Disclaimer: I own nothing but the charaters Eric and Jamie and the plot. That's all, folks!
The Child You Never Knew About
Hermione Jane Granger huddled in a corner, trapped there by a man she had thought she could trust, a man she would have laid her life in his hands without a second thought about it. Yet, here he was, putting her in a position where she knew she was in danger. She was afraid of him. She knew he could kill her if he wanted to. Matter of fact, he could do anything he damn well pleased with her; nobody was around to know. Her parents were away on muggle buisness, and their neighbors were off at some party. There was no hope for her. This was the end for her, she was sure of that.
Her body was pressed as tightly as she could get it into the corner to avoid him. His hulking shadow loomed over her, intimidating her, making her shake even harder with barely controlled terror. What would he do to her?
"Come here, bitch!" he roared, his putrid breath making her feel even sicker. He beckoned to her again. She slowly peeled herself off the wall and took a hesitant step towards him. In a flash he swung his arm out, knocking her over and knocking her out.
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Hermione woke shaking with fear, a cold sweat dripped down her face, soaking her covers and making her feel even more terrified. She looked at her clock for reassurance. It read 3:57 in the morning. She shuddered one more time at the awful dream/ memory. The worst part was knowing that it had actually happened, that it wasn't just a nightmare. She really had been alone with Eric in the basement. He really had hit her, and her parents really had been gone, the neighbors gone as well. The worst, most shattering thought was that he actually had done it. Eric, her parents' best friend, really had raped her, tearing her life apart.
She still hadn't told her parents. He had threatened to kill her if she did. She almost cried in frustration. How was she going to be able to hide it much longer? There would be proof before too much longer.
Hermione bit her lower lip and turned on her lamp, feeling more secure in its soft light. She looked down at her slightly rounded abdomen. Yes, it wouldn't be too much longer before the baby would show. She counted back the time. If she wasn't mistaken, she was about three and a half months along now. Her robes were roomy, but they wouldn't hide this when she went back to Hogwarts in a week. Then she would have to tell somebody, and word would get out, and everyone would either make fun of her or shun her...
It was all to much for a fourteen year old Hermione to deal with. Her emotions got the best of her yet again, and she wept bitter, hate-filled tears. It was all her fault, no, his fault for raping her. Yet she would get the blame. How was it fair? She hadn't wanted him in te house. Why had her parents eve given him a key, anyways? hat would she do withthe baby once it was born? Could she keep it and still go to Hogwarts? Not likely. Matter of fact, she was sure there would be no chance of keeping him or her.
She disolved into tears yet again. Why? WHY? Why her? Why now? Why now when she couldn't keep her? She was sure the baby was a girl, even though there was no way to tell quite so soon. Why did Eric have to rape her? Why did the bastard have to rape any girl? Why couldn't he just drop off the face of the earth? Why couldn't Voldemort do all the girls in the world a favor and kill the asshole? Why? WHY? WHY?! Why wasn't she getting any answers?
Memories came flooding back; the fear, the anguish, the embarrassment, the hate, the pain. The feeling of being an animal trapped with nowhere to escape to, nobody to turn to for help. And now one inocent person was paying the ultimate price; never having her real mother in her life. There was no way Hermione could keep Jamie, that much was sure. She had accepted that already.
After a while, Hermione cried herself into a deep, nightmare-infested sleep. It did her no good, and filled her with that familiar terror as she felt every night when she went to sleep. That was why she stayed up till 11:00 or later at night, to avoid the pain and the fear.
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A young student with bushy brown hair and dark, pain-filled eyes, a fourth year, was sitting in the hospital wing, waiting for Madame Pomferey to come back. Hermione bit her lip and glanced down at herself. What had been a slightly rounded abdomen just a few months ago was a stomach that made her look like she had swallowed a gigantic watermelon whole. Her robes didn't hide the devloping baby, but special concealment charms did. This was to keep people from blaming her. It had been Dumbledore's idea, really.
The busy healer came back after she locked the door for as much privacy as was possible in as big of a school as Hogwarts was. Then she had Hermione part her robes for her weekly exam to make sure everything was fine with Jamie, who, sure enough, was a baby girl. Madame Pomfrey explained to her that the frequent checks were because of several factors, but the dominating one was the mother's rather young age. Things could go wrong so much faster so much quicker with a mother as young as she was than with an older mother. The healer also knew the cicumstances upon which Hermione had gotten pregnant, so there was none of the lecture she would have given to a mother who had become pregnant by doing things she shouldn't have been doing.
As was usual, everything was fine, and Hermione was soon done with her exam. SH easked a few questions, and then the one that had been bugging her.
"Madame Pomfrey, what am I going to do when Jamie's born? I know I can't keep her and still finish my schooling. It's really better," Hermine said as her voice broke. She felt like someone was ripping out her heart and shredding it to unrecognizable pieces, "for both of us if I don't keep her."
"Well, Ms. Granger, I had a feeling you'd ask me this sooner or later. I've given it a lot of thought, and, if you'll allow me, I'd like to adopt your daughter as my own," the healer said slowly, carefully monitoing the younger girl's reaction.
"That would be terrific!" she said, eyes shining with tears. "At least I'd know she'd have a good home, and eventually get the opportunity, if she's magical, to go to Hogwarts. Would you really?"
"Yes, Hermione, I really would," Pomfrey said as Hermione gave her a grateful hug. It was a touching moment for both of them. They both knew their lives were changed for good now because of each other.
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Hermione knew things weren't good. She was only eight months along, and yet she knew what was going on; she was going into labor. Pain wracked her body, making it hard to think. All she could manage was a desperate look to McGonagall, eho seemed to understand. The professor nodded in the general direction of the door, and Hermione staggered out into the hall, heading for the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey took one look at her face and gently led her to a bed. She closed the curtains around the bed and locked the door, after sending a message to St. Mungos, who sent over two of their healers who were more trained in delivering babies than she was.
Hermione knew it wasn't good news when she saw their faces, It was all she could do to gasp out, "Is Jamie okay?" before she nearly passed out. Nobody answered her question.
An hour later, the baby was finally freed into the world. There was no sound from her. No matter how hard the team tried, they couldn't get so much as a squeak or gasp out of her. She was a preemie. Then they gave the news to Hermione.
"Ms. Granger," one of them said, "Your baby girl was stillborn. I'm sorry, but there was nothing we could do to revive her. We tried. I'm so sorry to have to tell you this."
The news hit her like a wall of bricks. All those months of anguish...for nothing! Why? Why her? She broke down and cried. It wasn't fair! What about Jamie? What about the life she would have had? Well, maybe it was better the infant had died. At least Hermione would never have to wonder how she was doing, if she ever wondered about her real mother. Although her heart was breaking, shattering to bits, she knew evrything would work out and she would be fine with time. After all, 'Time heals all'.