A/N: This story is co-authored by PhantomTigre- go check out her stories as well as others we've written together that we uploaded under her name!
Also, we'd like to respond to a few of the reviews we've gotten for the most recent chapters, but we'll do that at the end of this chapter so there's not an spoilers!

"Ron, I haven't seen my parents in over a year. As much as I would love to spend Christmas with you and Harry…" Hermione trailed off, staring at Ron with slight amusement.

"Christmas day?" Ron pleaded, looking at her hopefully.

She sighed and then nodded, "Yes, all right." Then she turned and looked outside the windows of the Gryffindor common room. Snow was falling gently outside, and she felt a pang of sadness.

Will I ever love anyone again? she thought, one handing slipping over to rest on her stomach. She wanted the baby to have a father but… she couldn't imagine loving anyone other than Snape. Even now, she still loved him. Maybe I will love him my entire life, she thought- and that wouldn't be so bad. She could live with that. He might even fall in love with her again, some day… But she wasn't going to pin her hopes on it anymore. There were other things in life- nothing as truly great as that special love that once in a blue moon two people share together, but there was still love with her friends, there would be her love for the baby, her parents love… Her life was a good one. It just wouldn't be… perfect.

"Heello? Hermione?" Ron asked, waving a hand in front of her face. She blinked, then smiled at him.

"I got lost in thought," she said softly, "I've accepted the fact that the man I love no longer loves me… I've been talking to him and all the misunderstandings I left behind with him have been cleared up."

She turned back to him with another smile, then chuckled at his expression- it didn't look as if he could quite comprehend being okay with one's love not loving you back.

"I'm fine," she said, then when his expression didn't change she said, "Really," and hugged him.

Hermione Apparated to the Burrow with a vague feeling of relief. She'd had to tell her parents everything that had happened. They didn't entirely understand the time travel part, but it had been hard to break their perfect image of her by telling them she was pregnant and wasn't getting married, nor was the father going to be involved with the child. Unless he was… Hermione hadn't really considered that aspect. She and Snape hadn't exchanged any more words since their last conversation and she was assuming he didn't want to play a part. She wondered what it would be like raising this child, with him coming by and sharing the responsibilities, but them not being together… Or would he consider just giving her money as sharing the responsibility? She shivered- she would not accept his money, even if he offered it. That would feel too much like… compensation.

That wasn't like him though… if he spoke to her again, and she thought he would, it would probably be to inform her he did want to be involved. She wondered if she'd be able to live that way- knowing him, being around him for the rest of her life without actually being with him. If that's what I have to do, well all right then, Hermione thought, and looked at the oddly shaped house sitting before her, smoke rising from the chimney into the noon time sky. The sun was glittering off the snow, sparkling, and it was really quite a beautiful Christmas.

Hermione stepped forward, smiling to herself, her boots sinking into the snow, and knocked on the door. Arthur Weasley opened it, and a smile appeared on his face when he saw her.

"Come in, come in," he said, holding the door open, and then shouted, "Hermione is here! Ron! Harry!"

There was a loud thumping as all the Weasley's- the ones left that is, came thumping down the stairs. Harry and Ron were first, identical grins on their faces, Ginny trailing behind them. Then came George, a little less candescent, and then the three older brothers and Fleur in more orderly fashion. Molly Weasley was in the living room, adjusting the ornaments on the tree. The house smelled wonderful, and it was warm, and Hermione felt that here was a place she was truly home.

They pulled in her, jabbering, smiling, and took her cloak and Arthur shoved a hot mug of chocolate into her hands. A table was set in the dining room, crowded and loaded with plates and dishes all waiting to be eaten.

Apparently they had been waiting for her to arrive, for almost immediately they were all seated and the food was being passed around the table. The air was happy, but Hermione sensed that the emptiness that was there too- George was quieter than he and his lost counterpart had been together, and the obvious not-presence of Fred was almost as tangible as if there had been an empty chair for him…

After lunch presents were exchanged, and the conversation dwindled into a few separate ones, as they all sat in the living room on various couches and chairs, and a few on the floor. Ginny, at one point, as the conversation drifted away from them, scooted close to Hermione and started a whispered conversation.

"How it going with you know who?" Ginny said, then winced and said, "Him?"

"I've told him," she answered back, "Though I'm not sure what his reaction is, as I left pretty much right after. He seemed shocked speechless."

"I can imagine…" Ginny chuckled, then chuckled harder and added, "I hope you two get married- it would never cease to amuse me!"

Hermione shook her head, a little sadly, and said, "I don't think that's going to happen. Nine years is simply too long."

Later that day as they had branched off into various parts of the house doing various activities, Hermione found herself cornered by Mrs. Weasley. She was in the kitchen, making herself a glass of tea while Harry, Ginny, and Ron played chess in the living room.

"Hermione," Molly said, coming up beside her, "May I have a word?"

"Of course," Hermione answered, looking over at her curiously as she stirred her tea.

"How are you?" she asked, a concerned look on her face.
Confused, Hermione answered, "I'm fine, Molly."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head and said, "No, I mean how are you? I know you've had time to settle back into being here, but I mean how are you in regards to this mysterious person you fell in love with that you refuse to tell Ron and Harry anything about?"

"I think that is pretty much settled," Hermione said, looking at her tea, "But thank you for thinking of me."

"Hmm," Molly said- and Hermione could tell something else was on her mind, and sure enough, she added, "Did you know that you are pregnant, Hermione?"

Hermione, startled, looked back at Molly and answered, "Yes… but how do you know?"

"Woman's intuition," she answered with wink, then added, "I've had enough children to recognize the signs. Have you seen a Healer- Madame Pomfrey? Is Draco Malfoy the father?"

"No to both," Hermione said, shaking her head, then smiled and corrected, "Well actually yes, Malfoy is the father."

"Hermione!" Molly growled, suddenly morphing into a much taller, much louder, much scarier version of the protective mother figure she usually was, "I would have thought you of all people would have been more careful! Don't they teach you anything at that school? You think I don't know what goes on in that school, all you kids sneaking off into those old closets Dumbledore never cleaned out! At least Arthur and I had the SENSE to use ANTI-PREGNANCY SPELLS!"

Hermione found herself shrinking back against the cabinets while Molly loomed over her, wondering whether or not to defend herself or simply be meek.

"Actually- it WAS an old closet that hadn't been cleaned out, you see there were spells drifting around in there and I didn't realize obviously until much later but some of the spells floating around reacted with the anti-pregnancy charm and it became null, but obviously you don't feel anything with the charm- it just works. Usually. So when I went back…." Hermione trailed off as she saw Molly's expression changing to incredulity.

"Oh really?" Molly asked.

"Yup, that's the way it happened," Hermione said trying to put on a placating smile. Behind Molly a few faces had peered into the kitchen- apparently attracted when Molly had screamed the word "anti-pregnancy spells."

Molly noticed she had an audience and frowned, pursed her lips, then gave a small smile, "Was that boy nice to you?"

Hermione blushed and said, "He's nothing like his father, if that's what you mean." And so sweet he's offering to let people think my baby is his too…

"Well," Molly said, still looking as if she strongly disapproved of the whole Malfoy-baby thing, and added on more softly, "I don't think you'll object then if we just pop over to St. Mungo's for a check up, then? How have you been eating? You're intending to keep the baby, then?"

Hermione felt slightly overwhelmed by this sudden barrage of motherliness after the barrage of screaming and she nodded as Molly steered her over to the cloakroom and got their cloaks. She nodded quickly and said, "I always eat well, Mrs. Weasley…"

"Arthur!" Molly called out and Mr. Weasley appeared by the door, "I'm taking Hermione to St. Mungo's for a check up- we'll be back in an hour or so. Nothing to worry about!"

He nodded, looking concerned, as Molly took Hermione's arm and pulled her along in Apparition.

They appeared in the reception lobby of St. Mungo's with a slight pop. Hermione peered around- the place looked the same as always, but this was the first time she was going for herself, and because of that, it felt different. In all her thinking about the baby, she hadn't quite realized that she should be seeing a healer about it.

"St. Mungo's doesn't actually handle check ups," Molly informed Hermione, "And what you need is a Midwife anyway, but they can be reached through St. Mungo's."

Hermione nodded, making note to herself that she needed to read up a bit on pregnancy and child raising… she'd been too preoccupied with Severus to think to actually having the baby.

So they flooed to the Midwife's agency, where Hermione was given a check up and told that all was well and she should come back in a month or so- and that as she neared the end of her pregnancy the check ups would become much more common.

True to Molly's word, they Apparated back to the Burrow roughly an hour later. Molly had started going on and on about babies about midway into the checkup, and was currently relating a tale of when Ron was a baby and had peed all over some great-grandmother's carpet when Harry and Ron burst in upon them as they entered the door to the home.

"Are you all right?" Ron asked, looking worried.

"I'm fine," Hermione said, looking at Harry and Ron, "We didn't actually go to St. Mungo's- it's just they have a Floo connection to the Midwife's Agency…"

Harry and Ron stared at her.

"So it's Malfoy's," Harry finally said, looking disturbed.

"When can I kill him?" Ron demanded.

Hermione shoved past them and saw Ginny sitting at the kitchen table, an amused smile on her face. Their eyes met and Hermione knew the same thing was passing through their minds. Would she ever be able to tell them the truth? She turned back to Ron and informed him that there would be no Malfoy killing as the act of creating the baby had most assuredly been mutually consented and that yes, it was Malfoy's and it was entirely her fault- "After all," Hermione said, "I was the one who forgot to perform a certain charm that I am sure you two, in all your celibate ways, do not know about but which Malfoy does know about and made a point to inquire after." That pretty much shut them up and Christmas continued on its course. Relatively normally- except for Fleur's disconcerting comment about her and Bill thinking about having children sometime soon also.

OOO

Hermione sat in the hospital wing while Madame Pomfrey was tut-tutting in her office. She felt like the world was glowing around her- and though the world outside the window was glowing with reflected sunlight off the layers of snow- even the light indoors seemed softer. She was having a girl. A little girl.

Her hands were wrapped around her stomach- round enough now that if she'd been in the lighter summer robes people would have noticed. As it was- she was certainly noticing the fatigue and the changes in her appetite. Thank goodness the morning sickness had all but disappeared. She'd taken Severus's advice and stopped overdoing the papers he'd assigned and was using that time to go to bed early and sleep much later than she ever had in her entire time at Hogwarts.

Suddenly the door swung open.

"Please tell me you're not here for the reason I've been informed you are," Professor McGonagall snapped looking pointedly at Hermione's hands pressed against her stomach.

Hermione felt too happy to be bothered by this, instead she smiled and said pointedly back, "It's a girl."

The Headmistress fumed for a few moments before bursting out, "And you're Head Girl! Examples! Responsibility!"

"Well I wasn't exactly Head Girl when it happened," Hermione reminded McGonagall.

McGonagall's face turned red and she said, "So it's not true that Malfoy is the father?"

"It's simpler this way," Hermione explained, a tinge of sadness touching her voice, though she tried to keep it from being there.

"Yes, he knows," she continued, seeing the implicit question in McGonagall's eyes, "I told him I'd raise it alone."

"And I'm sure he agreed to that," McGonagall said with just a tinge of sarcasm.

Hermione did not tell McGonagall that she didn't know what Severus wanted, but the implications in McGonagall's words made her heart leap.

"Well, I'm not 'pursuing' him as you so advised me against earlier this year," Hermione said, "So I doubt he'd have the chance to be involved even if wanted to, I'm not exactly planning on sticking around after I graduate."

That took McGonagall aback. Then she nodded and said, "You're very mature Hermione, you know what you're doing, I should have trusted you. I have no fears for that child, if anyone is prepared to be in this situation it is you. But may I ask- what are your plans?"

"I want to go study at a foreign university," Hermione replied, "Maybe get an advanced magical certification in Runes or Arithmancy or…" she paused, "maybe time travel."

McGonagall sighed, "Time travel. I'm surprised you're not sick of it by now."

"Part of me is, but part of me wants to delve deeper into its secrets," she said with a wistful smile.

"I still have Madeline's, your, notes if you ever want them," McGonagall told her then coughed, "I found them badly transfigured into toilet paper, luckily I was the next one to use the bathroom and recognized them for what they were. I've kept them in the archives."

Hermione reminded herself to never get on Snape's bad side. Again.

"Yes, actually, I would like them," Hermione said, "I probably won't look at them until after I graduate- maybe longer. But I would like them eventually."

"You're not still, working on that problem are you?" McGongall inquired, "Now that you're safely back you couldn't possibly still be trying to figure out how it all worked…"

Hermione quickly recognized this as an attempt to get Hermione to admit whether or not she was associating with Severus.

"No, heavens, I barely have the energy to study for my N.E.W.T.S. . I'm still a student you know," Hermione stated, "But I've been keeping it at the back of my head, I am still interested in how it all worked."

"Ah," McGonagall said, "On a different note, have you thought about concealing charms?"

"Yes," Hermione said, "I already talked to Mrs. Weasley about that; I'm sick of keeping secrets. No concealing charms."

"If you need anything," McGonagall said, "Or if your Head Girl duties become too much…"

"I'll let you know," Hermione finished. When McGonagall had left, Madame Pomfrey reappeared with a potion for Hermione to drink.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat up in the Astronomy tower, filling out star charts. They were supposed to be tracking the movement of Pluto, but none of them felt very engaged in the idea. Ron and Harry's charts lay off to the side, still rolled up, as they joked about Quidditch and if it was possible to fly brooms in space.

"But Muggles put a man on the moon!" Harry said, "Why isn't it possible with magic?"

"This is true, why isn't it?" Hermione asked, looking up from her star chart.

"Brooms don't fly that high," Ron said, looking up at the rising moon, a thin crescent, "Besides, the Muggles probably made all of that up, about space and stuff. Even if we could get to the moon, then what? Up to the stars? I wonder if we'd get stuck?"

"What?" Hermione inquired.

"In the sphere of stars?" Ron asked blankly.

"Hmm," Hermione said. Harry just looked puzzled.

The trapdoor suddenly swung up and Ginny's red hair appeared. The girl climbed up and came over to sit herself down by the wall with a sigh, saying, "Wow you guys are up late. Do you have to track Pluto all night?"

"Hermione's been making hourly observations," Ron said, "Right 'Mione?"

"Until midnight, then it's your turn," Hermione retorted.

"How's the baby?" Ginny asked, "I mean, isn't staying up late bad for you?"

"I'm fine," Hermione answered, "Besides, only Harry and Ron are staying up all night. I'm going to sleep at midnight."

"Way to rub it in," Harry said with a grin, "Maybe I should get pregnant too."

"Sorry I don't make sperm," Ginny said, reaching up an arm to squeeze Harry's knee, "That'd be kind of fun though. Just for a day, to see what it's like."

"Ummm," Harry said, "Please no. I don't know about your brother, but I'm not really into guys."

"Hey!" Ron said, "Just because Ginny is secretly a lesbian…"

"Anyway," Hermione said, "I've been meaning to tell you guys. I'm no longer pursuing my past lover. I've accepted that he's moved on, and I'm moving on too."

Then she looked at Ron and said, "I hope you're not gay Ron, because that would really close my options."

"I don't date pregnant women," Ron said, then hugged Hermione tightly.

"Is it over then?" Harry inquired, seriously, "No chance of getting back together?"

Hermione shrugged, "It's not important any more. We'll see once I graduate. Right now I'm more concerned about me and little Hermione here."

"I can't believe you're really doing it," Ginny said, "Having a baby all by yourself. I don't know if I could do it."

Hermione tousled Ron's hair, "Basically, I want to spend more time with you guys and less on myself. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"Tell us who the real father of your child is," Harry spoke up, and Hermione realized that her lie about Malfoy being the father hadn't fooled either of the boys for a moment. She should have given them more credit than that. Of course they resented her not trusting them.

She said, "All right… But first I have one question for you, Harry."

Harry nodded, dark eyes serious, "Anything."

"Why did Snape kill Dumbledore?" she asked.

Harry's eyes narrowed, contemplating Hermione's reasons for asking, but finally said, "Because he wanted to die. He took an Unbreakable Vow, I told you about that, and he knew that Malfoy wouldn't be able to complete the task, knew that he'd have to do it. Do it or die. I think he wanted to die. Of course, Dumbledore had a different plan in mind once Severus told him about the vow, but that was why he took the vow."

Hermione's heart went out to this Severus, a few years in the past.

"And Snape… well he was loyal because he was in love with my mum, with Lily… and when Voldemort murdered her… And you know? No matter what, I can't hate him anymore. It's why Potions has been easier this year… even when he's a terror, we have an understanding… Now that he's saved my life… it's like he's no longer in debt to Lily, like he's free," Harry said, his voice getting quiet. His eyes were distant.

Hermione realized she could have told Harry from the very beginning. He would have understood.

"He's the father," Hermione stated simply.

"He who?" Harry asked, turning to look at her.

"Severus."

OOO

Hermione was walking down the hallway. It was almost April, and the snow was melted, leaving the ground damp and mushy. But warmth sang through the air like the chirping of the birds, and the halls were muddy from the feet of students being drawn outside by the soft sunshine. Two little feet were quite active but as of yet unmuddied. Hermione paused to put her hand on her stomach as little Hermione kicked.

"Just three more months," Hermione said softly to her baby, feeling less cheerful as she was struck by the sudden urge to pee.

She sighed, preparing herself to be late for another class as she hurried up a side hallway to the second floor bathrooms. On her way back, she heard two voices speaking from an office, and she paused to listen.

"-it took me a bit, but I see that the Hermione that came back after the year chasing the Dark Lord changed her. I didn't see that until I learned she was Madeleine," Severus's voice drifted out.

"I don't suppose I have to remind you about student/professor relationships?" McGonagall said tartly.

Severus snorted and said, "You think I'm that kind of person?"

"I know you're not," McGonagall said, "But Hermione has never been one for rules. None of those three have."

Severus was quiet, and Hermione wondered if he was thinking of that kiss she gave him last semester… She crept closer, and peered through the crack in the partly open door, wanting to see his expression. She looked through, and saw his eyes snap to her, then just as quickly look back to McGonagall.

"I think she knows where the boundaries are," he said, "But once she graduates she will be her own woman. I don't know why she even needed to redo her seventh year… Hermione was far beyond that in almost all subjects ten years ago."

"But what about you?" McGonagall asked softly, knowing she was treading on thin ground asking Severus about his emotions.

Severus's eyes flickered back to Hermione's for a moment, and he said, "I don't change quickly. Even after ten years."

Hermione stepped back, her heart pounding. She heard the scrape of a chair from inside, and then McGonagall left the room, walking down the hallway away from Hermione and somehow not noticing her standing there, outside the door. She paused a moment, then stepped forward, looking into the room. Severus was standing there, waiting for her.

His eyes searched hers and he added to his last comment, "If you'll still have me."

"Of course I'll have you; we'll still have you," she said.

"Both of you," Severus said with a nod, then hesitated.

Hermione smirked and said, "I don't think I know where my boundaries are."

A smile hinted at Severus's face, a smile like she remembered, one that hadn't graced his face in too long a time and he said, "You would have made an excellent Slytherin, Hermione."

Hermione closed the distance between them, placing her hands on his shoulders and leaned up to kiss him. His arms entwined around her. Never had anything felt so right.

THE END

Response to Recent Reviewers:

Very Small Prophet- Thank you for your insightful reading of the last chapter! I'm not sure we'd call Snape a 'slave of duty' more than a 'slave of love', and since this doesn't actually come up in the story we don't feel bad telling- I do agree. I think Snape would indeed be unlikely to let Hermione raise a child of his alone, but I'm not sure that he'd immediately feel emotionally attached to it. Canon-Snape appears to have really only loved one person in his entire life, who both didn't return his love and wasn't a family member. While he did feel an obligation to protect her son because of the role he played in her death, he never even felt a little affection for Harry. I'm also not sure he's so noble as to hate himself and think he'd be a bad father. He does have some pride (evidenced by his rage when Harry calls him a coward), and while he doesn't seem to mind dying (by his intention to break his Unbreakable Vow), that seemed to me more because he has nothing to live for, at least once Voldemort is defeated. With this in mind, I think Snape's reaction to the scenario we wrote in the last chapter (staying hypothetical here) wouldn't be as extreme as you suggest. Either way, we love getting reviews like yours- it's always great to hear first hand interpretations of our writing! I went and read a few of yours stories and I love your portrayals of Snape. I think if we were going to go back and edit this story, taking into account yours (and other's) comments, we'd try and do some more work on both our presentation of Snape's character (he's always interesting to write, of course!), and of the relationship between Hermione and Draco. We might actually take out the pregnancy too... Anyway. Thanks for reading!

xXxAngelxGirlx13xXx- Thank you for pointing out our mistake about Saunders/Berkeley! When we we first writing, we had Hermione call herself Berkeley, but half way through we decided to use Saunders instead, and when we edited earlier chapters we missed a few before uploading.

Artemis Decibal- No, I don't believe that men do the plotting so that women think they're doing the plotting. I think both sexes often find themselves in a position where they are trying to get the attention of someone they're attracted to and don't feel that being directed is the best method. And sometimes (like when both parties are shy) both of those involved are trying to think of ways to attract the other, or make their feelings known without directly telling. But generalizations are (generally, haha) not true. I think Malfoy is just being silly in this scene, too.

sandlapper- Thank you for providing actual critique on our story! I read your review, and I sat staring at it for a few minutes before telling my sister (PhantomTigre) to read it to. We agreed that you're absolutely right. Somehow, while we were writing this story, it seemed to work out but we agree now that while Hermione was feeling extremely lost and desperately in need of someone that she felt she could confide in (she could have confided in Harry, Ron, and Ginny right away, of course, but she didn't seem to know this), she probably wouldn't have actually starting sleeping with Draco Malfoy. As I mentioned above, if we ever get to rewriting this story, we'll definitely work on her relationship with Malfoy. We still like the idea of the two of them becoming friends, and of him being someone she finds that she can lean on, but we might take out the sex. Anyway, while terse reviews about how great our story are are excellent motivators and esteem-boosters, it's great to get actual critique every once and a while, so thanks for taking the time to think about our story as well as reading it!
(Angelwells, as we acknowledged in Chapter 10, also pointed the discrepancy between Hermione's love for Snape and her relationship with Malfoy and we thank you again for critiquing us!)

Tiajei- Yes... PhantomTigre and I are suckers for characters becoming moms and writing about the things that unfold around it as a result, unfortunately. As I mentioned above, we're no longer sure that having Hermione become pregnant was the best idea for the story. But it is what it is! I really like your idea of Snape seeing Malfoy taking care of Hermione to instigate jealousy! Unfortunately, by then time we got your review, we'd already written the rest of the story and have been too busy to do much serious editing/adding in. And you're also correct about Malfoy's offer. Probably he wasn't thinking it through, haha.

Anyway, thank you to ALL of our reviewers. We've appreciated all the support and advice we've gotten for this story over our time writing it, and I hope that someday we'll be motivated to go back and fix it up to make it better. But not to be too self-detrimental- I write stories firstly for my own entertainment and I've really enjoyed writing this story. On the whole, I'm pleased with how it turned out (as measured by my own ability to re-read it and get sucked in) and I hope you have all enjoyed reading it as much as PhantonTigre and I have enjoyed writing it!