AN: And just continuing on in that same vein…. Sometimes, the things we must do…are the things we really wish we didn't have to do…

Also…fluff galore! And a bit of humor, hopefully. I like to think I'm funny sometimes. :p

Disclaimer…sigh. We all know who owns HP, right? Right. So I don't need to write anymore about that.

Enjoy and review!

Chapter 7: Coming into Being

Hermione Granger Snape stood at the kitchen counter of Snape Manor with her arms buried elbow deep in dough. Though she enjoyed cooking with magic on occasion, (it was a great help when trying to do several things at once,) sometimes there was nothing like using your hands to create a culinary masterpiece. Plus, Severus had modeled the kitchen somewhat similar to his labs-the idea in his mind being that cooking was much like potion making. He really was a rather proficient chef when he was so inclined. Now that she was in the final stages of her pregnancy, due any day now to be exact, she found that she had a penchant for baking. Right now she was on her third batch of scones-blueberry this time. Resting and cooling on two trays nearby were raspberry ones and some experimental vanilla bean ones. Pausing for a moment in her kneading, she took a second to enjoy a bit of the raspberry treat and she giggled to herself as she noticed the crumbs that had collected on top of the round sphere of her heavily pregnant belly. Her laughter made her belly jiggle slightly and she absently brushed the stray crumbs away, knowing that Crookshanks would find them eventually. Spoiled rotten, that half-kneazle was.

Suddenly the floo activated and Ronald Weasley poked his head through the flames. "Mione, you there?"

Hermoine grabbed a tea towel and wiped her flour caked hands on it before waddling over to the fireplace. "Yes, Ronald. After being practically housebound now for the last two weeks, I am, without a doubt, here," she smiled at his cautious look in the green flames surrounding his already fiery red hair. And to be completely honest, Ron had every right to look cautious. Several months ago, on a night when Severus and Hermione had been enjoying the more intimate aspects of their marriage on the kitchen counter-rather aptly the perfect height for such activities when one was six months pregnant, Ron had flood right on in and had gotten the shock of his life. Finding Hermione and Severus mid-coitus, Ron had turned beet red from his ears to ,(most likely) his toes and after spluttering incoherently with a few gagging noises here and there, he made to leave, knocking over several jars of spices, a cauldron of in-stasis headache remedy, and a bowl of floo powder to boot. Severus had sighed and paused ever so slightly in his movements to grab a hand towel to cover his rather firm buttocks and had clutched and equally embarrassed Hermione to his chest.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you to pause for invitation before simply flooing into someone's home?"

"Right…got it…sorry Snape…er, Professor….Mione…ugh…" and with a flash of green he had gone. Severus had turned back to his deliciously naked wife and had quirked an eyebrow at her as if to say: 'Where were we?' They continued on as if nothing had happened, but Ron had been careful from then on to make sure that everyone in the Snape household was fully clothed before flooing his friend.

Ron entered the kitchen, gangly limbs and all, brushing soot away from his shirt and pants, and then grabbed a scone from the tray on the counter. "Hey Mione, how're things. Woah…you look…."he trailed off as he caught sight of the swell of her pregnancy.

"Huge?" Hermione supplied. "Like a whale? As big as a hippogriff? I know. I love being pregnant, but honestly, I'm really, really ready to have this baby." She sighed as she slapped his hand away from the tray as he was about to grab for another scone. "Those aren't cooled off yet. You'll burn your tongue," she admonished, beginning to add the blueberries to the dough in the bowl.

Ron looked appropriately cowed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Sorry."

"That's all right. I suppose I shouldn't be one to comment on anyone else's eating habits right now. I feel like I'm inhaling everything in sight. And peeing all the time. That's really not a very pleasant aspect of this whole 'mother to be' thing."

Ron looked a tad uncomfortable and then supplied: "Well, Mione, at least you're…glowing."

Hermione barked out a laugh. "That's because I'm sweaty! I swear, the cooling charms aren't having any effect anymore. I'm nearly alway burning up, and poor Severus has been freezing. He's been wearing his teaching robes around the house, although he'd never admit that he's uncomfortable. Quite sweet actually."

"I know we've sort of got past the 'weird' factor of you shagging, being married to, and being pregnant by Snape by now, but Mione there are some things that I don't want to know about. Snape being sweet is one of them."

Hermione slapped him with the tea towel and moved to put the now fully formed scones in the oven. "Don't be a git, Ron."

Ron rolled his eyes and then took a seat. "So…" he said, "Er…when are you due? You look like you could pop!"

"Ugh. I know. Any day now, I suppose. I've been 'imprisoned here' for the last few weeks due to Severus' constant concern over me. I swear, I have one false contraction and the man became an absolute nutter. I honestly didn't know that someone could hover that much. Although" she mused, "I suppose he was known for his hovering when we were in class." Hermione shifted a bit as she rubbed the knuckles of her thumbs on the small of her back and groaned when she received instant relief from her ministrations.

"You okay Mi?" Ron asked, looking a bit concerned. He was still a bit dodgy around pregnant women, and the idea that it was Hermione that was pregnant squicked him out even more. Particularly since it was Snape's spawn. He shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My back is just killing me. I guess it's no surprise since I'm carrying another person around in my stomach, but still, I feel like my back's going to break in half lately." She rubbed the sore spots gingerly. " All right, time to check the scones. I'm hoping these will turn out better than my vanilla ones," she muttered as she bent to open the oven. "Those weren't my best eff….oh!"

Ron turned from where he was inspecting several glass vials of pre-made potions on the counter at her exclamation. "Oh? Oh what? Did you burn them? That's rotten luck. You know me mum never burns things when she cooks with magic."

Hermione didn't respond with her usual scathing remark, which was Ron's first clue that something was amiss. Instead, she rose slowly and silently, one hand braced below the swell of her child, the other holding a spatula half-hazardly suspended in the air. Her eyes were wide and her lips had turned an odd shade of white. Ron frowned as he looked at his friend. Surely burnt scones weren't anything to get quite so upset over…although he knew pregnancy hormones were sometimes irrational and violent. When his mum had been pregnant with Ginny, he'd always been on her shit-list for one reason or another. And he couldn't count the times Fred and George had gotten in major trouble when his mum had had one of her mood swings. He decided to approach this one very, very carefully. "Erm…it's all right if they are burned. And… there's nothing wrong with you wanting to be domestic…" he trailed off at his friend's expression. Her eyes were closed, and she was biting her lip, clutching her belly even tighter.

"Ron," she said evenly, her voice quiet but hard as iron, "I'm not upset over a bloody scone. My water's just broken."

Ron froze. Oh. "Your what? But I'm not supposed to be here for that! Where's Snape? I can't deliver a baby!" Ron was panicking now, pacing wildly around the kitchen. Hermione opened her eyes and relaxed a bit as she felt the contraction subside. Rolling her eyes at her friend's behavior, she scourgified the mess on the floor beneath her feet and performed a quick cleansing charm on her clothing. Ron was still muttering incoherently. Men, she thought as she summoned her bag from the bedroom.

"Ron,"

"Always in the wrong place at the wrong time…"

"Ron…"

"Of all the days to come for a visit…"

"RONALD!" Her friend stopped in his tracks and gaped open mouthed at her, his blue eyes wide and fearful.

"Mione…I don't know how to help you."

"Ron, it's okay. I've got loads of time before the baby actually comes. I'm not exactly going to just squirt it out on the kitchen floor! I need you to listen to me, okay?" Ron nodded. "Okay, first things first, I need you to floo Severus and tell him that it's time. He's at Hogwarts meeting with Minerva and Albus, so you should be able to get ahold of him no problem. I'm going to take a quick shower."

"A shower?" Ron nearly screamed at her. Hermione frowned at her friend.

"Yes, Ronald, a shower. I feel a bit disgusting after basically pissing my pants, so if you don't mind I'd like something a little more thorough than a tergio. Plus the warm water will help my back," she winced slightly as she arched her spine a bit. Ron looked at her abdomen as if it were an alien thing. "Ronald…the floo call…to Severus…now?"

"Right. On it. Got it." In a flash of green he was gone, hopefully to the headmaster's office. Sighing in slight annoyance, she switched off the oven and waddled slowly to the stairs, cursing the day they had decided to have a two story house. She didn't think she had the energy to apparate, her back now felt like it was in a vice, and the sensation of pressure had moved along into the lower parts of her body in a most uncomfortable way. She felt like she had a bowling ball pressing on her pubic bone. Finally she reached the top step and with a sigh of relief, she entered the bathroom. The hot water was like a balm for her aches and pains and she moaned in satisfaction as she felt the steam rising around her, wrapping her in comfort. After a few minutes, she thought she'd run the tap to fill the bath for a few moments. Sitting, rather than standing, at the moment sounded like a good idea. As she reached for the chain, another unexpectedly harsh contraction ripped through her body, and her scream echoed throughout the tile walls of the bathroom.

….

"So, you are saying, Severus, that if we started this…"buddy system" as you call it, the inter-house relationships would be improved?" Albus was sitting behind his desk, his half moon glasses reflecting the light from the lit sconces on the walls around them. Fawkes was perched on his stand and squeaked appreciatively.

"Indeed," Severus responded. "It will at least keep the levels of impertinence down, and as I mentioned-" the rest of his sentence was cut off by the rather loud and untimely appearance of Ronald Weasley tumbling through Albus Dumbledore's floo. He hadn't apparently braced himself for balance at the end, and ended up face first into the tapestry rug in front of the hearth.

Minerva, Severus, and Albus stared at the young man, wearing almost identical expressions save for Severus, who had one eyebrow quirked in his typical, trademark show of scathing derision, though there was no heat behind his eyes.

"Mr. Weasely," Albus intoned, "Do please get up on the floor and tell us what the meaning of this…visit is for?"

Ron scrambled to his feet, his face looked pale-well, paler than usual- and his brow seemed to have a sheen of sweat on it. "Sorry. Late. Ended up in the wrong fireplace. Had to evade Peeves. Needed to tell you…."

"Tell us what, Weasley?" Severus ground out, his patience for the young ginger still quite thin, even after his marriage to Hermione.

"It's Hermione, Sir. She's in labor."

"Ah." Severus said quietly. "I believe, we shall have to finish this discussion at a later date. I must attend to my wife." Severus said, his voice calm and quiet, his manner as poised as usual. There was no hint of nerves, no indication that anything was amiss at all. It seemed, to Ron, that he could have said, "Tootaloo! I'm just off for a spot of tea!" in rather the same manner.

"You…you're not…worried or surprised?" Ron asked, wiping his hand across his sweaty forehead. He felt nervous enough, and he wasn't even going to be a father.

Severus looked down at his former student and, in a rare show of affection for the boy, placed a long fingered hand on Ron's shoulder. "Ronald, my wife is nine months pregnant. She's probably been in labor all day and not known it. Had she been complaining about her back during your visit with her?" Ron nodded. "I thought as much. It's been getting worse the last three days or so," he told Minerva and Albus who were both smiling at him. "Thank you for coming to tell me, but my boy, we're quite prepared." He turned to Dumbledore and Minerva. "I shall let you know what happens as soon as I know anything." The two professors nodded at him and then he was gone, leaving Ron there, staring blankly at his two former teachers.

"Mr. Weasley…could I interest you in a lemon drop, perhaps?"

"Albus, delicious as your lemon drops are," Minerva intervened, looking affectionately at Albus, I think what the boy needs right now is a stiff drink. Would you like a spot of whiskey my dear boy?"

…..

Severus stepped out of the floo with as much ease as one could and brushed off his robes distractedly. He wasn't nervous, per-say, but he was quite apprehensive. He was ignoring the fact that those two words really meant the same thing. He felt more in control that way, and Severus Snape didn't like feeling like he wasn't in control. Every aspect of this pregnancy, this marriage, even his love for Hermione defied all reason and logic for Severus, given his past experiences and his usual way of thinking. He had had to change a lot-for the better- he realized, but he was still getting used to the softer side of himself. He glanced around at the kitchen and almost chuckled to himself when he noticed the batches of scones piled around the countertops. He'd felt like a bastard, insisting that Hermione stay at home rather than work till the end of her pregnancy, but after that frightening episode of Braxon Hicks, Severus wasn't going to take no for an answer. He knew his wife well, and if Hermione was left to her own devices she would have gone right on teaching from the delivery bed if she had a mind to.

He didn't have to look far for his laboring wife. He heard her. Severus apparated to their chambers with a crack and saw the vision of his panting, sweating, almost feral looking wife on the ground next to the bed. She was decidedly naked and her hair was soaking wet-whether with sweat or water from the shower that was still running in the adjacent room, he could not be sure. Kneeling at her side, he placed his hand on her back and murmured low in her ear.

"What can I do for you love?" Hermione was writhing underneath his hand, her teeth clenched as she groaned loud and long. Severus placed his other hand on the surging swell of their child was was shocked at how hard and hot it felt. He could feel the motion of the contraction and he stayed with her there, waiting it out.

"You can get me the hell out of here and over to St. Mungo's immediately, Severus. Unnnnnnnnngh I don't know how much more I can take! I think…I think I need to push. I didn't know it would be this fast! I thought I had hours," she said breathlessly, letting Severus lift her up onto the bed. Severus felt a moment of panic. He'd been reading-actually, devouring, the baby books that their healer had given them, and he knew that if Hermione was already feeling the urge to push, they didn't have a whole lot of time. He prayed to any Gods he thought would hear him and quickly grabbed Hermione's most comfortable maternity robes.

"All right, love. I'm going to carry you, okay."

"Im….too…..heavy….." she panted out, as another contraction made her keen in agony. Severus hastened then. Sweet Merlin she sounded like someone was murdering her.

"Nonsense," he whispered in his soothing, velvety voice, and with a loud clap of thunder, they were gone.

…

"Push! Push! That's it! That's it Mrs. Snape, you're almost there!" Hermione was trying very hard not to concentrate on several things. One, that Healer Aaron was practically up to his elbows inside of her vagina. Second, the fact that her feet were in the air, exposing her whole lower half to the four or five other healers she'd never actually met before today. Thirdly, the fact that she was pretty sure she'd taken a shit on the gurney. And lastly…oh yeah, the fact that she was trying to push something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of…well at this point she didn't want to think about how much she'd stretched.

Severus was being an angel. If it had bothered him that she was squeezing his hand within an inch of its life… so hard, in fact, that she thought bones may have been broken, he hadn't said a word on the matter. If he was completely and totally terrified for her as she screamed, cursed, farted and snarled her way through her, surprisingly, short labor, he hadn't said a word on that matter either. It was what he had said that had been important.

"I love you." He'd said simply, over and over. "I love you, you're so strong. Keep going my brave little lioness. We're almost there. Almost there love. I love you." It was like a prayer, a mantra, a litany of strength that had kept her going through the whole mess. He was behind her, his hands on either side of her, letting her squeeze, letting her writhe against him, letting her scream in his ear. Gods she loved this man. And she planned on telling him just that after….

The burning, searing, ripping tearing pain in her nether regions reached an all time high, and the odd and,certainly unfamiliar sensation of something very large passing through her body. There was a feeling of sudden emptiness, a cry of relief, a gasp from behind her that sounded very much like her husband…but most importantly of all, the best thing of all, was the sound of her baby crying for the very first time.

It was red and scrunched, with a wild mop of spiky black hair, and it looked mad as hell. Well, now that she looked, her eyes blurred with tears, it wasn't an 'it' anymore. It was a she. They had a daughter. A little girl. Absently, she realized that she was sobbing uncontrollably, and when the healer placed the baby, now cleaned and wrapped up in a tiny pink blanket with a tiny pink hat, and she felt her milk begin to flow in response to her child's nearness, she had never felt so…complete than she did at that very moment.

"Oh Severus…" she murmured, ignoring everything else but this tiny being in her arms that they had created.

Severus was just staring, his eyes wide and dark. Oh boy, she thought as she looked at her husband now. This little one is going to have him totally and completely wrapped around her little finger. "Come hold your daughter, Severus."

For a moment, a flicker of fear and reluctance passed through Severus' eyes. Hermione smiled encouragingly at him, nodding fervently. "Go on. You won't hurt him. You already know everything you are supposed to do. Now, you can put it into practice." Hermione almost began to cry once more at the sight of Severus Snape holding this tiny squalling baby, but her eyes lit up and her smile widened when all at once the little girl quieted in his arms and looked up at him with eyes that matched his own. "Looks like she's going to be a daddy's girl."

Severus smiled gently and traced a finger slowly and carefully along the delicate and small bridge of his daughter's nose. "Thank the Gods she has your nose, love."

"And thank the Gods she has your hair." Hermione giggled and then winced. Wow, she hadn't realized how sore she actually was. Hmmm. No exciting activities for her for a while, she supposed. "What should we name her?"

"Davinia." He said quietly. "That was my favorite of the alphabetical list you compiled," He smirked at her slightly, but keeping his eyes on his new progeny.

"Davinia. I liked that one too. It means beloved."

"And she is." Severus said quietly. "She most truly is."

…..

Ron, Albus, Minerva, Harry, Ginny, and several other family members were sitting in Dumbledore's office waiting for news from the Snapes. It had only been an hour or two, and Molly Weasley had assured everyone that the first baby usually took a long while to be born. They had settled down to a lovely tea, when all at once Severus' patronus came bounding in through the open window.

"I'd like to let you all know that Davinia Velia Snape was born healthy and happy about a half and hour ago. Mother and baby are doing fine. Hermione wishes to thank everyone for their support. Visiting hours begin tomorrow at noon. See you all then. Oh, and tell Weasley…thank you."

The patronus fizzled out before them and a great whoop of joy and applause was heard all around. Harry looked and noticed Ron who was seemingly in a daze.

"Ron, what's the matter? Aren't you happy for Hermione?"

Ron blinked wearily at him, and belched, the stench of whiskey making Harry grimace in mild disgust. "Course Im 'appy, mate." And with a hiccup and a sigh, he fell forward onto the desk. Dead to the world.

"Oh dear," Said Professor McGonagall as she took in the sight of the prostrate Weasley on Dumbledore's desk. "I suppose I should have regulated how much Ogden's I gave him."

:)

Hope you enjoyed! Comments are appreciated. Please don't flame! Flamers will be hexed first and questioned later…if I care enough to ask anything! Love and kisses to all of my lovely reviewers!

SS