Hermione's Baby
Chapter One
The woman looked down at the baby boy cradled in her arms, her tears making little puddles on his sleeping face. She kissed his forehead one last time, whispered something against his baby skin, and placed him on the doorstep in front of her. She had done her research, and she knew that this orphanage would find the best home possible for this little boy--- her son. Looking back one last time, she pulled something out of her pocket, whispered a few words, and disappeared into nothingness.
*******
Hermione Granger ran through the hallways of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, her robes trailing behind her. She couldn't believe it. She had overslept. Never, in her entire life, had she been late for a class, and here she was, head girl and head of her class, late for potions. So intent on her destination - the dungeons -, Hermione wasn't thinking properly. She scampered into the classroom, tripped over her feet, and fell headfirst into Neville's cauldron. The last thing she saw before the world started spinning was the look of horrified comprehension on her professor's face.
*******
A glass crashed against the wall. She was gone. the events he had put so far behind him, hoping to forget, were coming back to haunt him. She had gone back, and all he could do was wait.
And wait he did: for two weeks he waited, snapping at everyone who passed him until one night - well. . . morning actually (he couldn't sleep)- he saw her appear. There was a flash of light, a bang, and there she was, crumpled in a ball on the floor, sobbing. He swept over to her, clearing his throat audibly, causing her to look up, her eyes widening as she saw who was hovering above her.
"So," he growled, glaring at her with all the power he usually reserved for misbehaving first years, "You have decided to return to us Miss Granger. Or should I say. . . Miss Finnigan. What shall I call you? Certainly you wouldn't wish for Potter or Weasley to hear you be called Mrs. Snape." He sneered at her.
Tears streaming down her face she answered back, as much venom in her voice as in his, "Call me what you wish Severus. It does not matter to me. You have no idea what I have been through for the past months -" She suddenly cut herself off, biting her lip.
"I am assuming that you are referring to what is 'the past months' for you, and I can assure you, I do know what you have been up to, seeing as I was with you. Or is there something else going on?" He looked at her, hard, and realized that she looked older than she had the last time he had seen her. He stepped even closer, so close that he was looming over her dangerously. "Tell me. NOW"
Shivering, Hermione shook her head, still crying, the tears streaming down her face. She winced as Severus approached her, which caused him to look at her in wonder. She had never shrunk back from him before. "Hermione," He said, his voice more gentle this time, but his tongue unfamiliar with her real name, "What happened? Why did you leave? And -"
He was cut off by the sound of someone approaching. Both of them looked up to see the headmaster approaching them. Dumbledore looked at Hermione sadly and said "Miss Granger, welcome back. I trust that you. . . took care of what needed to be taken care of?"
"Yes," she whispered, the tears streaming down her face even harder than before.
Severus looked back and forth between them and finally said "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"
"Severus," the headmaster said, "Why don't we continue this conversation in my office. Miss Granger, I trust that you are fully healed?"
She shook her head slightly and said "No headmaster, I - I wanted to take care of it before I - became too attached. It was just yesterday that I. . . I mean, it was-" she cut herself off, unsure of how to refer to the time.
By this point Severus was completely confused, looking back and forth between his wife, who he had not seen in years, and the headmaster. "What- " he began, but was once again cut off by the headmaster.
"Severus, you are stronger than I. I must ask you to escort Miss Granger to the hospital wing, where -"
"But headmaster," Severus interrupted, "here it has only been two weeks since she disappeared, won't -"
"Severus, don't you think that all of the teachers are aware of the truth, having seen this young lady in both times? Now. help her. I will meet you in my office after you drop her off. She will then meet us there. Do you understand Hermione? He does need to know."
She nodded, and let Severus pick her up and carry her to the hospital wing. Exhausted by everything she had had to go through in the past couple of days, Hermione all but fell asleep in the arms of the man she had not seen for nine months.
Severus looked down at the almost unconscious woman in his arms in wonder. It had been eighteen years since he had held her. He had been so much in love then, and had been heartbroken when she had left. Heartbroken didn't even describe the emotions he had felt. He shook his head, still confused by what had happened between his, well, he hesitated to call her his wife now, and Dumbledore. What was going on that he didn't understand? Hadn't she just come back to the future after she left him?
He entered the infirmary, gently placed Hermione, now fully asleep, on one of the available beds, and said softly, "Poppy?"
Madame Pomfrey came into the infirmary, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Yes Severus? What is it n-" she stopped short when she saw Hermione. "What-"
"I have no idea what is wrong with her," Snape said coldly, cutting her off. I was merely told to bring her here and tell you that she is to go to the headmaster's office when she is healed. The password is 'cotton candy.'"
"But-" Madame Pomfrey began, looking back and forth between the irate potions master and the sleeping girl, "What. . . I mean. . . you. . . and her. . . what's going on?"
Snape merely glared at her before turning on his heal and exiting the room. When he arrived at the stone gargoyle he snapped "Cotton Candy," and stormed up the stairs when the gargoyle sprang aside.
"Ah. . . Severus. . . lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked, holding out the dish. Severus merely glared at the headmaster, and the two of them sat in silence for fifteen minutes until they heard a quiet knock on the door.
Dumbledore called for her to enter, and Severus watched as the door was cautiously opened, and she stepped through. As he watched her, he realized that he had definitely missed something. She looked different, somehow, than she had when he had last seen her. She looked older, and as if she had been through more than any girl her age should have been put through.
Dumbledore gestured for her to sit down in the other empty chair, and she did, nervously glancing at Severus. There was silence in the office for a moment, until Dumbledore said "Hermione. Severus deserves to know what happened. You owe that to him, and you know it."
Hermione nodded, and said, "I'll start from the beginning then, shall I?"
"By all means, do," said Severus sarcastically, causing the headmaster to glare and Hermione's lip to wobble.
"Well. it started in that potions class. I was late, so I ran into the classroom and fell headfirst into Neville's, as usual, botched potion. When I woke up."
*flashback*
"-No idea who she is?"
"No, none at all. . . sorry Madame Pomfrey," said a voice she recognized, "she just appeared. . . middle of potions. . ."
Hermione's eyes snapped open and focused on the boy in front of her. Quickly sitting up she rasped, "Harry! What happened? Ooh, was Snape furious? He probably was. . . I was late -"
"Whoa," said the boy, looking at her in confusion, "Who's Harry? And you know Snape?"
She stared at him and said "Um. . . who are you?"
"James Potter at your service," he replied, grinning and mock bowing. But instead of the laugh he was expecting -
"I need to speak to the headmaster. . . NOW!" She squeaked, staring at the boy in front of her in horror.
"Someone needs me?" said a mild voice coming from the doorway.
Hermione jumped. "Headmaster, I'm. . . um. . ." here she faltered, unsure of what to say.
Looking at her curiously, Dumbledore said "Mr. Potter, Poppy, if you would excuse us for a moment?" Madame Pomfrey gave him an indignant look, but went into her office anyway, just as James left the hospital wing, casting a last curious look at the occupant of the bed. Returning his gaze to Hermione, Dumbledore said curiously, "Now, who are you exactly?"
Taking a deep breath, Hermione said hesitantly, "Maybe it would be better if you started by telling me the date?"
"Certainly my dear. Today is Friday the 20th of October."
"And the year?" she asked apprehensively.
Raising an eyebrow somewhat at that, the headmaster replied "1978."
"Damn Neville and his botched potions," Hermione muttered under her breath before blushing and saying, "Err. . . Sorry Professor."
"Judging by your reaction, Miss - err - um -?"
"Granger. Hermione Granger."
"Right. As I was saying, I am assuming that you are from either the past or the future. And seeing as I have never heard of a Hermione Granger before, I am guessing that you are in fact from the future."
Hermione nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Well. I am not sure of how to get you back to the future, but I will work on it. In the meantime, I would suggest that you continue your schooling here. However, you must take many precautions, and you MUST NOT tell ANYONE about who you really are or where you are from. The future must remain a mystery to everyone of this time. Do you understand?"
Hermione nodded. "But sir," she said, "There are people from this time who I know in the future. They will probably recognize me, but wouldn't it still be safer to not use my name?"
"Correct," said Dumbledore, smiling, "I was just about to suggest that. Now. . . I would suggest that you used a name that would be familiar to you and that would make you turn around. Perhaps someone in your year?"
Hermione thought for a moment, choosing two random names. "Lavender Finnigan?" she suggested, looking at the headmaster for approval.
"Hmm. . . yes, I think that that will do. There is no one in the school with the name Finnigan, so that will do. Now. . . I can see from your robes that you are a Gryffindor in your own time, so may I suggest that you remain in that house?"
"Of course, Sir," Hermione replied.
"Of course," he said, glancing apologetically at the badge on her robes, "you would no longer be allowed to retain the position of head girl. You understand, don't you? I'm sure that Miss Evans would be heartbroken to have that position taken away from her."
"I understand," Hermione said, resigned to having to stay in the past.
"Excellent!" the headmaster exclaimed, beaming down at the girl from the future, "Welcome, Lavender Finnigan, to the past!"
*end flashback*
Snape stared at her and said, that proves nothing Miss Granger-"
"Oh for God's sake Severus!" Hermione exclaimed, glaring at him, "Enough with the Miss Granger! I am your wife, even if it has been eighteen years."
Severus glared at her, "I don't know what to call you. Lavender is not your name, and yet neither does Hermione seem to work. And not having seen you for over eighteen years, I am not comfortable calling you 'Mrs. Snape.'"
Hermione's eyes filled up with tears as she said "very well. . . just. . . don't call me Miss Granger."
Severus sneered at her, "Very will. Now, that does not explain the conversation you and Albus were having in the hallway, nor does it explain why you left me."
Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Severus, I could not have stayed in the past forever. By the time I left you, I don't know if you noticed because I tried very hard to hide it, but I was getting extremely weak. If I had stayed for too many years longer I would have died." Here she paused for a moment, biting her lip as Severus looked at her in concern, finally showing emotion.
"Albus had found a way for me to go back within the year after we graduated, but that was before I realized that I needed to come back to the present to live. I didn't want to leave, Severus, because I loved you so much. So I told him that I wanted to stay with you." Pausing again, Hermione noticed that the expression on her husband's face had softened slightly. But that made it even harder to continue, knowing that the rest of her story would make him even angrier. She took a deep breath and continued.
"As my health continued to get worse, Albus and I figured that to survive I needed to go back to the future. I knew that he was right, but I wanted to stay with you. We were married, and I didn't want to hurt you like I knew my leaving would hurt you. So I stayed, continuing to get sicker and sicker, until I knew that I had to go home. And so I tried to think of some reason for leaving.
"Then I found a way. I-" here she paused, swallowing and glancing at him nervously, before continuing, this time talking to her shoes, "found out that I was. . . erm. . . pregnant."
Severus gasped. "How - How could you keep that from me?" He asked, looking at me with a mix of incredulity and anger in his eyes.
"I - it seemed like a good excuse for leaving. Because - I thought about what I knew about you from my future, and I thought 'I don't want my son having a death eater for a fa-'" once again, he cut her off.
"You stupid girl," he said dangerously, jumping to his feet, "I became a death eater BECAUSE you left. You know that I had no inclinations of becoming one before that."
"I - I know," Hermione said quietly, "But I also knew that Malfoy was trying to rope you into becoming one, and I figured that you had just snapped one day and accepted."
Severus sank back into his chair, putting his head in his hands for a moment before gesturing for her to continue.
"So I contacted Albus, and told him that I was pregnant and I didn't want to die just when my baby was born. Because, Severus, that was another reason. But then Albus told me that it would be too dangerous to go into the future pregnant or when the baby was born, because while I belonged in the future, the baby belonged in the past.
"I thought about the future, and I remembered that you had never had a son. So, I had either never told you about him, or you had. . . erm. . . turned him over to the death eaters." She glanced at him, and seeing his incredulous look, bit her lip and said "Severus, I was pregnant. People who are pregnant have strange ideas in their heads." He snorted slightly, but she ignored him.
"So anyway, I decided that I had to leave you, give birth to my baby in hiding, and then -" she gulped, tears springing to her eyes before she softly continued, "give him up.
"Albus was slightly hesitant in helping me with my plan, but he assumed that there were reasons that I could not divulge to him because he couldn't know about it from the future. So he reluctantly found a home for me to live in until I gave birth, and helped me research orphanages that would be good for my baby.
"Meanwhile, my health continued to worsen, until one of my worst fears was happening: my magic was slowly starting to drain. Albus assured me that it would return when I got back to the future, but those next few months were hard because I had to live like a muggle, unable to perform even the simplest levitating charm. And magic is probably most helpful when you are pregnant.
"So the months passed and I lived in seclusion, only talking to Albus occasionally. He told me about how grief-stricken you were, and I almost went back to you, but stopped myself, knowing that I had to go through with this and go back to the future. I became depressed, but told myself daily that this was for the best of everyone.
"About a month before my due date, Albus handed me the object that would transport me into the future: a picture of us on our wedding day. Here-" she opened her hand, realizing that she was still holding it, and showed it to him.
Severus took it wordlessly. He had the exact replica in his dungeon room. That one picture, and his wedding ring, were the only things he had kept that would remind him of her. He looked at her, to see her face covered with tears, and felt a pang in his heart that he had not felt for eighteen years.
"So when he was born I took myself to a muggle hospital, used the name 'Hermione Granger' for the first time in over three years, and gave birth. I didn't name my son, knowing that doing so would make it harder. I left the hospital sooner than I should have; brought him to the orphanage Albus and I had selected, and returned to the future, in the middle of the hallway where you found me."
Severus looked at his sobbing wife, unsure of what to do.
Dumbledore, noticing the awkwardness, spoke for the first time since Hermione had begun her tale. "Hermione, I found out years ago who had adopted your son, and I know who he is if you would like to know."
Hermione looked up, her face streaked with tears, and said "I - I don't know. . . he would be my age, wouldn't he? Or the age I should be in this time - or -" She paused, once again confused over the concept of time.
The headmaster smiled at her before turning to Severus. "Severus, would you like to know who your son is? You two should decide this together."
Hermione and Severus looked at each other for a moment before slowly turning to the headmaster and nodding.
"Very well," Dumbledore said, looking at them for a moment, "Ironically enough, the son of Hermione and Severus Snape, who was actually adopted by a witch mother and a muggle father, is the one after whom you named yourself Miss Finnigan."
Hermione and Severus stared at the old man in shock. "Seamus?" Hermione gasped at the same time that Severus said in disgust "Finnigan?"
"Yes," said Dumbledore, "Severus, you would do well to remember that Seamus Finnigan, while a Gryffindor, is not like James and his friends. He is a different type of Gryffindor, much as Hermione here is."
"Seamus," Hermione said in wonder, "I always liked him, but he was more friends with Dean. Oh! And he's dating Lavender. Maybe they'll get married and name their daughter Lavender Finnigan!" By now she was just thinking out loud, forgetting that she was still in Dumbledore's office.
Severus snorted and said "Well. he isn't as bad at potions as Longbottom is, and his faults can be credited to the parents who raised him. . ."
He was interrupted by Hermione slapping him. "Severus Snape, when you find out that someone is your son, you DO NOT start insulting him."
Severus stared at her in shock before sneering "very well. . . I am sure that you are thrilled that your son became a Gryffindor, and I will leave the business of telling him to you."
Albus interrupted them before it got too out of hand, "Hermione, you are obviously quite a bit older than you were when you left, so that will take some explaining. Now, I know that Misters Potter and Weasley are quite anxious to see you, seeing as they have not been told the truth about what has happened to you. It is now - he glanced at his watch - 6:45 in the morning, so if you would like to go down to the Great Hall for Breakfast?"
His tone gave no room for arguments, so she nodded, following the headmaster out of his office. She knew that Severus would need time, and she would give him that. She didn't want to think about anything now, except for the fact that she was going to have to face the future.
Chapter One
The woman looked down at the baby boy cradled in her arms, her tears making little puddles on his sleeping face. She kissed his forehead one last time, whispered something against his baby skin, and placed him on the doorstep in front of her. She had done her research, and she knew that this orphanage would find the best home possible for this little boy--- her son. Looking back one last time, she pulled something out of her pocket, whispered a few words, and disappeared into nothingness.
*******
Hermione Granger ran through the hallways of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, her robes trailing behind her. She couldn't believe it. She had overslept. Never, in her entire life, had she been late for a class, and here she was, head girl and head of her class, late for potions. So intent on her destination - the dungeons -, Hermione wasn't thinking properly. She scampered into the classroom, tripped over her feet, and fell headfirst into Neville's cauldron. The last thing she saw before the world started spinning was the look of horrified comprehension on her professor's face.
*******
A glass crashed against the wall. She was gone. the events he had put so far behind him, hoping to forget, were coming back to haunt him. She had gone back, and all he could do was wait.
And wait he did: for two weeks he waited, snapping at everyone who passed him until one night - well. . . morning actually (he couldn't sleep)- he saw her appear. There was a flash of light, a bang, and there she was, crumpled in a ball on the floor, sobbing. He swept over to her, clearing his throat audibly, causing her to look up, her eyes widening as she saw who was hovering above her.
"So," he growled, glaring at her with all the power he usually reserved for misbehaving first years, "You have decided to return to us Miss Granger. Or should I say. . . Miss Finnigan. What shall I call you? Certainly you wouldn't wish for Potter or Weasley to hear you be called Mrs. Snape." He sneered at her.
Tears streaming down her face she answered back, as much venom in her voice as in his, "Call me what you wish Severus. It does not matter to me. You have no idea what I have been through for the past months -" She suddenly cut herself off, biting her lip.
"I am assuming that you are referring to what is 'the past months' for you, and I can assure you, I do know what you have been up to, seeing as I was with you. Or is there something else going on?" He looked at her, hard, and realized that she looked older than she had the last time he had seen her. He stepped even closer, so close that he was looming over her dangerously. "Tell me. NOW"
Shivering, Hermione shook her head, still crying, the tears streaming down her face. She winced as Severus approached her, which caused him to look at her in wonder. She had never shrunk back from him before. "Hermione," He said, his voice more gentle this time, but his tongue unfamiliar with her real name, "What happened? Why did you leave? And -"
He was cut off by the sound of someone approaching. Both of them looked up to see the headmaster approaching them. Dumbledore looked at Hermione sadly and said "Miss Granger, welcome back. I trust that you. . . took care of what needed to be taken care of?"
"Yes," she whispered, the tears streaming down her face even harder than before.
Severus looked back and forth between them and finally said "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"
"Severus," the headmaster said, "Why don't we continue this conversation in my office. Miss Granger, I trust that you are fully healed?"
She shook her head slightly and said "No headmaster, I - I wanted to take care of it before I - became too attached. It was just yesterday that I. . . I mean, it was-" she cut herself off, unsure of how to refer to the time.
By this point Severus was completely confused, looking back and forth between his wife, who he had not seen in years, and the headmaster. "What- " he began, but was once again cut off by the headmaster.
"Severus, you are stronger than I. I must ask you to escort Miss Granger to the hospital wing, where -"
"But headmaster," Severus interrupted, "here it has only been two weeks since she disappeared, won't -"
"Severus, don't you think that all of the teachers are aware of the truth, having seen this young lady in both times? Now. help her. I will meet you in my office after you drop her off. She will then meet us there. Do you understand Hermione? He does need to know."
She nodded, and let Severus pick her up and carry her to the hospital wing. Exhausted by everything she had had to go through in the past couple of days, Hermione all but fell asleep in the arms of the man she had not seen for nine months.
Severus looked down at the almost unconscious woman in his arms in wonder. It had been eighteen years since he had held her. He had been so much in love then, and had been heartbroken when she had left. Heartbroken didn't even describe the emotions he had felt. He shook his head, still confused by what had happened between his, well, he hesitated to call her his wife now, and Dumbledore. What was going on that he didn't understand? Hadn't she just come back to the future after she left him?
He entered the infirmary, gently placed Hermione, now fully asleep, on one of the available beds, and said softly, "Poppy?"
Madame Pomfrey came into the infirmary, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Yes Severus? What is it n-" she stopped short when she saw Hermione. "What-"
"I have no idea what is wrong with her," Snape said coldly, cutting her off. I was merely told to bring her here and tell you that she is to go to the headmaster's office when she is healed. The password is 'cotton candy.'"
"But-" Madame Pomfrey began, looking back and forth between the irate potions master and the sleeping girl, "What. . . I mean. . . you. . . and her. . . what's going on?"
Snape merely glared at her before turning on his heal and exiting the room. When he arrived at the stone gargoyle he snapped "Cotton Candy," and stormed up the stairs when the gargoyle sprang aside.
"Ah. . . Severus. . . lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked, holding out the dish. Severus merely glared at the headmaster, and the two of them sat in silence for fifteen minutes until they heard a quiet knock on the door.
Dumbledore called for her to enter, and Severus watched as the door was cautiously opened, and she stepped through. As he watched her, he realized that he had definitely missed something. She looked different, somehow, than she had when he had last seen her. She looked older, and as if she had been through more than any girl her age should have been put through.
Dumbledore gestured for her to sit down in the other empty chair, and she did, nervously glancing at Severus. There was silence in the office for a moment, until Dumbledore said "Hermione. Severus deserves to know what happened. You owe that to him, and you know it."
Hermione nodded, and said, "I'll start from the beginning then, shall I?"
"By all means, do," said Severus sarcastically, causing the headmaster to glare and Hermione's lip to wobble.
"Well. it started in that potions class. I was late, so I ran into the classroom and fell headfirst into Neville's, as usual, botched potion. When I woke up."
*flashback*
"-No idea who she is?"
"No, none at all. . . sorry Madame Pomfrey," said a voice she recognized, "she just appeared. . . middle of potions. . ."
Hermione's eyes snapped open and focused on the boy in front of her. Quickly sitting up she rasped, "Harry! What happened? Ooh, was Snape furious? He probably was. . . I was late -"
"Whoa," said the boy, looking at her in confusion, "Who's Harry? And you know Snape?"
She stared at him and said "Um. . . who are you?"
"James Potter at your service," he replied, grinning and mock bowing. But instead of the laugh he was expecting -
"I need to speak to the headmaster. . . NOW!" She squeaked, staring at the boy in front of her in horror.
"Someone needs me?" said a mild voice coming from the doorway.
Hermione jumped. "Headmaster, I'm. . . um. . ." here she faltered, unsure of what to say.
Looking at her curiously, Dumbledore said "Mr. Potter, Poppy, if you would excuse us for a moment?" Madame Pomfrey gave him an indignant look, but went into her office anyway, just as James left the hospital wing, casting a last curious look at the occupant of the bed. Returning his gaze to Hermione, Dumbledore said curiously, "Now, who are you exactly?"
Taking a deep breath, Hermione said hesitantly, "Maybe it would be better if you started by telling me the date?"
"Certainly my dear. Today is Friday the 20th of October."
"And the year?" she asked apprehensively.
Raising an eyebrow somewhat at that, the headmaster replied "1978."
"Damn Neville and his botched potions," Hermione muttered under her breath before blushing and saying, "Err. . . Sorry Professor."
"Judging by your reaction, Miss - err - um -?"
"Granger. Hermione Granger."
"Right. As I was saying, I am assuming that you are from either the past or the future. And seeing as I have never heard of a Hermione Granger before, I am guessing that you are in fact from the future."
Hermione nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Well. I am not sure of how to get you back to the future, but I will work on it. In the meantime, I would suggest that you continue your schooling here. However, you must take many precautions, and you MUST NOT tell ANYONE about who you really are or where you are from. The future must remain a mystery to everyone of this time. Do you understand?"
Hermione nodded. "But sir," she said, "There are people from this time who I know in the future. They will probably recognize me, but wouldn't it still be safer to not use my name?"
"Correct," said Dumbledore, smiling, "I was just about to suggest that. Now. . . I would suggest that you used a name that would be familiar to you and that would make you turn around. Perhaps someone in your year?"
Hermione thought for a moment, choosing two random names. "Lavender Finnigan?" she suggested, looking at the headmaster for approval.
"Hmm. . . yes, I think that that will do. There is no one in the school with the name Finnigan, so that will do. Now. . . I can see from your robes that you are a Gryffindor in your own time, so may I suggest that you remain in that house?"
"Of course, Sir," Hermione replied.
"Of course," he said, glancing apologetically at the badge on her robes, "you would no longer be allowed to retain the position of head girl. You understand, don't you? I'm sure that Miss Evans would be heartbroken to have that position taken away from her."
"I understand," Hermione said, resigned to having to stay in the past.
"Excellent!" the headmaster exclaimed, beaming down at the girl from the future, "Welcome, Lavender Finnigan, to the past!"
*end flashback*
Snape stared at her and said, that proves nothing Miss Granger-"
"Oh for God's sake Severus!" Hermione exclaimed, glaring at him, "Enough with the Miss Granger! I am your wife, even if it has been eighteen years."
Severus glared at her, "I don't know what to call you. Lavender is not your name, and yet neither does Hermione seem to work. And not having seen you for over eighteen years, I am not comfortable calling you 'Mrs. Snape.'"
Hermione's eyes filled up with tears as she said "very well. . . just. . . don't call me Miss Granger."
Severus sneered at her, "Very will. Now, that does not explain the conversation you and Albus were having in the hallway, nor does it explain why you left me."
Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Severus, I could not have stayed in the past forever. By the time I left you, I don't know if you noticed because I tried very hard to hide it, but I was getting extremely weak. If I had stayed for too many years longer I would have died." Here she paused for a moment, biting her lip as Severus looked at her in concern, finally showing emotion.
"Albus had found a way for me to go back within the year after we graduated, but that was before I realized that I needed to come back to the present to live. I didn't want to leave, Severus, because I loved you so much. So I told him that I wanted to stay with you." Pausing again, Hermione noticed that the expression on her husband's face had softened slightly. But that made it even harder to continue, knowing that the rest of her story would make him even angrier. She took a deep breath and continued.
"As my health continued to get worse, Albus and I figured that to survive I needed to go back to the future. I knew that he was right, but I wanted to stay with you. We were married, and I didn't want to hurt you like I knew my leaving would hurt you. So I stayed, continuing to get sicker and sicker, until I knew that I had to go home. And so I tried to think of some reason for leaving.
"Then I found a way. I-" here she paused, swallowing and glancing at him nervously, before continuing, this time talking to her shoes, "found out that I was. . . erm. . . pregnant."
Severus gasped. "How - How could you keep that from me?" He asked, looking at me with a mix of incredulity and anger in his eyes.
"I - it seemed like a good excuse for leaving. Because - I thought about what I knew about you from my future, and I thought 'I don't want my son having a death eater for a fa-'" once again, he cut her off.
"You stupid girl," he said dangerously, jumping to his feet, "I became a death eater BECAUSE you left. You know that I had no inclinations of becoming one before that."
"I - I know," Hermione said quietly, "But I also knew that Malfoy was trying to rope you into becoming one, and I figured that you had just snapped one day and accepted."
Severus sank back into his chair, putting his head in his hands for a moment before gesturing for her to continue.
"So I contacted Albus, and told him that I was pregnant and I didn't want to die just when my baby was born. Because, Severus, that was another reason. But then Albus told me that it would be too dangerous to go into the future pregnant or when the baby was born, because while I belonged in the future, the baby belonged in the past.
"I thought about the future, and I remembered that you had never had a son. So, I had either never told you about him, or you had. . . erm. . . turned him over to the death eaters." She glanced at him, and seeing his incredulous look, bit her lip and said "Severus, I was pregnant. People who are pregnant have strange ideas in their heads." He snorted slightly, but she ignored him.
"So anyway, I decided that I had to leave you, give birth to my baby in hiding, and then -" she gulped, tears springing to her eyes before she softly continued, "give him up.
"Albus was slightly hesitant in helping me with my plan, but he assumed that there were reasons that I could not divulge to him because he couldn't know about it from the future. So he reluctantly found a home for me to live in until I gave birth, and helped me research orphanages that would be good for my baby.
"Meanwhile, my health continued to worsen, until one of my worst fears was happening: my magic was slowly starting to drain. Albus assured me that it would return when I got back to the future, but those next few months were hard because I had to live like a muggle, unable to perform even the simplest levitating charm. And magic is probably most helpful when you are pregnant.
"So the months passed and I lived in seclusion, only talking to Albus occasionally. He told me about how grief-stricken you were, and I almost went back to you, but stopped myself, knowing that I had to go through with this and go back to the future. I became depressed, but told myself daily that this was for the best of everyone.
"About a month before my due date, Albus handed me the object that would transport me into the future: a picture of us on our wedding day. Here-" she opened her hand, realizing that she was still holding it, and showed it to him.
Severus took it wordlessly. He had the exact replica in his dungeon room. That one picture, and his wedding ring, were the only things he had kept that would remind him of her. He looked at her, to see her face covered with tears, and felt a pang in his heart that he had not felt for eighteen years.
"So when he was born I took myself to a muggle hospital, used the name 'Hermione Granger' for the first time in over three years, and gave birth. I didn't name my son, knowing that doing so would make it harder. I left the hospital sooner than I should have; brought him to the orphanage Albus and I had selected, and returned to the future, in the middle of the hallway where you found me."
Severus looked at his sobbing wife, unsure of what to do.
Dumbledore, noticing the awkwardness, spoke for the first time since Hermione had begun her tale. "Hermione, I found out years ago who had adopted your son, and I know who he is if you would like to know."
Hermione looked up, her face streaked with tears, and said "I - I don't know. . . he would be my age, wouldn't he? Or the age I should be in this time - or -" She paused, once again confused over the concept of time.
The headmaster smiled at her before turning to Severus. "Severus, would you like to know who your son is? You two should decide this together."
Hermione and Severus looked at each other for a moment before slowly turning to the headmaster and nodding.
"Very well," Dumbledore said, looking at them for a moment, "Ironically enough, the son of Hermione and Severus Snape, who was actually adopted by a witch mother and a muggle father, is the one after whom you named yourself Miss Finnigan."
Hermione and Severus stared at the old man in shock. "Seamus?" Hermione gasped at the same time that Severus said in disgust "Finnigan?"
"Yes," said Dumbledore, "Severus, you would do well to remember that Seamus Finnigan, while a Gryffindor, is not like James and his friends. He is a different type of Gryffindor, much as Hermione here is."
"Seamus," Hermione said in wonder, "I always liked him, but he was more friends with Dean. Oh! And he's dating Lavender. Maybe they'll get married and name their daughter Lavender Finnigan!" By now she was just thinking out loud, forgetting that she was still in Dumbledore's office.
Severus snorted and said "Well. he isn't as bad at potions as Longbottom is, and his faults can be credited to the parents who raised him. . ."
He was interrupted by Hermione slapping him. "Severus Snape, when you find out that someone is your son, you DO NOT start insulting him."
Severus stared at her in shock before sneering "very well. . . I am sure that you are thrilled that your son became a Gryffindor, and I will leave the business of telling him to you."
Albus interrupted them before it got too out of hand, "Hermione, you are obviously quite a bit older than you were when you left, so that will take some explaining. Now, I know that Misters Potter and Weasley are quite anxious to see you, seeing as they have not been told the truth about what has happened to you. It is now - he glanced at his watch - 6:45 in the morning, so if you would like to go down to the Great Hall for Breakfast?"
His tone gave no room for arguments, so she nodded, following the headmaster out of his office. She knew that Severus would need time, and she would give him that. She didn't want to think about anything now, except for the fact that she was going to have to face the future.