Living by the tip of the Blade

Usual disclaimer: I don’t own them and make no profit, except at their expense.

Special thanks to PotionsMistress23 for her editing work!

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Chapter Fifteen: Living by the tip of the Blade

Before Harry could ask, Minerva cried, “Mr. Potter, please come through!” His tears were clear evidence to her that the last and worst case scenario from her and Severus’s earlier conversation had come to pass. “What’s left you in such a state, Lad?”

“It’s Hermione and the baby. I – I...” he said numbly, shaking his head while looking around, dumbfounded and bereft. “I wanted to let you know they’ve been taken to St. Michael’s...”

Minerva gasped loudly, and her hand flew to cover her mouth.

“No. Not our Hermione.” Her sob joined Harry’s.

Neither noticed the expression on the Deputy Headmaster’s face as he processed this revelation.

Dead. Hermione and the child – dead. How could it be? She was fine when last I saw her at that blasted Hogmanay celebration. Had that been too much stress on her and the babe? I need to see her, see the child – if only to be sure. With that thought in mind, he turned to leave. He barely took a step when he heard Minerva’s questions begin, making him halt in his tracks to hear the answers.

“But how? What happened?”

“She was by herself when it happened. Apparently, she was walking in Muggle London, near St. James’s Park – near Westminster Abbey, when she was stabbed, seemingly at random, by a passing Muggle. The Muggles who witnessed it called for emergency services, and she was taken by ambulance to the nearby A&E at St. Thomas’s.”

She gasped, “Merlin – when did this happen?”

“It was the afternoon of New Year’s Day.”

“Three days ago! Why hasn’t it been in The Prophet? Why hasn’t anyone said anything?”

“We only thought she was taking time to herself for a day or two. It wasn’t until yesterday afternoon that we found that she’d been at St. Thomas’s. One of the nurses in the hospital there is a Squib and notified St. Mungo’s when she found Hermione’s wand with her personal affects. She’d been in and out of surgery since arriving at the hospital, when they tried to save the baby and stem the bleeding. The baby was delivered immediately, by special surgery, and then they started working on Hermione.” He ran a hand through his hair, not quite knowing how to explain Muggle medical procedures that he wasn’t entirely sure of to his former professor.

“Surely, once she got to St. Mungo’s, they were able to complete her healing? What’s gone wrong?”

“That’s what I thought, but we never really learned much about differences between Muggle and Magical healing at school. It seems that the longer time passes between injuries and healing, the less likely Magical healing can occur, especially when Muggle medical treatments have been started first. All the cutting, the surgeries, the stitches... I don’t think the Mediwitches and Wizards knew quite where to start with Hermione – she was in such a bad way. You should’ve seen her – she was deathly white to begin with. And that poor baby – not even getting to be held by her!”

Severus stood there, listening to the tale, mind reeling with the information while the others were still seemingly oblivious to his presence. She didn’t even know the child was born? Who named him then, if not his own parents?

“What do you mean; she never got to hold the child? How was he named if she didn’t name him?”

“Hermione was unconscious when the paramedics arrived and never woke after that. Mrs. Granger, her mother, knew the name Hermione picked, as she wanted him named for his father.” With that final statement, Harry’s eyes looked around the room and settled on the Deputy Head’s back, silently willing him to turn around to make eye contact. Once he did, Harry continued. “She wanted him to know who his father was, even if he wasn’t a part of their lives.”

Damn the woman; she knew and she never said! How many months of nothing, no communication? What was her intention – have the child and then tell me?

“...and so, it was this morning that Hermione and Corvus were transferred to St. Michael’s,” he said calmly.

Severus hadn’t quite listened to Harry any longer but was brought back to reality suddenly, with that final statement. St. Michael’s – the Wizarding morgue. I know there’s no identification needed, but I need to see her, and the child; Corvus, my – son.