The week of Harry's late birthday celebration arrived and Grimmauld Place was crowded. Sirius, Remus, and Moody had spent the day before charming many of the rooms with increased space to comfortably accommodate everyone. Molly Weasley took the chance to also increase the kitchen which usually served as the meeting place for the Order of the Phoenix, and was most certainly the social center of the house.

The Snapes were the last to arrive at #12 Grimmauld Place. The teenagers appeared first, tumbling through the Floo in an ungraceful tangle of arms and legs. Snape and Lyrica arrived a few seconds later and managed to just miss falling over the quartet of bodies that were still righting themselves.

Sirius and Remus helped the teenagers, but Molly zeroed in on Lyrica who was leaning against her husband as a very faint shade of green tinged her skin. Snape allowed Molly to lead Lyrica to the kitchen where she prepared an herbal tea for the young woman.

"Small sips," Molly instructed as she sat beside the young woman. "Ginger root is the main ingredient. It helps the nausea."

Lyrica shot the Weasley matriarch a curious look and then lifted the tea and took a small sip.

Molly smiled knowingly. "How far along are you, Mrs. Snape?"

"Three months in a few days. Please call me Lyrica," she replied taking a few more sips. The tea was really helping. "I've had quite good luck as far as the morning sickness goes. I just don't do well with the Floo, portkeys, and Apparition is completely out of the question." Just thinking of those modes of travel made her grimace as her stomach flipped in warning.

Molly patted the young woman's hand and summoned a plain biscuit. "I was fortunate with Ginny. She was such an easy baby. No morning sickness and she had the good sense to arrive on schedule. None of my boys managed that. Little Ronnie, if he'd had his way, would have stayed put if it hadn't been for my mother's licorice tea."

"It induced labor? I wasn't aware licorice has such properties."

Molly laughed. "Oh no! It doesn't. It was the smell of the tea brewing that did it. I couldn't bear the smell of licorice. My Ronnie has never liked hates licorice since the day he was born. When is your due date?"

"My Healer says March 5th, but Severus is certain it will be the end of February."

The two women began discussing all aspects of pregnancy. Lyrica was pleased to be questioning an expert such as Molly, for she'd determined from her first meeting with the vivacious redhead that she was a formidable woman, and a most competent mother.

Snape stepped in at one moment in the hopes of escaping the noise of so many children decorating the living room for the party but arrived just as the two women were discussing an aspect of birth that had him turning green and practically running from the kitchen. Molly and Lyrica broke into gales of laughter over the squeamishness of husbands.

That night was a celebration that encompassed Harry's missed birthday, Draco and his brother's good fortune in escaping the clutches of the Dark Lord and recovering, and the news that Lyrica and Severus were expecting the arrival of a daughter in March of the following year.

After a generous feast cooked by Molly with Dobby's help, and a very large cake, Dobby chased everyone out into the living room, including Molly, so he could clean up. The teenagers involved themselves in somewhat quiet games of chess, King's Table, Exploding Snap, and Gobstones while the adults split up into two groups: the women were, Molly, Lyrica, Tonks, and Minerva McGonagall, and the men were, Snape, Moody, Remus, Sirius, Arthur, and Albus Dumbledore. The subject being thoroughly dissected was Lyrica Snape's unexpected pregnancy.

Snape had tried to force himself into a corner, away from everyone, but Albus would have none of it and the other men had followed, all prepared to 'rib him good-naturedly'.

"Who would have thought?" sneered Black with a smile that was as warm as a stomach full of acid. "Sniv... Severus the family man!"

Snape glared openly at his childhood enemy. He truly resented having to share such good news with this man.

Dumbledore patted Snape's shoulder warmly. "I never had any doubt that the boy had it in him. After all, you've seen how well he treats his sons..."

Black interrupted sharply and hissed, "James' son!"

Lupin interjected before a fight could break out between the two dark men, "Have you decided upon any names for the baby, Severus?"

An older part of Snape was sorely tempted to hex Black, but he chose to reply to Lupin's question and silently thanked the werewolf for his timely intervention. "Lyrica is leaning towards the names Perdita or Juliet whereas I believe the name Eowyn would be more suitable."

Moody snorted, "Shakespeare and Tolkien, eh?"

Snape's eyebrow rose suspiciously, "I find it hard to believe that you, Moody, ever read either of those authors." He sipped his brandy. "Actually, I find it difficult imagining you read at all."

Moody snarled, and Snape's black eyes glinted with the dig he managed.

Lyrica was enjoying listening to tales of Molly's children, Minerva's nieces and nephews (she had one each, which was quite enough), and Tonks expressing her own desire for children someday.

"Do you have a prospective father in mind, Tonks?" asked Lyrica of the flame-haired young woman.

"Well," began Tonks as a bright blush coloured her cheeks. Her long lashes partially hid striking blue eyes as she cast a quick look towards the men. As Lupin felt a pair of eyes upon him, he looked away from the men's discussion, caught Tonks' gaze, and smiled warily. Tonks' blush deepened and she looked away quickly.

"Remus?" asked Minerva. Her lips were thin and straight, not quite approving, it appeared. "He's a good man, Tonks, but you do realise the regulations regarding werewolves and marriage outside their own."

Tonks' bright smile diminished to a soured grimace. "Of course I do. I also happen to know that Dolores Umbridge is doing everything she can to make things worse. You have heard that she's attempting to re-classify Metamorphmagi, haven't you, Professor?"

Minerva's right eyebrow quirked dangerously. "I had not."

"We're no better than werewolves in that pink monstrosity's eyes so I think Remus and I would make a good match." Her tone was stubborn and underlined by a sudden, triumphant smile towards the werewolf that had him suddenly blushing.

"Looks like Tonks is settlin' her sights on you, Lupin," snorted Moody as he elbowed the younger wizard sharply in the ribs.

Remus rubbed at the offended rib as Snape took this small opportunity to draw the conversation away from himself, which had been getting far too personal for his tastes. "She's a bit young for you, isn't she, Lupin?" he poked verbally.

Lupin scowled at the insult. "Her infatuation is flattering..."

Sirius clapped his friend on the back and Remus coughed at the assault. Black grinned, "That look's not infatuation, Moony! Mark my word, Tonks will have you under the mistletoe by Christmas pledging your heart to her!"

Lupin's look of utter panic had the men chuckling at his discomfort.

As the evening wore on, the adults soon congregated in the kitchen to idly discuss the Ministry, Voldemort, and the recent Muggle attacks which had been determined to be Dementor attacks. In the living room, the teenagers had settled down, tired of the games, and were now talking amongst themselves.

"It's silly," asserted Millicent as she leaned against Ron.

"No it isn't!" snapped Hermione indignantly.

"All of you really need to back off," chided Pansy. "Personally, I hate flying on brooms, so I can understand what Hermione's going through."

"I can, too," agreed Harry, but backtracked as soon as he caught Luna shaking her head at him. "All right, I really can't since I love flying." He turned to his best friend and watched for a moment as Draco lazily braided a few strands of her curly hair. "Hermione, I know you've been scared since you and Ron had that broom accident, but you have to get over it. You know one of our strategies for fighting is on our brooms."

Hermione slapped Draco's hand away from her hair as she glared at Harry. "What you're trying to tell me is that if I can't fly, you don't want me fighting with you."

"I don't want anyone fighting with me!" It was his turn to gripe in frustration. "I don't want me fighting with me!"

Draco chuckled. He pulled Hermione back against his chest and kissed the edge of her ear; an effective way of lowering the young girl's hot-headed temper a few degrees. "Much as I hate to agree with my brother, love, you have to see that he's right. You really need to get back on a broom and get over this fear." Hermione struggled in the firming grip of his embrace as she prepared to tell him just how wrong he was. "I'll teach you."

Hermione's struggles ceased. "I know how to fly a broom, Draco."

His grey eyes sparkled wickedly as he ran his index finger down the sensitive edge of her ear, down her neck, and to the collar of her blouse. "Of course you do, luv, but I'm a better teacher than Madame Hooch is."

Hermione melted at the silky tone of Draco's voice, and from the touch of his lips to her throat.

"That's our cue, Ron!" Millicent jumped up, grabbed Ron's hand and yanked him to his feet. "Want to go out in the backyard for a little bit?"

Ron grinned. "G'night everybody!" Slinging an arm around Milli's waist, the couple nearly ran to the kitchen, burst in on the impromptu meeting of adults, and quickly left through the backdoor to the outside without a by-your-leave to the curious stares of those in the kitchen.

The rest of the teenagers were breaking up as well with the exception of Draco and Hermione who had staked out the living room. They were already concentrating quite happily on each other.

Very early the next morning, Draco sneaked into the girl's bedroom, woke Hermione, and whispered in her ear. With a quick kiss, he left and went downstairs, through the kitchen and out to the backyard. Close to fifteen minutes later, Hermione joined him. She wore a knit jumper over a white cotton blouse, and a pair of jeans, and her trainers. It would get warmer later in the day, but this early in the morning the backyard was shady and there was a distinct chill in the air.

Hermione noticed that Draco's Cosmos X leaned against the back porch swing and she gave it a kind of sickly, green look. She'd watched Harry and her boyfriend on those brooms and their antics always made her want to close her eyes permanently.

Draco chuckled and kissed the girl's cheek. "You don't have to ride my broom, Mi, so stop giving it such a death look." He smirked, cast a silent Summoning spell, and a package leapt from a nearby bush and into his hand. He bowed and handed over the gift.

Hermione took the broom-shaped package and smiled slightly. "You bought me a broom?"

"I had dad's advice on this one. I know Quidditch brooms inside and out, but I know you don't need a broom capable of speed and acrobatics."

Curiosity piqued, she tore open the package to reveal a beautiful looking broom with a handle of Yew and boar bristles. She turned it over and over in her hand as she felt the broom connect with her magic. Hermione smiled. "Where did you get it, Draco?"

"O'Daire's Brooms For the Discerning Flyer in Ireland. Called the Mercury 9 it's made for normal, everyday flying and comes equipped with a Disillusion charm and a Warming charm for cold weather. It also has a great weather detection feature so if you get caught in rain or snow, it will detect it and put up a Deflection Spell." Draco demonstrated how to activate the first two spells and then took the broom from Hermione. He then balanced it easily on his index finger.

"Very nice," smirked Hermione.

"Funny girl," he smirked right back. "This isn't a trick. It's to show you how balanced the broom is. You'll get very smooth maneuverability and control with it. When you've become familiar with your broom, you'll find the transition to fighting while riding it isn't all that difficult."

"We'll see," she said skeptically taking her broom back. Hermione smiled as she felt the tingle of the broom's magic connecting with hers. She'd never felt such a connection with the school brooms before. Oddly, she felt rather eager to try out the broom.

Draco insisted on taking Hermione through first year basics of flying which annoyed her, at first, since it made her feel a bit like a baby. However, she saw the wisdom in the young man's teaching method as she didn't feel at all nervous when she first began flying a foot off the ground around the back yard. By the time Mrs. Weasley called them in for breakfast, Hermione was blissfully flying above the roof of Black Manor.

The week continued on as a mostly noisy affair due the teenagers who, to Snape's displeasure, couldn't manage a low decibel. All of them were all recipients of essay assignments from Snape including threats of point losses and detention. None of them, including the usually perfect Ravenclaw, Luna, escaped. Somehow she had managed to prickle Snape into assigning her a three foot essay on Potions ingredients versus baking ingredients and a detailed analysis on why they were NOT the same.

Remus, to the delight of the beleaguered teens, pulled a prank even James Potter would never have had the patience or thought to think up against Snape.

All week long Sirius couldn't keep his mouth shut and kept managing little barbs to throw at Snape whenever they were in the same room together. In turn, instead of getting angry, Snape merely threatened Black with some sort of creative death. After Snape threatened to 'steam the mutt with fava beans' and to 'serve him with a vintage Chianti for Christmas dinner', Remus began to collect the death threats as well as keep count of the number of times Sirius insulted the Potions Master. At the end of the week, he'd bound all of Snape's best death threats into a small volume entitled, Death by Snape, and had given it to the teenagers. He had charmed the books so that it looked like a normal school textbook whenever Snape came near them. For that, Snape hexed Remus with donkey ears for two days. Remus was later heard to say that the price of donkey ears was worth the prank.

The week at Grimmauld Place ended with a good natured game of Quidditch between the adults and the teenagers. Both Draco and Harry were delighted to learn that their father would be playing in the game, as Seeker.

Harry, rather interested in his father's flying style during the game, kept getting distracted from his goal, that of catching the Snitch. This distraction cost the game for the teenagers when Snape flew at Harry, spiralled around his broom, and caught the Snitch out of the air just as it flittered past Harry's nose. So impressed was he by that final move, Harry didn't mind all that much in losing.

The evening of the last night was a long and drawn out farewell for everyone. Ron was hugged so many times, and so tightly by Millicent, that his ribs ached for at least an hour. Or so he claimed while he grinned smugly.