Chapter 66

A/N: This is a very emotional chapter. I am very sorry if anyone is upset by the turn of events. PLEASE pay attention to the warning section. My thanks to karelia and kittylefish for agreeing to finish the beta work for the rest of the fic.

***

Two weeks went by, and Hermione discovered to her surprise that she was faring well in the forest. She had rationed her food and laid traps for small animals, like rabbits and squirrels, to kill and eat for protein. The bread was gone, but it couldn't be helped. The cheese kept fresh, and she had water and berries in the nearby bushes to keep Serena happy.

One evening, she heard voices close to her site and grew nervous and afraid.

"You've got nerve, boy! I'd never go into public to risk anything for a ruddy paper," one man's voice said.

"But, this was worth it!" said another voice that sounded strangely familiar. "Look, it's got everything in here. All the new edicts and whatnot."

"Damn," said another voice that sounded strange. "That bint's got it in for anyone not fully human!"

"Or pure-blooded," reminded the other voice.

Hermione listened in more and more until she recognized the voice. It was Dean! Dean Thomas! She picked herself up and went to find them. They were surrounded by a roaring fire and were eating like kings.

Dean was with two men Hermione didn't know and two goblins. They were terrified, but Dean said, "Wait...hold it!"

He stood up slowly and said, "Hermione?"

Hermione burst into tears, and Dean rushed to her side and hugged her. "Shush, now. It's all right. You're with friends now."

"This is Hermione. She is a Muggle-born as well. Hermione, have you been on the run all this time?"

"For a month now," she said tiredly. "Let me get my stuff, if I can join you? I'm all alone."

"Sure, sure!" said one man as he got up. "Let me get it for you. Can't be too far off now, can it?"

Dean helped Hermione sit down near the fire. The other man and the two goblins were eyeing her cautiously.

"You'll be having a baby before the winter begins," said one man. "Who is the bloke who got you that way?"

Hermione was silent. She didn't know what to say.

"Aye, what I figured. Those bloody Snatchers. Some are stupid enough to think why not get a bit from a Muggle-born before handing her in. Got away in the end, did you?" he asked as he ate what looked like rabbit stew.

Dean fixed her a plate of stew, and Hermione ate heartily. The rest looked at her as if she were an animal to be pitied.

Dean drew a breath and said, "Look, Hermione's married. She got hoodwinked and tricked into marriage, and the Death Eater got her pregnant looks like. Right, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, afraid they would hurt her and Serena if she told them the truth.

"Who was it?" the man asked.

"Is it still at least common courtesy for you to identify yourself before I tell you one of the most intimate details of my life?" she answered coldly.

"Dirk Cresswell. I was the head of the Goblin Liaison Office. I was sent to Azkaban for refusing to register as a Muggle-born with the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, but I escaped by Stunning Auror Dawlish. I went on the run with Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, and the Goblins Griphook and Gornuk who were with me on the transport to Azkaban."

"What is the 'Muggle-Born Registration Commission'?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, that's the work of our good, old friend, Dolores Umbridge!" said Dean sarcastically.

The man returned with Hermione's gear and said, "Me name's Ted Tonks. And you are?"

"Hermione Granger," she said. "I was working with your daughter, Nymphadora, in the Auror Department."

"Oh! You're one of Harry Potter's friends!" he said excitedly. "Now why are you out here by yourself?"

Hermione replied without emotion. "I had a falling out with Harry. He was very angry when I married my husband."

"Who did you marry?" asked one of the goblins.

"I'd rather not say," Hermione said nervously.

"It's okay, Hermione," Dean assured her as he placed a hand on her knee. "We know he tricked you, lied to you, hell...he lied to everyone."

He turned his face to the group. "She's Severus Snape's wife."

The goblins began to choke on the food. Dirk and Ted went pale as ghosts. "You're carrying Snape's child?" Dirk asked her, obviously shaken by the revelation.

Hermione nodded while she looked about her nervously.

Ted spoke up. "You don't know what's been going on, do you?" he asked with a look of worry on his face.

"No," she said. "I was in hiding at Hogwarts until Tonks, er, Nymphadora sent me a Patronus that the Ministry had fallen, Scrimgeour was dead, and I had to get out of the castle."

"Damn right!" Dirk said in agreement. "At that moment, You-Know-Who probably had a contingent already on their way to take over the castle. You were probably running out as they were headin' in! It's September, you know. Hogwarts is open, and your husband is the Headmaster."

"What?" Hermione said breathlessly. She felt as if her body had gone numb. This can't be happening!

"There's a lot you don't know, Hermione. We'd best fill her in, guys," said Dean.

"Well," started Dirk. "First, you need to know what happened the day you went on the run. First, the Ministry was taken over by the Death Eaters. But we all went on with our work. We had a new Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse."

"Wasn't he the wizard who took over Amelia Bones' job as Head of Magical Law Enforcement?"

"The very one!" Dirk confirmed. "Now, the Death Eater, Yaxley, has got the job now that Thicknesse is Minister. But the thing is, I've known Pius for years, and he's not the same man. He's under the Imperius Curse, and You-Know-Who is really the Minster of Magic now."

Hermione felt weak. "Oh my God," she whispered.

"Then things started changing. Yaxley and Umbridge came up with the 'Muggle-Born Registration Commission' and began to rifle through everyone's personal information records. They made a list of those who worked at the Ministry who were Muggle-borns, married Muggle-borns, or had family members who married Muggle-borns," he said with a nod to Ted.

Ted spoke up, "Lucius Malfoy has been a Death Eater forever. My wife, Andromeda, is his wife's sister. They came to my house and put my wife and I under the Cruciatus Curse before sending me off to Azkaban with this group."

"That's not all they did," Dean added. "They also got a hold of all the student records of everyone alive who had attended Hogwarts. All the Muggle-borns were put on the list, ordered to register as a Muggle-born, and surrender their wands."

Hermione's mouth fell open. "Severus did that? He just let them have those records?"

"Please!" said one of the goblins. "Spare us your wifely faith in a sneaky opportunist like Snape. That man has no loyalty...except to himself," he added as he looked at Hermione's swollen belly.

Hermione lifted her chin defiantly. She wasn't going to lose faith in him. She could feel the thrumming of the magic in her body. They had taken vows and oaths. He was just playing a part...a spy.

Dirk cleared his throat and continued. "At first, they were sly about it. You were urged to comply and rot like that. Then, when they came to me, I told that Umbridge bitch where she could stick her register! Then I was carted off to Azkaban with these fellows. That bint even wrote a pamphlet called Mudbloods and the dangers they pose to a peaceful pure-blood society."

He thrust a newspaper under her nose, and she saw it with her own eyes. She couldn't believe what she was reading.

"Can you believe that tripe?" Dirk said angrily.

"Where is the Order?" Hermione whispered.

"There is no Order, missy," said Dirk. "Everyone is either in hiding, a part of the Underground Resistance, like the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan, or they are just going with the flow!"

"Dirk!" said Dean angrily. "This is a lot for Hermione to process." Dean held a protective arm around Hermione and kept her close. Hermione felt grateful for his concern for her.

Dirk became furious. "Well, she'd better buck up and face facts. Do you realize that you are in the top five of the Death Eaters' wanted list? Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Remus Lupin, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. They're looking for you. Now what are you going to do when that baby comes?" he demanded.

Hermione didn't like his pushy tone. If she had been her normal self, she would have just hexed him for being such a prick, but the pregnancy was making her confused and emotional. "I-I don't know, I could go underground, hide in the Muggle world, perhaps," she said.

"When are you due?" asked the other goblin.

"December."

"A hard time to have offspring."

"It wasn't planned," she muttered.

"These things never are."

"What's your name?"

"Griphook," he said. "This here is Gornuk." He pointed towards the other goblin. "We refused to work like animals under the new regime, so we were sent to Azkaban."

"I can't believe Dawlish is doing this!" Hermione said incredulously.

Dirk snorted. "Most don't have a choice. Dawlish's wife is a half-blood. He was told to comply or she would be sent off to Azkaban as well."

"I can't believe this is happening," Hermione mumbled.

"Believe it, girl," said Dirk roughly. "The Ministry of Magic is nothing more than a holding pen for Muggle-borns. Trials are continuously going on, and those, like Dean, received a notice to report to the Ministry. That's the stupidest thing you could do, but many are fools, believing the lies that if they cooperate, they will be shown leniency, or they can't hide properly and get caught by the Snatchers and are sent off to the Ministry. If you get to the Ministry, there's only one way out...on a transport to Azkaban."

"Have many of our fellow Muggle-borns been sent off?" Hermione asked Dean.

"Couldn't tell you," he said. "I've been watching out for my own back."

Hermione thought for a moment and asked, "Who are the Snatchers?"

Ted spoke up this time. "Snatchers are those who work for You-Know-Who, and they go out and search for Muggle-borns in hiding and turn them into the Ministry for a nice fee."

"Bounty hunters," Hermione whispered.

"Too right," Ted replied. "Well, there are a bunch of them, and they all work in groups. We were lucky. The group that sent us on the transport to Azkaban was thick as two short planks held together with stupid glue! Others, from the info we got while waiting in the queue, are pretty ruthless. Fenrir Greyback, that bloody werewolf, his group is the worst. They're brutal. What's worse is that the Ministry doesn't care if you bring them in alive or dead."

Hermione placed a hand nervously around her neck. Dean put his arm around her. "We'll take care of you, Hermione," he said. He looked at the others and said, "Hermione is the smartest witch in my class. She'll know how to get us out of tight spots. She's been on the run all this time alone without getting caught whilst pregnant! She'll be an asset."

"Oh, one more thing," Dirk said. "Never say his name. Say 'You-Know-Who.' The name has a tracking spell on it. Snatchers will be all over our arses if we so much as breathe his name. So, remember it!"

***

They agreed to remain together, and Hermione shared the tent with all four of them. She was resolved to never be argumentative and help pull her weight with the cooking and casting protective spells around the site.

As the weeks passed, Hermione noticed Dean was growing attached to her. At first, he was just helpful, offering to help her cook or placing a stool under her feet when they swelled. Hermione watched the others for signs of knowledge, but no one said a word. There were times she thought she saw a ghost of a smile playing around Dirk's face, but that was all.

One night, Dean crept into her bed. It was a rather tight fit, and it made Hermione very uncomfortable. Dean kept pulling on the blanket gently to keep her warm and bundled. She was appreciative of his chivalry; however, she couldn't help but think that there was something more to his coming to her bed in the middle of the night. She stared warily into his brown eyes as he began to whisper to her.

"Hermione, I want you to know that I would do anything to help you and Baby Serena. I think we could make a life together."

His hand brushed her cheek, and it was so wrong. She couldn't tell him she didn't want him, could she? What if they kicked her out to face winter alone? Dean knew she was married, and even if the rest of the group hated Severus, it didn't change the fact that she lovedhim, and it would always be him for her...always. Somehow, she gathered the courage and took his hand off her cheek.

"Please don't think I'm ungrateful, Dean," she whispered into the dark. "You have saved me and my baby. You have always been a good person. You are a good and kind man. But my husband is out there. I made a vow to him. I have loved him since I was a girl. Even if he were to... n-never see me again, I would always be his. Please don't make me choose between my husband and the safety of my daughter."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "I would never do that, Hermione!" he declared. "I care about you too much. It's just you are so beautiful and we are here, together. I thought we could make a new life for us. Who knows how many Muggle-borns are left?"

"I know," she replied. "But as bleak as things may seem, I cannot betray my husband. I love him. He is a good man."

Dean nodded and slowly retreated from her bed. Hermione was dizzy from the emotional exertion. It hurt to think about Severus. The thought of never seeing him again scared her. Her eyes filled with tears. The strain was eating her alive. She didn't know how much more she could take.

***

One early morning in October, Hermione woke up feeling sick and dizzy. She was beginning her seventh month, and every day was becoming harder and harder to handle. Her back hurt, her ankles swelled from walking so much, and the lack of food had made her very thin. Food was a touchy subject. With the cold settling in, it was getting harder to find food enough for everyone. Going off to hunt was suicidal; who knew if there were Snatchers out there waiting to hunt them down? Dirk complained a great deal over the lack of food. He resented Hermione getting the largest share, but when he came close to crossing the line about "maybe it would be for the best if...," someone would stand up and shut his mouth for him. There were a lot of bruised knuckles and swollen eyes and lips going around, and Hermione felt responsible. Ted and Dean reassured her they would rather go hungry than see her lose any more weight. The goblins kept their opinions to themselves, but Hermione could see the pity in their eyes.

She wished she had the guts to let them be and end the waiting. It would literally be two fewer mouths to feed, but she couldn't and reproached herself for her selfishness. She was a bloody coward, but she figured she had no other option. There was simply nowhere she could go and be safe.

During dinner one evening, the topic of hiding out at Andromeda's arose. Ted told her she was more than welcome to try, but the Snatchers were thick around the area. If she could hold out until November or December, just before the birth, she could go. The snow would probably keep the Snatchers inside, not out on patrols as much. Therefore, that was the plan: holding out for December.

However, on this ominous morning, everything changed. Once Hermione tried to lift herself off the bed, she screamed in pain. She sat up clutching her belly and tore the cover off her. She was bleeding badly, and the pain wasn't stopping. It would grow mild, and then she could relax and breathe. Then all too soon, she would grit her teeth, and the excruciating pain would start all over again. The ripping, pulling, and pressure would not stop.

Dean and Ted were helping her. Dean Scourgified her bloody clothes and sheets at regular intervals. Dean held her head in his lap and let her grip his hands to withstand the pain. There was a lot of shouting, a great deal of crying, from Hermione, and then there was the never-ending screaming.

The screaming was awful. The sweating and the vomiting were terrible as well. There was nothing to help Hermione's agony. The shouting and clamoring of the men and goblins around her seemed so far away from where she was...locked in the grip of never-ending pain.

"Will you just let me silence her?" Dirk hissed. "We're going to get caught with all this noise!"

"Don't you have any pity in you?" shouted Dean. "She's in agonizing pain! Besides, we have wards all around us. No one can hear anything!"

"It still doesn't make me feel safe. Just shut her up! SHUT UP!" he shouted at Hermione.

"You had best watch yourself, Dirk," Ted told him in a deadly calm voice.

"Don't yell at a woman when she's birthing."

Hermione's face contorted as she tried to keep quiet, but it was so awful and hurt so much, she couldn't stop the occasional scream that would rip from her throat.

Dirk paced in front of them as he fisted his hair. "I'm not saying to not let her scream, just put a Silencing Spell on her, for Merlin's sake! Do you want to get us all killed?" he shouted.

Ted looked at Dean grimly. Dean whispered into Hermione's ear, "Hermione, I will only silence you as long as we need, and then I will remove the spell. We just can't have the screaming be heard."

Hermione cried and nodded her head to give him permission. She couldn't believe it was all coming down to this. She felt she was dying. She had been so concerned about Severus getting killed, she never thought about the possibility she might leave him behind.

Ted was in charge of the delivery as Dirk and the goblins looked on in pitiful silence. "Hermione," said Ted. "I was there for Dromeda when Dora was born. I need you to look at me, focus on me!" he demanded.

Hermione came down from a contraction, and he said darkly, "Hermione, the baby is coming. I can't stop it. You won't need to push; your womb is doing it for you. I need you to just let your body relax and let nature work."

"No," she mouthed weakly. Then the pain was washing over her. She screamed silently, "Nooo! Stop it, please make it stop!"

She saw the grim, pale faces around her. Dean was crying, Hermione was voicelessly screaming and begging them to make the pain go away.

Hermione cried and screamed for an eternity until the baby came out on its own. Hermione collapsed onto Dean's chest, exhausted and sweaty. Dean removed the Silencing Spell, and Hermione made low, panting gasps as she tried to remain conscious. Another sharp pain seized her, but it eased into a spasm compared to what she had endured earlier.

"Give us one more push, Hermione," Ted whispered.

"What is it?" she moaned as she gave one last, feeble effort to expel what was lingering inside her.

"It's just the afterbirth, Hermione," Ted answered. His voice remained soothing and low. "Completely normal."

"Why isn't she crying?" she mumbled.

"Need to get a Patronus to Andromeda," Hermione heard Ted whisper. "Dirk, please, she'll die."

Die? Am I dying?

Hermione watched as Dirk's raven Patronus took off. "We have to leave her here, they'll be on us soon!" said Dirk.

"My baby," whispered Hermione.

"She's dead, Hermione," whispered Dean as he took off his sweater and wrapped Serena in it.

Hermione began to wail in anguish. Dean covered her mouth and made shushing noises. She couldn't believe her daughter was gone, stolen from her because this fucking war had her on the run. She wanted her; she needed her daughter with her.

She stopped crying and gulped back her sobs as she rasped, "Give me my baby. I want to hold her!"

Ted set Serena into Hermione's arms. She used her hand to clean off the blood from her daughter's face. She was so small. How could she have felt so much pain at such a little person coming out of her? Hermione wept silently as she kissed Serena's little face.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," whispered Dean. "We have to bury her and get you moved to Andromeda's house."

"No," she hissed as she held Serena possessively against her chest. "I will not bury her here, alone in a place I can never find her again!"

"My baby, my baby," she cried out as she held her daughter to her breast. She was still there, holding Serena when Andromeda appeared at her side.

The dark-haired woman reached out and surrounded Hermione with strong, loving arms that reminded her of her own mother. She looked up and peered into Andromeda's face. She had kind eyes with an aura of determination that played around her mouth.

She spoke firm, yet soothingly to the younger witch. "Let's go Hermione. Come, I shall take care of you and Serena."