The next three days went by way too quick. We practiced making love a lot and when the ingredients came via Gordius, he taught me how to make the potion. But on the third day, Headmaster Dumbledore came back to help us link the channels together inside of Severus. It took almost four hours and at the end my poor love was sweaty and limp. I'd been on the outside looking in most of the time but since I had to be the one who triggered the convergence of the four channels, the last bit was all mine.

It was more intimate than putting part of my body inside of his. Doesn't make sense, I know but that's how it felt. Maybe it's because our emotions had to be synchronized and that meant that we were inside of each other's thoughts and feelings. Personal was what I'd called sex but this was the really personal stuff, minds and hearts, not just bodies.

But even though Severus was exhausted, he still welcomed me in and surrounded me with his love. What I saw inside of him was beautiful, the colors fluctuating all over the color-chart. They seemed to match emotions inside of him and he chuckled tiredly when I told him that.

The Headmaster patted my shoulder approvingly and told me that I was quite right. In sixth year classes I'd learn all the colors and what they meant. Then he told me to draw Severus a bath while he made a light meal for me to feed him. He warned us not to make love again until it was time. There was to be a lunar eclipse at 3:43 p.m. and that was the moment when the child would be created.

I think he said something else to Sev when I went upstairs to run the bath but if it was important then my lover would tell me. I put in some of the bath oil that we both liked and I thought about having to bathe alone when we went back to Hogwarts. My heart hurt when I pondered all the things that I'd gotten used to and would have to do without. There had to be a way for us to be together during the school year. Once a week, surely there was a way to spend at least one whole night together weekly.

I'd be willing to grade tests or scrub cauldrons or ... or anything. But before I could get too carried away, the headmaster helped Sev into the bathroom. He looked so tired that he could hardly keep his eyes open. Between the two of us, we got him stripped and into the steaming water. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye on him while he went downstairs to make dinner.

Severus murmured my name and I took a washcloth to bathe him. The soap smelled like the bath oil and I made a mental note to find it and get some. If I couldn't have him with me all the time then I could jolly well have his scent. He tried to help me but he really was tired. I soaped and rinsed him clean before letting him soak in the hot water. I stayed nearby and stroked his hair while he dosed a bit.

Thinking about the channel work made me realize how much I still needed to learn. I'd seen what they should look like when Dumbledore showed me what they were doing inside of Sev. He'd commented on how much larger the heart chakra had grown and Sev's eyes had smiled at me, murmuring that it was all my doing. I liked that idea a lot. His root chakra was a bright orange and that channel was thicker than my wrist.

The heart chakra was sunny yellow while the other two were green and red. Part of the linking was to mix the colors until they were a healthy rose color and that's where it got tricky, the way they'd said it would. The channels were used to being where they were and how they looked. They had to be coaxed to open up to each other and merge into one. For a while there, it didn't look like it was going to work.

Then Dumbledore asked me to brace Sev and hold on tight. The moment I slid in behind him and hugged him to me, something seemed to click. My eyes were closed but I could see the four channels reach for each other and ... kind of slide into each other. The colors came and went in waves until everything began to glow a rose-red. And where the four channels had joined, a small round globe with smaller channels running from it to their original places had appeared.

"The last part of the potion is my semen mixed with the rest. When it flows in, my seed heads for the haven we've created and waits there for yours to join it." His voice was still tired but he opened sleepy eyes and answered my unasked question.

"It's really going to happen, isn't it, Sev?" I was suddenly a little frightened.

"Only if you want it to, Harry. In another twelve years the year of fire will roll back around again." His smile was so gentle that it made me feel like crying.

"I may be scared, Sev but I want this more than anything." Everything settled back into place when I saw his eyes light up. "It's a big responsibility but in twelve years I'll be 28 and ready to carry another child of love."

He chuckled. "There can never be too many love children in the world."

Dumbledore's deep laugh came from the doorway. "Indeed, Harry, I'd be glad to help the two of you create another life. I look upon your children to come as my grandchildren and I can hardly wait to teach them their first spells. For now, Severus needs to get out of the tub and have a light supper."

It took both of us to get Sev out of the tub, dried and into our bed. He tried to help but it was easier to just towel him and slide him between the sheets. Dumbledore had made a clear broth with a few crunchy vegetables in it and put it in a cup so it was easier to drink. After finishing the broth it took him a few moments to chew the carrots and water chestnuts but once they were gone, he slid down, turned over and went to sleep.

I pulled the covers up to keep him warm and followed the headmaster out of the room. He led me downstairs to the fire and motioned to me to sit. "Harry, this is going to change your life completely and irrevocably. You must be very sure that you really want to have a child at seventeen. The next nine months are going to be a challenge."

Nodding, I hugged a pillow to my stomach. "I know, at least I kind of have an idea. It still doesn't seem quite real to me. But I know that I love Severus more each day that goes by. I like being able to help heal him from the bad things he's lived through. We're more alike than we are different. And I'm a little scared of all the physical things that he's going to be going through the next nine months. But even more, I'm scared that I'll have to do without holding him and kissing him."

"Ah, youth." Dumbledore smiled at me. "There will be occasions when you can be together but they may be few and far between. It will tax your patience, Harry and Sev could backslide into depression without your bright spirit to leaven his own."

"Could we at least once a week meet somewhere safe where we can just hold each other?" I said rather plaintively.

He chuckled. "We'll set up a schedule between my study, the chapel, Minerva's class room and other places to be discovered later. Once summer break comes, I'll send the two of you up here for a few weeks to reconnect. All right?"

I nodded. "Thank you, Headmaster. I just wish it didn't have to be a secret. What happens when he begins to show?"

"He won't be showing, Harry. That would be much too dangerous. There are a couple of spells that we can use to hide the pregnancy from everyone. The farther along he is, the harder it will be to hide because he simply won't be able to do certain things, like pick up something he's dropped."

"Can I help with some of the spells?" I sat up a little straighter when he nodded. "Good. Where will he have the baby? Here?"

"Very good, Harry. He'll go back to the hot springs to deliver him or her in the warm waters there. Minerva has delivered 128 children over the last fifty years and she has already said that she looks forward to this one."

"Whew, I was hoping that it wasn't something that we had to do on our own." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's far enough ahead for us to plan for now. Go up and cuddle him, Harry. He'll need your loving presence to settle him down. I've left some supper on the table. It's spelled so you can eat it when you like." He rose and opened the bookcase. "Remember no lovemaking until tomorrow. Minerva and I will be here about noon."

"Good night, Headmaster. Thanks," I waved to him and he chuckled before disappearing and shutting the case behind him. I was hungry now so I went out and devoured two sandwiches and the carrots. He'd left a tangy dip with them and I tried to puzzle out what the ingredients were. I'd ask Sev what they were later.

Turning out the lights downstairs, I went up and showered quickly. The urge to hold Severus was growing stronger and I was still a little damp when I slid under the covers. He gave a little sigh and turned into my arms with a sleepy murmur of my name. For some reason, that almost made me cry again and I held him a little tighter, saying his name quietly so he'd know I was here.

I meant to stay awake and do some thinking but instead I fell asleep.

***********

We slept in and Severus was still moving slowly when we cuddled under the blankets and said all kinds of mushy things that I'd once sworn I'd never say. Things like 'I love you' and 'your eyes twinkle like stars' and ... well, I guess there's a reason that they're clichés.

I ate the rest of the sandwiches but Sev just peeled an apple and said that was enough for him. I made sure that his tea had sugar in it, in case making babies was like going into shock. He smiled at me and drank it all. I told him that the other two were coming about noon and he nodded. Then we were quiet while we snuggled on the couch and read more about tantric magic. We peeked ahead to how to make love with a pregnant partner and some of it made him laugh out loud.

But for every page we turned, we kissed. Some of them were light, silly smooches but every once in a while they'd turn hot and heavy, leaving us both gasping for breath. We were both hard by the time the bookcase opened but that acted like a cold bath for both of us. Professor McGonagall was through first and her eyebrows raised when she saw us plastered against each other on the couch.

I got up first and gave him a hand while she took a good hard look at both of us. "Well, Albus, it seems you were right. They are in love."

"Yes indeed, Minerva, quite deeply in love." The headmaster was right behind her. "Oh good, the two of you are simmering nicely. We'd best be on our way. If I remember correctly, it's almost an hour to the caves. Harry, if you'd escort Minerva, I'll just make sure that Severus gets there in one piece."

I didn't want to make a scene but it felt wrong to be parted from Severus even if only by a few feet. Professor McGonagall quizzed me about the last few days and I tried to answer her correctly but most of my attention was on the low voiced conversation behind me. So I turned the tables on her and started asking questions about pregnancy. I wanted a good book on the subject and she promised to get me one then we discussed how I could hide it.

Actually, she had the brilliant idea of writing my mother's name in it so I could pretend that I was keeping it because it was hers. And since I knew that my trunk had been searched several times already, she said that she'd give it to me after a class with the story that she'd found it when she was cleaning off some shelves. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

I was glad that she was on our side and I told her so. She cackled that laugh that was so distinctive and slapped me on the back before calling to Severus to take me in hand. That brought such a wonderful picture into my head that I blushed scarlet. Dumbledore was chuckling and Sev came to my side almost instantly so I knew he was feeling the same way that I was.

It was just wrong for us to be apart, especially now but maybe for always. His arm came around me and I slipped mine around him, leaning into him with a sigh. Walking felt good again and we didn't say a word, just listened to the two behind us, the wind around us and the owl calls high over us.

Anticipation was growing and I could hardly wait to enter the beautiful cave where the springs were. Two tall granite plinths guarded the entrance to the caves and we paused there for Dumbledore to give us a little last minute advice. But we didn't really need it. We left them there and quickly made our way behind the bobbing mage light to the stalactite cave with the bubbling pool of mineral rich water in the middle.

All our supplies were there and we undressed first before I filled the bag with hot water while he poured in the ingredients except for the last one. He was rock hard and it only took my mouth a few good sucks before he came for me. We caught most of it in the bag and while he lay there panting, I slid the nozzle into him and let it flow inside.

He let out a high pitched cry that almost startled me right into the pool. "Gods, that's ... incredible, Harry. Oh!"

"Sev?" I didn't know what to do. Was it supposed to be like this?

"Harry, I can feel each and every sperm swarming towards that spot." He arched his back like a cat and moaned again. "More, I need more."

But the bag was empty and I set it aside. "Sev, slide into the pool and I'll come in, too."

I had to tug him over the edge and into the hot water. I followed him immediately and he kissed me as if it would be our last kiss this century. The clock was ticking so slowly that I thought I'd go quite mad before I could come inside of him but the timing had to be right. His hands were all over me and if I thought I'd been hard before, well, now I knew what hard really meant.

"Now, Harry, please now. Please, please, please." He was moaning continuously and I finally knew the moment was right.

As tenderly as I could, I turned him away from me and moved into position, gently entering him. But he didn't want gentle, he wanted hard and he wanted it right now, pushing back and taking all of me in one thrust. We sighed together and I came, just like that. We were so connected at that moment that I 'saw' my seed rush into him, following the trail that had been laid with the potion.

The rose-red globe pulsed in time to both our hearts and it flared so brightly when seed met seed that we were both blinded. The water bubbled around us and slowly we separated into two separate people. But not completely, we'd never completely separate ever again because deep inside of Severus was the new life we'd created. He sighed my name and brought my hands up to kiss while I tried to hug him right into me.

We'd done it.

*************
Dumbledore
*************

The explosion that billowed out of the underground passage was spectacular in a rainbow of colors that is rarely ever seen. Minerva and I held it back, allowing it to settle deep into stone and the air pockets that honeycombed this ancient mountain. Our wards were hard pressed to keep all that creative energy hidden. The joy and love that spiraled out of the caves felt like a caress that lasted for quite some time.

"Ten to one, it's a girl." Minerva bet me when we finally let the wards go.

"I'll take that bet and raise you, a midsummer solstice birth."

"Done. I've worked up an appetite. Let's leave them alone and go have supper." She slipped her hand in mine and we left the two new parents to their afterglow. It was little enough time they had to bask in their accomplishment before rejoining the real world.

We'd done very well, indeed.

*********************
The end for now