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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Severus rose early one morning after Harriet roused him and whispered her urgent need of ripe raspberries.
He scowled at the early morning chill as he hurriedly threw on his robes and glided out of their bedroom to head towards the family's garden.
The dawn was not yet up and he stopped suddenly when he walked out of the door to find himself met by the crackling of flames.
He blinked as he saw Ingrid sitting at a wooden stool in front of a large loom by an open fire she had built in a neat pit.
She did not bother to look over at him as he asked, "And are you not supposed to be guarding my daughter?"
"The child is sleeping now." Ingrid replied as his dark eyes focused on her work, ".........Which is why I must finish this before she wakes and finds me gone."
Severus walked closer to peer at her work.
He frowned as he realized she had the hem of her own skirt laid across the loom.
"Surely a great witch like yourself could complete a simple repair such as this with magic?" Severus asked in a sarcastic drawl.
"If a great witch like myself chose to pursue exhaustion by using magic to forget what hard work felt like, then I would be a great witch no more." Ingrid snapped, "That knowledge has been lost on your generation and the generation before that and the generation before that one......but it was a known truth in my time."
Severus frowned while Ingrid ignored him and continued her work.
"Have you never watched someone mend a seam before?" She asked at length, "I assure you, son of my son, there are more fascinating sights in this world."
"My wife wishes to speak with you." Severus frowned.
".........She is in need of more assistance?" Ingrid asked as her massive hands deftly moved across the loom to weave the frayed threads back into place, "I have never encountered such a needy group of magic-using people."
"My wife is not needy!" Severus snapped before he could stop himself.
For the first time since he had stepped out of the house that morning, Ingrid's dark eyes darted over to him as an angry scowl marred her face.
"Your wife has borne you a child." Ingrid said simply.
"..........She has." Severus nodded.
"And she prepares to bear you another." Ingrid said without blinking.
"She does." Severus nodded.
"Then you are acquainted with the sacrifice," Ingrid huffed as she moved a lever on the side of her loom, "and the toil," she growled as she stretched the threads, "and the pain," she sighed as she ripped the hem off of her skirt off the machine, "that a woman endures for her children."
".......In more ways than you can imagine." Severus nodded.
Ingrid stood with a mirthless smirk on her scarred face.
She chuckled as she towered over Severus.
"Then I will thank you, son of my son, to not raise your voice to me as I have made those same sacrifices for the father of your mother." Ingrid spoke in her eerie, song-like tone.
A bird chirped loudly from a nearby tree, which prompted her to look over at the horizon.
"The sun will be up soon." Ingrid sighed as she hurriedly dismantled her loom, put out her fire, and stacked the contraption by the wooden stool, "I must hurry back to the child."
"Is it possible for you to speak with my wife?" Severus asked.
Ingrid declined to answer as she leapt into the air and resumed her rabbit form by the time she landed on the ground.
Severus expected a scowl at least, or a glare, but Ingrid didn't even bother to glance in his direction as she hopped away and headed back into the house, determined to rejoin Maggie in her cot.
While Ingrid deftly climbed in next to Maggie and let the sleeping little girl clutch onto Rabbie's warm, soft fur, Severus sighed to himself as he collected several handfuls of fresh raspberries and placed them into a pouch for Harriet.
Part of him remained distrustful and part of him felt curious.
As he walked back to the house, he mused over the hope that one day, his daughter or his wife may learn more about his family history.
His ancestor certainly did not seem particularly interested in revealing it to him.
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After he passed by Disencan, who worked in the kitchen to prepare the family's breakfast, Severus heard Maggie groggily whispering to Rabbie as he passed down the hallway towards the bedroom he shared with Harriet.
Severus held the pouch of raspberries in his hand as he opened the door.
A frown immediately marred his pale face as he saw Harriet standing by the bed with one hand against the wall and the other on the underside of her belly.
"My love.....?" Severus asked urgently.
He tossed the pouch onto the bed as he rushed over to his mate.
She let out a breath as he placed one hand on her lower back and one hand on her belly.
"I think today may be the day, Sev." She croaked as she swallowed dryly, "It hurts......It hurts like it did when.....when I was lying chained on-"
"-Calm yourself, my love." Severus drawled in his smooth, slow voice as he quickly slipped his hand off of Harriet's back to cradle her full womb.
He could feel no tightness or movement under his fingertips.
The stillness there gave him a breath of relief as he spoke, "Come, let me help you back to your nest and I'll call the midwife."
"No, NO!" Harriet said quickly as she raised a hand in defiance.
Severus blinked at how wide her green eyes became after his suggestion.
He frowned as Harriet remembered herself suddenly and shook her head, "I'm sorry.....I'm sorry about that, Sev. I...I'm hurting and I'm nervous, I didn't mean to snap at you, I know you're only trying to help."
"My love......." Severus whispered.
His low voice sounded so deliciously gentle that Harriet's anxious irritation fell away as she gazed into his pale face.
"I'm going to be beside you the entire time." Severus nodded, "You can cling to me, you can rely on me, I am your mate, Harriet Snape, and I will not abandon you for a single second."
Harriet tried to smile, but an uncomfortable ache rolled through the leftmost part of her side that left her unable to express her happy gratitude.
Severus glanced down as he heard the slight sound of dripping fluid break the silence in the room.
He expected to see clear water, a sign of the impending birth, but as his eyes turned towards the floor, they quickly widened.
Underneath Harriet, bright red blood stained the floorboards.
Once she glanced down too, her face twisted in fear as Severus gently scooped her into his arms, rushed her over to her nest, and hurriedly pulled out his wand to call the midwife.
While Severus cast the spell, he clutched Harriet's trembling hand in his.
It bothered her to realize as she sat on the edge of her next labour, her fear seemed far greater than her pain would ever become.
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"There, now, Mrs. Snape, it's alright." The midwife soothed Harriet an hour later as she crouched in front of her in her nest.
Severus held one of Harriet's hands as he offered her the healing potion he had brewed in less than ten minutes with the midwife's permission.
Propped against a mound of pillows, Harriet moved forward and took a small sip from the cup in Severus's hand.
"Drink that down." The midwife smiled at Harriet as she nodded at the cup, "And the pains should stop for now."
"Is my baby alright?" Harriet asked.
Severus frowned at his wife.
"Yes, my dear." The midwife nodded, "Just a bit of stress and worry sending us a false alarm, that's all. Although, I don't want to see you out of your nest for more than a few minutes a day until the birth, alright? Best to let things heal and settle."
"The blood?" Severus asked the midwife quickly, "What about the blood?"
"The bleeding has stopped, Mr. Snape." The midwife smiled.
"I know that!" Severus snapped at the midwife. The expression on his pale face was wrought with tormented tension as he leaned towards the woman and asked, "Why did it start in the first place?! She didn't bleed with our daughter until I practically held the babe in my hands!"
"Sev!" Harriet frowned in a chastising whisper as she squeezed his hand.
"Mr. Snape....." The midwife began. Harriet sighed, but Severus saw the flicker of uncertainty that passed across the midwife's face.
That single flash of anxious unknowing made him clench his teeth as he considered the fact that Harriet's health care worker did not know the cause of his wife's alarming symptom.
"Witches can experience a bit of spotting this far along." The midwife nodded at Severus as she forced confidence into her voice, "It may only mean that labour is near."
Severus narrowed his dark eyes at the midwife distrustfully.
He kept a miserably tight scowl for the next several hours as he glanced from the midwife to Harriet with suspicious worry in his heart.
After Harriet rested peacefully that evening, without any more pain or bleeding, the midwife took her leave of the Snapes' home.
Severus gazed down at his sleeping mate while the cup he had given to Harriet sat empty on the nightstand next to her nest.
His dark hair fell into his face as his eyes flickered over her sleeping form.
She had never let go of his hand and Severus felt reluctant to free himself from her grasp.
Disencan and Ingrid had looked after Maggie and the house while Severus had tended to Harriet.
With the work for the day finished, Severus heard the elf's pattering footsteps as Disencan retired to his room.
Hours ago, Severus had assured him that Harriet and the baby were well.
Down the hallway, Rabbie cuddled next to Maggie.
As soon as the little girl had fallen into a deep sleep though, the rabbit's eyes popped open.
The large animal showed remarkable grace as it hopped deftly down from Maggie's cot and landed on the nursery floor with a soft thud.
Careful not to make a sound, Rabbie hopped out of the nursery and leapt into the hallway to assume her human form.
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Severus felt Ingrid's dark eyes burning into him from the bedroom's doorway.
He turned to glance over his shoulder with a grimace at the imposing witch, but she met his gaze only briefly before she stepped into the room, walked over, and took Harriet's other hand into her own.
"The woman was wrong." Ingrid said simply.
"I am no fool." Severus huffed, "I saw the doubt in her eyes."
"The blood comes from the curses." Ingrid nodded.
Severus narrowed his eyes to slits as he glanced over at Ingrid and spat, "What curses?!"
"All of them." Ingrid whispered as she rubbed Harriet's hand and frowned at her sleeping face, "The curse survived, the curse from which she revived, the curse she endured, the curse that brought forth your daughter, and the curse of your own blood."
Severus's eyes widened as Ingrid wrapped her fingers around Harriet's hand and raised her dark eyes to look at his face as she grimly summarized, "There are only so many curses a witch can bear, son of my son. The strongest flower will wilt after too many storms."