Chapter 33: Triangle

A few hours later, after pouring through musty books in his potions room, Hermione and Snape were no closer to discovering what the triangle symbol meant.

"I truly thought we would be able to decipher the symbol using one of these books," Snape said ruefully.

Hermione looked at him resignedly and said, "I suppose we will just have to wait and see…"

Snape sighed and nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry Hermione, I wish there was another way but we cannot risk you leaving the house."

"I know, I will be alright for now not knowing," she replied.

"We must make sure you rest, in the meantime, and stay off of your feet," Snape said, gesturing to a chair and hastening her into it.

Hermione laughed richly at that.

"What is it?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"Severus, at most I'm maybe a few weeks along. I don't need to 'rest'," she said, laughter lacing her voice. "The baby is at most the size of a grain of rice."

"Oh…" he replied, with a touch of confusion. "Well, you still need to take better care of yourself. I will ensure that you begin eating a more balanced diet. And vitamins? Do you need vitamins?"

She laughed again. "Severus, slow down, we don't even know if I'm pregnant yet." She rose to her feet from the chair which he had put her on. "But your concern is touching," she said tenderly, laying a kiss on his cheek.

He looked at her a touch longer than usual, as if he was trying to figure out if he was being made fun of. "Hermione, it's not as if I have experience in these things," he said.

"I don't really either," she responded, "but we will make do. For now, it is essential that we carry on as normal until I know for sure"

"And when will that be?" Snape asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure… some women say you just know from the start," she said. "But I've never believed such fanciful things as 'just knowing.' I would rather rely on science than some harebrained notion of motherly intuition."

He laughed at that. "I would expect nothing less, my dear."

Today was a beautiful day, Severus thought to himself. The air had the right amount of chill, without the biting wind that seeped into your bones. It was fresh and crisp and he was in rather high spirits. He stopped himself at that thought - in high spirits? Since when was he - in wartime, close to his imminent death, in high spirits? It was a baffling idea. Hogwarts was - if he were being honest - a complete disaster. Students were being tortured not just under his nose, but under his very own watch. He was responsible. No moral court would ever clear him of culpability. And yet - as he walked down the Malfoy's snowy drive towards the veritable Lion's Den, he felt a blossoming and persistent sense of - no it couldn't be, he said to himself. Is this… is this what hope feels like? he wondered to himself. He tasted the word on his tongue. Hope. What a feeling it was. It suffused his entire body and filled him with a sense of warmth. He was hopeful.

Even entering the darkened Malfoy lair didn't rob him of his heightened mood. He warmly greeted Narcissa, dressed in her finest robes and absentmindedly stroking an albino peacock in the foyer. She rose to greet him, but in a listless manner that belied the welcoming smile on her face. She was tired, it was more than apparent. Hell, I should be tired, he thought to himself. But again, he felt an uncharacteristic sense of energy propelling him on.

"Has the Dark Lord arrived?" He asked Narcissa.

"Not yet," she replied. Snape stole a glance at the ornate clock on the wall.

"He's late," he noted.

"I noticed," she responded with a slight edge to her voice.

"Are the others gathered?" He asked.

She nodded.

"We'll begin without him then," Snape said.

Narcissa looked at him incredulously as if she was about to protest. But she stopped and nodded tiredly again. "As you wish, Severus."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Severus seated himself directly to the left of the head of the table, gazing impassively upon the assembled Death Eaters. A number of seats were conspicuously unoccupied. He drummed his long fingers on the table impatiently as Bellatrix swept into the room grimly and took her seat opposite him. Did no one teach her the concept of time? he groused to himself.

He rose to his feet and lifted his arms in welcome, commencing the meeting.

"Thank you for gathering today," he said in greeting, looking at each Death Eater seated at the table one by one. His eyes lingered on Peter Pettigrew's ghastly appearance. He looks worse than his usual beastly looks, Snape thought to himself before clearing his head of the thought.

"I understand we have yet to catch the boy and his useless friends" Snape said, disappointment cutting every word sharply as he gazed down the table at the Malfoys seated at the end. He let his gaze linger on Lucius, who quickly looked away.

"Severus, we cannot possibly have everyone out there searching for the boy and the rest of the lot. They will make a mistake and come to us. I'm sure of it." Narcissa said appeasingly, looking anxiously between Lucius and Snape.

"I've been ordered to personally oversee the capture of the boy in the event of Voldemort's absence from today's meeting."

"Absence?" there was a hushed murmur around the table all echoing the same word.

"Yes, his temporary absence," Snape replied smoothly, stressing the word temporary a touch more emphatically than he had meant to.

Unsurprisingly, the table looked far from appeased.

"As I was saying," he continued on, "I will be personally seeing to it that the boy is captured. As such, you will all be getting a slight… modification… to your current duties."

Snape liberally handed out various tasks to the Death Eaters present; designed to aid in the capture of Harry. After everyone had acknowledged their new duties, and accepted them, he quickly adjourned the meeting, eager to get home.

Bellatrix, as usual, continued to spew her grand plans even after he had ended the meeting. "Thank you, Bella…" he hummed distractedly as she continued to wax eloquent about how she would be the first to capture Potter and his mudblood friend. "I appreciate your diligence to executing the Dark Lord's wishes."

She smiled toothily at him, "The pleasure is all mine, Severus"

He nodded and briskly swept out of the room before she could utter another word.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hermione?" He called as he shut the front door to their home, shaking the snow off his robes and boots. "I had a very productive meeting today at the Malfoys…" he started saying as he heard her coming down the steps.

He continued, "The Death Eaters should be well and truly occupied for the foreseeable future looking for Potter and his friends. At the Dark Lord's wishes, of course. But based on everything you were able to tell me, I do believe I've sent them on the most pointless of assignments."

Hermione emerged on the steps as he continued speaking, smiling at him brightly.

"Naturally the events must carry on the way you know them to happen, but I do think that this is a crucial time…" he trailed off as he observed the expression on Hermione's face.

"Hermione?" He questioned. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Smiling at you like what?" She asked him, still smiling brightly at him.

"Like that," he said.

"Like what?" She asked again.

He groaned in frustration. "You are the most maddening woman. You must have some reason for looking at me like that."

"Can't a woman just look at a man happily without being questioned on it?" She countered.

"Yes a woman can. But you, Hermione, are looking at me, with an expression that says you know something I do not." He responded.

"As a matter of fact, I do," she responded with yet another bright smile.

He nearly screamed in frustration.

"Hermione," he ground out. "I will give you five seconds to tell me what the bloody hell is going on."

"Or what?" she said with a lilt to her voice.

"Or…" he trailed off lamely, unable to think of anything suitably threatening towards the woman that he loved.

"Goddamnit woman, just tell me already." he said finally.

She looked at him again, happiness radiating across her face, and said, "Severus, it works."

"What works?"

She looked at his bewildered face, and took him gently by the hand, leading him to the kitchen.

There, on the floor of their kitchen, was a rabbit. And not just any rabbit, a very alive one.

"Hermione," he said slowly. "Why is there a rabbit in my kitchen?"

"Our kitchen, you mean"

"Hermione, why is there a rabbit in our kitchen?"

"Well, you see, I finally spotted the perfect one this morning. Already injured. You see I think it's a hare, but I'm not quite sure what the difference is. But you see more hares in the winter than rabbits, don't you?"

Severus looked at her blankly as if she had completely lost her mind.

"Hermione, do I need to get you to the doctor? Are you still feeling unwell?"

"Severus, it's alive. The hare - or rabbit - is alive. I poisoned it, and it survived."

He looked at her as her eyes turned watery and her smile faltered. "Severus, I administered the antidote after administering the venom and…"

He continued to stare at her as comprehension dawned on him, too overwhelmed to utter a single word.

"And…" she said. "there's more."

"More?" he managed to croak out.

"I've had quite a day," she said, reaching to the kitchen counter to grab a book that lay open. It was still coated with a good deal of dust, and managed to elicit a sneeze out of Snape.

"Severus, look," Hermione said, turning to a pre-marked page in the book.

A triangle stared back at him through the faded ink.

He squinted at the tiny cursive lettering at the top of the page. A wizard is born.

"Severus, we're going to have a boy."