39: Injuries and Discoveries

Chapter 39: Injuries and Discoveries

Bill had to be to work at nine in the morning, so he asked the trio to meet him at the abandoned orphanage at six-thirty. Ron and Harry were all but rubbing their eyes when they arrived with Hermione, brooms in hand.

"If I'd known we were going for a flying lesson, I'd have scheduled this for the weekend," Bill said when he saw what they'd brought with them. His scars had now healed so the puckered skin had smoothed out and only the shiny pink scar stretched across his face. While the scar might have been horrifying on someone else, mixed with his earring and ponytail, he looked cooler than ever. Hermione imagined it wouldn't take more than a scowl to unnerve someone who didn't know him.

"You'll understand when you see the room where we're going," Harry said.

Bill followed them into the building and up the stairs. "This place is a dump," Bill said as they reached the third floor. He was holding his nose, causing Hermione to wonder if he had picked up extra sensitive smell when he had been exposed to the werewolf saliva a couple months earlier. Then again, the place was rank. "You think Voldemort really left bits of, er, yeah, those artifact things here?"

Hermione eyed him, certain he knew what the artifacts were. Still, he didn't ask for confirmation, and she was just as glad. "Not since the orphans moved out of the building. Probably back when the place was safe for habitation. And smelled a bit better."

When they reached the doorway to the dorm room, Bill looked around at the destruction and whistled. "I see why you brought the brooms. Hand that over here, Harry, then someone point me in the right direction."

In a moment, Bill had mounted Harry's broom, and he and Ron were hovering near the site Harry had outlined. Ron cast a shielding spell, and Bill began work on the wards while Harry and Hermione watched from the doorway.

The process took longer than Hermione had expected, and from time to time there were small explosions, bits of smoke and sparks that hit Ron's shield, then glanced away. Hermione was glad they were more or less behind the shield as well, so the sparks didn't head toward herself and Harry.

After the better part of an hour, Bill paused and looked at Ron, who had sweat trickling down his face. "You'll have to trade off with Hermione. You're getting tired and I can't have you let go of the shield. There are some nasty buggers on this thing."

"But Hermione hates brooms," Ron said. "She's a menace on them."

"I'll go up instead," Harry offered.

"No, Hermione's charm work is better, and you know it." Bill gave her a piercing look. "She'll have to get over her fear of flying, for the moment at least."

Ron brought his broom back over and dismounted, handing it to Hermione, who felt as though she were shaking all over. She had never liked brooms, wished never to mount one again, but it appeared she had little choice. She really wished she could use her magic while in her Animagus form and determined to research into whether it was actually possible or not.

Steeling herself for the task, Hermione mounted the broom and focused on what she wanted it to do. It took her twice the time to traverse the distance as it had Ron, and she didn't make it in a straight shot, weaving up and down somewhat, but she made it there. White knuckled. Barely breathing.

"Relax, Hermione. It's a broom, not a bludger." Bill looked at her with a mix of amusement and concern.

She took a deep breath, determined to succeed at this. If she could all but command the winds as a bird, surely she could stay on a broom for a few minutes. "I'll be fine. Really." She rolled her shoulders and worked at loosening her muscles, then focused on the spot of the rafters where Bill had been working and lifted her wand to cast the spell.

Once her attention was on her task, the broom hovered more smoothly, no longer weaving around with her nerves. Bill's attention returned fully to the wards he was removing as sparks flew.

An interminable amount of time passed, and Hermione began to appreciate Bill's endurance. He seemed barely winded by the intense work he was doing, while she felt out of breath and worn out in a matter of minutes. Keeping her focus on the rafters, she flexed her shoulder muscles and wished her legs weren't going numb from holding onto the broom as he slowly peeled back the layers of wards and curses on the item.

With one last muttered counter-curse, an explosion of colored sparks blasted them both, knocking Hermione from her broom and sending her end-over-end. She felt her back hit the floor, pushing the air from her lungs. The floorboard cracked and gave way as her head went down through the gaping hole in the floor. As she flipped toward her stomach, falling to the floor below, she instinctively changed into a bird to stop her fall and caught the air, flying away from the falling debris. Though her flight was somewhat erratic, she flew back up the hole to land beside the boys who were calling out her name.

When she changed back to her usual form, she could feel a haze of pain surrounding her and wished she could just pass out.

Bill swore and rushed the few feet between them, landed next to her and dismounted his broom. He turned her around, beginning a diagnostic spell. "That was wicked! When did you learn to do that?"

"June. I think I hurt my back." Pain radiated from the spot where she had hit the floor, and she felt something wet and sticky trailing down one hip. She slumped, holding onto the door jamb to stay semi-upright.

Ron and Harry both exclaimed over her injury when Bill pulled her shirt over her head to expose her bloodied back. Bill had to shoo them away so he could have some space. "Looks like it; but don't worry, I know a lot of medical spells." He cast a cleansing charm, then another to prevent infection and began repairing the skin and tissue damage. "So, I'm guessing you're unregistered?"

"Yeah, it'll have to wait until the war's over." Hermione appreciated that he was trying to keep her mind off of what he was doing, but she couldn't focus on anything but managing the pain right now. To top things off, she could feel Severus's worry about her and didn't have the energy to send back reassurances.

"Can't blame you for that. It could come in handy sometime."

When she was back in one piece, Bill ran his wand down her exposed back, murmuring another spell Hermione recognized as a different diagnostic spell than the first. He paused, taking in a deep breath, as if surprised, then pinpointed the spot that still hurt on her back and cast one more healing spell Hermione had never heard before. There was a terrible, sharp pain, causing her to cry out, then heat radiated from the tip, and the pain melted away to a dull ache.

Standing straight again, Hermione tested her muscles and ran a hand over her skin. She felt distinctly uncomfortable in only her bra in front of the three males now that she wasn't focused on her injury. "It feels completely better."

Bill picked up her shirt, cleaned and repaired it, and handed it back to her. "Yeah, you broke a rib, cut yourself up pretty good and damaged your kidney. Fixed all of that, but it wouldn't hurt to have a Healer look it over if you have more pain tonight." Bill wiped a hand over his face. "You three are going to be the death of me yet."

"That was quick wand work," Ron said, clearly impressed. "Where did you learn those spells?"

"It was necessary. Working in the catacombs it isn't always convenient or something we want to announce to the world. Learning basic healing charms came in handy." A funny look came into his eyes as he looked at Hermione, as if seeing her for the first time. "But you really should see a Healer, Hermione. You never know what residual effects something like that might have. It could cause far-reaching complications and you need to think of more than yourself now."

Hermione smiled reassuringly. "I feel great, thanks. If I have any other pain, I'll see someone. Did we get the comb, then?"

"What makes you think it's the comb?" Ron asked.

"Space requirements...it's pretty tight up there. Is it the cup instead?"

"Don't know. Is it safe to touch now?" Harry asked Bill.

"Yeah. I got them all."

"Accio comb." Harry held out a hand and a silver metal object slapped into his hand.

Fascinated, Hermione peered at the object, the diamonds winking at her along the top as if they were newly set. She reached out a finger and ran it along the cool metal. "Can you take a closer look at it Bill; make sure it's got the same signature."

"If it doesn't, someone went to an awful lot of work to protect it," Ron said, taking his turn to handle it.

"It's hardly a trinket," Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, but who would hide something that valuable where it might be destroyed by Muggles if he planned to come back for it?"

"No Muggle could have gotten to it with the wards on it." Harry took the comb back. "And no normal wizard would waste that much effort when a Gringott's vault would be just as safe. Safer actually, since we couldn't have gotten to it in the vault."

Bill paid no attention to the chatter around him, taking the comb from Harry and casting a couple spells on it. "It's the same, and it looks like we got everything. The only things left is the, er, thing you neutralized in the locket."

"You know exactly what it is, don't you?" Hermione asked. Too many times now he had changed his sentence half-way through. He had to know what it was.

"Not if you don't confirm it. Which reminds me, I have some time before I have to get going. Want an extra hand on your shielding spell? Hermione really shouldn't be doing anything that serious today after the shielding she already did."

"Ron held the same spell for nearly as long as I did," Hermione pointed out.

"Yes, but your circumstances are different." Bill gave her a knowing look, making her wonder what she was supposed to know. "I've got a few minutes yet."

Harry grinned at him and gave him the directions of where to Apparate.

When they reached the clearing, Bill forbade Hermione from participating in the shielding spell. "You've been hurt. Even if you feel fine, it's taken a lot out of you, so you aren't casting this spell. Just stand by and watch this time...from a distance. Seriously, Hermione."

She wanted to whine, complain, and stamp her feet, which convinced her she must not be back to full strength, so she glowered and accepted his decision.

Twenty minutes later, the bit of soul fled the comb, and all three men found themselves flat on their backs. Hermione sat much further back and felt only the flash of dissipating magic. It was incredible to watch the magic going on from a distance though, being able to study the changing colors and shifting boundaries, rather than focus on only her little part of the process.

Before Bill Disapparated to work, he again encouraged Hermione to see a Healer. She smiled and watched him go with no intention to see anyone.

*****

What's going on? Are you all right? Do I need to come to you?

The diary notified her of the newest entry before Hermione left the clearing at Godric's Hollow. As it was clear Severus was anxious about her well-being, she answered it the moment she reached her room.

I'm fine. We had quite an adventure; I'll have to give you the details later, but Bill was there and healed my wound. I'm as good as new now. I'll be by to work on the potion this afternoon. One more down, two more to go.

As a general rule, Hermione preferred not to mention the Horcruxes in her diary, and even when she did, she kept it indirect. If Bill Weasley could break wards as strong as the ones on the comb, someone else who was determined could surely access the diaries. There was enough damning stuff in them without giving the game away completely. Despite what she had told Bill, she did feel a low ache in her back still, but figured with her husband being so worried about her, maybe she would convince him to give her a back rub. And wouldn't that be nice?

She put the diary away and continued on up to the attic where they planned some silent defense practice.

*****

"So what's our next stop?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as the three of them split a celebratory pizza at Grimmauld Place that afternoon.

"I've been wracking my brain, and the only other site I can think of is Hogwarts," Ron said around a mouth of food. "But the diary is already connected to that."

"Borgin and Burkes, maybe? He did learn about most of these artifacts because of his job there," Hermione said before taking another large bite of pizza. Practice that morning had drained her far faster than usual, which she would have attributed to her shield work that morning, except Ron seemed hardly affected, and he held the shield much longer if you counted the Horcrux destruction. That Harry was unaffected wasn't surprising since he didn't hold the shield at all; and when considering sheer power, he had far more at his command than either Ron or herself.

"What do we do, just go in and start casting spells?" Harry asked. He poured her more soda and slid another slice of the no-cheese pizza onto her plate when she indicated she'd like another. "What's with your appetite lately? I still can't believe you ordered that."

She shrugged and turned it for a bite. The thought of all that greasy cheese had been more than her stomach would handle, but the pizza was tasty this way. "Well, we can hardly search every inch of Hogwarts. Even with a phalanx of house-elf assistance, it would still take months."

"Then we have to either expand our choices of locations, or reduce them," Ron said. "It's unlikely he would place the cup in any of the common rooms, except maybe Slytherin. And I'd guess the Headmaster's office is off limits. I'd love to find it in his first flat or something, but we need to be more realistic."

"Great, that should be just wonderful." Hermione took another bite of pizza and hoped the boys were thinking more clearly than she was at the moment. She decided she could use a nap before meeting her husband at the cottage.

*****

When Hermione gave Severus the details of the Horcrux chase and destruction at their cottage later that afternoon, she was surprised to see how upset he was. Yes, she had been hurt, but she was fine; Bill had healed her. She hadn't mentioned falling through the floor and having to use her Animagus form to keep from falling through the second story, no reason to really upset Severus, especially when he didn't know of her alternate shape.

"So Bill healed me and I'm fine. Other than some lingering discomfort in my lower back, I feel great."

"You're having lower back pain? Turn around; I'll check it out." Severus was so earnest, so anxious she couldn't argue with him, though Hermione thought he was going completely overboard. When had her husband turned into a fuss-budget?

She turned and slid out of her Muggle t-shirt so he could see the wound site more clearly. That reminded her that she had disrobed as much in front of the boys that morning. She decided to keep that detail to herself.

"You should have seen a Healer."

She felt his wand tip running along her skin, his fingers tracing the edges of the wound and realized there must be some residual scarring or bruising left. "You and Bill and your one-track minds. I feel fine."

"What was that about Bill?" His voice grew hard, anxious and worried all at once.

Realizing she shouldn't have mentioned that Bill encouraged her to see a Healer, Hermione kept her groan back. It wasn't like her husband to be so over protective, but now she had let it slip, she knew he wouldn't drop the subject until she told him more. "It was odd, he said I was fully healed and should be fine, but he kept telling me to go see a Healer. He cast one of those diagnostic spells and then turned all mother-hen."

"Which diagnostic spell did he use?"

Hermione told him, then waited while he cast it himself. There were several long seconds of silence while her soul mate just sat there, silently caressing her lower back. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw his eyes glued to the area he was touching. "What, do I have cancer or something?" she joked.

"No, no, nothing like that. You're perfectly normal for someone in your situation. It looks like he did a great job of healing you. Just to be safe, you should take some time off from the more dangerous hexes in your practice with the boys." He ran his hands down her back, then reached around her to lean her back against his chest, one hand coming to rest on her hip, the other splayed across her belly almost possessively.

In my situation? But she didn't have time to pursue that comment because he started to move his hands over her.

"So you wanted a massage, then?" His voice was a low purr in her ear.

"That would be heavenly."

*****

When Hermione was asleep that night, Severus cast a few more diagnostic spells and ran his wand along the length of her body, seeking out other possible injuries. Everything checked out fine, so he cast the one spell again over her stomach and marveled. Already he could imagine her womb stretching, cradling their baby and felt a tug of excitement at the prospect.

When he had seen the results of the spell earlier in the day, he had considered letting her in on the secret of Bill's odd behavior. He knew he should, and that it would come back to blow up in his face, but he knew she would be very upset with him and didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

Sometimes honesty was not the best policy.

While she had taken an afternoon nap after her massage had turned into lovemaking, he had snuck down to the potion lab. After starting a batch of prenatal vitamin potion, he thoroughly dug through the ingredients he kept on hand, removing anything that might pose a danger for her. He would pass off the vitamin potion as a basic precaution when he directed her to take it every morning.

Next, he checked the upcoming schedule for the Felix Felicis and determined a few spots where he would handle the potion. There was no point risking his growing family unnecessarily.

__________

AN: So Severus's potions have done their work, but Hermione still suspects nothing. That won't last long. More interesting still, Bill knows she's pregnant. What will come of that secret?

Thanks to my beta, countrymouse, for her help with this chapter. Also, a bit thanks to our Admins for all of their time and efforts to make this site what it is. A special thanks to RobisonRocket who made the final corrections on this chapter.

My apologies to the reader who didn't want Hermione to get pregnant. I spent a good amount of time weighing the pros and cons of her getting pregnant before I had Voldemort give the order, but decided to go this direction for several reasons. I hope you'll forgive me.