Forever Yours

Chapter 20: A Peaceful Moon

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OCs (Katherine, Septimus, Helena, Christoph, Elisa, Henry, Nick and any name you don't recognize, and isn't from the HP universe) are entirely my own.

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The snow began to fall during the third week of November, which was followed by strong northern winds, that swept across the lake violently. The temperatures during the day merely reached a maximum of thirty-five degrees, dropping into the mid to lower twenties during the night. But the little cabin remained cozy and warm, despite the gray skies outside.

That particular week also brought along Katherine's thirty-seventh week of pregnancy. It was also the week that she finally caved in and between herself, Severus, Christoph and Elisa, prepared the nursery for the little one's arrival. Painted in soft greens and yellows, the nursery was completed as Severus levitated the last pieces of furniture into place, Septimus' old mahogany crib.

Elisa also checked Katherine's progress weekly, asking all sorts of questions and constantly reminding her to rest often and not to get up too fast. But the Healer's constant reminders were not needed, as Severus often came up from the lab to find Katherine stretched out on the sofa or in their bed, dead to the world. And though she never complained, he noticed her rubbing her stomach and back more often, along with her constant shifting in bed at night, as she tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep in.

Severus actually found himself in the lab less than he anticipated around this time of the year, which was something he was actually grateful for in the end. The days became shorter, but they still seemed to drag on forever. The two spent much of their time in the study, where they began working on the reconditioning of the Wolfsbane Potion.

As the thirty-eighth week began Katherine seemed to be more restless than usual. Getting up out of chairs or out of bed were becoming more of a struggle and her walk was more of a waddle now, than it was before. The bed would also dip at the most ungodly hours of the night, as Katherine waddled her way to the loo.

It was on the morning of December second that Severus awoke to the dip of the bed once again, as Katherine fled to the loo for probably the ninth or tenth time that night. He woke in an odd position, and when Severus went to sit up, he felt a slight, dull pain in his lower back. He grumbled under his breath, silently swearing at himself and blaming the pain on his constant leaning over the study's desk and cauldrons the past week.

Silently he summoned a potion from the bathroom, and got up to go about his day. Only thing was, the dull ache returned after an hour. Katherine shot him a curious glance, as he suddenly stiffened behind the study's desk. But Severus kept his head down, avoiding her gaze; the last thing he wanted to do was complain about pain and discomfort, which was considerably less than knew Katherine must have been going through.

The day past by slowly, and the two found themselves turning in rather earlier than normal. But at ten o'clock sharp, the bed dipped, and Severus opened his eyes just in time to see Katherine's silhouette vanish into the bathroom. Groaning, he rolled to his side. His back still ached horribly, and his was quickly becoming frustrated.

'Why didn't the potion work?' Severus thought to himself, as he shifted again and finally found a more comfortable spot. He had just started drifting back to sleep, when he heard the bathroom door open followed by Katherine's footfalls crossing the room. The bed dipped once again, but he didn't feel it shift as it normally would when Katherine would fully lay down.