Wistful longing, sheer pain

Severus and Betta made their way down the street toward what appeared to be an abandoned building. It was a particularly happy trip for Severus, who had just found out that Betta was pregnant with their first child. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close, trying to keep her warm against the cold, damp weather that had settled over the city. There was a new spring in his step, and a feeling that he could face whatever might happen in the future as long as he had his wife and his baby by his side.

A couple of minutes later, he was holding the door to St. Mungo's open for Betta, who made her way inside. A split second later, he stopped in his tracks as he spotted a familiar red-head standing just a few feet from him. A cold feeling settled in his stomach; he looked at Betta, who had spotted the same person at the same time and had pulled away from him, almost as though she didn't want to be around the two...as though she knew that there was still some semblance of a spark that Severus carried for Lily.

"Betts, wait--" he began, but his wife had turned her back to him and had gone to chat with one of the Healers about her newly pregnant state. Severus sighed heavily and called to Lily. "Lily?" he asked, moving over to her. "Hey...it's me, Severus. How are you?"

I looked over, smiling, " hi Severus how are you?" I said walking over to give him a hug. i couldn't be happier this would be our first child. Things are looking up for us. " I mean, can't be a good thing to be coming here much.." I said as I laughed a little pulling my hair to one side sitting down beside him.

Severus looked at her and half-smiled. "Congratulations." he replied, then looked at Betta. "You remember Betta, right? We're married now...Betts just found out that she's going to have a baby as well, that's why we're here. It's our first, too. I say we're having a boy, but she says we're having a girl. Guess we'll find out soon, right?" He laughed a bit, then cleared his throat. "So how are you and James doing? I mean, other than this happy news?"

Betta looked at Lily and managed a quick smile. "Hi, Lily. Congratulations." she said, moving away from Severus at the same time he went to try to hold her hand. "I'm going to go over here and leave you two alone for a bit. I'm sure you have quite a bit of catching up to do...oh look! Antonin's here! You and Lily have fun chatting...I've got some catching up of my own to do. Antonin! Oi, Dolohov! Look at me!" she called, finally catching Antonin's attention a moment later. "Thank you!" she added, hurrying over to Antonin and throwing herself into his arms. "It's so good to see you...it's been too long."

"Congratulations to you s well Betta." Smiling, " That's wonderful!" I said as I clapped my hands together, " We're doing good, James and the guys are all dealing with being Aurors....it didn't take them to long to figure it out." I laughed a little. It did make me uneasy to know they're always going on missions. I leaned back as I looked to Severus, " Pretty much the same thing I say girl James says boy. "

"Elisabetta Domenici." Antonin murmured, holding Betta tightly in his arms when she ran into them. "It has been way too long, love. What brings you here to St. Mungo's? Nothing serious, I hope?" he asked, pulling away and looking deeply into her eyes. He smiled. "You're glowing, Betts. When's the due date, and who's the father?"

"Ah, so he did become an Auror." Severus commented, his eyes narrowing visibly as he watched his wife interacting with Antonin. He must be a busy person, then." Another laugh. "How'd he figure it out so soon? I didn't realize Betta might be pregnant until she spent the better part of a month throwing up at night, and only then did I have to go ask Luc--a friend of mine about what might be going on. How do you like that? Someone halfway decent at potions couldn't even figure out when his own wife was going to have a child."

I had no other option than to laugh, " yes he did become an Auror, and I'm a healer myself I work here Severus. They have just set me up with Anna. She's one of the best girls here...other than me perhaps..." I laugh as i boost my own ego. " Never thought I would boost myself..." I shook my head, " But James figured it out after i kept running to the washroom every so often....and in the middle of the night and how many times I have had to pee in one hour...." I sighed, " this is going to get much more frequent. "

"I'm due sometime in the fall, and Severus is the father. We're married now." Betta replied, seeing a trace of surprise flash in Antonin's eyes. "He's over there talking to Lily. I let them catch up on old times when I saw you." she finished. Lowering her breath: "I have a feeling my own husband still has a thing for her. It bothers me, but I deal with it the best I can. So...what are you doing here? Visiting a friend?"

"A healer...wow, that's great." Severus replied, smiling. "I'm...well...it doesn't really matter what I'm doing right now." he said, wondering how far he was going to to divulge what he was actually doing. "I do odd jobs here and there. There's been talk at Hogwarts about needing a teacher for the Potions position, but...I'd much rather the Defense Against the Dark Arts one if that ever comes open. I need to do something to help support this new baby." He looked at Lily again. "We had some interesting times at school, didn't we?"

"I was, actually." Antonin replied, shooting a brief glare over at Lily before turning back to Betta. "A friend of mine was injured by one of the bloody Aurors the other day. You know how that goes...remember? Severus should." he added, running a hand down Betta's cheek. "You're as beautiful as ever, Betts. Snape's a lucky man. I just wish..." A note of longing crept into his voice. "That time when you and Severus had broken up...I wish I would have taken advantage of that. I'll be blunt." Antonin finally said, a determined look on his face. "You could have been Elisabetta Dolohov, Betts. I would have treated you like the queen you were born to be. It was your choice, though, I wasn't going to take it away from you as much as I could have."

"Antonin, we shouldn't be talking like this." Betta said softly. "I married Severus...I knew what he was like when I started dating him, and I still know what he's like. I appreciate your thought, though." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Things were so easy, yet so hard back then, weren't they? And they've gotten even more complicated now." She looked at him a moment later, seeing the pain in his face. "I'm having his baby. I'm happy about it, don't get me wrong. I--" Her thought was cut off by his lips, which had covered hers just then.

"Antonin..." she murmured between kisses. "No...Severus is going to kill me...please...let me go..."

Slowly, Antonin pulled away from her, his eyes burning. "Remember this, Betts. Remember today, remember this kiss." he murmured, seeing her look over at Severus, who was now visibly infuriated. "I'll see you around, love. Good luck with your baby." Saying this, he placed his hand on her belly and closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them again and moving away from her slowly. "You'd better get back to him. I'm afraid I made him somewhat upset."

smiling, " yes, we did.... you remember when Slughorn started the Slug Club... how excited that man was..." I shook my head. " James and sirius actually had a run in with a few Deatheater's they're calling themselves.... I'm joining the order today..." I said with a smile. " Just working on helping other witches deal with birthing process." I said simply.

Severus took in a sharp breath at Lily's statement; his normally pale face grew paler. "Oh, well...that's great. I hope you enjoy it." A second later, an intense look crossed his face. "Do you know who James and Sirius came across? Just out of sheer, morbid...oh, nice of you to join us again, Betta. I'm sure you enjoyed catching up with Dolohov, didn't you?" he spat, seeing his wife walk timidly back up to the two. "I'll deal with you later, Betts." He turned back to Lily. "Like I said, just out of curiosity, who did James and Sirius run into?"