All I Have To Give
A Harry Potter Tale
Summary: When Hermione returns to Hogwarts after the war, life takes an unexpected turn when she's poisoned and must deal with the consequences of the cure. AU, Post DH, Not Epilogue compliant.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I just like making the characters dance for my amusement, mwahahaha!
Author's Note: I have decided that this would make a fantastic story. I also want to attempt to write a Sirius/Hermione and a Marriage Law fic for Draco/Hermione. I have one Draco/Hermione out already, but I wanted to post this! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK and IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS for the Sirius/Hermione story.
This chapter is titled after: Clumsy by Our Lady Peace
1. Clumsy
"Oh! Hermione, that dress is so pretty!" Fleur exclaimed, her French accent thick with excitement. Hermione looked down, unsure if Fleur was just being nice.
They were shopping for bridesmaid dresses, Fleur using Hermione as the guinea pig for all her ideas, saying that if it looks good on her, it would look good on Gabriella and Ginny. Never mind the fact that Hermione wasn't nearly as gorgeous as either of them. Ginny was petite with fiery red hair and looked like a young Nicole Kidman. Gabriella was part Veela, with long blond hair and a gorgeous pale complexion that had all men drooling. Hermione, on the other hand, was hard and muscled from her time during the war. She had obvious muscles and abs, that she felt made her seem less than girl. Her hair had darkened to a rich mahogany and now that she was older had straightened except for the last three inches of her hair which fell in ringlets. Her skin was tanned to a rich honey color, and her eyes were dark brown, nearly black, and insecure. If you asked any one beside her, they would compare her to Alyssa Milano only with not quite such an abundant chest, but aside from that, their figures and beauty matched. Hermione, on the other hand, found herself to be awkward and less that pretty.
The dress Fleur was so excited about made her feel exposed, but she had to admit that it wasn't that bad. It was a light baby blue satin with black lace, the lace was sewn into the empire waist and covered the entirety of the bodice until it formed the one inch strap to hold it to her. The strap was one shoulder on the left side of her body and Hermione had no clue how she would manage to keep it from being ripped. The satin flowed down in an asymmetrical skirt, the longest part touched the floor and the shortest was halfway up her thigh, giving a fantastic view of her strong, honey-colored right leg. Then from the bodice was the same shade of blue, but chemise fabric that flowed down in the same asymmetrical pattern, trimmed in matching black lace. The shoes Fleur had insisted on matched the dress perfectly, cute 4-inch kitten heels in light baby blue satin with black ribbon trim, making Hermione nearly five foot six. Hermione had to admit, even though it made her feel exposed and practically naked, it did look good on her and it made her feel almost...sexy.
Fleur had just finished zipping her into the dress, she had insisted on Muggle fashions for the ceremony. They were still in the dressing room, but Hermione knew that Fleur had found the dress she was looking for. The dress would look so amazing on the other girls that Hermione wouldn't have to worry about being spared a second glance. Hermione smiled at Fleur.
"Its perfect. Is this the one you want?" She asked.
Fleur smiled, happy to see Hermione agreeing. "Yes! Now we must show ze boys and Ginny." Hermione shrugged, having already done the same with sixteen other dresses.
Fleur led the way to the showing area that was usually reserved for the bride to show off her dress and Hermione followed, hoping not to trip in the heels. She was hopelessly clumsy in high heels, which was why she usually only wore tennis shoes.
"Hermione, come show zem!" Fleur announced and Hermione walked out of the curtain. She was immediately met with gasps and four male jaws drop. It made her face go red as she did the spin that Fleur insisted on. When she saw them again, she noticed that the men were shifting uncomfortably and Ginny wore a huge grin.
"Fleur, I love it! Hermione is going to give all the men heart attacks!" Ginny announced, not even bothering to glare at Harry, who was sitting next to her and had crossed his legs and averted his gaze from his best friend. Next to Harry was Ron, who wasn't even trying to close his lax jaw or his slightly tented trousers. On Ron's other side was Remus, who was blushing profusely and had put the book he'd been reading on his lap, looking absolutely anywhere but at Hermione. She looked over to the last one, Bill. He was smiling, but it didn't quite reach his crystal blue eyes which were darkened with an emotion Hermione couldn't quite read and his leg was crossed like Harry. Hermione blushed at their reactions, knowing it was the only time they would react this way and not sure that she liked it.
"Good! Zen zis is the one." Fleur announced. "Ginny, go tell ze dress maker and let her take your measurements. Hermione, you may change if you'd like." Hermione nodded, thankful that she could get out of the main room and turned to leave quickly but tripped on the long side of the skirt with her heel and fell off the small stage. She hit the ground hard and Fleur rushed to help her, as well as Harry and Remus, who were closest to her. Remus lifted her up.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her with concern. She lifted her eyes to look into his gray ones.
"Yeah. I'm just not used to high heels." She chuckled and looked around, blushing in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Fleur."
"No need to apologize. As long as you are okay, Hermione." The older woman smiled at her and helped her into the dressing room. Hermione wasn't limping, or in pain other than her considerably sore backside, so she counted her blessings and swore to cast an Anti-Tripping Spell on them when she took them home to the Burrow.
When she came out of the dressing room, the men all seemed relieved to see her dressed more like herself. She wore a fitted white baby doll tee and hip-hugging dark wash jeans. Her trainers were more comfortable on her feet than the heels had been. Even though the shirt/jean combination did tend to show off a lot of flesh, it wasn't nearly the amount that the dress had and made her feel more secure. Ron ran up to her and wrapped his arm possessively around her shoulder, leading her away from her male friends to the exit of the shop. Fleur had taken the dress and the shoes to purchase them. When they reached the busy London street, he turned to her and began to snog her fiercely. She tried to pull back but he wasn't taking no for an answer. His earlier...problem...was pressing into her in a way that was very much uncomfortable.
Ron and she had begun dating after the end of the war, but she was yet to give in to him. He wanted sex, but she refused because she had always wanted to wait until she was married. Not that there was anything wrong with not waiting, just that she wanted to make sure that that wasn't all he wanted. He pretended to understand, but at the moment, he didn't seem to care. He pressed her against the wall, hoping that she would melt into the kiss, but she continued trying to push him off. When he finally released her lips and began attacking her neck sloppily, she let out an exasperated groan that he took for a pleasurable sigh.
"Ron, stop!" she ordered with force.
He did, but looked at her angrily. "Why?" he growled.
She didn't flinch at the sound, it wasn't the first time he'd yelled at her for stopping his attempts at seduction. "Two very good reasons." She glared at him. "One, we are in the middle of London, with people watching. Two, I do NOT want to do this." She pushed him away from her and pulled down her shirt that she hadn't even noticed had been tugged up to just below her breasts. She walked back to the entrance and away from him, waiting for Remus, Bill, Harry, Ginny, and Fleur to emerge. She didn't look at him again until she heard him scream in anger.
His hand was bloody and scraped. He was holding his wrist and glaring at her as the blood dripped down. She was about to say something when Remus exited with her dress in a box and the shoes on top. She took them and Remus went to Ron.
"What happened?" he asked, concerned both for the cut and why the angry red head was glaring at Hermione.
"I punched a wall." Ron growled again, not taking his eyes off of Hermione. She wasn't even close to intimidated by his anger. She thought he was simply being stupid and childish. Remus ripped off one of Ron's sleeves and wrapped the wound with it. He couldn't heal it until they got back to the Burrow, which Hermione wasn't entirely sure she wanted to stay at for the night. She was tempted to go back to her child hood home to stay with her mother and Remus. If Ron wasn't going to respect her and her wishes, then he could live without her in his house.
Harry came out and wrapped his arm around her. He kissed her temple, ignoring Ron's increased glare, and smiled down at her. "You looked hott," he whispered in her ear. She hit his chest and smiled at him.
"Liar!" she whispered back with a grin.
He just shook his head, he glanced at Ron. "What happened?" he asked looking her with pure concern.
She shrugged. "What usually happens?" she said unaffectedly. "He got too excited in there and tried once again to bed me, this time in the middle of the street. I pushed him off and he punched the wall."
Harry rolled his eyes. "When are you going to realize that you are too good for him?" he asked. "Ron's my best mate, but you are my sister and I have to think of you first. You are better than him, you deserve someone who will love you enough to wait for you." She looked at his affection and gave him a small smile. He had this habit of making her feel like she was worth more than she thought she was. He treated her like his sister, aside from his comments about how hott she was and how if he wasn't engaged to Ginny he'd shag her. He was lecherous, but incredibly sweet. In all honesty, if she had to choose between Harry and Ron...she would probably choose Harry. If just for the fact he respected her. The lecherous comments started coming in shortly after the war, Harry let loose a little and just decided that for once in his seventeen years of life, he would have fun being a boy. Granted, his lascivious comments generally were only directed her, mainly because if he did them to anyone else, they would take him seriously. Hermione, on the other hand, just found it amusing.
She knew he loved Ginny and he knew that she loved Ron, despite his constant frustration towards her. With Ron patched up, they all journeyed to the Apparition point in Diagon Alley, Hermione firmly ignoring his protests and apologies.
They arrived at the Burrow and Hermione walked up to Charlie's old room, which Mrs. Weasley had given her since her second son was currently in Romania. She quickly changed out of her street clothes and into a pair of black track pants with two sets of white strips down the sides and a matching sports bra. She tied her long, mahogany hair up into a high pony tail and grabbed her gym bag.
Before anyone could disturb her, she Apparated to the small field that the boys used for Quidditch. Pulling out four small figures, Hermione quickly enlarged them with her wand and pulled out her sports tape. She quickly taped the joints in her fingers and well as the rest of her hand on both and put the tape back into the bag. Then she pulled out a mat and laid out what she would need. A pair of padded, fingerless gloves, a sword, a staff and her wand, of course. Each of the figures were life sized, equipped the same way that she was. Dawning the gloves, she stretched her limbs and then animated the weaponless figure. He was charmed to not hold back, to throw every move in modern martial arts at her with precision. Smiling, she dodged his punches, kicks, and trickier moves with ease. She then began to go on the offensive, quickly defeating the figure with a hard kick to the abdomen which sent it flying to a tree and breaking in two.
Sweating, she toweled off with a white hand towel in her back, feeling the ache in her muscles that she had become addicted to when she started this daily ritual. She repaired the figure and shrank it once again before placing it back in the bag. She took off her gloves and returned them as well. She grabbed the sword and animated the figure with the sword. He stepped toward her, his own sword shining in the light. He came at her fast and aggressive, he was charmed to do the same as the first, no holding back with all techniques of swordplay. She matched him, every move, save for a move she hadn't expected and felt the blade slice across her upper arm. She gasped but recovered blocking the next blow which came down on her head. She through him off and lunged her sword into his stomach. He dropped to his knees and she swiftly struck across his neck, beheading him. He fell and she walked back over the the gym bag, using her towel to remove the blood from her shoulder before repairing the figure and shrinking it. She returned her sword to the back and grabbed the staff.
This figure was possibly the hardest to defeat aside from her hand-to-hand figure, because if she didn't strike properly, he wouldn't be defeated. He also fought harder, combining the hand-to-hand with the staff, so she had to be quick with him. He was also her favorite figure because it required constant persistence, patience, and concentration. It was just what she needed to keep her mind off of Ronald and her issues with their relationship. He only managed to strike her twice, once behind the knee and the other across her back before she drove the tip of the staff into its throat constricting its airway and brought the base around to hit across its head like a baseball bat hitting a line drive, effectively breaking the figures neck in a sickening crunch. She shrunk the staff and repaired the figure, shrinking it as well, then put them both in her bag. The last figure would help with her wand work. It would use every curse aside from the Killing Curse and Imperius Curse. She took her water bottle out and drank, stretching once more before she prepared to take on the final figure.
The curses were thrown, quickly and with precision. It was the easiest figure, which was why it was the last. She used all the techniques from the other three to defeat it, knowing that one day it would come in handy. She defeated it quickly, using Sectumsepra to blow it to bits. The curse was effective, not one that would defeat a real life Dark wizard but it would slow them down long enough to take care of him. She repaired and shrunk the figure and packed up her gym bag. Feeling the work out in every muscle, the burning on her arm were she still had a gash from her sword fight, the bruises forming on her back and the limp from the blow to her knee. She had a burn on her shoulder from a Burning Hex the last figure hit her with and a gash on her head from a stunner that sent her into a tree. She was thoroughly worked out and she knew that every ache was worth it.
She had begun the ritual work outs during the final days before the Battle of Hogwarts, she wanted to be prepared for anything. The figures were action figures that Harry had bought her at a Muggle toy store that she had charmed to be whatever she needed. Originally she had trained them to be teachers but as she improved she used them to keep her training current. Now that Voldemort was gone, but there were still Death Eaters at large, she kept up the training so that she would never doubt herself in battle. As a Muggleborn, she knew that martial arts, fencing, and staffs would be effective against any enemy, she would be more resourceful than any other opponent because they would be helpless without their wand, she would not. Plus, she could keep up her strength, and her figure however odd muscles looked on her.
Slinging the bag over her shoulder, stinging her sharply, she Apparated back to the Burrow and walked to into the kitchen door. Mrs. Weasley gasped upon seeing her bloodied and bruised, effectively running over to her and began healing her up.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Mrs. Weasley said frustratedly, her concern ringing in her voice. The question was asked daily, and like usually Hermione remained silent until she was fully healed.
She hugged the older witch tight and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." she said and she walked up to her room. Once in there, she dropped her bag on to the ground and sat down on the floor. She pulled her legs until she was sitting Indian style, resting her wrists on her knees and closed her eyes, concentrating her mind on her aching muscles. Meditation was another ritual, but tonight, she just summoned up enough energy to heal whatever wounds she hadn't told Mrs. Weasley about. Unfortunately, her strength was dead and she needed a shower. Grabbing her clothes from earlier along with fresh undergarments, she walked to the bathroom and locked the door.
The hot steamed shower soothed her aching muscles in a way that magic just couldn't provide and she melted under the spray. Life was complicated, fighting was simple, but she knew that the one thing she needed was not here, amongst the people she loved. She needed to be home – at Hogwarts.
The letters had come last week, inviting them all back, but only she and Ginny planned on returning. Harry and Ron were given immediate Auror status the moment the Ministry sorted itself out again. They weren't interested in taking unnecessary exams. So, she would go alone for the first time.
Sure she wouldn't be entirely alone. She would have Ginny and Bill, who had lost his job when Gringotts folded under the regime of Voldemort. The bank only had the lower vaults open, therefore you had access to your money, but only the goblins were permitted to work at the time. The jobs would be returned in a year, which was when the goblins expected everything to be worked out. Meanwhile, Bill was taking the once again empty position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. At least there would be family with her, she didn't know how many others would be returning.
When she re-entered her room, she heard the distinct sound of a beak hitting the window and she turned. Outside was a beautiful eagle owl with a letter in its beak. She opened the window and the owl flew in dropping the letter on her desk and perching itself in the cage she had on her dresser. It helped itself to some feed while she sat down and opened the letter.
Pet,
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner, I've had a hard go of it with the repairs. Mother sends her love.
Did you get your letter? Mine arrived last week and I am proud to tell you that you are going to be friends with this year's Head Boy! I don't doubt that you got Head Girl, who else would? How are Harry and Weaselby? Is the blundering idiot still trying to shag you? I'll kill him if he pulls anything like he did at Potter's birthday. So, did they decide to go on to Training?
I heard a rumor that our new Defense teacher might just be the eldest Weasley? Confirm or deny, Granger. It wouldn't be too bad. He isn't the typical Weasley. No freckles, an actual skin color besides pasty or red, and dark auburn hair...I could stomach not being forced to insult one for once. At that Hermione chuckled to herself. He was such a jerk. Weird though...we'll have a Defense teacher with a pony tail and an earring. Guess that'll be cool, the only good teacher we had was your step dad and I doubt he wants to drag himself away from your mum and brat kid sis right now.
Tell Mrs. Weasley that I'm sorry, but I won't be able to make it to dinner tonight, Mum wants some quality time with me before we head off tomorrow. Write me back immediately, Zeus isn't allowed to leave without a letter.
Love always,
Draco.
Hermione folded her letter up and put them in her trunk with the rest of the letters he sent over the summer. He wrote ever few days except for recently. The two of them had formed a bond like no one had ever expected over the last year during the war. When Ron had abandoned them, Draco had immediately joined them and together they destroyed the Horcruxes. He saved her life numerous times in the final battle and even faced off with his father for her. He was one of her dearest friends but Ron was overly possessive around him and had refused to allow her to write him, so she did it in secret to avoid his ever-increasing anger. She hated how upset it made Mrs. Weasley to see her youngest son treating Hermione the way he tended to when she was too close with another male.
Pulling out a pen and parchment, she wrote back, confirming his suspicions about Bill and answering all his questions honestly, even telling him about what had happened earlier that day at the dress shop. She poured out her frustrations, knowing that he would understand and wouldn't feel the need to defend him the way that Harry tended to feel sometimes. She signed the letter and sent it off.
Drying her hair with her wand, she tied it up and walked downstairs. Bill and Harry were facing off in a corner in a heated match of Wizards Chess, Ginny was helping Fleur and Mrs. Weasley with dinner. Ron was scowling in the corner, his hand healed and his temper not improved. Jane and Remus Lupin, aka her mom and new dad, were sitting on the couch playing with Emmeline Rose, their two year old daughter. Hermione had introduced them before the war, her own father having died years before, and they quickly began dating. They married just before sixth year and had Emmeline soon after. Hermione adored her little sister, her blond hair and big blue eyes, she was by far the prettiest little girl in the entire world, at least to Hermione.
Hermione knew that Remus had been extremely uncomfortable since the dress shop, his body reacting to his daughter for all intents and purposes in a way that was adverse to how his heart and head felt. She gave him a small smile and went over to squeeze his hand. "How are you, Remus?" she asked curiously.
He blushed and shook his head. "Been better, love. Been loads better." Jane looked between them, a knowing smirk on her lips.
"I think your father is having some issues dealing with you being so grown up, dear." Jane told her, smiling wickedly at her husband. Remus smacked himself in the forehead and leaned his head back, rubbing his face with his hand in frustration.
"Mummy, what's wrong with Daddy?" Emmeline asked looked up at the three adults curiously.
Hermione bent down and picked her little sister up, resting her on her hip. "Daddy's just tired, Emma. Lets let him and Mummy talk for a minute."
"Okay!" Hermione left the room, hearing her mother laughing gently as Remus started asking her why she had to make it worse. Entering the kitchen, she wore an embarrassed grin and sat Emmeline in the play pen that Mrs. Weasley had set up for her. Emmeline began playing with her dolls immediately, ignoring her usual protests of being a Big Girl and not needing a baby pen. Her worries about Remus were gone.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked, walking over to the three busy witches.
"If you could, dear, would set the table outside?" she requested, smiling at her adopted daughter.
Hermione nodded, "Would you keep an eye on Emmeline? I want to give Mum and Remus some alone time." Mrs. Weasley nodded, smiling at the little one playing with her doll unaffectedly. Hermione quickly grabbed the dishes and headed outside to the long table that would house the entire Weasley clan (including Harry), the Lupins (including Hermione), and Fleur.
Attention: Okay, so this idea was just floating in my head. I'm not sure if it should be rated M or T, so I'm going with M for now. It will have Mature parts later on. I've got about 22 chapters written already. The pairings will become apparent as the story progresses. Let me know what you think!
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