would rent a flat, a cottage in Hogsmeade, or a small house in the countryside.
Headmaster Snape was hopeful that he could have a little taste of the domesticity that he craved and perhaps, by doing so, he may inspire some of that craving in his mate as well.......